Setup for OOTP-Finding the Central Thread

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, Richard <hp at p...> wrote:
>
> At 22:27 29/11/2005 , Steve wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> > bboyminn:
> > 
> >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? ...

> Richard:
> 
> 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.
> 

bboyminn:

Of course, I was only using the Dementor attack to illustrate the
difficulty of creating a screenplay. 

To counter your argument, Umbridge can be introduced at school, the
conflict with the Ministry (mentioned elsewhere) doesn't have to be
introduced at all, and since the Thestrals know how to get anywhere,
the location of the Ministry can be left off and Harry can just tell
them 'Ministry of Magic' and off the Thestrals will go. To make this
work, we simply have to change the phone box entrance with it's
'm-a-g-i-c' phone number to a normal 'front door' entrance. I think
that eliminates about a fourth of the book; that's pretty good
condensing. 

Keep in mind I'm not saying this is a good thing. Just pointing out
that somethings that seem obvious and important to the books aren't
necesarily important to constructing a screen play.

So, the condense story could be Harry's war with a mean teacher
(Umbridge), the dreams, and a Thestral trip to the Ministry of Magic
for the final confrontation. 

Again, the core question is, where is the central thread of the story,
and what is just peripheral 'fill'? It's not an easy thing to determine.

Just passing it alone.

Steve/bboyminn