third trailer (AKA Luke whines about special effects)

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., SoSilently at a... wrote:
> And I can't be alone in adoring this trailer, right? Ron's
> final "Eugh!" just kills me. ;)

I did enjoy the third trailer (especially the new footage of both 
chess scenes), but it also cemented for me the very fair-to-middling 
special effects.  I have already been unimpressed by some of the 
special effects choices like the CGI motion blur used in fast-moving 
(flying) scenes, but the thing that really finally got to me on this 
third trailer was when Harry was on top of the troll being flung 
around.  I know the limits of CGI and nowhere among them is the 
inability to create propotionately-accurate humans (even if they are 
wildly unrealistic, they can still have proper proportions).  CGI 
Harry in these scenes is disproportionately skinny like one of those 
marionettes.  This is easy enough to tell when played at normal 
speed, but became glaring when I looked at it in frame-by-frame/slow 
motion.  And unlike some of the special effects shown in the 
trailers, which were simply unfinished and eventually got better 
(like the texture mapping for Fluffy), this sort of disproportion is 
unlikely to have been improved upon for the final product.

But ultimately I suppose it doesn't matter, because I do not come 
from the school of thought that puts much stock in special effects as 
the *reason* we go to see films.  So long as the story is there, 
well, that's the key, even in movies that are very heavy on effects.  
Special effects need only be sufficient to support said story and the 
suspension of disbelief.  The 'wow' factor is not only unnecessary, 
but sometimes undesireable because it calls attention to movie-making 
technique, which ruins suspension of disbelief.

Other than that though, and several other minor qualms I have, things 
look pretty good, and it certainly appears more faithful than a lot 
of other book-to-movie adaptations I can think of.  I reserve final 
judgment on everything until Nov. 16.

-Luke