I don't have much to say about this particular scene. It's interesting to see in some certain degree that it shows a typical classroom setting before the teacher arrives...just like Degrassi or every other countless number of before the teacher arrives shots in films involving school. What I do like in some twisted way is that this one scene probably shows House Unity far better than any other scene we've seen in the franchise. We have *all* houses horsing around, nothing particularly defining for any given house but just having a bit of pre-class fun. Sure Crabbe shot an elastic, but Seamus did try to grab it out of the air so everyone is being a kid here.

A clear reference to PoA's own paper bird moment, this scene sadly reminds me of the more boring class moments of the franchise. The CG stood out far too much, unlike PoA's which looked far more natural. The panning shots of the bare and boring classroom reminds me of CoS's classes. Take for instance how Umbridge "wrote" OWLs on the board, which was possibly the most non-magical instance of magic in the series thus far. It certainly goes far to contribute to her personality of being proper but ugh, it's boring and amatuerish. The actual editing during the introduction to the new textbooks reminded me of CoS's story of the 4 Founders and the Chamber of Secrets. Basically said, it was not visually stimulating at all, unnatural or at least boring IMHO however...this scene isn't about visuals.

Stauton basically steals this scene and frightens me. You can see how pandering she is to the students; which looks completely odd considering how much older looking the students are. The books themselves are hilarious and reminds me of a youth dictionary that had in grade 1. It's nice to think that the infinite loop of the children looking at the cover not only equates the readers/students being treated as children, but also how we are going in circles about DADA.

While the trio's acting is just ho hum, Umbridge is just perfect. Showing a clear bias towards Potter, seeing her face trying to keep composure in the face of this mounting insubordination and especially trying to keep up her image by turning her back while sternly warning people of their behaviour. All in all it's by no means a great achievement in cinema, but a great study of character.

Things of NoteMusic used in the scene:
Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon

I think the biggest problem of it being two parts stems from JKR's own mess of a storyline. The Hallows concept, while neat, was introduced far too late into the game with little to no references aside from retcons. I think it's because of this crazy little Hunt for the Horcruxes and How to get the Hallows juggling back and forth, along with the density of the novel for density's sake; a producer is going to think "Yeah..2 parter...really." It's not JKR's fault, she did an alright book IMHO and it's great that she did it without any consideration for the films (which she should of course). However in doing so, she basically set up the worst case scenario for a film adaptation. If it was difficult enough to decipher the wand ownership hot potato in DH or what the heck they were going after; it's going to be 7x more difficult in the case of the film. Doing a 2 parter is the lazy person's way out, plain and simple. It's for people who can't find the the proper way of filmmaking to make a good single film.

IMHO DH shouldn't be approached as the adaptation of the novel but more the bookend for the film franchise than anything else. If any film were to be a more spiritual adaptation as opposed to literal...DH would be it. If anything DH the movie should encompass the same tone and idea of self referencing and past of it's film pedigree much like it's book counterpart; in other words it should be the film equivalent of DH...an end to it's respective medium.

So what does that mean? While I can't speculate too much since DH will be highly dependent on what is shown in HBP, what should be for certain is some elements could be deleted because of what occured within the films so far. Elements like Neville being a substitute for Harry through his actions are thus far re-interpretted as the shy kid stepping up to a more courageous role. Ideas such as Trelawney being a prop in OoTP could have her role taken out in DH as the "comic relief end" for Greyback to promote a continued and greater sense of quality and tone to the battle of Hogwarts. You might even have Neville kill Lestrange rather than Molly because of the more obvious relationship between Neville and her.

However it also means that DH was a film about action, self reflection and not doing the obvious. The latter one which had a LOT of things that avoided the "typical" or cliche, could also translate into the film given the context of the franchise. The example of Neville not getting a shot at Lestrange might seem foreign to the audience because they never gotten the idea that what is Neville's story is living up to his pedigree as opposed to getting vengence. To prove himself in front of his gram rather than defeating the one person who hurt Neville's parents. To have that in exchange of Neville cutting off a snake's head (no matter how important an item it was made out to be in the book), might leave the audience wondering "Why did they do that?" as opposed to "If I really think about it...it makes sense."

The thing is, to treat this film as an adaptation of the book is to not only treat it as an adaptation of just DH but nearly the entire book series. IMHO that would be the biggest mistake because of the investment that the film audience has put into the series; it would be a travesty to have to force them to be HP enthusiasts in order to participate in the viewing of HP: DH. The films should either be entertaining and meaningful by itself while at the same time totally be uplifted (but not supported) by prior knowledge of what occurs in the novels but never a film whose pre-requisite is to know the books inside and out. Perhaps knowing the previous films on a more intimate level because of the nature of the book itself, but once again it should be in regards to the films and not just the novels.

In the end I think the DH films should reward the HP-Film goers with a final installment in the series as a capper to the films. Otherwise it'd be introducing details that will make them wonder "Why did they have to include that? That's never been in the films before...what is going on?" It'd make for a more complete adaptation but at what cost for keeping the audience's interest? It's not appealing to the lowest common denominator but perhaps the lowest common multiple. I want a 4, you want a 3, but the best we're going to end up is the #12.

As said in a reply in the comments earlier here is the best of both worlds.

<blockquote>I'd hate for the rumour of a 2 parter to be true you know why? Because that means Cuaron will be less likely to direct. An installment in two parts is just far too much fat for Cuaron to probably bear. If he were to direct something like that, you might as well call the installments as such.

1st Part of Deathly Hallows = Beginning - Entering Hogwarts again will have the title PoA 2: The Return of Good Filmmaking.
2nd Part of Deathly Hallows 90 minutes of the Hogwarts battle with a 30 minute long one shot scene without pause. It will have the title Children of Men 2.

P.S. Zombie Dobby leading a revolt of Elves with cameo by George Romero.

Now that would be a film I'd sit down for 4 hours with.</blockquote>

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with this choice.  Considering the options open to HP, there isn't anything necessarily better.  While we might get another venture into mediocrity, what we might actually get in return is a consistency and improvement over the next two installments.  Don't get me wrong, I think Yates is completely WRONG for Death Hallows.  That is if I were thinking in such primal terms.  However one always has to consider more than just what's obvious.  One has to consider that perhaps at the sacrifice of quality filmmaking, we should instead get something consistent and expected.  The silver lining to this very dark cloud is if Yates still is on board for Deathly Hallows, he could thus pull a Peter Jackson and preclude some events and/or moments in DH in HBP.  Not that hasn't been done remarkably a lot already; but it certainly would aid in not making DH into a two parter.

I'd still love a DH by Cauron but I guess we have to settle for a "Star Wars Prequel Director Adherence-esque" finale with Yates.  Oh yeah.  Chalk me up again for me totally calling it in my Trilogy post.

While the nazi mods at CoSforums basically done it again, give me a two point warning only to ban me outright later; it seems a bit of a shame that I never got around to actually completing the damn thing on the boards that it started upon.  Then again I never actually started it nor started it right from the beginning so really this everything about this has been one huge crap shoot.  It wasn't surprising that I wasn't banned earlier for totally owning up Meesha98012984 whatever.  But to be banned over someone as common as deansboy; and especially over things that I've been far more volatile in my posts about; it certainly is weird that of all things the mods would choose this moment to ban me for being polite of all things.

Still, getting completely burned out over OoTP and the forums in general I guess it is time to take a more real break from the stupidity of mods being shackled to some stupid moral code of inclusion even if it allows the stupid people to participate, while kicking out the smart people who make fun of the stupid people.  I'm not all that disappointed but then again I also don't give a shit.  Just don't be surprised if I post my final thoughts on the final few chapters of it all..  However the thread is in good hands.  It was a long arduous journey, it was one that took a damn long time to get people around to fucking post actual thoughts about the films rather than idiocy and it certainly is rewarding to see someone or ANYONE take over the reins and even improve upon the formula.  I applaud those who have taken over my spot and thus make all my efforts far more worthwhile in making people more precise and explain their thoughts clearly.

Oh yeah I'll be continuing this shit at least on here.  So CoS...go fuck yourselves.  I'll be back and it's too bad you were too stupid to figure that out the first time.  Oh yeah a shout out to Moriath...in the PM warning when you told me if I continue on this, you say I was going to be banned for "a while" which should mean that there is an end to that period of time...mind telling me when that is since Gertie said all bans are final?  Or did you have to break the very rules that govern your actions just to ban special little old me?  Shame shame shame guys; I guess the delusion of maintaining an everyone welcome atmosphere really just promoted the exclusion of certain groups of people that were beneficial to the forums, but apparently just annoyed the people who are too frail to take criticism.

We've come to a point where there's more than enough moments in the HP Film series from good to great to stand out in our heads. So therefore might as well do what all good HP film afficianados should do...make a top 10 list of favorite moments in the entire series thus far.

I guess I will be continuing on with this. I haven't much to say because once again of time constraints, however a bit more observations here.

So we have the start of year feast, which starts off well enough with nice little references to previous films, such as the Hogwarts hogheaded juice jugs for one thing. Nice little visual references aside, we get the most uncluttered and perhaps most "clear" look at the great hall when fully occupied in the franchise yet...which brings me to one word that describes this scene.

Lifeless.

Yeah, that's pretty much it. The entire great hall sequence is lifeless and at the best of times a mess. The shots of Harry and Hermione once again just inadvertently would cause non-book fans to associate Hermione with Harry instead with Ron. A missed opportunity for a bit of Ginny and Harry development was wasted for...ummm...uh....just lazy shooting? Where the heck is Grint? Dumbledore lacks ANY sort of energy, at least with GoF he was partially energetic (albeit misplaced) and is a faint shadow in comparison to PoA's performance. The straight on shots were boring, as were the very noticeable (for being so BORING) shots of the taechers tables. The only redeeming factor from it is the obvious foreshadowing of Trelawny getting sacked by Umbridge. However I love Emma Thompson here, even though Trelawny looks a bit different; she looks so adorably pathetic. You sympathize with her, she's so cute like she's a small shy little child that you only want to wish the best for her in life.

However that scene is so bad being topped off with Watson's minimal eyeplow even the Twins couldn't save it. Yes...that's how bad it was to me...not even the TWINS CAN MAKE IT BETTER. However one point of interest that comes to mind that a part of my own dislike of this scene also stems from the book as well. As we get into the 5th DADA teacher, it's become a pattern that I don't quite like. Ho hum another DADA teacher, wonder what they'll do. IMHO OoTP continues to have this tradition in light of almost every other aspect of the books changing such as the maturity of the children, the situation with death eaters and the return of Voldemort. While each DADA teacher is distinct, the pattern in which they appear (and obviously disappear) is still there, kind of bringing down the originality of the series with this expected pattern.

Why I think Umbridge is probably the most "boring" of the DADA teachers is that she is far too ingrained in the Wizarding World as we know rather than bringing something new to the table. Yes she has her pink and proper mean streak. But because she works for the ministry, the idea of the DADA teacher as being someone not from what we known in the past kind of really only makes Umbridge's character less fleshed out that the previous ones. Quirrel had his trip and encounter with Voldemort, Lockheart with his own stories, Lupin with his past with Harry and Moody with his Auror insanity. Umbridge is like an extension of the MoM where we get enough of that already; but I guess the idea is to make her sort of useless as a DADA teacher and make the MoM more of a presence in Hogwarts that usual.

The next scene...well I guess I'll have to dine on crow here. Hearing Ron defend Harry was a surprise to me, even sounding alien. I guess there is some stock in the fans saying that Ron has been changed too much in the adaptation process because the first time we get to see Ron actually being loyal instead of being a somewhat comedic person; it was a slight shock. Other than that, nothing much of notice here, Seamus seems a bit of a dolt to say anything about to Harry which only further's the isolation. Etc. etc. Nice little dream sequence.

One interesting thing about this film is that a lot of the shots IMHO seem to be done while the characters are in the middle of doing something or at least transitioning into something else. Take for instance Harry taking off his tie or undressing while Ron talks to him. There are a lot of neat little moments like that when we get to see story progress not as a actual point in the film, but almost like it was a sidebar or something happening while they lead normal lives.

Things of Note

• Music used in the scene:
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon
  
  
• A nice visual of loyalty. Harry and Ron are the only ones wearing cloaks (at the time) when Ron is there to defend Harry's honour. So it's the few vs. the many of the uncloaked Gryffindors.

Unfortunately I don't have much time to post my usual post but that's what you guys are here for. Plus I'd like to keep this with a modicum of regular updates. Will post more detailed thoughts later but here are a few thoughts that I have to get out before I delve any further:

• Inside out zombie horses < dragons. Period.
  
  
• Hated the Luna Lovegood intro. Far too much cutting back and forth. It would have help IMMENSELY if they'd just stuck to one panning shot over to Luna who says her lines from behind the Quibbler. Have Harry react just on the left of the screen or even better make it seem like the audience is reacting to her rather than Harry. Why I say it should've been one shot, aside from the good acting to show how batcrazy she is, you get a constant visual of the Quibbler upside down as opposed to cutting back and forth which would only diminish the visual even more.
  
  
• Luna Lovegood, a lot of people loved her. I'm probably going to be the first person to say that it didn't totally sell me. Might be once again the media cross contamination of the Jim Dale audio books, her voice sounds good. HOWEVER her tone is just a bit off and IMHO she doesn't seem as...out in her own little world as she seems. Child-like, innocent yes. But her mind being elsewhere or on another different plain of existence....no. I'm just not feeling the weirdness.

Things of Note

• Music used in the scene:
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon

And so we get introduced to the originals. But first.

We start off with Moody walking around looking as out of place as a Trekkie at a Harry Potter convention. What does he do first? Say a horrible pun. I like a great pun as any other person in the room, however it's those small things that really grind my gears. This does sort of set up the whole chapter and how the dialogue feels. While there's nothing necessarily very bad (aside from the pun) there isn't anything really remarkable either. The discussion between Sirius and Harry didn't feel heartwarming at all in fact it felt a bit forced almost alien. This isn't because we are lacking a backstory between the two but more the idea that the proper balance of words and acting sort of goes out of synch here. Basically speaking there is hardly any flow between ideas and themes unlike the previous films.

It dosen't help that the photograph reflects the rocky sort of flow that we see throughout the film. While there is some details that might indicate a person is a witch or a wizard, it doesn't sit too well with me that they tried to "date" the photograph to a specific time period as opposed to showing them as an actual rag-tag magical group fighting Voldemort's forces. It makes sense logically but this point once again touches upon how much of a muggle perspective this film decided to take.


What really kills me about the photograph is how little life it has in it. I do realize that it's a photograph of the Order of the Phoenix, a small army vs. Voldemort's nigh unstoppable juggernaut of Death Eaters. There isn't anything to celebrate about, nor to be lively about it. But it's dead. Perhaps a reinforcement that this is much like a class photograph, that this is a serious time united by friends and allies from a singular point of Hogwarts school. The Class of Voldemort Resistence '79. However even something as simple as the photo of the Weasleys' vacation from Egypt from PoA Chp 6: In Grave Danger it's far more lively for such a simple photograph.


It would have been far more a touching moment if some things were a bit more animated and obvious. Sirius kind of playfully roughhousing with James would have been a brilliant stroke in the photograph as he explains how he still misses him, the smile in the photograph a bit too subtle. Some random waves, perhaps signs of encouragement would have made the idea of Harry's journey to the DA be better foreshadowing than just Oldman's drab sort of delivery. More to the point, Showing a better reaction to Dumbledore giving Pettigrew the suspicious stare would have been better. Once again poor editing sort of blurs past the film as a checklist of things done as opposed to a careful consideration to how to get the audience to rewatch it. Sadly it's a lifeless photograph like this that really reminds me of the boring photos from the intro of CoS Chp 1: In a Cage

What's fun about this chapter is also the discussion, but more of once again using dual meaning comments. First we have Sirius telling how much he misses Harry's father and when asked if he thinks a war is coming; he replies it feels the same way it did before. An interesting and brilliant followup to the idea that Sirius is attached to Harry so much because he looks so much like James, even confusing him as James which was pointed out by Molly in OoTP Chp 3: Number 12 Grimmauld Place as well with later in the film.

Once again Dumbledore's lines are redistributed to other characters, "this time a fate worst than death." I think it's alright not the worst thing ever, however the delivery was atrocious. Another thing marked off the checklist which just brings up the familiarity of exposition.

The last sort of insane thing that I gleaned from this chapter is how in some way this was probably a combined gift to Harry both as a picture of the original OoTP and Sirius' two way mirror. I don't know I just seemed to get a feeling somehow that some sort of connection similar to what the two way mirror is supposed to represent in the books is also represented in this moment.

As we go backwards in time to the beginning of the chapter, we have Moody looking, walking and talking weird enough by himself to "Blow the entire operation" himself; not if the bad acting gives them away first *OH ZING!*. I've always had a bit of a beef with the movie design of Moody. What is interesting is that I can totally see this design of Moody being killed in DH, it makes sense. He looks a good part for a fallen warrior. However as for the characteristics of more magical ideas and his more paranoid, angry and crazy side....it really falls short. The main beef is his magical eye which tries to act all paranoid and off hinged watching in every direction; but it's so small in design that you never really get that feeling that an attack is imminent even in broad [blue filtered] daylight. I suppose that the need to protect Harry could be shown by Moody's way of quickly walking/limping with a mission but he does that everywhere everytime. Far too much overexaggerated movement that distracts from everything else.


We have Tonks who looks less punk and more like a Bjork cosplayer or perhaps trying to emulate a post prom Molly Ringwold after being comforted and warmed by a volunteered leather jacket of a love interest. What is interesting to see in the screenshot is how Harry's "true family" is behind him, Ron and Hermione included. His family he desires of Sirius along with him and well...perhaps a even more obvious suggestion to the OoTP distancing themselves with Harry as part of their operations.

Where we come to the final part. Voldemort in a suit. A visual that launched 1,000+ posts. Personally I like it. Mainly because it just introduces more and more regular film conventions into the franchise which just makes it more movie like rather than some precious vacuum of reality that can never be touched by anything making it seem artificial. I do have a problem with the set up though. The crowd shot is a mix between Cuaron's ability to focus on the main points of focus while still making neat little extras contribute to the atmosphere but never overtake focus; and Newall's sort of chaotic unfocused, mishmash of crowds of which you need to pause and take about 2 minutes to realize where you should focus your attention to. In probably the biggest failure in potential for making a good Platform 9 and 3/4's scene we have a good shot focusing on Harry and hallucination Voldemort, but a horrible background which lacks any sort of life or focus of interest much like GoF's crowd shots. However that might be the point because the focus is Harry and his hallucination. I just wished they made this idea of his hallucinations more subtle, like he never knows when he'd experience these dreams or ideas. Perhaps insert a small little talk with Ron and Hermione or at least someone distinguishable as a student rather than some random kid. That would have made a great sense of flow when you see Hermione sit down between Harry and Ron on the train when he woke up. Make people think it's just another moment when just something weird happens.

However back to Voldemort in a suit. I like it because it is just filled with the idea that Voldemort was a handsome man before. That if he continued to look handsome rather than what he is now, he'd be dressed in something like that. Even better, it indirectly draws connections to some more suited and well dressed individuals being on the side of evil than good (i.e. Draco in the next chapter, also in a suit). Continuing on, I love the little bit of parseltongue which just harkens back to CoS and when Harry wakes up, the neck twitch mirroring Voldemort's own neck twitch in the dream.

So we end with the trip to Hogwarts. The shortest train trip of Hogwarts yet in the series and having a transition that doesn't fit to well. Sure it does make use of tradition that there has to be a scene involving getting to Hogwarts near or via train, however this transition just dragged on too long for a previous scene that didn't have any major train involvement. Basically said; it's like having a transition from a scene that didn't exist in the first place...why even make that? Once again the blue filter might be just messing up my eyes and thought processes in general, but it really *really* makes even the most sincere gesture of good cinematography look boring, drab and lifeless.


However I do like this one shot. To me I see it like a wonderfully huge mirror, mirroring Harry's battle within. Also with lightness and darkness contrasting each other well. It's also a great scenic shot with perhaps the most underrepresented Hogwarts on the lake in the franchise's history; which only reinforces how little magic they want to include and how much focused on muggle ideas they want.

Things of Note

• Music used in the scene:
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon
  
  
• That shot of the Order escorting Harry look familiar? Well it should...
  
  Shot from PS
  
  It's interesting to see that this time around he is surrounded by so many people. Harry certainly made a lot of progress. But sadly the theme of this film is isolation. With so many people around he stills feels a bit alone.
  
  
• The beforemention suspicious stare from Dumbledore to Pettigrew. Or perhaps he's checking out the middle guy's superior moustache.
  
  
  
• A very interesting thing to note is how much the photograph foreshadows the make up of the DA. If you look at the "Original OoTP" again earlier in the post, you see two men dressed very similarly on the left side of the group. Foreshadowing of Fred and George perhaps? (as pointed out by KlauseBaudelaire of CoS; those two might have been Molly's brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewett.  Thanks Klaus!)
  

Another chapter that is somewhat good and somewhat bad however overall kind of gets back into the groove of things. We start off with a smash cut to Harry already in the seat. Really like jumping into the fire as Arthur just leaves him all by his lonesome.

A lot of visuals (of which I will not post yet because I'm strapped for time) but rather than just the huge wall of people of the Wizengamot vs. Harry, we have almost a symbolic gesture to this whole "witch hunt" idea of Harry Potter. In the far back we can see a fresco of perhaps a witch or a wizard, but lit up (or perhaps being burned) by a fire. Quite a loaded visual since it's wizards and witches who are trying to get at Harry and prosecute him much like how people were prosecuted in the past.

And we get introduced to...DUMBLEDORE! In such a great way....sadly that it goes waaaaay downhill soon after. I love the way he announced his name in that same witty tone that we heard in PoA. Sort of embarassed, sort of tired, sort of proud of his name being so long it's a spot on little account. Too bad he could have been a bit more witty when saying he was there 3 hours earlier and even far too bad that he just went into "To Kill and Mockingbird" me against the law mode. For him to defend Harry. That's good. For him to "take on the system" with his full criminal trial observation, I thought went a bit too far. Not because it was the wrong thing to do, I think it was a good thing to do. It's because I think in light of the evidence it should changed opinions very quickly. It should show if the Wizengamot were to be really swayed against Fudge it should be not because they were guilt-tripped, but because they listened to logic and almost had an affinity for Harry.

Ms. Figg...kinda funny in a kid's way, kinda not. Nothing much to say here. Fudge on the other hand was great. I liked how he almost was like Crouch Sr. on the stand when he was saying "He's not back!" It totally shows off the not in the right mind mood that Lupin discussed earlier.

The final problem I have is just the Wizengamot in general. Red...Black. What's the difference? I guess it's like bishops and cardinals, but for the life of me I don't know what it's supposed to represent. It's a nice little visual detail (if anyone could explain it to be that'll be great) but there's just too little of any reason to be like that. What I did like was how there was always a clear shot of Umbridge, you could easily pick her out had it not been for the uber short shots cutting back and forth. She's framed by the people around her as opposed to being cluttered behind a forest of hats. However for the other person who was asking questions that was not Fudge...there's just something peculiar about her. It almost felt like she had considerable power in swaying the judgment of the trial which isn't such a bad thing but I wish that they spread out the questions amongst other people which would contribute more to the idea that common sense had overruled the guilty verdict.

Finally, a bit of music that I actually did like when Harry got acquitted. It was good. Sorry for the short post however I imagine I'll have some more to add when some people get the discussion rolling as well with getting work out of the way. Toodles.


Things of Note

• Music used in the scene:
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon

Well silly me. Here I was inadvertently merging two chapters together. Sorry about that folks, makes me kind of sad that I did something like but then again, could have discussed things in a bit more detail than the summarized version that I had. No wonder I felt a bit overwhelmed. It worked out for the best since I didn't start a new chapter post until past the 2 day limit.

We start off the chapter with a bit of a cinematographical mess. Focus on either Harry or Arthur is often lost within the crowd of muggles taking the underground. While that might be the point of being in a crowd, where you can hardly see anyone you recognize, in a film your focus should be directed easily, smoothly...not having to where's waldo the darn thing. I suppose in some fashion it's apeing Newall's style where he too has a LOT of crowd shots that also lack a focus where you have to search out for what's actually happening as in GoF Chp 14: The First Task. Even something as simple as Arthur going through the gated turnstyle still has my head swimming from some sort of motion sickness or just some weird pan of the camera that made it far less able to focus on either Arthur or Harry at any given time.

The other thing that bugs me is once again confirming my fears about the whole muggle world being presented in the film. A bit too in your face but more importantly totally lacking in any sense of style at all. At least PS and CoS had a certain classic children's story feeling to it all where even the muggle world could fit in a magical setting. King's Cross in PS looked just as believable as part of Diagon Alley at least in visual presentation. PoA's short presentation of the muggle world also exhibits this same idea where the visual style matches along with the atmospheric style of seeing both worlds in a bit of a cockeyed and weird manner. With OoTP...well it does nothing to really give the muggle world any character.

However when we get to the Ministry, here is where we get a nice good shot of the wizarding world. Far better done group shot for the sheer novelty of it and what's more interesting it makes up a nice little twist of what's said in the book, it literally is like a underground city. It's funny because a LOT of the settings explained in the novel I've always found to be smaller, because of the nature of the wizarding world being this secretive society that is small in numbers so to increase it's ability to conceal itself. With settings like the QWC in GoF and here, I like how they make it HUGE. They make it so it's an actual society and give a great parallel with Muggles going to work and wizards and witches going to work.

The cinematography here is forgivable only because of all the neat little things to see here and there (even wizards who are wearing prison stripes on their robes the new fall fashion?). It's a tad more focused than the muggle underground scene and eye-candy trickery also works in it's favour. While I love the parallel of muggle vs. wizard the transition to it still bugs the heck out of me. It seems far too much a novelty for me to accept. While it's nice it feels it doesn't have a direct place in the film. Oh ho ho, here we have Arthur being impressed by muggle technology and muggle everything and showing his out of placement in muggle society. Hilarious[/sarcasm]. Yet the sense of flow we get is totally ruined all for the sake of visual similarities. Crowd shot, isolated shot, crowd shot. It's like taking a hot shower than switching it to cold then back to hot. quite shocking. I'd be happy if they'd just cut out the muggle underground scene and go right into the shot of vistor entrance. While that might complicate the barely passable transition from the previous chapter I'm sure they could work it out for the better.

I don't have much else to say. Nice little reintro to Lucius. Simple idea of them vs. "them" with the hallway idea. And Arthur talking to Harry...as he always has spoken to him. Which is quite strange, Mark Williams' portrayal whether just him or director's vision has always been...off IMHO. It might be media contamination of the audio books, but I've always found it to be a bit more sure of himself rather than the rather skitty version we see here. Oh yeah I should mention...dislike the elevator.

Things of Note

• Music used in the scene:
  Music Cue list greatly supplied by The Harry Potter Lexicon