Random thoughts about the movie, etc. -- CoS Nitpics

[marephraim]

Forgive these if they seem silly or what...

Classify them as nitpics, and yes I'm on a rambling roll this 
morning!

Acting - First, let me say that I'm a great fan of HP (books and 
movies) and, as I've noted elsewhere, am intending to see the movie 
again. 

However, I thought Daniel and Emma have not improved much in reading 
their lines. Think of Harry when he first sees Dobby in his room 
(why is Dobby jumping up and down on the bed?), the lines are 
delivered in a stilted fashion that doesn't ring true to the 
situation. Also, think of Hermione's information about the 
Mandrakes -- it sounds like she's trying to read it off a cue card. 

Rupert, however is fantastic and muchly under-used in the movie. His 
delivery and acting in the spider sequence was superb. 

Personally, I thought Coltrain was a bit flat in this one. He didn't 
seem at all afraid enough to be sent to Azkaban.

It broke my heart to see Harris in this one. I thought he looked 
very weak, and his delivery of his lines (to me, anyway) clearly 
showed how very sick he was. What a trooper to get through the whole 
long ordeal!

Audio -- There was not really a great dynamic range to the sound. 
For example, Dobby is supposed to have a very high squeeky voice, 
and Harry is certain that it is carrying downstairs. There just 
wasn't a lot of difference in amplitude between Harry's 
protestations that Dobby should keep quiet and Dobby's wailing. 

Editing -- the cuts from one scene to another were very abrupt. It 
was almost like watching a rough cut than the final product. Perhaps 
when the DVD comes out they'll a) expand it with scenes that would 
flesh out the story a bit -- more with/about Ginny? -- and b) work 
on the volume.

Book to move transitions -- I don't have a problem with certain 
elements of the story not being exact with the books. The Hufflepuff 
girl turning up in all the classes that are supposed to be only 
shared with Slytherin doesn't bother me. Having McGonnigall spill 
the beans about the legend of the Chamber versus Flitwick did seem a 
bit unnecessary, but there you go. 

However, not giving Ginny more presence in the movie made the flow 
of events seem quite random. And did I miss it, or did Justin Finch-
Fletchly not get petrified? (This may be a complete senior moment 
for me, so forgive please.) 

It strikes me that there just may have been way too much focus on 
being as close to the book as possible. In the end the movies have 
to be exceedingly long or sacrifice comprehension due to short-
handing. Picking the right parts of the story to include in the 
movie, and portraying them accurately or at least with care, would 
be more important than slavishly filming every paragraphs' nuance. 

As an example of what I mean (yes, this may be obscure) I love the 
Maltese Falcon. It's a wonderful movie, well directed and acted. 
I've also read the book. There are a few things that differ in the 
movie versus the book (those wonderful 1940's censors, you know!) 
and there are also elements that aren't in the movie at all. Now 
having seen the movie many times before I read the book, I was 
shocked on seeing it again after reading the book that there were 
actually several scenes that weren't in the movie that while reading 
the book I was absolutely certain I had seen! Point? A well made 
movie that is in spirit faithful to the book can give us a sense of 
things in the book that the movie doesn't include at all. As long as 
the basic plot, directing and acting are up to par it will still 
work.

Actors' Ages -- I have never thought that the age issue for the main 
cast was really a valid concern. As many have mentioned, it is 
routine to have older kids/adults playing younter roles. (Do we not 
all more or less see James Bond as being in his late thirties, as 
opposed to ... how old is Brosnen?) IS2M that the person who 
considered the whole thing as being a plant from the production team 
may have a point -- we look at how much older the kids look in 
comparison to PS/SS and are distracted from any flaws in their 
acting. Keep in mind, the age difference is bound to be more visible 
between PS/SS and CoS than CoS and any future endeavour. 

Directors -- There's been a lot of talk about the CC versus AC 
directing issue and its potential impact on the franchise. IS2M that 
CC has a history of starting a project with series potential and 
ultimately moving on. If AC is as good as people say (I've never 
seen one of his movies) I doubt we've much to worry about. It might 
actually make PoA a better movie. In fact, I wouldn't mind a bit of 
compression or potential elimination of certain things to make a 
better movie. 

Ok, I've ranted and raved my way through my morning coffee, and I'm 
sure I've bored you all to tears.

Thanks for putting up with the time you spent reading this.