HP Movie "Chapter-a-Day" DVD Discussion V2

[lindaluna]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

This is one of the first hall crowd scenes of just walking down the halls of Hogwarts which is done pretty well but still has that sort of unfocused feeling of it all like the QWC chapter earlier. What I do like the most of this scene is the symbolism of Harry being alone and picked upon from all houses in Hogwarts. Even the modest Hufflepuffs are being quite nasty bullies; something usually reserved for the most foul of Slytherins which only emphasizes how many people dislike Potter being the 4th Champion.

There's one blong Hufflepuff girl extra (she's been in several films, I remember her at Ernie McMillan's table in COS in the study hall, and also in POA, who looked particularly scornful. I hope she gets a bigger role in OOP.

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

The thing that really symbolizes his ostricization is Harry not wearing his robe/cloak whereas everyone else he meets in this scene is. I find this to be very interesting because suddenly it's like he has no house to support him at all...The great thing about this symbolism is how much it plays into how the Goblet of Fire was tricked into picking 4 champions....and Harry being the only one qualified from that 4th school.

I never noticed that about the robes and think it is just genius!

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

As we meet up with Cedric, everytime I see Pattinson it shows how great casting they had for him as Cedric.

When I saw his pics at the premiers and read his interviews, he seemed like a charming lady's man to me...but I agree he does Cedric perfectly - an excellent choice. I've seen the film like 6000 times now and his performance is beautiful. I am never sick of it (wish I could say the same for Radcliffe).

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

The whole Malfoy Ferret scene, the CG is good, Felton acts wonderfully in this yet again but I just wish that it would have been a bit more physical in abusing the ferret.

Actually - I'm glad they toned it down. I thought it was brutal in the books. I also think the CG was excellent and I love Draco and I was sorry this is basically it for him in the movies (a long wait for him for book 6 & 7).

I think there is a continuity error, at one point when McGonagall confronts Moody, Moody's face is entirely visible, then in another shot there is McGonagall's wand at his face. I originally thought it was Moody's own wand that he had reflectively at his face - it took me a while to realize it must be McGonagalls.

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

This is coupled with the most disappointing showing of the DADA office yet. There...there were far too many magnifying glasses of a seemingly non-useful nature.

Yep - detail without meaning. Clutter for clutter's sake. Yuck !!!

Actually - I'm thinking that Cuaron may have not returned to HP films because he shook up the crowd of regulars (art direction, costume, hair etc) that does the films. Newell ("the Brit") (vs "nasty foreign type") got the job but let them go too wild. Sloppy.

I didn't like Moody insulting Krum. I felt like it was added in to explain why the movie director thought Krum was a bad actor... It certainly highlighted his flaws as an actor, but it was not canon and to me...nasty in tone on several levels. I liked the Diggory and Fleur comments, they heightenned the competitiveness. I found the one about Krum to be ... a cheap shot and inaccurate for the tone that was being built. Krum was a world chamption. Harry should be afraid of him, not contemptuous of him !

[yoshi2542]

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. The acting is fine, but it all seems so insubstantial, it's just very bland. The DADA office set seems like it's been dressed with outdoing Cuaron's sets in mind, but it lacks that considered, natural style, and just looks like they chucked in the all the clutter they could find. I like the scream from the trunk, but I think they could have done something different with the Foe-Glass. Perhaps have Dumbledore or Crouch Sr's face appear fleetingly and have Harry catch a glimpse of it. Again, it feels like more could have been done here.

[Undrhil]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

There was a bit of added dialogue about how Moody describes the other contestants talents. The message was supposed to be reserved for Sirius during the fireplace chat to talk about the competition, but the interesting thing is that Moody talked about Diggory being able to transfigure a watch into a whistle. This isn't much to say but at the same time Moody did have this to say in the novel

But that's just me reading in too much with the dialogue. Who knows? Kloves might have just added that in as an easter egg for the fans.

Actually, fakeMoody tells Harry that "by the time he was your age, Cedric could transfigure a teapot into a watch and have it sing you the time." I don't think this was added in homage to the scene from the book, since that scene was talking about the sneakascope whistling constantly. I saw it more as a sly way of fakeMoody sneaking in an insult to Harry, since Harry isn't able to make that type of magical change in anything at this point in the series.

[troryfan]

it is a good scene, but seems slightly ill-placed. i dont know quite how to describe it.
I do love Moody though, he is great!

Jo

[Dark Emperor]

The face fakeMoody makes to McG belies the immaturity of the imposter beneath it all....

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by Undrhil

Actually, fakeMoody tells Harry that "by the time he was your age, Cedric could transfigure a teapot into a watch and have it sing you the time." I don't think this was added in homage to the scene from the book, since that scene was talking about the sneakascope whistling constantly. I saw it more as a sly way of fakeMoody sneaking in an insult to Harry, since Harry isn't able to make that type of magical change in anything at this point in the series.

My bad then. I actually thought he said whistle.

As for the scene itself, I do agree that it is somewhat...meh. It does certainly lack a cerntain energy from everyone to the cinematography to the editing. It's not that I'm personally spoiled with extremly long takes with no cuts; even Grindhouse got a bit long in the tooth with their nigh 15 minute discussion about everything and nothing. However even something as simple as the discussion between FakeMoody and Harry the editing I felt was pretty poor. All in all it's just another pearl in a string of scenes that are needed but hardly worth rewatching.

[Tabris93]

This is - how weird it might sound - one of my favourite scenes in the movie. The reason is that it is one of the few places in the movie where you get "two scenes in one scene". I love how Harry argues with Ron, then turns around, faces Malfoy and sees the ferret scene. I love it because they didn't cut it and suddenly transferred to a whole new place. It was longer, and had that everyday randomness feel that made it so much more believable and plausible for me.

I was happily suprised that they kept the badges - it seemed to be one of those "not necessary for the main plot - ergo useless"-things that would be cut - yet they kept it. Those details makes the movie so much better in my opinion.

The argue was great, although I didn't like Seamus going on about things blowing up all the time. He did it once in PS, no need to make it a Seamus-trait. I liked that Ron seemed bored, like spending time with Seamus wasn't nearly as fun and interesting as being friends with Harry.

Draco Malfoy and Snape was horribly underused in this movie - and I really am not sure if Draco really was such a wuss in the books as he is portrayed to be in the movies? The last two movies in particular.

I disagree with you on the ferret scene, DarwingMayFlower. Simply because it could have provoked reactions of offense and disgust. Even though we know it's Malfoy, what we see is an anmial, and I believe there are strict rules when it comes to how much animal abuse you can show in a low-rated movie. And starting a debate about animal welfare would take the focus away from what matters in this scene.

I love Maggie Smith in this scene - she is just as stern and stiff as McGonagall is supposed to be. I actually think that Smith - of all the great HP actors - is the one that comes closest to the character she is portraying. She does an outstanding job as McGonagall!

I am not too sure about Gleeson. It wasn't how I had envisioned Moody, neither the appereance nor the way he acts. He was cute with his "might have mentioned it"-line, though - looked like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Yes, I thought the same thing about the "greesy hair"-line. Yet I love the fact that this time Draco doesn't get away with his "I'll tell my influential dad"-card.

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by Tabris93

This is - how weird it might sound - one of my favourite scenes in the movie. The reason is that it is one of the few places in the movie where you get "two scenes in one scene". I love how Harry argues with Ron, then turns around, faces Malfoy and sees the ferret scene. I love it because they didn't cut it and suddenly transferred to a whole new place. It was longer, and had that everyday randomness feel that made it so much more believable and plausible for me.

It is sort of interesting because these are one of the few chapters that so much happens in one single scene. Harry being made fun of, telling Cedric about the Dragons, confronting Ron, confronting Malfoy, Malfoy ferret and then Moody discussion. Even though it does seem a bit random I personally felt it was a bit too dense, although I couldn't think of any better way to have it done.

I was happily suprised that they kept the badges - it seemed to be one of those "not necessary for the main plot - ergo useless"-things that would be cut - yet they kept it. Those details makes the movie so much better in my opinion.

It is a great visual device to show in the film. It's one of the few things that wasn't movie created in order to show and not tell like the novel so it was a great addition. Imagine if there were no badges, all these random people saying that Potter stinks would seem a bit out of place unless the audience clues in that a lot of people are against Potter and for Cedric. Wearing the badge is a loaded message because it reminds the audience of the support for Cedric and the student body feeling for Harry and shows that this isn't just random bullying but a unified effort. Picturing those tall Hufflepuffs blocking Harry's way without badges, I'd probably think them more to be bullies than supporters of Cedric...GOTS TO PAY THE TOLL!

One thing I forgot that I liked about this scene is this is probably the first time we get to see far more older students than younger students. PS and CoS were all young whereas PoA is just the same age, but this seems to be the first time where there are far more older students in shots than younger.

The argue was great, although I didn't like Seamus going on about things blowing up all the time. He did it once in PS, no need to make it a Seamus-trait. I liked that Ron seemed bored, like spending time with Seamus wasn't nearly as fun and interesting as being friends with Harry.

I also thought it was pretty good because it just followed illogical friend anger yet again. Dunno what to say? Dunno how to express your feelings? Say something weird and stupid.

Draco Malfoy and Snape was horribly underused in this movie - and I really am not sure if Draco really was such a wuss in the books as he is portrayed to be in the movies? The last two movies in particular.

Well like I've always said Draco has always been portrayed as a bit off in the entire series. He's far more sympathetic as seen by his disappointment in PS and CoS and other times he just loses his condecending edge in other films aside from PoA which I think he had the most screentime. He is underused but sadly there are other matters in Harry's attention.

I disagree with you on the ferret scene, DarwingMayFlower. Simply because it could have provoked reactions of offense and disgust. Even though we know it's Malfoy, what we see is an anmial, and I believe there are strict rules when it comes to how much animal abuse you can show in a low-rated movie. And starting a debate about animal welfare would take the focus away from what matters in this scene.

You might be right on that idea. It is supposed to be one of the funnier parts in the film and having him put into Crabbe's pants was a good substitute. It would have also made us miss the wonderful performance by Felton when he got transfigured back, how he was on all fours still having a bit of ferreting movement was done spot on. But animal cruelty aside, there have been far worst examples, I think it depends on the context. Something as cartoon violent as bouncing a ferret around (most definately a SFX ferret) would have been tolerable if shot right.

[Tabris93]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

One thing I forgot that I liked about this scene is this is probably the first time we get to see far more older students than younger students. PS and CoS were all young whereas PoA is just the same age, but this seems to be the first time where there are far more older students in shots than younger.

This made me remember that I forgot (!) to comment on Cedric Diggory. I have mentioned before, but I think they did some superb casting here. Like you wrote earlier, he has that aura of being very popular and charming - and being very used to it. And I don't mean that in a negative sense, I am just stating facts. (Or what I see as facts, anyway ).

When it comes to older students - I think there is a great faulty in this movie in one particular scene when it comes to this. It's in the Gryffindor common room when Ron and Harry are becoming friends again. You can easily see that the Weasley twins are older than all the others - and the only ones at their age. They tower over every single student in there. It really stands out.

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

Something as cartoon violent as bouncing a ferret around (most definately a SFX ferret) would have been tolerable if shot right.

True, I agree with you here. It's a delicate balance.

[lindaluna]

*Jumping Ahead a Bit*

There is one older black boy that was also used to put his name in the cup,, and then there's the girl from East Enders that is Angelina Johnson, (but they are much shorter) and Angelina was filmed sitting. Who knows, maybe they cast short for Harry - notice how Neville was always at an off angle in this movie re Harry, either in the river while Harry was on the bank, or actually lying down on his bed while Harry was sitting up eating the chocolates? and Draco up a tree before he becomes a ferret. I think Dan has issues with being short. Hopefully now that he's wiggled his willy on stage he'll be more laid back.

ALso - of course - the mad eye spying on Harry shot !!!!

Finally - you know Filch and his gun - his canon - that keep going off prematurely. I thought of 2 things:

1. A joke about the use of canon.

2. A joke about Wimsey and the chekovian guns that must be fired concept.

Here was a completely non-canon cannon, that fired prematurely and for no reason throughout the movie.

I wouldn't put it past the screenwriters to spend some time in here perusing the theories.

[DarwinMayflower]

Previous Movie Posts
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Previous Chapter Post
GoF Chp 1: The Riddle House
GoF Chp 2: The Port Key
GoF Chp 3: The Quidditch World Cup
GoF Chp 4: The Dark Mark
GoF Chp 5: The Tri-Wizard Tournament
GoF Chp 6: The Goblet of Fire
GoF Chp 7: The Unforgivable Curses
GoF Chp 8: The Four Champions
GoF Chp 9: Let Events Unfold
GoF Chp 10: Rita Skeeter
GoF Chp 11: Sirius Conversation
GoF Chp 12: The Hungarian Horntail
GoF Chp 13: Transforming Malfoy


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Chapter 14: The First Task (Part 1)

A first for the thread. Instead of a chapter merger we are presented with the first of a split of the chapter. Basically I'll be splitting this one in two parts, the first being scenes before the actual first task with Harry and then the actual first task with Harry. I hope that no one particularly minds since I think there is quite a lot to be seen here.

To start off, I really dislike this introduction to the stadium. It is a great scenic shot;

but in terms of movie logic it sort of falls flat. If you look at the geography of where the stadium is located it sort of makes you wonder whether if getting to the stadium is as grueling as the first task. It does make sense that they would want the dragons as far as possible from the castle so they don't create collateral damage while at the same time almost mimicking the craggy and usual residence of dragons (mountains, caves and all the stoney bits) but it just seems so inefficient for students to actually attend this event. Unless there's a shuttle broom or temporary floo network stop created, it seems very inconvinient. I mean mountain goats would probably have a hard time with scaling the heights and cliffs of this place. While people might complain about the relocation of Hagrid's Hut from CoS to PoA, they should be also complaining about this little mishap of urban planning.


As we hear the Twins being the lovable twins they are it does present an interesting little deviation or even substitute to their gambling dealings with Bagman. Instead their gambling activities are done by being bookies amongst the students of which could be an easy explanation as to why or how they got their start-up galleons for Weasley Wheezing Wheezies. It's unfortunate that Newall's hit and miss cinematography of making documentary crowd shots is even more unfocused here, to the point that unless you actually slow down and pause the scene you can't make out where the Twins are in the stands. You can hear them, but it's just shot so haphazardly that you need your own pair of Omninoculars to find them. I'm keen on finding things running at normal speed, but this is the first time I had to actually pause to find something.


Inside the tent we see more of the anachronistic objects which is akin to the badges seen earlier (sorry guys I have a word a day calender). Out of all the modern adpotions the wizarding world has, it seems in this very tent has the most direct adaption of muggle items for the wizarding world. It's quite interesting to see it in this type of context because every other modern muggle item is accepted as a necessity. I mean toilets? Of course you would want modern plumbing and fixtures. Carriages? Sure. Trains? They're magical enough.

But toggles? Track suits? Glass juice kegs? Seems a bit of a stretch. Not that I mind, but it is interesting how each director sort of interprets how much muggle cultural influence is allowed within the Potterverse.

Aside from the most fabulous Harmonian moment, the rest of the scene plays out between snippets of good performances of characters (not great) and trainwrecks of why WHY WHY?! First the horrible.

Ludo Bagman: What's that you say? He isn't IN THE FILM? Actually no I don't have colour blindness for yellow but after re-reading some of the text and just finally clicking in, it seems that the acting result of both Crouch and Dumbledore in this scene is mainly for the sole reason to have the spirit of this deleted character in the film.

It's quite sad that it really seemed more of wall street of personalities where "People got to trade back and forth their intended personalities for someone else's." Dumbledore's cheeriness is far too bright and enthusiastic in the shallow showmanship sort of way...much like how Bagman was. It sort of echoes the performance of him presenting the Tri-Wizard tournament in the first place. Crouch also showed the same sort of Ludo showmanship in exclaiming how someone got the exotic Chinese Fireball (of which I have yet to decide was racist or not). However I personally feel that Dumbledore was handled pretty poorly here. If Franken-Crouch was supposed to be a Bagman avatar, then at least leave him the opening Dumbledore lines talking to the champions and have Gambon be more of a watchful hawk than a chattering parrot. He is more concerned when Harry chose his dragon though. What's worst is that in the most horrendous possible way they try to show Crouch's tyrannical preference for order in the most annoying way. He's a steel gripped politician, not an annoying obsessive compulsive.

Oh yeah as for the kids, Watson was a bit restrained, but I still saw her eyebrows itching to act more than her. Radcliffe...was decent. Another sub-plot was introduced only to be tossed away into the wind, I did especially like the seething anger that Hermione was directing towards Skeeter which sadly never comes to any sort of fruitation or vengence.

However the actual good performances were just that, good. Not great, but good. Richardson is great as Skeeter, even though the Quick-Quotes Quill is one of the less impressive CGI that I've seen in the film. It looks far too bright and stands out way too much, which I guess is for a reason...you have to be able to see it. It is great that in this scene the QQQ actually mimics Skeeter's movements and feelings; far better than in GoF Chp 10. It really adds a nice little bit of personality to it. A nice little character rounding moment was done for Krum, he just exudes honour in that one single line and dispels his superstardom during the QWC or at least how he feels about it himself.

As for Cedric, I love that little nervous hiccup that he had before he went out first. A nice little departure from him looking a bit green from the book, but it's a nice loaded look. It shows that even a 7th year is quite nervous about a task like this and more importantly that perhaps his modesty is overpowering the confidence in his own abilities.

As much as the film is supposed to be focused on Harry, I'm quite disappointed as to the lack of showing the other champions compete because of the severe lack of DRAGON AWESOMENESS! At the same time so much could have been done to make the build up a bit better than just a fade in to Harry sitting on a bed. I remember when I was competitively swimming, that what gets your heart racing isn't so much the event itself, but how the event just comes at you, the months become days and the days becomes hours. And when it actually comes to the swim meet you're in, you just count down the heats (events) until it's your turn. It just happens so fast and suddenly you're there at the starting line, on the field, on the starting block, at the face off, at the kick off whatever. I think just continuing with the cannon with some great fast cuts of Harry sweating it out and hearing snippets of commentary would have been a great contrast the silence that Harry faces when he enters the arena. Although a bit cheesy, it would have worked better than the bland fade in. That's what competition is about.

All in all a scene that could have benefitted from some things, but probably not. Who knows.

Things of Note

• Music used in the scene: Track 10: Golden Egg.
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon
  
  
• The Twins' odds on Harry ain't too great is it now? I think it reads 39 to 1, whereas Fleur has a biased 10:1, Cedric a modest 5:1 and Krum shoeing to survive by their words at 7:4.
  
  
  
• It's nice to see there are refreshements for the champions, which makes me wonder if gatorade has sponsered this at all.
  
  
  
  
• + =
  Really...does ANYONE else think this? I mean she has the BATMAN GAUNLETS ON! I at least like the implied devil/demon horns in Skeeter's hair. She is pretty darn evil.
  
  
• There's a real nice bit of symbolism here when Barty is explaning the goal of the First Task. In each shot of the champions, you see partially each Headmaster backing (or in some cases standing by) their champions with the exception of Cedric. It's shows a nice bit of the relationship as to who Dumbledore is closer to for obvious reasons, but also could visually foreshadow Cedric's death and aloneness in this particular installment. Poor poor Cedric.
  
  
  
  

[Dark Emperor]

Ahhh yes. The scene where Crouch loses the rest of his believability as a serious character by going "Oooooooooh" after introducing the Chinese Fireball.

Apart from that, I didn't mind....

[Undrhil]

This chapter reminded me why I prefer the books to the movies. As you said, the build-up to Harry's turn is what makes this a great chapter in the book, so much so that you actually want to find out what the other champions did to get their egg. I was disappointed that there was no score tally at the end of the task and it makes me wonder how they came up with the scores for the end of the second task.

I thought the scene with Harry and Hermione was a bit overdone, but they had to throw something like that in there so the scene later with Hermione reading the Daily Prophet article would make more sense. On the other hand, Krum's line "This tent is only for Champions ... and friends." was very stoic and stood out since it was one of the only times we hear Krum speak in the movie.

I didn't like the way their portrayed Rita Skeeter. She wasn't so blatent about getting interviews in the book, except for the one she got with Harry originally and the one she got with Hagrid. The rest of the time, she was in her Animagus form in the book. But, I guess the film makers didn't want to go through with the whole animagus subplot, since they sort of brushed over it in Prisoner of Azkaban. I wish they had included it, though, since it would have meant that she wouldn't have been in this scene at all.

I think they added the misfiring of the cannons as a bit of humor. This movie is quite dark as compared to the first three, especially when considering the ending. So, every bit of humor helps to lighten it. That's why they had the scene with the twins fighting as old men (they didn't do this in the book) and the scene with Snape smacking the boys on the back of the head during the Yule Ball discussion. Also, it shows that Filch is quite inept when it comes to things which shouldn't be that hard to do. I'm not sure why they are putting Filch in this light; his character from the books is much more sinister than that.

EDIT: DarwinMayflower - just thought I would let you know that all of the links Chapter 1 to Chapter 10 don't work. They bring me to a "No thread specified" page. Is it just my browser not working or was that thread deleted?

[yoshi2542]

I want to like this scene, but I just can't. Aside from Dumbledore's triple take when he sees Hermione, the rest is boring. It seems like the meat of the scene is spread far too thinly over the multitude of characters here. Hermione talks to Harry, hugs him, then Skeeter enters, then Krum defends Hermione, Dumbledore and his posse enter, it just lurches around and never does anything interesting or focusses on anything. This is one of those scenes where Cuaron's lighting, detail and camera style would really help the scene.

There is also some bad dubbing when DD says 'the bag' his lips aren't moving. And one of the things that annoys me most is how this scene is the first (aside from the flashback in COS) where Dumbledore isn't wearing glasses. I am not normally picky about this sort of thing, but Gambon looks so much like Dumbledore with the glasses on, and a little too much like Mike Gambon in a wig and beard without them.

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by Undrhil

EDIT: DarwinMayflower - just thought I would let you know that all of the links Chapter 1 to Chapter 10 don't work. They bring me to a "No thread specified" page. Is it just my browser not working or was that thread deleted?

How astute of you! I'm quite sad to inform that original thread has been deleted. The good thing is that I've managed to save an archived copy of the thread and for future reference be posting it to a livejournal that I've set up of the same content. So just to tell new viewers if they want to read some of the past discussions or even comment on them on the journal itself, I'll be posting them up during the CoSForums shutdown for Book 7.

I should take this time to mention that I might actually continue discussion of GoF on that livejournal account during that 10 day shutdown, but most likely not since everyone else would be busy with a Hallow of Death.

[Tabris93]

What I like the most with this scene is the brilliant way it manages to capture the tension and nervousness of Harry, his feeling of being too young, too unprepared and too alone.

I do not like Hermione in this scene at all. Unfortunately, I don't really like Hermione at all in this movie. Which is a shame, as I think Emma Watson portrayed Hermione almost to perfection in the first two movies and did a very good job in PoA. The mix of acting with her eyebrows and overacting in just about every scene in this movie makes me cringe. I really hope she does it better in OotP, as I am quite convinced of her capability.

I was disappointed too, about losing Ludo Bagman. (As I am disappointed about every deviation from the book ). But I can understand it - this movie introduce loads of new characters, and I believe non-readers will have problem keeping up already. So instead of making GoF into the long movie it should have been - or maybe even two movies or a mini series - they chop it to pieces and sow it together to the best of their abilities, and this is what you get.

Barty Crouch Sr. is... weird. I have no word - neither in English nor Norwegian - to explain how I feel about his character in the movie. I can't put my finger on it, but he is so extremly odd! I never noticed the "Ooooh!"-line until someone here at CoS had a screenshot up - and I laugh myself silly everytime I see it now.

Yes, I noticed too that Gambon often doesn't use the Dumbledore glasses. Why is that?! There is no good reason for it, and makes me dislike his version of Dumbledore even more (if that was possible). As in all of PoA and GoF, I don't see a trace of Dumbledore in this scene either.

When the canon fires, there is a very small scene of Rita Skeeter clutching herself to Cedric in suprise, and gives him a sly grin when she detaches herself from him afterwards. Quite a nice detail in the background.

I love Cedric's reaction too. Very believable. And when Harry sits there alone, listening to the commentaries, I can feel my gut clenching like his surely must be doing. Love that scene - the atmosphere in that little moment is as close to the book as anything.

[DarwinMayflower]

Originally Posted by Undrhil

I didn't like the way their portrayed Rita Skeeter. She wasn't so blatent about getting interviews in the book, except for the one she got with Harry originally and the one she got with Hagrid. The rest of the time, she was in her Animagus form in the book. But, I guess the film makers didn't want to go through with the whole animagus subplot, since they sort of brushed over it in Prisoner of Azkaban. I wish they had included it, though, since it would have meant that she wouldn't have been in this scene at all.

From what we see it seems that Skeeter is just another supporting character that's just tossed to the side. It's quite bad because there is no sort of finality to most of the secondary characters in this film as opposed to previous ones. Even the first two touch base on certain characters that appeared in the film. Even the small instances that try to mimic the previous three's little stop in to see what this character thinks about the end or even giving some characters a certain sort of finality never really feels final. Instead of a send off they are tossed into the rubbish.

I think they added the misfiring of the cannons as a bit of humor. This movie is quite dark as compared to the first three, especially when considering the ending. So, every bit of humor helps to lighten it. That's why they had the scene with the twins fighting as old men (they didn't do this in the book) and the scene with Snape smacking the boys on the back of the head during the Yule Ball discussion. Also, it shows that Filch is quite inept when it comes to things which shouldn't be that hard to do. I'm not sure why they are putting Filch in this light; his character from the books is much more sinister than that.

Well Filch was always a sort of all bark no bite character in the books, at least IMHO. He was mean but he is more of a Groundskeeper Willy type than a Frankenstein's Igor type. It's just that even Filch is deadly serious, what is funny is the situations that he gets into, much like Willy.

The humour, I don't think that the movie is especially dark. Exciting perhaps, but not especially dark. There's nothing especially sinister in the series nor does it ever reach that highpoint like the more thrilling aspects of GoF. I think the scene with the Twins fighting was...decent but not as great as the novel because the novel was just as funny if not more with Dumbledore being more humourous than his usual self. But I could understand why they went that route, perhaps to offer a better transition to show Krum putting in his name.

Originally Posted by Tabris93

What I like the most with this scene is the brilliant way it manages to capture the tension and nervousness of Harry, his feeling of being too young, too unprepared and too alone.

It's kind of funny because I never really gotten that feeling. I mean it is there if you pick it out, but it's these kind of things that interest me as to how a fresh pair of eyes sees the film differently from anothers. To me the direction just clutters up everything for me and I treat this scene more of a mishmash of things happening or preparations for the First Task as opposed to Harry being nervous. It's like you taken a stance of seeing Harry's feelings and emotions whereas I've taken one on seeing what's happening in the tent as a whole.

I do not like Hermione in this scene at all. Unfortunately, I don't really like Hermione at all in this movie. Which is a shame, as I think Emma Watson portrayed Hermione almost to perfection in the first two movies and did a very good job in PoA. The mix of acting with her eyebrows and overacting in just about every scene in this movie makes me cringe. I really hope she does it better in OotP, as I am quite convinced of her capability.

I blame Felton for that. I think that her punch to Felton's face from PoA probably transferred his eyebrow acting from CoS to her. Or she thinks that he's just so cool on the set and wants to emulate him. Either way Draco Malfoy has ruined things in more ways than one. CURSE YOU MALFOY!

When the canon fires, there is a very small scene of Rita Skeeter clutching herself to Cedric in suprise, and gives him a sly grin when she detaches herself from him afterwards. Quite a nice detail in the background.

Thanks! I'll make a mental note of that a put it in the things of note

Originally Posted by yoshi2542

I want to like this scene, but I just can't. Aside from Dumbledore's triple take when he sees Hermione, the rest is boring. It seems like the meat of the scene is spread far too thinly over the multitude of characters here. Hermione talks to Harry, hugs him, then Skeeter enters, then Krum defends Hermione, Dumbledore and his posse enter, it just lurches around and never does anything interesting or focusses on anything. This is one of those scenes where Cuaron's lighting, detail and camera style would really help the scene.

The problem is that even I can't think of anyway to streamline that to something more sigificant. It's not Newall's fault, Kloves' fault or even JKR's fault. It's just that this book is just so darn dense and the focus is hard since it's totally split. I was going to save this for the end of the movie, but so far this really seems like a film that doesn't flow at all. I mean even the start of this chapter, LOOK AT THE EDIT OF IT. We see Moody's office and then BANG right to the stadium. Ok I'm all for getting to the point, but this is just like a smash cut right here. The scenes themselves are constructed well at times, but there's no continuation that ever makes this film seem more than a edited nightmare of events strung together. You never get a sense of the previous scene having a bearing with the current one.

There is also some bad dubbing when DD says 'the bag' his lips aren't moving. And one of the things that annoys me most is how this scene is the first (aside from the flashback in COS) where Dumbledore isn't wearing glasses. I am not normally picky about this sort of thing, but Gambon looks so much like Dumbledore with the glasses on, and a little too much like Mike Gambon in a wig and beard without them.

I'll add that as well. Thanks!

[lindaluna]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

As much as the film is supposed to be focused on Harry, I'm quite disappointed as to the lack of showing the other champions compete because of the severe lack of DRAGON AWESOMENESS! At the same time so much could have been done to make the build up a bit better than just a fade in to Harry sitting on a bed.

I agree - waiting in the tent is not nearly so much fun as actually seeing the dragons and the other tasks.

In the books, when Ron re-caps it - we get almost the same flavor (it's all type on a page after all) but it's really lacking from the movie. Also those mini-dragons looked so good!

And the stadium was too small. Only about 20 extras all in one corner. The scale was all wrong to me outside to inside.

I have a new phrase for Hermione / Emma Watson that has nothing to do with her eyebrows. From watching the OOP clips in mute I'm now calling her "Hermione the Hyperventilator". She seems to feel that vaso vagal manoevers give her acting a realism that ordinary ventilation lacks. She looked fantastic at the Los Angeles premiere though. She seems very skinny. I wonder if she gets anorexic under stress.

When I watched GOF in the theaters (about 20 times) I thought Cedric was really low key. On DVD tho' he's perfect on repeated (about 200) showings. Rita was completely meaningless & could have been cut. They could have coached Krum character to deliver his line a little better. After all Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas) gets only one line per movie and he can usually get it out credibly.

Why the heck were Harry and Hermione talking to each other from the sides of the tent like that - then only to break down the barrier ?

I mean anyone who has been in a real tent would never do that. *sigh*

Originally Posted by lindaluna

You know Filch and his gun - his canon - that keep going off prematurely. I thought of 2 things:

1. A joke about the use of canon.

2. A joke about Wimsey and the chekovian guns that must be fired concept.

Here was a completely non-canon cannon, that fired prematurely and for no reason throughout the movie.

Let me explain. Wimsey is of course completely correct, the gun on the wall in the first act must be fired in the third act, IF you are a good writer, and you are not working with JKR, who has a wall full of guns, and characters that go off & on for no reason. Enter our screenwriter, and JKR's world, where really each book is one part of a 7 act series.

Drunken Screenwriter Alone at midnight, candle burning, screenwriter with cheap california red wine, sobbing. Screenwriter: Canon - everyone wants canon....I know that the gun is supposed to fire in the third act, but which gun? what is the third act? this book is just a couple of scenes from the second act! I'm so inept! Screenwriter: What am I supposed to do ? *reverie* Dumbledore/Wimsey: On three, one - two - ... Filch/Screenwriter: One *bam* ... oh darn it! Screenwriter starts to giggle drunkenly. Screenwriter: Wait.... I have an idea....

[Hermaryne]

Originally Posted by DarwinMayflower

The good thing is that I've managed to save an archived copy of the thread and for future reference be posting it to a livejournal that I've set up of the same content. So just to tell new viewers if they want to read some of the past discussions or even comment on them on the journal itself, I'll be posting them up during the CoSForums shutdown for Book 7.

Good, me likes this thread!

Just popped in for the first time and discovered people discussing lighting, set-dressing, wardrobe and props (swoons).

I'm not a huge GoF fan but I'd like to read the PoA thread. What is the address for the live journal?

Kudos to all!

[DarwinMayflower]

Announcement for this Thread during the Forum Closure

As July 14th approaches, obviously we won't be able to post diddly about the chapter discussions. We're either too busy with both OoTP and DH being released that I've decided to also take a break. As for most of you and newcomers to the thread (no doubt sparked by the movie) want to read the older posts, you'll have to direct your attention to:

My Livejournal http://mcpotterdore.livejournal.com/.

Starting tonight I'll be posting the previous chapter posts (with some ammendments and additions) to this livejournal starting from GoF Chp 10 and BACKWARDS. Aside from editing and needing to do some HTML work here and there, most of the thread should be completed by the weekend. All the chapter posts that I've done will be up there from PS all the way up to GoF and now.

I should mention that despite me just making a semi-permanent archive of the thread, this also presents a revived oppurtunity for anyone who wishes to comment or discuss the movies through the livejournal post comments. Comment on one or all of them I don't care I'm always up for a bit o a chit chat.

In other news, I might make a chatroom availble for anyone who wishes to discuss anything with me during the forum closure period. I'm sure that many of you think me a horrible tyrant and fear the mere shadow of my internet presence to try and muster up enough gusto to talk to me, but I'm not. The chatroom details will come in the next post when I find something reliable to have a chat with.

Other than that, regards and probably see you in a week or two.