Animation Mentor Student
0:18-0:21 - This shot shows Voldemort, clearly in the Forbidden Forest, waiting to have Harry Potter delivered to him.
0:22-0:26 – Harry, Ron, and Hermione are on the run from Voldemort and the death eaters, traversing the countryside.
0:28-0:55 – Here we come to a rather meaty scene from the books and film. We see Harry arriving in the Forbidden Forest, willingly sacrificing himself to Voldemort in the hopes of taking the Dark Lord down with him. I was surprised at how much the trailer shows; seeing Voldemort actually cast the killing curse on Harry could be a bit of a spoiler for those that haven’t read the books. Nevertheless, it’s good to see that the movie appears to be faithful to how the book presented this event.
0:55-0:56 – A quick cut of Harry, Hermione (disguised as Bellatrix), and Ron (also in disguise? I can’t tell, and my memory from the book fails me here) taking the mine cart down into Gringotts Wizarding Bank’s lower vaults with Griphook to obtain and destroy a Horcrux. A fifth person is riding on the back of the cart, but I have no clue as to who that may be.
0:57-0:58 – Ollivander, the wand maker, makes a return in this film, looking worse for wear after being captured by the death eaters. This is his first appearance since Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone.
0:58-0:59 – From this clip we see that Harry’s exciting escape from the Dursley’s house is present in the film. Hagrid is appropriately shown as unconcious, forcing Harry to steer the flying motorcycle away from the death eaters in hot pursuit. In the book, the death eaters quickly abandon the chase in order to let Voldemort take Harry down. It will be interesting to see whether the movie stays true to this, or whether any encounters with Voldemort are put off until the climax of the two films. From this clip alone, it does not appear to be Voldemort trailing Harry at the moment, but this does not rule out that he may.
1:06-1:07 – Skipping ahead past a few short flashes of characters, we see the protective barrier around Hogwarts being destroyed. I’m not entirely sure where this takes place, presumably it will be in Part II. Was the barrier actually destroyed in the book? It seems unnecessary, as the Death Eaters were already working at Hogwarts from the inside, teaching classes and ruling with an iron fist. Whether this is true to the book or not is fairly inconsequential, however.
1:08-1:10 – A bad-ass dark wizard stands in front of the Hogwarts Express, looking ready to halt the train and/or derail it. I don’t remember this from the book, but it looks to be a pretty dramatic sequence. My only question is, why would a guy stand in front of the train like that, on the off-chance he couldn’t make it stop? It seems that his magic powers would be just as effective at halting a train from a safer position. I think it would be hilarious if the Hogwarts Express just makes him go splat.
1:10-1:11 – Harry makes a dramatic turn. Haha. Not too much to tell from this shot, really. Harry is looking appropriately battle-worn, however, and seems to be sporting the stubble that goes along with months on the road for a young adult. On second thought: Do wizards need to shave? Or do they just cast a spell on their face to remove unwanted hair?
1:14-1:16 – This man is a mystery to me. My first thought was that it could possibly be Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard that Dumbledore defeated years before Voldemort came around. He is mentioned in The Deathly Hallows. However, he is in prison, and this man’s attire and surroundings do not seem to jive with that possibility. More likely is the chance that it is Gregorovitch, a wand maker like Ollivander. Voldemort sought to round all of those guys up, I believe. The numerous boxes on shelves certainly could be the markings of a wand shop.
1:16-1:17 – This is a rather controversial clip for much of the Harry Potter fan base. While the scene itself is appropriate, certain details have been changed since an earlier movie trailer. The scene itself shows the nasty incident where Ron managed to splinch himself while apparating, leaving a large chunk of his left arm behind. This is supposed to be a bloody mess, and the first trailer appropriately showed blood all over Ron’s arm and Hermione’s hands. However, in this trailer, the blood is magically gone. Hopefully this was only removed in order to make the trailer suitable for all audiences. Removing it from the film itself simply to get a more family-friendly rating would be disappointing.
The blood on Hermione's hands has been digitally removed since the first trailer.
1:17-1:18 – The dragon breaking out of Gringotts. It is much paler and sicklier looking than other dragons, due to being locked underground for years. Do dragons tan?
1:19-1:20 – This short clip of Ron backing away is actually pretty revealing. I’ll bet you a gold Galleon that Ron just saw what was inside of Salazar Slytherin’s locket, which is a horcrux that the three had been carrying around. Ron is holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor, and is being shown his worst fear by the locket. Another note: I just realized how much the locket is like the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings, except that everyone wants the ring, but nobody wants the locket.
1:20-1:21 – Lord Voldemort is looking as menacing as ever with his motley crew of death eaters.
1:25-1:26 – Another clip presumably from Harry’s escape from the Dursley’s. The death eater shown is clearly pulling away from the chase, leading credence to the possibility that Voldemort will be made a part of the chase. I’m a big fan of leaving details like this in tact.
1:26-1:27 – This brief clip seems like it takes place in the Ministry of Magic, where the trio has to recover another horcrux. Ron is shown running frantically away, suggesting that his Polyjuice Potion disguise has just worn off. I think the guy behind him is Yaxley the death eater…maybe?
1:27 – Less than a second long, but very telling. Bellatrix is shown here tossing a dagger, which readers of the books know is destined to hit and kill Dobby the house elf.
1:27-1:28 – Filch the Hogwarts caretaker is delighting at locking Hogwarts students in the cell in the background, but an explosion wipes the smirk off of his face. With Voldemort in control of Hogwarts, the harsh penalties for misbehavior are back, and Filch is happier than ever. The explosion suggests Dumbledore’s Army may be making an attempt to free their classmates. It’s good to see from this and other clips that even though Harry, Ron, and Hermione are not at Hogwarts, the film will be visiting the school to show just how much things have changed.
1:28-1:30 – The clip of Harry running through the forest could be a lot of things. One possibility is that it is a Snatcher that is chasing him. Snatchers were independent bounty hunter’s that hoped to catch Harry and other Voldemort dissenters in return for a reward.
1:30-1:31 – I love this image. Lord Voldemort stands upon Dumbledore’s tomb with Dumbledore’s wand (The Elder Wand) in his hand. Naturally, a wand of such power draws lightning from the sky. Finally Dumbledore’s grave is shown, as it was sorely missing from the last film.
1:33-1:40 – I’m a little perplexed as to when this scene takes place. I suppose this is after Harry meets Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, though it is daylight once again. In the book, I had always pictured the entire climax taking place at night, and I’m pretty sure this exchange never happened. I don’t mind adding to the story, as long as it is done with purpose. We will have to wait and see how Harry escapes this too-close-for-comfort encounter with Voldy.
1:40-1:41 – The same dragon shown earlier appears to be flying off the roof of Gringotts.
1:41-1:43 – An angry mob of either death eaters or anti-Voldemort troops runs from the woods into a field. This almost certainly takes place on the Hogwarts grounds.
1:43-1:44 – Voldemort leads the charge, trampling over what appears to be a dead Hogwarts student.
1:45-1:46 – Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear to be on the streets of London, having just apparated away from a party crashed by death eaters. This definitely takes place near the beginning of Part I.
1:46-1:47 – Something is seen plummeting in a ball of flames, most likely during the opening escape from Dursley’s sequence. Could this be poor Hedwig, or maybe Mad-Eye Moody? I’m not sure why the people on brooms are diving after it, however.
1:47-1:48 – A death eater chases after some Order of the Phoenix members on thestral-back. How can we see the thestral, as only those who have witnessed death can? Well, we did watch Cedric Diggory die and get turned into a vampire in the Twilight films….oh wait.
1:48 – Wow, that was a short clip. This is at the Ministry of Magic again, showing either Ron under the effects of the Polyjuice Potion, or else someone chasing after him.
1:48-1:50 – Voldemort’s snake Nagini attacks Harry in what should be Bathilda Bagshot’s home. The scenery in this shot confused me a bit. Bagshot’s home is supposed to be horribly dilapidated, but this appears to take place in a reasonably clean and well-kept nursery, though there is a hole in the wall at least. What a nursery is doing there, however, I haven’t the faintest clue.
1:50-1:51 – This is almost certainly a continuation of the scene shown earlier where Ron is being harassed by the locket horcrux. Here we see Ron swinging at something with his sword, most likely destroying the horcrux.
1:53-1:54 – We see Harry, Ron, and Hermione running for their lives in the room of requirement back at Hogwarts. I like all the little Easter eggs laying around the room. There are the giant chess pieces from the Sorceror’s Stone, as well as some party lanterns that I remember seeing in one of the films, maybe during one of Professor Slughorn’s parties? The film crew most likely just dumped all their old props into this scene. The three are running from the fiendfyre spell that in the books was cast by Vincent Crabbe. It remains to be seen how the movie handles this, as the character playing Crabbe (Jamie Waylett) was arrested for marijuana possession (8 bags and 10 plants were confiscated) and will no longer appear in the film.
1:54-1:55 – Voldemort’s losing it, lol. Actually, I think this is the scene where he destroys the magical barrier of Hogwarts, as you can see the school in the distance.
1:56 – Harry takes a quick break from saving the world to make out with his girlfriend.
1:57 – This is likely the diner where Harry, Ron, and Hermione get followed to by death eaters after escaping the party at the beginning of film one.
1:57 – Malfoy and his lackeys in the room of requirement. Crabbe is not in attendance, due to a date with Mary Jane (wink, wink).
1:58-1:59 – This movie looks like its going to offer a wide-scale sense of destruction. Hogwarts is seen here getting blown to smithereens.
2:01-2:06 – This is the ultimate clip in the trailer, and I have somewhat mixed feelings about it. For starters, I have to admit it looks really cool, and may do the final battle between Harry and Voldemort the justice that I actually found lacking in the book. However, some details appear to be changed that may lessen the emotional impact. In the book, Harry and Voldemort are surrounded by students in the Great Hall for their final battle. Here, they are utterly alone, and out in the courtyard in the daytime. On the upside, they are appropriately surrounded by dead bodies, but where in the world did everyone else go? Of further note is the fact that Harry and Voldemort’s wands are cancelling each other out, which should result in the reverse-spell effect known as Priori Incantatem. In the book I think they just ricochet, resulting in Voldemort’s demise by his own killing curse. The only reason I’m a little worried about this scene is that the Harry Potter films have had a nasty habit of changing the endings of the books for the worse, at least in the opinion of many book loyalists. That said, I do think that the final battle should be ramped up in this film adaptation. Only time will tell.
An early Deathly Hallows poster, and my new desktop background.
Last but not least, the closing words on the trailer reveal that these Potter films will be viewable in 3D. I’m not sure how well suited this film will be for 3D; I usually reserve the glasses for animated films, as they are a natural fit for the extra dimension. I bet that the 3D will most likely be done in post-production, rather than the James Cameron 3D camera method. If this is the case, I think I’ll stick with the 2D version. Films made into 3D in post-production look nowhere near as good as they could if shot in 3D, as evidence by the poor Clash of the Titans 3D and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland 3D.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this analysis of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows official trailer. I for one can’t wait until Part I comes out this November. Part’s I and II are collectively the last chance to get a proper film adaptation in what I feel has been a simultaneously enjoyable, but frustrating film series.
This is a good breakdown. I enjoyed reading it. I just want to say, that when I first saw the trailer, I had chills and goosebumps from the excitement of it. I think the editing and production choices that went into the trailer were fantastically done. I’m also glad that they are doing the movie in two parts, though I wish they were being released closer together. There is so much that happens in this book that is essential, and after nearly all of the other movies have left out extremely important scenes, or changed things so that the story is different, it would be nice to see a book be taken a little more faithfully into film. Here’s hoping that the two parts allows them to do that.
Having grown up with the Harry Potter series (I believe they came out when I was beginning middle school… I have since graduated from college) it is definitely sad to see it coming to a close. After finishing the 7th book I was definitely sad, and now that the final movie is coming out it really throws into sharp relief the fact that the Harry Potter Saga is over. On the bright side though, the books can be enjoyed again and again (I do somewhat embarrassingly admit at this point that between middle school and now I have read the first book over 25 times… mostly in those early years though) and I’m sure that I will continue to read them and watch the movies.
Yea, I especially hate the wait between the two films knowing that they have been 100% done filming both of them since June 12th. Other than post-production, it feels like Part II is just sitting there, with no one allowed to watch.
2D or 3D version for you Chris?
Definitely 2D. I’m really against 3D films at the moment. That could change in the future, but I haven’t been impressed thus far. Though I should add that I did not see Avatar in 3D, and that may be the best example of what 3D COULD be, I think they should definitely be only in animated films. Adding 3D after the fact because it’s a “fad” seems cheap to me, and the results are never very good. Plus, I don’t wear glasses normally and needing to wear those thick rimmed glasses in the theater I find myself not able to immerse myself in the movie, I keep getting distracted by the frames.
Good call I think. Avatar was amazing in 3D, but there were moments that it took me out of the film. I still think 3D is best suited for 3D animation, because it allows you to naturally replicate stereoscopic vision simply by placing a second camera in the Maya (or whatever program) scene where a person’s second eye would be. I’m no longer distracted in the least by the 3D in animated films, at this point its become a natural part of the movie for me. A lot live action movies end up looking kind of like a shoebox diorama in 3D, because there are only a few “layers” of 3D, all shifted around in post to fake the effect.
Deathly hallow part 2 is really rocking movie