Dan's acting, and other observations

[Steve]

> ...edited... In GOF, Dan's performance is totally credible and 
> achingly heartbreaking when he is crying over Cedric's body. 
> Dan conveys a lot through facial xpressions and body language, 
> and he did a consistently great job throughout GOF. If the kid 
> is this good at 16, he will be amazing in a few more years.
> Just my 2 cents worth!
> Nicole
>

bboyminn:

Sorry for cutting so much. I don't have any specific user directed
comments but I did want to comment of the Ron and Harry's acting
ability thread.

First and foremost, an actor is only as good as the material he is
give and the direction he is provided. Let's remember that each scene
was probably re-enacted several times, it was up to the Director to
determine which of the many versions made it into the movie. 

We all know that even the best of these HP movies is rushed and that
doesn't allow much time for a scene to develop or for an actor to get
into the emotions of the moment. I'm recalling two very emotional
moments from two separate movies; the long monolog given by the girl
(Keisha Castle-Hughes) in 'Whale Rider' and the scene in the park
between Johnny Depp (James Barrie) and Freddy Highmore (Peter Davis)
from the movie 'Finding Neverland'. 

Both were stunning in their emotional impact, but the movies
themselves had a condensed enough story to allow the emotions of the
characters, the actor, and the viewer to develop to an intense
emotional level. I'm reminded of another movie - Peter Jackson's 'King
Kong'. While the overal movie was just OK, I couldn't help but notice
Jackson's camera work; long slow pans, lingering on a characters face
to capture their emotions in the moment, and to some extent allowing
certain characters resonable monologs or dialogs. 

I don't see that in any of the HP Movie. In the HP movies, it's laugh,
cry, mug for the camera, NEXT! There are many scene in the HP stories
that are emotional, but if the movies don't set the groundwork and
develop the backstory, then it is hard for us as viewer to /catch/ the
emotion of the moment.

Regarding Rupert, for those who have seen 'Thunderpants', which never
had a chance to be any more than it was which is a small time Fart
movie, you will notice the Rupert developed a very un-Ron excentric
and unique character. Sadly I have only seen the trailers, but it was
clear the Ron created a very unique and engaging character. That shows
he has acting power beyond playing Ron.

Further, there are two new trailers for "Driving Lesson", in one of
them, Julie Walters is trying to get Ron to act out parts from
Shakespear with her. Ron starts very wooden, essentially reading the
words from the page, but by the last scene both he and Julie are
enthusiastically into their parts. Ron is actually pretty good in the
short segement I saw. 

I'm also eager to see Dan in 'December Boys', I can't imagine that he
will be anything other than /impressive/. That movie does have the
opportunity for a few emotional scenes, plus the overal movie has a
lot of conflicted emotions as the boys, who are friends, try to out do
each other to impress prospective adoptive parents. 

I guess on one hand I am acknowledging that both Dan and Rupert are
developing as actors. We aren't seeing the final product yet. Further,
it is a very exceptional actor who can play a deeply emotional scene
like those I mentioned in 'Whale Rider' and 'Finding Neverland'.
Further it takes an exceptional director and a movie context that
draws that depth of emotion from both the actor and the viewers. In
the next book we are expected to feel sorry for the death of Sirius,
but it's going to be hard to feel that emotion, if the movie doesn't
get us and Harry emotionally involved in who Sirius is and what he means. 

Certainly both Dan and Rupert have room to grow, and as someone else
pointed out, I think they both have superb abilities to express
themselves with their faces and their body language. That is a
critical point that most amateur actors miss. They think that the
words are everything, consequently, their delivery is very wooden and
emotionless. I watched 'Sorcerers Stone' again this weekend, and I was
impress very much by the very natural body language of both Dan and
Rupert. I was expecially impressed with Ron/Rupert who I think did an
excellent job in that movie. 

Back to my central point, it is true that Dan and Rupert aren't
perfect, but we can't blame their performance totally on them. The
Producers, Warner, and the Directors all have a hand in the final
product, and Dan and Rupert can't give a performance that isn't in the
script or that isn't in the priorities of the producers. We have all
said many times that Warner Brothers has completely misjudge the Harry
Potter series. They are not taking it seriously enough, and they are
not considering the movies as a series of movies telling a continous
story. There is not one director who has a central vision of the final
product the way Peter Jackson had a unique vision for 'Lord of the
Rings'. 

So, to some extent I agree Dan and Rupert's performances were flawed,
but no more flawed than what they were given to work with. In fact,
considering what they were given to work with, I think they both did
an outstanding job.

Just a little endless rambling.

Steve/bboyminn