Task 3
- 1. Technology Given the large budget which was used to create films in the harry potter series the director had the ability to use high end and new technologies which were only recently developed such as the troll which was completely rendered using cgi, this scene would then once the movie was released become a talking point and draw to the film. Another example of cgi include the millennium bridge which is broken by death eaters and the duel between voldemort and dumbledore at the ministry of magic which was also used as draw for a film. These films were also an early adopter of digital recording which had only emerged commercial a couple of years earlier in star wars the phantom menace a couple of years before hand. This large use of technology would have encouraged people to have come to watch the films so they could experience what these technologies could do. The films also used real effects amatonics extensively for a variety of things such as making the spoons in professor snape's pots spin the use of these was especially useful in early films when cgi had not fully matured and their was still noticeable flaws in the technology as this meant any animatronics looked extremely realistic examples of this is griphon in the first third film. Location The central location of harry potter “hogwarts” was filmed at a variety of different locations, in order to ensure that it appeared as the filmmakers desired, with many of the external scenes being taken from Gloucester Cathedral, and all of the scenes shots of it form quidditch games being taken from Alnwick Castle. As the series went on a large number of other scenes were filmed in other locations such as the bridge scene at the start of the order of the phoenix. Almost all of the shots in the film were taken in the uk which is especially noteworthy when taking into consideration that warner brothers the company financing the films is an american company. This ensures that people consider england the “home of harry potter” which allows for the tours and other tourism spots that warner brothers creates here to do so well. Due to constraints in filming in real life location the crew for harry potter also made use of studios for several scenes such as when the main characters escape from gringotts and are in the water. cast and crew
- 2. Members of the crew who did not play characters in the films would change between films though either the publisher wishing to add new inspiration the the series or the crewmen getting the desire to do other roles. Directors The harry potter films were directed by a total of 4 people over the course of the series, the first director was Chris Columbus who directed the first two followed by Alfonso Cuaron who directed the third film and was followed by Mike Newell who directed the forth film before leaving the rest of the series which was finished off by David Yates. Chris columbus Was selected to be director for the first two films as he had already shown skill in directing films for younger audiences having previously directed “the goonies” and “home alone” this made him an ideal choice to deal with the young actors in earlier films as mentioned beforehand he directed the first couple of films however did not want to direct further films citing that he felt burnt out, so he moved to the position of producer instead. Alfonso Cuaron Was chosen to be the director for the third film in the franchise, he was chosen to be director because the fancise was already established and was able to take risks when hiring people and his skills would prove useful to help start getting the series ready for latter darker instalments through the use of destaturating the film of colour and other methods as well as expand the area around hogwarts. Mike Newell Directed the 4th film “the goblet of fire”. Newell was the first english director to take the reigns of this franchise, one reason for this choice of actor was to try and make the film feel more british as this was something the films were closely associated with at this point in the series meaning if they could do this they would become more synonymous with this idea. David Yates Took over the series form this point though to its conclusion. He was the second british director to take over the series and was selected due to David Heyman believing him capable of handing the darker more edgy, emotional aspects of the later films as well as political nature that was shown tough out them. Actors Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Radcliffe was was discovered by David Heyman (producer) and the writer Steve Kloves, when he has sitting behind him in a theater and noted he looked just like what he wanted wanted for the role and then managed to convince Radcliffe’s parents to allow him to audience which was then viewed by J.K Rowling who said they did not believe they was a better choice.
- 3. While he as not used in the promotional material much in the first couple of films due to not being recognized as the films when on he became more famous and as such started to take interviews and photo shoots in order to help promote the film himself. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint I have grouped these two actors as they both got their roles though auditioning where they were selected despite their only previous acting experience being form school plays. Much like Radcliffe these two actors were not known when they started filming and as such did not make much use in terms of promotional material but as the films progressed the become synonymous with the roles and as such took part in large amounts of interviews and other promotional materials. Richard Harris Harris played Dumbledore in the first two films before he died in 2002. He was chosen for this role due to being easily recognizable by many adults who would be the people who take the children to see the films as this would show them this film has a large budget and has good talent behind it. Dame Maggie Smith Smith is another famous and easily recognizable actor and played professor mcgonagall throughout the series from start to finish. She was also used to promote the film having alongside Harries a prominent position of the poster for this film. Alan Rickman Rickman played Snape throughout the series. He was chosen for this role due to the ability to play a corrupt official such as his role as the sheriff of nottingham in the prince of thieves. He was also a well known and respected actor at this point in his career and as such was also utilized in the marketing material for the films. While this is all that I will mention in detail there's also a variety of other famous actors who played roles in the films who were used to help market the films to a mass audience such as Warwick Davis, Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes. The publicity and marketing strategy. Harry potter had a large number of factors in its favor in the earlier films which would help to ensure that it was a success. The first of these is that it is based off of a book series which even at the time was hugely popular which would help gain the films a large audience in the uk meaning success here was more than likely and if a film became successful here it would make the film appear successful and as such make people in other countries want to see it as well. Secondly harry potter was created in such a way as that people could easily become passionate about it though the setting being a school
- 4. something which everyone can relate to, too the 4 house based on traits which people could relate too and argue about the virtues of. The books create a large and fantastical world which many people wanted to be a part of and experience meaning that the films just have to translate this to the big screen, throw this they can then create a variety of other things to keep the audience interested in the films from one to the next such as “pottermore” a website which allows you to discover what hogwarts house you a part of what wand you would have e.c.t. Creating games to explore more of the wizarding world of which there are more than 20 and a spin off series set in the first wizarding war shows just how much synergy is used in this franchise in order to create a group of super hardcore fans who will buy every release of the films books and game and this put out. The actual advertising was also very important to the success of the harry potter franchise. The trailer for the first film made sure to include big moments from the books such as (the boats over the lake, the moving staircase) in order to show what a film has to offer over the books which shows people who know of the series the films will be a accurate recreation. The following trailers followed this basic formula of recreating large moments from the films to show it is still following the materials. All of the trailers uses the music piece “hedwig's theme” which meant this song became iconic and synonymous with harry potter meaning causal fans would recognize it if a trailer came on tv and would keep them from switching over. Towards the end of these trailers they would show off the host of famous actors who would be showcasing their skills with in the film to help incase the films mass appeal to those who follow particular actors works. The trailers are also tailored for which region they will be shown in with one example being how cho is shown much more prominently with in the chinese version of the trailer as this would allow the audience here to better connect with the film though having a character who is like themself. Trailers were not the only form of advertisement which was used by the franchise with other being posters such as those which could have been seen on the side of busses, newspapers, magazines, as well as extras on the dvds which would give a hint at the next film to ensure people who liked one would look forwards for the next. In terms of advertising through social media the earlier films did not do so as social media had not taken off fully and many filmmakers had not fully embraced its use however it started to use social media such as facebook and twitter for the later films in order to better communicate with their audience.