Play with Harry Potter

Author: Li Chaoran
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: This is a non-traditional Harry Potter entertainment magic book, a "Muggle version of the living map for Harry mania." Given that after years of sustained high popularity, the story of Harry Potter has almost become household knowledge, this book won't waste effort to retell it from beginning to end. But you might not know the behind-the-scenes stories of the Hollywood Harry Potter series films, or what kind of magical items you can find in the Muggle world, or have thought about writing to the actors who play the wizards. Of course, you wouldn't know the trivial details about the novel that have long been forgotten by people. So this book serves as a function, trying to scan how the entire Muggle world is going crazy for Harry. In a nutshell, it's about the things around us. If you're not a Harry Potter fan, you might never understand how this mania can reach the point of boiling water and cooking eggs; if you are a fan, I believe you will definitely empathize with this mania when we talk about it.
This is a non-traditional Harry Potter entertainment magic book. It takes us out of the secluded castle in the northern part of Scotland on the island of Great Britain, out of the smoky classrooms and the monster-filled Forbidden Forest, away from the complex spells, the mysterious plot, and the uncertain fate of the seventh book, and brings us into the Muggle world that has already gone crazy for Harry Potter. Let us use the keen insight of a dark magic detector to examine everything that claims to be related to Harry Potter, from movies to games, from CDs to tapes, from real books to virtual websites, from various wizard costumes for cosplay to a wide variety of magical tools, and even things we are less familiar with, like trading cards and audiobooks—all creations derived from Ms. Rowling's pen will enter our view. At the same time, it also allows you to become like an "expert in Harry Potter fandom," uncovering the hidden stories in the Hollywood Harry Potter series films, learning how to buy Harry Potter's magical items in the Muggle world, how to write to the actors who play the wizards, and of course, revisiting those trivial details about the novel that have long been forgotten.
The storm at Hogwarts has finally subsided, and it's time to begin our journey to Hogwarts. The film then enters a climax built with special effects—the shopping trip to Diagon Alley. After a brief stop at the Leaky Cauldron and meeting Professor Quirrell (played by Ian Hart, who portrayed Quirrell's eccentric performance with great humor), Diagon Alley appears before Harry and all the audience. This sequence of shots is absolutely capable of raising the blood pressure of all viewers, from the bricks on the wall rearranging to reveal a door, to the various stores in Diagon Alley, this tracking shot is truly eye-catching. If you watch this sequence of shots repeatedly, you'll notice many details that were missed on the first viewing, so we should commend the dedication of the Warner Bros. staff to the details. Many things appear on the screen for only a second or two, but the preparation for them requires a great deal of effort. This is something that certain domestic directors who dream of making "blockbusters" should definitely learn from.
Gringotts Bank gives a sense of mystery and terror. The music in this scene is also quite eerie, but unfortunately, the film doesn't capture the scene of Harry and Hagrid's carriage flying through the underground caverns—it would have been quite cool if it had been filmed. This memorable scene appears when the Goblin opens the 713-number vault where the Sorcerer's Stone is stored. The design of the door and the arrangement of the camera are quite creative. After leaving Gringotts, the audience and Harry finally get the chance to get close to the stores in Diagon Alley. Here, the audience will first see Ollivanders, and Mr. Ollivander's performance is quite striking, making one the casting director's foresight. However, what the audience is most interested in is undoubtedly the design of the wand. This design almost perfectly matches our imagination. Among the products developed by Warner Bros. for the film, wands are one of the best-selling items, which is naturally thanks to the props designers.
Next to appear is Harry's owl Hedwig. The actor playing the white snowy owl changes every episode, but the one in this episode is particularly cute and expressive. After that, the two begin to discuss the tragedy that occurred ten years ago in a tavern. The director clearly underestimated the importance of this flashback scene, shooting it somewhat hastily. The actor playing Voldemort doesn't even appear, and the film doesn't take the time to faithfully recreate the plot from the original work—on screen, it's hard to see that Harry's mother died to protect him. But this plot point is far too crucial, and it will definitely be reused in the following few films to depict Harry's memories (according to the general rules of film production, it is almost impossible to reshoot this scene), but hopefully, it won't reveal more flaws by then.
The plot then directly progresses to Platform 9?. The special effects in this segment are relatively poor throughout the film, with only the final tracking shot from Harry's front view having a certain aesthetic appeal and impact. However, there is still other content worth paying attention to in this segment—the appearance of the Weasleys. The performances of the actors are quite standard, basicallying the readers' impression of the Weasleys in the original work. Rupert, who plays Ron, and Granger also look more like Ron and Hermione as children, but there's no doubt that his acting is superior to Daniel's. The audience immediately equates Rupert with Ron the moment they see his eyes, and it's rare that Daniel seems to be relying on his previous fame in the follow-up works, while Rupert continues to improve with each episode, bringing new surprises every time.
After boarding the train, Hermione appears. Emma Watson's performance in this segment is truly perfect. The image of the proud, reserved, and talented Miss Granger from the readers' memories immediately comes to life. Whether it's the slightly fast speech pace or her confident expression, young Emma captures it perfectly. It's worth noting that this is also the first time the three have had a scene together. Clearly, Emma's performance overshadows the two foolish boys, and I'm sure many people won't forget Ron's cute expression after introducing himself and Hermione's indifferent "Nice to meet you" with a charming smile. In contrast, in the later films, Emma, though increasingly beautiful, has become less impressive in her portrayal. Hermione, as depicted by her, seems a bit too passionate and not as reserved as in the original work. These details will be discussed in specific segments later.