OoTP book covers & interpretations

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 54084

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Alex" <aesob at y...> wrote:
> I'll try to keep this at least _mostly_ related to canon, but as a 
graphic designer 
> who has plenty of art direction experience, that may slip out, so 
I'll apologize 
> in advance.
> 
Annemehr:
Don't apologize, that's a good thing!  I think your analysis of the 
cover design is the best yet.

<snip>

> The first thing I find interesting in the American cover is its 
blueness. Even the 
> flames of the candles are in blue tones, and the light they're 
producing is blue. 
> This either means that they are bewitched to give off a blue light 
(which is 
> possible since they're obviously magically floating) and the blue is 
an 
> indication of something. My take: the blue has something to do with 
ghosts. 
>
Annemehr:
Possibly. It comes to my mind that magical flames seem to come in very 
many colors.  Off the top of my head, I can think of the green Floo 
flames, the black and purple (is that right?) flames at the entrances 
of the room that the potion logic puzzle was in in PS/SS, and the blue 
flames that Hermione knows how to conjure.  These particular flames do 
have a ghostly feel to them, though.

<snip> 
> The other possibility is that Ms. GrandPre chose to illustrate the 
cover in blue 
> tones to acheive a cold, dreary or spookier feel, and that it has 
nothing to do 
> with the plot...but I don't think so.


Annemehr:
Agreed.  She seems to always be able to use the elements of the story 
to achieve the effect she wants without adding things in.  I'm betting 
this was either explicitly in the book or else a perfectly good 
interpretation of a less specific description of an eerie room.

 <snip> 
> As for the right hand/left hand thing, we have to keep in mind that 
the cover art 
> is not art-directed by JKR, and that GrandPre is only interpreting 
what she 
> reads into something for us to see. Just because Harry is holding 
his wand in 
> his left hand doesn't mean that he's looking in a mirror or that 
he's suddenly 
> left-handed. GrandPre probably chose to put the wand there because 
it just 
> looked better that way. Artist's choice doesn't necessarily fit into 
canon.
> 

Annemehr:
She just always seems to draw him left-handed. Besides the GoF 
cover (and did someone mention the cover of PS/SS?), I've found 
another example -- in the chapter illustration for Ch. 12 of PoA, 
Harry is shown wielding his wand in his left hand.  Perhaps Ms. Grand 
Pre is left-handed herself and just naturally draws people this way?

<snip a lot of things I agree with>

> Another odd thing I notice is the reflection of the candles in the 
doors (or we're 
> seeing candles through the doors), as though they have glass in 
them. This is 
> odd, as it leads me to believe that Harry can see into the doorways 
and make 
> an informed decision about which door to choose.

Annemehr:
Perhaps the doors are of dark wood and highly polished.  If so, then 
the candles would certainly reflect well in such a dark room.  
However, there seems to be another, stronger source of light coming 
from the upper right.  It looks like moonlight, but that would mess up 
the symmetry of the room by neccessitating a window there.  It *could* 
be a very bright ghost that Harry is just catching sight of over his 
shoulder -- that would fit in with the ghostly atmosphere.
> 
> Also, as an aside, I don't think Harry looks at all like Dan 
Radcliffe...it looks 
> like a rapidly maturing version of the same boy we saw on the GoF 
cover. 

Annemehr:
This is true.  Dan Radcliffe has much thicker eyebrows and an 
*extremely* straight nose.  Ms. Grand Pre's Harry has always had that 
nose like a ski-jump.  I am glad to see him looking fifteen.  I don't 
know why, but am very much enjoying the fact that we get to watch 
Harry grow up as opposed to having a series of books where the hero 
stays basically the same.

Incidentally, this image of Harry seems to harken back to the ones on 
SS, CoS and PoA, although slightly less cartoonish.  This contrasts 
with the Harry on the cover of GoF who looks exactly like a guy I went 
to college with.  The GoF Harry is done much more realistically, and 
always evoked a sense of poignancy in me -- here's Harry, happy to be 
in the WW and doing his best in the TWT even though he didn't even 
enter it -- all goodwill and innocence -- and upon reading we find out 
 what Voldemort does to him.  It's a very full interpretation of the 
book, in my opinion. It makes me hope the same for this new cover.

Annemehr