How we picture characters

[justcarol67]

Dungrollin wrote:
> > > Yes, me; and I appreciate this may make me unpopular. He's too 
> old, he's not tall enough, and he's not spikey enough. And I hate 
> the costume and the wig. 
> > 
Carol responds:

Spikey? Can you clarify?

> > Potioncat:
> > Not tall enough? He's 6'1" (according to IMDB). Snape is supposed 
> to be shorter than Black. So I doubt canon Snape is over 6' Sad to 
> say, he really is too old for this character. But never, ever would 
> I want anyone else but Rickman for Snape. It does after all, put 
> Snape in my age range. ;-)
> > 
> 
> Dung:
> Really? Goodness. Shows you what a dreadful costume it is, because 
> he doesn't look it at all. The robes and cloak should have been much 
> longer, it would have made him look taller and thinner, (and 
> therefore more spikey - so long as they didn't insist on that stupid 
> wig). 

> As I recall, the sleves are long but tight, yeah? I don't mind that 
> so much, but what I do mind is that without a long enough cloak, he 
> can't *sweep* out of rooms. That's important to me in the way I 
> visualise him, he must *sweep*.
> 
Carol:
I agree that the costume is dreadful, mostly because Snape would never
wear trousers (or tight sleeves with buttons). He'd wear wizard's
robes, for crying out loud, and as you say, the cloak has to be longer
so he can sweep out of the room. I don't mind the wig since I don't
think fo snape as being as "greasy" as Harry and Sirius Black do, and
I think Alan Rickman's nose (as Snape--I don't know whether they've
altered it or not) is just right, as are his teeth--just crooked
enough to be noticeable when he's angry but not when he's speaking
normally. I like Rickman's range of (facial) expression and his
mvoements, but the voice isn't quite right--a little too hissy and
slobbery, if I may say so without annoying the diehard Rickman fans.
His "Ex. . . pelliarmus!" in the CoS film takes much too long to say.
Even Branaugh!Lockhart could have gotten in a Protego during the
interval between the first and second syllables. And, yes, he's much
too old, a problem that can only get worse as the films progress. I
don't have a problem with his height and the build is okay, but the
costume, especially from the duelling scene forward, is decidedly
unSnapish. 


> Potioncat:
> > Well, I don't care for any of the wizards' costumes (except for DD 
> in the first two) or any of the kids' costumes. The women professors 
> are alright. I thought, after Snape showed his dark mark in the 
> books, that there had been a plan all along for his sleeves to be so 
> long--- so to hide the mark. But they cut that scene anyway.

Carol:

I agree completely. The costumes are too modern and Mugglish. The
trousers that Kreacher snogged aside, Wizards wear robes and cloaks! I
don't like the electric trains and Victrolas, either (though we do
have a Victrola mentioned in relation to Slughorn in HBP, oddly
enough). Still, I don't like the idea that Hogwarts resembles the
Muggle world of the 1940s. The whole atmosphere should, IMO, be much
more medieval. You know--dungeons, suits of armor, candles. . . .
That's not the twentieth century, not even the early or mid-twentieth
century. 

In the case of the kids, they wear actual Muggle clothes from PoA
onward. Would Draco wear Muggle clothes at all, ever, except maybe at
King's Cross Station to pass as a Muggle getting onto and off Platform
9 3/4? The books say black robes for everyday wear--and that includes
Saturdays. The Pensieve scene ("Snape's Worst Memory") won't work at
all unless Sevvie is wearing wizard robes (and greying underwear). And
part of the illusion JKR is creating depends on Wizards, at least the
adults, having no clue what Muggles actually wear. How can that be the
case if even the pureblood kids wear Muggle clothes under their robes
and dispense with the robes altogether during their free time? (And
look at Karkaroff's guards and Barty Jr. in the Pensieve scene in the
GoF film, which didn't even give us Dementors guarding the prisoners,
not to mention all the combining and eliminating it did elsewhere.)

> Potioncat:
> > Some time back, I was considering that canon!Snape would not be as 
> > yummy as Movie!Snape and was trying to picture a better image. 
> There was a movie on the TV with a charactr that seemd to "be"
canon! Snape. Turns out it was Tim Roth in Rob Roy. He is only 5'7"  I 
> thought that was particularly interesting because I don't know Tim 
> Roth from a housecat, but I'd read once that he had been an early 
> contender for Snape.
> > 
> 
> Dung:
> I love Tim Roth, particularly enjoyed him and Gary Oldman in 
> Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead; though I haven't seen him in 
> much recently, except for To Kill a King (which is surely no 
> longer 'recent'). Actually, thinking about it, Rupert Everett would 
> have made a *fabulous* Snape. Ooh yes, that's who I'd have cast.

Carol: 
I looked them both up on the IMDb. I didn't like Tim Roth's looks and
Rupert Everett was too square-jawed. Snape is supposed to be
noticeably thin (but wiry, I think. That last scene in HBP shows him
to be in marvelous physical condition.) So I'll stick with
Rickman!Snape and pray that they can keep him looking middle-aged
rather than borderline elderly in the upcoming films. He'd have the
right look if only he were the right age. Again, it's only the
costumes and occasionally his voice that bug me.

Michael Gambon as Dumbledore and his horrible gray robes and
rubber-banded beard--don't even get me started!

As for other characters, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid comes close but his
beard and hair should be blacker. The woman playing Madame Maxime was
too much taller than Hargrid (computer graphics, I suppose) and should
have been closer to his build in general--Junoesque on a grand scale,
not tall and relatively thin. David Thewlis as Lupin? Not even close.
I hate that stupid little mustache. And Gary Oldman as Sirius Black?
Too old and no trace of lost handsomeness. (Helena Bonham Carter as
Bellatrix will have the opposite problem--not old enough and still has
her looks! I wonder if they can manage the heavy-lidded eyes?)

Tom Felton as Draco is a teeny bit too old and his accent is
wrong--not sufficiently aristocratic for a wealthy pureblood, IMO.
(BTW, his hair is mentioned as blond way back in CoS, I believe. Or is
that only the pale skin, grey eyes, and pointy chin?)

Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort? His fingers should be long but not that
long! he can barely hold a wand!

I could go on and on, but I'll just say that Hagrid, McGonagall, and
Snape are the only characters I can think of who resemble their movie
versions in my mind. The Dursleys are completely wrong, with Petunia
and Dudley having switched hair colors with Vernon.

Carol, who didn't mean to go into such detail about relatively
unimportant matters