David interviews Writer/Producer/Director, Norman Stone, about his career and C.S. Lewis-related productions, including the recently-released movie, The Most Reluctant Convert.
S5E7: “Lights! Camera! Jack!” – After Hours with Norman Stone (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
Quote-of-the-week
“…all Lewis did was freeze, petrified, like a frightened stag at the dawn of photography. His ruddiness, his sparkling eyes, his animated personality were not captured on the film… only a death-mask stillness…”
– William Griffin, C.S. Lewis: A Dramatic Life
Biographical Information
Norman Stone has a Masters in film and television from London’s Royal College of Art and he is the head of 1A Productions.
He has worked with many of the finest names in the acting and film-making worlds, creating a wide range productions, from top-class television dramas, series and documentaries to music videos and big screen movies.
Mr Stone has won many awards. He is a double BAFTA and EMMY Award winner, most notably (at least as far as we’re concerned) for his work on the 1986 version of Shadowlands, a movie which tells the story of C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman.
Throughout his career, he has worked on several other Lewis-related projects, namely “Beyond Narnia”, “The Narnia Code”, and most recently, the recently-released movie starring Nicholas Ralph and Max McLean, “The Most Reluctant Convert”.
Biographical details of Norman Stone
Chit-Chat
Beverage and Toast
David was drinking some Yorkshire Gold tea and Norman was drinking coffee.
Discussion
Background
Q. So would you mind telling us a little bit about your background and how you got into film?
Q. As I mentioned in the introduction, you’ve worked on so many different projects. Is this kind of variety usual in your line of work?
Q. Where did Lewis appear along the way for you, personally?
Lewis Projects
Q. I think your first Lewis project was Shadowlands, which came out in 1986, starring Claire Bloom and one of my personal favourites, the gravelly-voiced Joss Ackland. Can you please tell us the story about how that movie came to be?
Q. So another project you worked on was C.S. Lewis: Beyond Narnia. Much of it was filmed at Lewis’ home, The Kilns. Like The Most Reluctant Convert, it was a docu-drama, blending scene dramatisation and into-the-camera narration. Lewis was played by another actor near-and-dear to my heart, the late Anton Rogers, whom I grew up watching on the show, May to December.
Q. We’ve had Dr. Michael Ward on the show to talk about his books, Planet Narnia and The Narnia Code. Can you tell us about how you ended up working on the associated documentary?
The Most Reluctant Convert
Q. So we’ve spoken about your earlier Lewis projects but, of course, we have to spend some time talking about your most recent work, The Most Reluctant Convert… Listeners can go back to last season to hear our interview with the star, Max McLean, as well as the interview with Dr. Devin Brown who produced the accompanying Study Guide. But to kick things off, can you tell us your own version of how this movie came about, during a time when very little movie-making was happening?
Q. So whereas Shadowlands began as a movie and was later converted to a play, The Most Reluctant Convert began as a play and was later converted to a movie! You were involved in that process. How did you set about it? How did you decide what to show and what to tell? How did you decide when to dramatise a scene and when just to allow the older Lewis to tell us about it?
Q. How did Nicholas Ralph become involved with the project?
Q. What kind of challenges did you encounter during shooting, particularly given that you were filming during COVID?
Q. There were a few little “easter eggs” in the movie which I really enjoyed… For example, Lewis talking about not being raised in a puritan home…while walking into a pub. And when the young Lewis is enduring a Sunday service at Church, the congregation is singing “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small”, the name of the show starring Nicholas Ralph! Are there any other nice touches which viewers might have missed on the first viewing?
The Future
Every time I go online, people are asking when The Most Reluctant Convert is going to be available to buy or stream online. Do you have any idea about when that might be?
Wrap-Up
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