Details On The HBP Movie

[jan74]

I'm amazed at how many details you guys pick up on. I was more carried away by the mood of the film and the characterization. I noticed a few small things, though:

In a scene from one of the streets surrounding Diagon Alley- I don't remember which scene, excactly - we see a small poster with Greyback's face on in the right corner of the image. I thought this was a nice touch hinting to the audience that a new dangerous person was out there, without actually having anyone talking about him.

I also remember how the contents of the Pensieve seem to flow like liquid for some time before they become solid (the scene where they're approaching the orphanage) - I thought that was very beautifully filmed.

There were a lot of things I liked about this film, but one thing I noticed in particular was the look of fear on Malfoy's face the first time we see him in the Room of Requirement, very chilling.

I'm a little surprised that people talk about plot holes in a film which really is not very much about plot, but more about emotions, mood and characterization. If they wanted it to be about plot, they would have kept the story strand where Harry obsesses about what Malfoy is doing instead of showing Malfoy's emotional journey. I understand that this is not to everyone's liking, though, although for me it makes the film more interesting, especially when you see the film several times.

[PeerlessKid]

Originally Posted by texan_muggle

Not quite true. In the book, Winky got sloshed on the stuff. "Tis strong for a house-elf", Dobby said. That implies a low-level of alcohol, at least to me.

Originally Posted by Noldus

Sorry, forgot that. But Hermione is not a house-elf and shouldn't get drunk of it.

When did Butterbeer become alcoholic? I just assumed it was only alcoholic for House Elves

Originally Posted by DML1991

I dig the randomness of Aragog's funeral in the scene. It's so... akward, weird. Like, Harry drinks the felix, and randomly goes to pay a visit to Hagrid. It's like... why would he go there? He goes down there with cheer, to find a large dead spider, and the same large spider whose sibblings tried eating him 4 years before. It's all so random, and that's part of why it works. It fits with the influence of the felix and Harry's actions on it.

Totally agree with your point, it was pretty cool as well when.. ah god I hope I'm remembering this right... the first shot of the scene was a close up of the spider lol That would totally freak people out and get them off their seats, and I watched this movie in IMAX! That spider was freaking MASSIVE!!

Originally Posted by jan74

I'm amazed at how many details you guys pick up on. I was more carried away by the mood of the film and the characterization.

We try our best

In a scene from one of the streets surrounding Diagon Alley- I don't remember which scene, excactly - we see a small poster with Greyback's face on in the right corner of the image. I thought this was a nice touch hinting to the audience that a new dangerous person was out there, without actually having anyone talking about him.

Yes exactly! It makes such a nice change now that everything isn't clearly laid out for the viewer with clear blatant exposition. Obviously earlier it was of course a 'kid's movie' but they have moved away from that a long time ago and I love David Yates for bringing in more subtlety into the movies.

I also remember how the contents of the Pensieve seem to flow like liquid for some time before they become solid (the scene where they're approaching the orphanage) - I thought that was very beautifully filmed.

Again, totally agree with you It was just so stunningly beautiful watching the street come to life from those wisps of smoke to sold buildings... did any of you guys also notice the kid on the bike riding past the orphanage gate when Dumbledore was walking up to it? God my memory isn't the best so I'm not entirely sure about it, but he was half smoke as he was riding past, so freaking cool! small ingenious details like these make it so special

[Fury]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I believe I found the answer to the seven stones in Tom Riddle's room:

From the Script:

Dumbledore studies
Riddle, then begins to tour the room. Carefully placed
upon a low shelf are some ODD SOUVENIRS. A grouping of
SEVEN STONES... A book containing SEVEN MATCHES. SEVEN
BRASS KEYS...
Moving on, Dumbledore passes a TALL CABINET, tracing his
FINGERS over its surface, as if the wood’s grain were
Braille, as if somehow “seeing” what lies within.
Then Dumbledore pauses. Strewn on a small table are a
grouping of SEVEN DARK DRAWINGS. A BOY and GIRL, their
faces anguished. A sea-swept CAVE. The same cave from
the photograph.

I didn't notice everything else in the room when I was watching the movie, but the seven stones were supposed to signify Tom's adoration of the number seven and its power. As you can see from the other sets of seven objects

[texan_muggle]

Originally Posted by PeerlessKid

When did Butterbeer become alcoholic? I just assumed it was only alcoholic for House Elves

Where did it ever say butterbeer wasn't alcoholic?

Originally Posted by DML1991

I find the look of anguish and torment to be far more interesting, anyway. Which brings me to something I love about the film, Yates and Delbonnel put up images that often tell the story or express the mood, as the actors slip into their characters and it's their facial expressions and actions that define them. One of the issues with the script is it's over reliance on exposition, something that Yates mostly avoided in the actual film.

Did you notice his voice breaking when he delivered the AK?

[yoshi2542]

Originally Posted by Fury

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I believe I found the answer to the seven stones in Tom Riddle's room:

From the Script:



I didn't notice everything else in the room when I was watching the movie, but the seven stones were supposed to signify Tom's adoration of the number seven and its power. As you can see from the other sets of seven objects

How did Tom know about the power of 7 before he got to Hogwarts? Are we supposed to think he was 'meant' to be obsessed with it? If so, that goes very much against the 'choices not abilities' mantra of the books. Tom made the choice to delve into the Dark Arts upon exposure to them, he wasn't meant to do so. I'm glad they took that stuff out, it contradicts Rowlings message.

[PeerlessKid]

Originally Posted by texan_muggle

Where did it ever say butterbeer wasn't alcoholic?

Well considering Rowling has them drinking it since the age of 13!... Which I assume you can just say 'oh all children start drinking alcohol at a very young age', but since that age?! I thought only delinquents started so early , which they are not. Besides also they got served Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks! There's no way they would get served if it was alcoholic, and Lupin also brought some in for Harry when he was learning the Patronus Charm. I really don't see Rowling writing her characters to start drinking at such an early age and so readily plus also to have the adults encouraging them, when she knows she's writing these books for kids.

[Fury]

Originally Posted by yoshi2542

How did Tom know about the power of 7 before he got to Hogwarts? Are we supposed to think he was 'meant' to be obsessed with it? If so, that goes very much against the 'choices not abilities' mantra of the books. Tom made the choice to delve into the Dark Arts upon exposure to them, he wasn't meant to do so. I'm glad they took that stuff out, it contradicts Rowlings message.

Hmm, didn't think about that. That is a pretty good point.

Perhaps Steve Kloves didn't know about that, but I don't know. With all the series of seven objects. *shrug* Maybe 7 was Tom's favorite number to begin with?

Or perhaps it was just used as a foreshadowing tool...
-------------------

ETA: To add a little onto the butterbeer/alcoholic discussion. The reason Hermione got er... tipsy in the movie was because Slughorn's drink (which I assume was alcoholic) sloshed out of his cup and a bit went into Hermione's cup. Just a little reminder on that bit

Only done for comedic purposes, I would assume.

[PeerlessKid]

Originally Posted by Fury

Hmm, didn't think about that. That is a pretty good point.

Perhaps Steve Kloves didn't know about that, but I don't know. With all the series of seven objects. *shrug* Maybe 7 was Tom's favorite number to begin with?

Or perhaps it was just used as a foreshadowing tool...
-------------------

ETA: To add a little onto the butterbeer/alcoholic discussion. The reason Hermione got er... tipsy in the movie was because Slughorn's drink (which I assume was alcoholic) sloshed out of his cup and a bit went into Hermione's cup. Just a little reminder on that bit

Only done for comedic purposes, I would assume.

Haha totally forgot about that That would be the funniest reason

About the whole 7 thing, I agree with you, it was probably just used as a foreshadowing tool for the non-readers to say 'oh hey look number 7 oooo special magic number that this evil dark lord is interested in. What do you reckon huh? huh?'. So later on when Dumbledore reveals that he reckons Voldemort made 7 Horcruxes, the non-reader audience can understand or guess where he's making that assumption from instead of just randomly picking any number he likes.
Because they never really did go into detail about Tom's past and as non-reader I guess you would just assume Tom was meant to go into the dark arts and yes, 7 was his favourite number
It's funny because as a non-reader you probably wouldn't even notice that there were 7 stones in the flashbacks, just link it with the cave.

[Noldus]

It was only a short glimpse of the stones. I didn't realize there were 7 stones there until I read about it here. How did you manage to count them?

[FlashMemory]

Originally Posted by yoshi2542

How did Tom know about the power of 7 before he got to Hogwarts? Are we supposed to think he was 'meant' to be obsessed with it? If so, that goes very much against the 'choices not abilities' mantra of the books. Tom made the choice to delve into the Dark Arts upon exposure to them, he wasn't meant to do so. I'm glad they took that stuff out, it contradicts Rowlings message.

Perhaps the implication was just that Tom felt a certain affinity with the number seven, even in the muggle wold it's supposed to have special properties and Tom also thought he was special

[decarus]

I think in the book Voldemort was already thinking about splitting his soul into seven pieces because it was the powerful number or something. In the book, he asked Slughorn what he thought about that. He wanted to know if it was possible to split your soul more then once. That was the information Voldemort wanted when he spoke to Slughorn, but Slughorn didn't give him the idea to split it into seven.