[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: What the hell are they up to now?

[Shaun Hately]

On 19 Jan 2004 at 22:42, Steve wrote:

> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" <drednort at a...>

> > Shaun:
> > 
> > Actually, I think such an object would fit very nicely into Diagon 
> > Alley - remember in Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is free to wander 
> > around the Alley, far more than in the first two books. I'd 
> > personally like to see a bit more of it. I don't really think we're 
> > likely to - it's time intensive for little plot advancement - but 
> > used appropriately, I can see that fitting in fairly well.
> > 
> > Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
> > Shaun Hately 
> 
> bboy_mn:
> 
> Well, if I continue the assumption that the Carousel will appear in
> Diagon Alley, I can see HOW they could fit it in, I just can't see WHY
> they would try.

Because if you look at Diagon Alley, as seen in the films so far, 
you'll see that it's a rather *tight* filming environment - a 
rather 'crowded' environment in many ways, and it's a pretty small 
area.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, we get a much more expanded view of it - it 
is a long cobbled street, packed with the most fascinating wizard 
shops in the world. It's a place where a 13 year old is able to 
amuse himself for a period of days, just by wandering around 
looking at things.

If the movie attempts to give us any sort of sense of size that 
will do this type of image justice, they are going to need to do a 
*lot* of set dressing - including things in the background, which 
have colour and motion, and which fit the décor of the Diagon Alley 
environment.

The steam powered carousels I have seen, tend to fit that criteria 
nearly perfectly IMHO.

> With so much great story there, and so many great visuals written in
> the book, why would they need to waste precious screen time showing
> something like this? I suppose it could just be something in the
> background that Harry walks past as he wanders the Alley, but I would
> sooner see the Quidditch shop or Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where
> Harry gets free Choconut sundaes every half hour while he does his
> home work. Or the Magical Menagerie where Herione finds Crookshanks.
> Or breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron with rowdy warlocks and hags eating
> raw liver. There simply must be better things to do with the time and
> money than a carousel.

Yes, and no. Do you want to see a set that *ONLY* has the Quidditch 
shop, that *only* has Fortescues, that *ONLY* has the Magical 
Menagerie?

That can be done - but the only way it can be done from a stylistic 
point of view is by using very tight shots that will give 
absolutely no impression of the size of Diagon Alley.

When they design an exterior set for any major film, one of the big 
priorities is to make the important items on that set - the objects 
you need for the plot - appear to be just part of a larger world. 
If you have a scene that requires to sit on a park bench, is the 
only thing on the screen going to be that park bench? Presumably 
they'd add trees, and lampposts, etc.

If the only things we see in Diagon Alley are the things Harry 
needs to be there, we don't have a vibrant living community. We 
have a minimalist film set that miraculously contains exactly what 
Harry needs it to contain.

A 'Street of Requirement' so to speak.

Is a carousel required for the film? No.

But it its décor is right, (hey cool, my mail program added the 
accent on décor. Ooh, it did it again), it could make dressing the 
Diagon Alley set much easier and cheaper - because I would presume 
this is a preexistant object, and therefore isn't being 
specifically constructed for the film.

Set dressing for a film like Harry Potter is pretty difficult, 
because you often can't use stock items. You have to look for the 
unusual.

Now I don't know if it's going to be used in Diagon Alley or not - 
but I can see it working there.

> I can think of a lot of things I would rather see than a carousel. Of
> course, the carousel may not be for PoA; it could be something for
> Goblet of Fire, perhaps a carousel outside the Quidditch staduim. The
> pre-game period does sort of have a carnival atmosphere. 

Yes, I can think of a lot of things I would rather see than a 
carousel as well - but presumably this carousel already exists. 
Most of the things I'd like to see in Diagon Alley would need to be 
scratch built - which is generally much more expensive than pre-
purcahse. They'll need to do some of that to do the films justice - 
but ideally, they should be dressing sets etc, as cheaply as they 
reasonably can - so they can direct the money elsewhere.





Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia


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