[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Setup for OOTP

[Richard]

At 22:27 29/11/2005 , Steve wrote:

> > JenD:
> >
> > I've already read that the new director of OOTP is having
> > trouble getting all the permits he needs to film a wild chase
> > scene through certain parts of London.
> >
>
>bboyminn:
>
>Wild Chase Scene???? Already I'm feeling worried. Not only don't I
>recall a 'wild chase scene' in OotP, but I don't even recall anything
>that could be converted into a 'wild chase scene'. I think there is
>more than enough story there already to start wasting time with 'wild
>chase scenes'.

That piece of news is several months old, and it was discussed here at the 
time. I'm too busy to battle the Yahoo! search facility to find it, but I 
would remind people that there there are two sequences in/over London in 
OotP: the race to get to the MoM at the end, and getting to 12GP at the 
beginning. The words "wild chase scene" can mean a multitude of things and 
while the scenes in the book are in the air (and thus presumably will be 
filmed on blue-screen), the film-makers still need to get permissions to 
film back plates of the city.

<snip>

>But then again, while it is true that the Dementor attack leads to the
>Black house which leads to Harry's hearing which introduces Umbridge
>which leads to the school, is it really all that important? Couldn't
>we just skip the Dementor attack, start right out with the Order
>taking Harry to Grimmauld Place and introduce Umbridge at school? Or,
>could we even skip the Order taking Harry to Grimmauld Place, and just
>start out at Grimmauld Place? -no Dementor attack -no Dusley's/Privet
>Drive -no Dudley attack -no Figg/Mundungus -no rescue by the Order

You're forgetting that the Dementor attack (and the subsequent hearing) 
leads to something much more important than introducing us to Umbridge: the 
whereabouts of the Ministry and how to get in. Seeing as the climax of the 
movie happens at the MoM, we need a pretext for Harry to get that 
information, and to see the layout.

Ultimately, while Goldberg *could* write an entirely new pretext for 
Harry's visit to the depths of the MoM, it would all be a bit pointless. 
I'm having trouble envisioning Harry having a different reason to get a 
guided tour of the Ministry at this point in the story, not to mention that 
we need to set up the friction between the powers that be and him (and the 
Order) - any other reason to get Harry to the MoM would take up just as 
much screen time (and I can't imagine Goldberg dreaming up anything more 
dramatic).

For the record, I can see the movie opening in the street with the Dementor 
attack happening fairly quickly, and getting rid of the next several dozen 
pages, to have an immediate hearing and *then* going to 12GP. Heck, we 
could even have a fairly serious departure from the book's plot to have a 
certain big black dog skulking around the shadows, and introduce Sirius 
much earlier than the book.

We don't necessarily need Mundungus or Mrs Figg (seeing as she's never been 
introduced before, and there's no reason for Harry to have any reason to 
trust her), although I'd prefer her to be around if only to testify.

--
Richard, playing catch-up again