OoTP cuts -Quidditch

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "susanbones2003" <rkdas at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, Karen <kchuplis@> wrote:
> SNIPPED> >
> > >   Andie:
> > >   I'm sure they will drop Quidditch since after GOF they said
> > >   no more Quidditch.
> > >   As long as they don't get rid of the twins departure and
> > >   Umbridge with the centaurs I'll be happy
> > >
> >SNIPPED AGAIN
> 
> I think at the very least they have to have quidditch going on
> off screen. Grawp was revealved during Ron's triumphant quidditch 
> match. I'm thinking they'll have to have Harry and the twins 
> banned "after" a match is finished. The meanie Slyths can be 
> singing "Weasley is our king" on the way out to the pitch for
> Ron's match. Then Harry and Hermione can do their gig in the
> forest with Quidditch off-camera. But that's just my idea. They
> can, and have totally re-worked stuff before!
> Jen D>
>


bboyminn:

I guess it is a question of which Quidditch match is more important to
the story; Harry being thrown off the Quidditch team for fighting with
Malfoy, or the scene in which Harry meets Hagrid's 'little' brother.

Umbridge shows how foul and loathsome she is in many way and certainly
they will not show each and every way found in the book. So, is Harry
being banned from Quidditch sufficiently important and cinematic to
warrant staying in the movie? Personally, I think it is. If it stays
in then I suspect Hagrid will corner Harry and Hermione on their way
to the next Quidditch match and we won't see Ron at all. 

I don't envy those who have to trim these books down. Deciding which
scenes stay and which go has to be an extremely difficult process. I
think, like Mike Newell, we need to find the central thread of the
story and stick to that, but even starting with that assumption, it is
still a difficult task.

The central story seems to be the Ministry's denial that Voldemort is
back that their extreme efforts to discredit Harry and Dumbledore's
claim that he has indeed returned. All this leads to the final battle
where it is confirmed beyond any doubt that Voldemort is back. In a
sense, that is what Umbridge symbolizes, the Ministry's efforts to
bring every aspect of the wizard world under there control and in line
with their belief. In that sense, the Quidditch game in which Harry is
banned is not that important. But on the other hand it is one of the
more cinematic moments in the book. It is visually appealing and very
dramatic.

On the other hand, Harry and Hermione meeting Grawp is the setup for
Grawp to be introduce into the story so he can later save Harry and
Hermione from the Centaurs. In the process of doing that, Grawp bleeds
on Harry and Hermione and that draws the Thestrals to them which in
turn allows them to travel to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius.
So, from a plot perspective, Grawp is more important than Harry being
banned from Quidditch.

Personally, I really can't decide. Quidditch is visually appealing and
exciting, but Grawp is central to the plot. So, it could go either
way. Like I said, I don't envy the people who have to make these
decisions.

Steve/bboyminn