Harry Potter 1-5: A Muggle Film Buff's Guide to the Magicians Behind the Movies By Jen Johans |
In comparing and contrasting the differences in the five cinematic adaptations of J.K. Rowling's overwhelmingly popular and universally beloved Harry Potter series, it's important to first explore the directors, screenwriters, cinematographers and editors who worked on each film. With an emphasis on the directors, I'll investigate the background of each individual and highlight past films and experiences that may have contributed to their artistic vision, pinpointing strengths and weaknesses. However, no film is made by one person so with this in mind, I will also explore their talented and diverse collaborators. Along the way, feel free to check out the video clips, trailers and links to learn more. (Most research found on IMDb except where noted) |
1) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) Director: Chris Columbus Screenwriter: Steve Kloves Cinematographer: John Seale Editor: Richard Francis-Bruce |
Trailer Note: Trailer is complete with an original score composed just for the trailer by Harry Potter composer John Williams |
Adventures in Babysitting: "Babysitting Blues" Montage |
Background: When he was only a sophomore in the Film Program at New York University, Chris Columbus sold his first screenplay, which inspired him to keep writing until his fourth feature length work Gremlins was optioned by Steven Spielberg after graduation. Columbus, who moved out to Los Angeles to work on rewrites for the legendary director in Spielberg's Universal Studios Bungalow, created two additional scripts for the director before getting his own big break stepping behind the camera on the 80's teen favorite Adventures in Babysitting. Starring Elisabeth Shue, Adventures in Babysitting paved the way for a successful Hollywood career and also introduced audiences to what would eventually become his recurring theme of movies for and about intelligent, humorous, rebellious and good-natured young adults who must overcome outrageous obstacles to succeed. Often mistaken for another mentor of his, John Hughes, Columbus had his largest hit of the early 1990's with Home Alone before moving onto more box office successes with Home Alone's sequel, Mrs. Doubtfire and others until he was offered the chance to director the first Harry Potter film when his first boss Steven Spielberg passed on the project. He won over Rowling by promising the author that not only would he film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United Kingdom but also use an all-British cast and mostly British crew. In doing so, he returned again to his roots of films about a young boy who, like Kevin in Home Alone, has to deal with bullies, villains and eccentric, domineering relatives such as Kevin's Uncle Frank and brother Buzz that Potter fans will instantly recall while watching Columbus' depiction of Potter's uncle Mr. Dursley and cousin Dudley. Penning the screenplay was Steven Kloves who'd made a career out of writing films about talented males such as The Fabulous Baker Boys (one of Rowling's favorite films), a stellar adaptation for Curtis Hanson of Michael Chabon's novel Wonder Boys, and also with his first screenplay Racing With the Moon, which helped launch the careers of two wonder boy actors Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage. For the first film, Columbus handpicked talented Australian cinematographer John Seale whose work on the boarding school films Children of a Lesser God and Dead Poet's Society along with gorgeous work on The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Perfect Storm made him a versatile, classical styled photographer ideal to introducing Harry and audiences to the world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Seale's shots were cut together by inventive Australian editor Richard Francis-Bruce whose filmography involves a long history of editing tense character driven action films such as Dead Calm, The Shawshank Redemption, Seven, The Rock, Air Force One, The Green Mile and The Perfect Storm. |
Jen's Film Analysis: Exquisitely photographed and painstakingly adapted (almost to its peril) in syncing up with Rowling's novel, Columbus' Sorcerer's Stone is an admirable beginning but, compared to the others, it feels a bit cold, long-winded (clocking in at 152 minutes) and in dire need of some fresh air. |
2) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Director: Chris Columbus Screenwriter: Steve Kloves Cinematographer: Roger Pratt Editor: Peter Honess |
Background & Analysis: A superior film adaptation of an inferior book, the series really hit its cinematic stride with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Whereas the first film seemed to recall some of Columbus' John Hughes like influences, in the second outing, director Columbus pays homage to his first mentor Steven Spielberg with the great flying car sequence that initially appears like an homage to the unforgettable E.T. flying bike sequence (at right) but then becomes far more intense as Ron and Harry crash land into the whomping willow. Perhaps the greatest inclusion in the sequel is the casting of Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, in a role initially intended for Hugh Grant. Providing much needed comic relief, Branagh's pompous, incompetent Lockhart makes the women swoon and the men roll their eyes and he provides ample comedic fodder in a film where the stakes are raised greatly when an unknowing Ginny accidentally opens the Chamber of Secrets. Kloves is back as screenwriter but some of the other artists have been replaced. Later tapped to shoot Goblet of Fire, British cinematographer Roger Pratt makes his series debut and although his credits are heavy with critically lauded period pieces such as The End of the Affair and Chocolat, he's a master of action and fantasy, having photographed Tim Burton's brilliant Batman and worked on Twelve Monkeys, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (for director Branagh), The Fisher King and Troy. Editor Peter Honess is no stranger to cutting together pulse pounding shots of chases, speeding cars, and swashbuckling adventure with his outstanding edits of The Fast and the Furious, L.A. Confidential and Rob Roy-- but, as great preparation for Harry Potter, his softer side was also on display with the touching, fantasy Disney's The Kid. Together, all of these talents crafted a film that far exceeds the first, however the best of the series was yet to come. |
The Flying Bike Scene from Spielberg's E.T. Music by John Williams |
3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Director: Alfonso Cuaron Screenwriter: Steve Kloves Cinematographer: Michael Seresin Editor: Steven Weisberg |
Trailer |
"When you work with kids, people tell you to be very delicate, but that's the last thing you should do with kids. They feel patronized if you're like that. They just want you to be normal." -- Alfonso Cuaron (As Quoted on IMDb) |
Background & Analysis: Wanting to return to America to spend time with his family, director Chris Columbus turned over the reins to Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron after watching his gorgeous and magical adaptation of A Little Princess. At the time of the job offer, Cuaron had never read the novels or seen the first two films but he brought a dazzling and artistic sensibility to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that marked Cuaron as the ideal candidate to move the previously solely youth-oriented series into the darker and more mature territory that was to come. Eager to learn and get acquainted with his young cast, he asked the three actors to write an essay in first person about each of their characters and as IMDb reported, true to the personalities they portray, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) wrote an earnest and straight-forward one page version, Emma Watson was the quintessential Hermione with a whopping sixteen page draft and Rupert Grint (Ron) didn't turn his assignment in. Passionate about film since his youth when he would sometimes tell his mother he would be going to visit friends and escape to the local theatres instead, Cuaron was first invited by the great American director Sydney Pollack to film in America after his work Love in the Time of Hysteria made a splash at the Toronto Film Festival. In one of his first assignments, Cuaron worked with actor Alan Rickman on an episode of Fallen Angels that he helmed before later re-teaming with Rickman in Harry Potter. However, it wasn't until A Little Princess that his career first took off and the film shares many situational and thematic similarities to the big screen series about the boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs. After Princess, he directed the stunning, freewheeling and majestic Great Expectations, despite a tense relationship with Twentieth Century Fox and then later crafted his own daring entry into the burgeoning Mexican New Wave with his adults-only coming-of-age road movie Y Tu Mama Tambien. It seemed like an odd choice following his explicit Tambien to jump into J.K. Rowling's world of magic and quidditch but it proved to be just the right breath of fresh air that the series desperately needed. Using New Zealand cameraman Michael Seresin whose dark and exquisite work on Angela's Ashes and The Life of David Gale proved to be a perfect fit as he fell right in-step with Cuaron's trademark of hand-held cameras that are constantly moving with a preference of wide angles and long shots to, as Emma Watson noted in the video on the right, keep things more fluid. The look of the film is far different than the classically stylized first two with their bright colors and kid-friendly approach and while the scenes feel a few seconds longer than the ones in the works by Columbus (which prompted some viewers to say it moved far too slowly), despite its shorter running time, Cuaron's Great Expectations and A Little Princess editor Steven Weisberg kept things running at a terrific pace. The first film in the series to experiment with puppetry (that was ultimately thrown out in preference to CGI for the right Dementor effect), Cuaron called on his magic realism background and also incorporated an actual illusionist as a film consultant. Completely invested in his vision, Cuaron stayed on to oversee and contribute in the film's entire post-production period, therefore making him unable to fit the next film into his busy schedule. |
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Director: Mike Newell Screenwriter: Steve Kloves Cinematographer: Roger Pratt Editor: Mick Audsley |
Trailer |
"I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel. It's my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically." -- Mike Newell (As Quoted on IMDb) |
Background & Analysis: Warner Brothers Studios hired Cambridge educated and Granada Television trained director Mike Newell to helm the fourth installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The first British director involved in the film, Newell turned down the opportunity to direct The Constant Gardener to take over for the previous helmer Alfonso Cuaron who was still working on post-production of Azkaban. Despite discussion circulating that the film would be better off cutting the novel in half and dividing book five into two separate films, urged by Cuaron, Newell made the decision to make one film and longtime scribe for the series, Steven Kloves dropped numerous subplots in his adaptation to keep only what was strictly vital. The result is an uneven work-- one filled with action but little of the heart or emotion of the previous films or indeed the novel and without all of the exposition, the film's mystery has little significance and may in fact confuse those who haven't read the books. In addition to the disappointing translation, the entire look of the film fits with Newell's vision as stated above as the cast appears often slimy and unwashed and moodiness pervades with some fist-fights (including one the director was involved in which he fractured one of his ribs while demonstrating) and an emphasis on masculine competitiveness. A veteran of the more action oriented second film, cinematographer Roger Pratt returns and Newell makes good use of British editor Mick Audsley (High Fidelity, The Grifters, Interview With the Vampire, Danerous Liasions, Twelve Monkeys). While on one hand, the male camaraderie and rivalry works well for Harry's Arthurian quest in the fifth tale, by the time the students attend the Yule Ball, audiences feel long overdue for some beauty and emotion. After directing one of the 1990's most beloved and popular romantic comedies, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mike Newell ventured into more traditionally masculine territory with his clever adaptation of Donnie Brasco, based on a true story as well as the darkly comic Pushing Tin with the same kind of male rivalry between characters played by John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton involving women (Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett) that feels echoed by similar love triangles in Goblet of Fire. Unafraid of his feminine side, Newell has directed such diverse and gorgeous works including Enchanted April and Mona Lisa Smile, which, like Potter takes place at an elite school. A true film lover, Mike Newell's influences are on display in Goblet of Fire including his most visible and IMDb admitted homage to the Hedge Maze scene from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (at right) that culminates near the end of Goblet of Fire as Harry and Cedric unknowingly journey towards a ready-to-rise Voldemort. |
Trailer |
5) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Director: David Yates Screenwriter: Michael Goldenberg Cinematographer: Slawomir Idziak Editor: Mark Day |
4) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Director: Mike Newell Screenwriter: Steve Kloves Cinematographer: Roger Pratt Editor: Mick Audsley |
Trailer |
Dumbledore's Army Casts a Patronus |
Background & Analysis: After a misstep with the fourth film, the franchise made a wonderful recovery by hiring British television director David Yates. Proving he had a great handle on not only the stylistic direction he wanted to take the series in as IMDb reports that his personal favorite film in the series was Cuaron's excellent third installment, as evidenced in his Emmy award winning Made-for-HBO film The Girl in the Cafe, he had a fondness for civil disobedience in the young and a terrific moral compass. Click here to check out an outstanding fan-made trailer of The Girl in the Cafe to see the similarity in a story of a romance between a young woman who decides she can't just sit by and watch when she has the opportunity to inspire change while at the G8 Summit Meeting with her political beau that makes a great precursor to Harry training and helping run Dumbledore's Army. The fifth film proves to be the best in the series in successfully marrying the artistry displayed by Cuaron with the importance of detail in the first two works. Although regular scripter Steven Kloves was unavailable for the installment, the producers made a wise decision to hire the man whose script for the first film had impressed them years earlier in the form of playwright Michael Goldenberg (writer and director of Bed of Roses). Reuniting with his old television editor Mark Day, Yates further exhibited his wonderful taste by utilizing the talents of amazing Polish cinematographer Slawomir Idziak who, in his native country had worked alongside Kieslowski while shooting Three Colors: Blue and The Double Life of Veronique before coming over to Hollywood to work on some outstanding Ridley Scott productions such as Black Hawk Down and King Arthur. An excellent example of what's to come, director Yates is currently working on the next installment of Harry Potter and has expressed interest in tackling the series finale, Deathly Hallows. |
Works Cited All factual and cinematic information cited courtesy of IMDb and found at links throughout page. |