Gof: Good Movies, Time, and Coffee

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "irene_mikhlin"
<irene_mikhlin at y...> wrote:

> > bboy_mn:
> > 
> > ... Both 'Sorcerer's Stone' and 'Chamber of Sercets' would have 
> > gone from good to great movies, if they had been stretched to 3 
> > full hours. 
> > 
> > This is especially true of CoS. If you look at the DVD extras, you
> > will see that many elements that would have explained the plot and
> > allowed some character developemnt were there, but had to be cut
> > to fit WB's assumption that the TV generation can't sit still and
> > remain attentive from more than a few minutes at a time.

> Irene replies:
> 
> ... I find it hard to blame the studio.... ... cut one minute of ...
> "flying car chases ...", one minute of the spiders sequence, and one
>  minute of ... basilisk battle, you have ... time for the 
> plot-advancing DVD extras and the same total running time. Nope, 
> can't blame studio for that. Now, maybe they forced Columbus's hand 
> in this kind of decisions as well, but we don't know.
> 
> Irene

bboy_mn:

Have you ever heard of the "Director's Cut" of a movie. That's a
re-edited where the director gets to override the studio and assemble
the movie the way HE thinks it should be cut. These are invariably
substantially longer than the studio's version. Any film buff would
very much prefer the Diretor's Cut over the studio's cut.

I suspect that the studio is responsible for the Hagrid Hug Fest
ending to GoF. My (unfounded, unprovable) guess is that the studio
said, 'you're out of time and money, give us the movie RIGHT NOW!' and
 the Director had no choice but to film the quick and dirty 'hug fest'.

Today, I watched the CoS movie again and wondered just how much time
the 'Additional Scenes' on the DVD added up to, so thanks to a strong
cup of coffee and way too much time on my hands, I decide to find out.

Armed with my trusty stopwatch, I timed all 19 additional scenes. This
was the result-

Extended Pudding Scene - 01:11.94 (Min:Sec.TensHundredsSec)
Train Station/Flying Car - 00:29.62
Harry/Malfoy Knockturn Shop - 03:23.37
Filch Office-KwikSpell - 00:29.97
Knockturn Shop Exit/Outside - 00:24.28
Extended Colin Intro - 00:25.81
Lockhart Class Quiz - 01:19.03
Justin Intro Dualing Club - 01:19.03
Twin's Seriously Evil Wizard Comment - 01:18.96
Hagrid with Rooster Hallway - 00:55.31
Harry/Hedwig Questions Self Heir of Slyth - 00:55.69
Studyhall Hufflepuff Comments - 00:51.69
Quidditch Bludger Chase  - 00:20.00
Meet Fly Car in Forest - 00:42.25
Ha/Ron Visit Her in Hospital, Ron remembers Riddle name - 01:51.34
Poly!Ha/Ron meet real Crabbe/Goyle - 00:19.78
Harry wakes Ron after Diary scene - 00:19.50
Harry/Ron arrive with Cr/Go Hair at MM!Bath - 00:31.40
Harry/Ron put on Cloak - 00:18.03

Total = 16:40.90

Given that much of what is contained here overlaps with or duplicates
what was actually seen in the movie, the actual runtime is
substantially less.

Combine that with trimming some of the extisting scenes that many
believe dragged on too long, we are looking at adding about 10 minutes
to the movie to develop characters, make scene transition, and develop
the plot. 

Do you really believe that the director, who is trying to make the
best movie possible, trimmed out those 10 minutes of his own accord? 

Do you really believe that most people would have had to struggle to
endure those extra 10 minutes?

While I can't prove it, I'm am absolutely convinced that Studio
decisions are keeping these movies from being the great movies they
could have been.

When I look at the quality and craftsmanship that went into the Lord
of the Rings movies, it's very easy to see the difference between a
movie that is controlled by the Director and a movie that is
controlled by the studio. When I see Lord of the Rings, I see what
Harry Potter *could* have been.

As an additional note, I thought many of the scenes that were on the
'extras' were better than the ones that made it into the movie. 

But then, that's just my opinion.

bboy_mn