HBP on the Silver Screen, *at long last, love!* |
 Jun 30 2009, 03:14 AM
Post
#1
|
|
Hogsmeade's Butcher  Posts: 6,536 Joined: 1:25pm July 10, 2005 Location: Sharpening my cleaver for photo-chopping     |
The film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is without a doubt, the most-anticipated film release in recent memory. This is partially due to the fact of the film having it's release date moved back a full eight months to ensure the company will have a "sure-hit" for 2009. Warner Brothers has had to endure nearly a year of the fans crying "foul" and the cynics wondering if the film was in trouble and needed extensive post-production revision. Given the economics of last November versus the rebounding summer season, do you think that the choice to move HBP was good for the potential success of the film?
Early previews and reviews seem to indicate that HBP is not only a "sure-hit" but even Oscar-quality, vis-a-vis the final LOTR film. As the penultimate tale in Harry's saga, it is also a film which promises dazzling special effects, romance, intrigue, and the loss of one of the most important characters in the series.  As usual, faced with the task of paring-down one of Jo Rowling's massive and intricately-wrought stories, much had to be cut. There will be no visit to the Gaunts through Bob Ogden's memory, for example. In fact, it would seem that we will probably only see two visits to the pensive-past: young Tom Riddle at the orphanage meeting Dumbledore, and a teen-aged Tom Riddle asking Professor Slughorn about horcruxes.  Do you think the film adaptation will suffer due to only seeing these two memories? Which other scenes do you think SHOULD have been left in the film, and why? As some scenes went out, others were added to help the dramatic flow of the film, which is a very different medium from the printed page. This includes an added-scene taking place at the Burrow while Harry is there, in which the house is attacked by Death Eaters. This scene was approved by Rowling and was done to point-up the fact that everyone is "in mortal peril" (as the Weasley clock tells us) and that NOWHERE is safe.  There is also a scene at the beginning of the film in which Harry chats-up a pretty coffee-shop waitress, setting up the film's undercurrent of burgeoning teen hormones.  How do you feel about added non-canon scenes in the films?In spite of being such a dark tale, HBP is also a very funny book! The filmmakers have tried to keep this sense of wit and fun, since it is one of the hallmarks of Jo's writing. The director, David Yates, has noted in many of his interviews that this is important as it serves to remain true to the characters, and also to help catch the viewer off-guard with the tragic ending. Most notably there is the (unspoken) love-traingle of Hermione, Ron and Lavender Brown.  Do you think that HBP will, despite the tragic ending, be the funniest HP film of the series? The Potter films are HUGE effects films, and much of the work that has been done on them has helped advance the science and art of film effects in general. To enhance the impact of the effects in the IMAX ultra-huge screen format (70mm film--extreme hi-def) there will be 3-D scenes as well, as was done in the OotP film. Doubtless the cave scene will be the highlight of this.  What other special effects from HBP are you looking forward to? In short, do you think HBP will live up to the hype and be worth the wait? Personally, I do. 
This post has been edited by Hagiographer13: Jul 4 2009, 01:14 AM -------------------- |
 |
  
 
|
