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Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 5-film series


Bilbo

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I don't see the complaints. Never had a problem with how these films were directed, and Yates is at the very least a better director than Mike Newell or Chris Columbus.

 

How they're written, though? Different thing, and one that has nothing to do with Yates. I have my issues with Deathly Hallows Part 2 (too rushed) and Fantastic Beasts 2 (too incoherent). I really, really like The Half-Blood Prince and I L O V E The Order of the Phoenix.

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12 hours ago, Holko said:

No, bolle, dull and lifeless describes Yates' "vision" perfectly. He's perfect in completely sucking the life out of every character and scene. The RoR is one of the best examples: in the book after Dobby tells him about the perfect hiding place, they go to explore, it's a lovely room, Hermione immediately rushes the bookshelves lining the walls and sees useful DADA tomes, there are cushions to sit on or fall onto, it's a pleasant place. Then they practice by forming pairs, then Harry walks around seeing how everyone's doing.

 

In the film, they go in, it's a cold, empty hall with mirrored walls and a grated floor and nothing helpful inside, in the reveal "reaction" shot, they all just stand like prearranged, speak with no emotions, Hermione blurts out textbook style exposition about a Hogwarts room not even the Marauders found, then they practice by lining up, wasting time and putting immense pressure on people like Nevill, put on the spot and having to perform alone in front of everyone, or lined up and pitting two like Ron and Hermione against each other, everyone staring, then after Hermione "wins", they stand uoy Ron gets stared at some more while emotiinlessly delivering some stupid line, while the girls are already clumped together giggling because girls all giggle, and laughing at how Ron "lost". It all completely misses the point and tone and feel of the book scene, it's a cold and sadistic replacement, yet it's still presented as "Hogwarts wants us to fight back" and scored with a cutesy building montage cue.

 

You are using the second worst Yates film to criticize his direction though. It's films like HBP, DH1, and FB1 that show he CAN do good things. Almost everything in Order feels cold and almost like a cheap imitation. I don't have those same problems with his other films.

 

12 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I don't see the complaints. Never had a problem with how these films were directed, and Yates is at the very least a better director than Mike Newell or Chris Columbus.

 

How they're written, though? Different thing, and one that has nothing to do with Yates. I have my issues with Deathly Hallows Part 2 (too rushed) and Fantastic Beasts 2 (too incoherent). I really, really like The Half-Blood Prince and I L O V E The Order of the Phoenix.

 

That is quite perplexing to me. I find 5 and 6 to be near opposites. Order of the Phoenix I find to be a rushed and soulless impersonation of the source material. Somehow everything feels stilted. Suddenly actors that seemed to be falling nicely in their roles in previous films felt like they didn't know what they were doing (with a few exceptions: Umbridge and Luna). The budget also feels dramatically lower and not in a good way. I found the cinematography bland and boring, the music is also the worst of the series (in my opinion). It just felt like everything and everyone was uncomfortable and not clicking. And sure, the climax we got was fine, but it could've been phenomenal if they hadn't cut so much out of it. For a place called the "Department of Mysteries" it was oddly boring wasn't it? It's not just the writing, but just how the whole film "feels". Yates was a TV guy and Order of the Phoenix has an older TV quality to it. The lighting and the shot composition just don't always feel natural or the most sensible of choices, but rather the most logical or the easiest shot to take.

 

Not asking this to be a jerk, but am legitimately curious: What is it that I am missing about Order of the Phoenix?

 

Then you've got Half-Blood Prince. Damn. It feels like it was made by a totally different crew, Direction included. The cinematography is gorgeous. Every shot feels like a painting and like it has something to say, with it's own story. I know many here hate the color palette, but paintings don't have to be full or bright colors to be great works of art. Not saying the film is an amazing work of art, but it certainly is compared to 5 for me. Then, instead of rushing through every scene, it feels like we can breath and experience the world and the characters. I even think Yates succeeded it bringing some of that magic back into the series for a moment. Plus, now everyone feels comfortable in their roles again. The awkwardness I felt in 5 is gone. Even the music I find to be more interesting in 6 than in 5. Not to mention it takes all the best moments of music from 5 and includes them along with better music than the rest of 5's score, so it just elevates the score as a whole. I actually remember 6's score, but besides the highlights from 5 that are in 6, I don't remember anything about 5's score. I just adore six. Even the over the top comedic elements. Not sure what it is fully, but I enjoy the heck out of it. It's one of those movies that works for me.

 

It's not perfect though. For a film called "The Half-Blood Prince" that story-line has basically no focus and no explanation. That bit was quite botched. There's the whole shortening of the memories thing that's an issue too, though somehow that doesn't feel as rushed as anything in film 5. I also go back and forth on the whole "wand tribute" thing at the end. Some days I wish we'd gotten the way the book did it. Other days I feel like it would've felt out of place in the world of the films. 

 

But yeah. I could go on. I've got strong positive feelings about DH1 and FB1 as well. DH2 is more of an eye-roller. FB2 is...utter garbage.

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2 hours ago, TSMefford said:

It's films like HBP, DH1, and FB1 that show he CAN do good things.

Eh, I hated HBP, DH1 and DH2 the one time I will ever see them. (DH1 may have been more boredom and disappointment and frustration that it's too dark to make anything out.) I was so bored of FB1 that I shut it off halfway when McBland was unconvincingly playing with his bland CG animals for 10 or so minutes.

 

But OK, HBP, Ron is in the hospital wing recovering from the poisoning, and the teachers are just there staring at the Lavender shit like mannequins instead of reating the room and fucking off... only for Dumbs to say a shit line at the end. Things like these really add up to feeling like the guy is completely inept at portraying life or humans.

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5 hours ago, TSMefford said:

Order of the Phoenix I find to be a rushed and soulless impersonation of the source material. Somehow everything feels stilted. Suddenly actors that seemed to be falling nicely in their roles in previous films felt like they didn't know what they were doing (with a few exceptions: Umbridge and Luna). The budget also feels dramatically lower and not in a good way. I found the cinematography bland and boring, the music is also the worst of the series (in my opinion). It just felt like everything and everyone was uncomfortable and not clicking. And sure, the climax we got was fine, but it could've been phenomenal if they hadn't cut so much out of it. For a place called the "Department of Mysteries" it was oddly boring wasn't it? It's not just the writing, but just how the whole film "feels". Yates was a TV guy and Order of the Phoenix has an older TV quality to it. The lighting and the shot composition just don't always feel natural or the most sensible of choices, but rather the most logical or the easiest shot to take.

 

For me, if the climax to a dramatic piece works, than the piece has worked; and boy oh boy did the climax to The Order of the Phoenix work for me. If I read the book then I can't remember, and even in looking at it as just a film I would have edited it differently, but to me that's all minor quibbles when you have a film where the climax lands so well.

 

Its the best encapsulation of the themes of Harry Potter. Dumbeldore tells the possesed Harry: "Its not how you are alike - its how you are not" and the next shot gives us the answer to that statement: beyond the simple answer of Harry clearly having a moral compass - Harry has friends. Its just very sweet, and yet its followed by a note of tragedy, which having seen the whole of the series, rings as very ominously perscient: "You're a fool, Harry Potter. And you will lose - everything."

 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is cinema.

 

5 hours ago, TSMefford said:

Then you've got Half-Blood Prince. Damn. It feels like it was made by a totally different crew, Direction included. The cinematography is gorgeous. Every shot feels like a painting and like it has something to say, with it's own story. I know many here hate the color palette, but paintings don't have to be full or bright colors to be great works of art. Not saying the film is an amazing work of art, but it certainly is compared to 5 for me. Then, instead of rushing through every scene, it feels like we can breath and experience the world and the characters. I even think Yates succeeded it bringing some of that magic back into the series for a moment. Plus, now everyone feels comfortable in their roles again. The awkwardness I felt in 5 is gone.

 

It's not perfect though. For a film called "The Half-Blood Prince" that story-line has basically no focus and no explanation. That bit was quite botched. There's the whole shortening of the memories thing that's an issue too, though somehow that doesn't feel as rushed as anything in film 5. I also go back and forth on the whole "wand tribute" thing at the end. Some days I wish we'd gotten the way the book did it. Other days I feel like it would've felt out of place in the world of the films. 

 

I don't like the colour palette of the film, but that's a minor issue in my mind. The IMAX DMR version must have looked atrocious, though.

 

But the film just has a great mood (without sacrificing humour!) and some of the scenes are stupendously directed, actually. I'm especially fond of the reveal of the Horcruxes. Everything in those scenes - lenses, angles, the pulse of the editing, the rhythms of the performances - works towards achieving an unsettling effect. Very effective.

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22 hours ago, Holko said:

No, bolle, dull and lifeless describes Yates' "vision" perfectly. He's perfect in completely sucking the life out of every character and scene. The RoR is one of the best examples: in the book after Dobby tells him about the perfect hiding place, they go to explore, it's a lovely room, Hermione immediately rushes the bookshelves lining the walls and sees useful DADA tomes, there are cushions to sit on or fall onto, it's a pleasant place. Then they practice by forming pairs, then Harry walks around seeing how everyone's doing.

 

In the film, they go in, it's a cold, empty hall with mirrored walls and a grated floor and nothing helpful inside, in the reveal "reaction" shot, they all just stand like prearranged, speak with no emotions, Hermione blurts out textbook style exposition about a Hogwarts room not even the Marauders found, then they practice by lining up, wasting time and putting immense pressure on people like Nevill, put on the spot and having to perform alone in front of everyone, or lined up and pitting two like Ron and Hermione against each other, everyone staring, then after Hermione "wins", they stand uoy Ron gets stared at some more while emotiinlessly delivering some stupid line, while the girls are already clumped together giggling because girls all giggle, and laughing at how Ron "lost". It all completely misses the point and tone and feel of the book scene, it's a cold and sadistic replacement, yet it's still presented as "Hogwarts wants us to fight back" and scored with a cutesy building montage cue.

That was very interesting to read.

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7 hours ago, Holko said:

Eh, I hated HBP, DH1 and DH2 the one time I will ever see them. (DH1 may have been more boredom and disappointment and frustration that it's too dark to make anything out.) I was so bored of FB1 that I shut it off halfway when McBland was unconvincingly playing with his bland CG animals for 10 or so minutes.

 

But OK, HBP, Ron is in the hospital wing recovering from the poisoning, and the teachers are just there staring at the Lavender shit like mannequins instead of reating the room and fucking off... only for Dumbs to say a shit line at the end. Things like these really add up to feeling like the guy is completely inept at portraying life or humans.

 

So I'll just start with this. You're clearly passionate about the hatred of Yates and the later films and that's fine. I don't think I'll change your mind, nor should I really try to. I will say though I hear the "boring" criticism of DH1 a lot. I completely disagree. I thought it was all quite interesting. The Radio montage specifically I think is one of the standout moments of the series and really drives home the overall point of the film. How are characters are coping in this dangerous new world with Death Eaters in power. That's really the crux of DH1 is that shift in the world and how it's affecting everyone. Don't get me started on the cinematography being "too dark". You'll find I'm in the camp that doesn't think Solo: A Star Wars Story is too dark or that Game of Thrones was too dark that one episode. Not gonna get any give on that from me. LOL.

 

Though, re-reading your previous post about the Room of Requirement scene, I think I do understand one of the bigger reasons why you may have such a big problem with Yates' films:

22 hours ago, Holko said:

It all completely misses the point and tone and feel of the book scene, it's a cold and sadistic replacement, yet it's still presented as "Hogwarts wants us to fight back" and scored with a cutesy building montage cue.

 

I will say that Yate's films are not at all a great representation of the books. I'll agree with that. I think Order of the Phoenix though was a sort of "awakening" for me as an avid Potter fan back in the day. The films are not and will never be the books. I enjoyed the fandom and specifically the events of the films so much that the only real way to fully enjoy them is to just take them on their own as their own thing separate from the books. By the end they really feel like two different timelines. The same stuff sort of happens, but the films do it in a more subdued way. Order of the Phoenix is the only I really hold it's bad adaptation against it, because there's just so much wasted potential.

 

It's funny though, because I used to believe that the films had to get darker and less focused on the "magicalness" from the first three, even four movies, but seeing something like Star Wars (which I didn't watch until after Potter was fully complete), which has a pretty consistent tone across the 9 films, it's clear that the films didn't have to deviate from the tone of the first three as drastically. I'd say that the shift started in 5, but really it started in 4 for Potter. 

 

The further we get from the films the more I'd want to see the series re-tackled in a new way. I think it would greatly benefit from a series treatment.

 

Of course, you probably don't like them much as films, but I think HBP, DH1, are good films, not great or amazing, but good. They may not be the greatest of adaptations, but I find them to be good films on their own way.

 

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

For me, if the climax to a dramatic piece works, than the piece has worked; and boy oh boy did the climax to The Order of the Phoenix work for me. If I read the book then I can't remember, and even in looking at it as just a film I would have edited it differently, but to me that's all minor quibbles when you have a film where the climax lands so well.

 

Its the best encapsulation of the themes of Harry Potter. Dumbeldore tells the possesed Harry: "Its not how you are alike - its how you are not" and the next shot gives us the answer to that statement: beyond the simple answer of Harry clearly having a moral compass - Harry has friends. Its just very sweet, and yet its followed by a note of tragedy, which having seen the whole of the series, rings as very ominously perscient: "You're a fool, Harry Potter. And you will lose - everything."

 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is cinema.

 

I don't know...something about it all falls flat for me. It just doesn't stick the landing for me. The climax working doesn't always dictate if the film worked though. As an example, I really enjoy Godzilla 2014, and yes the climax is awesome, but so are the first 40 minutes or so when focused on Cranston's character. I think without that good 40 minutes, then I wouldn't have enjoyed the whole film as much. Not to say that the beginning does it for me, but when there is consistent goodness throughout the film it rests more fondly in my memory than if just the climax worked.

 

I mean there's good stuff in that climax. I appreciate the wand choreography and the fights, but it just...I don't know it doesn't click. And it's not even because it's missing some even more awesome moments from the book. What IS there just doesn't all come together though. I will give you though: when Dumbledore steps out of that fireplace and they duel...that is honestly pure greatness. And look, Umbridge is well-done, as is Luna Lovegood, it's not all bad I suppose. It's just my least favorite one. 

 

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I don't like the colour palette of the film, but that's a minor issue in my mind. The IMAX DMR version must have looked atrocious, though.

 

But the film just has a great mood (without sacrificing humour!) and some of the scenes are stupendously directed, actually. I'm especially fond of the reveal of the Horcruxes. Everything in those scenes - lenses, angles, the pulse of the editing, the rhythms of the performances - works towards achieving an unsettling effect. Very effective.

 

On the color palette briefly. I mentioned a comparison to paintings before and I tend to like both vivid and vibrant paintings as well as paintings I'd describe as "hazy" or "murky" so...if that tells you anything. Lol. 

 

It does have a great mood. It feels like some of the light moments were brought back into the series, feels like it fits with the first three more. I also appreciate the character work, especially with Malfoy and Snape. Great stuff. I may rewatch it during this whole pandemic. Maybe I should rewatch HP5 too, and give it another shot.

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18 minutes ago, TSMefford said:
23 hours ago, Holko said:

It all completely misses the point and tone and feel of the book scene, it's a cold and sadistic replacement, yet it's still presented as "Hogwarts wants us to fight back" and scored with a cutesy building montage cue.

 

Yada yada the latter films are better when viewed as their own thing (paraphrased essence)

 

Well that's the thing, and what I'm saying in that quote: even when divorced from the book, form barely follows function a lot of times, like with this upliftig awesome happy place, their one escape, being a cold blue hall where you put people on the spot, they fall on hard floor while others stare and mirrorlike walls reflect it. (TV director sensibilities: let's just reuse the already built trophy room set, we'll save a lot, it'll work just fine)

 

Another example for that I just thought of: Wesley Wizard Wheezes.

 

The set is built to follow the book description of a bright orange spot of fun in the dreary dying Alley, the one island in depression, the music follows that well, too, but the lighting, blocking, staging, editing, and especially grading make it just as bland, murky, flat and dreary as everything else in this... thing.

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29 minutes ago, TSMefford said:

The further we get from the films the more I'd want to see the series re-tackled in a new way. I think it would greatly benefit from a series treatment.

A good series could be made out of it for sure.

 

Too bad it'd lose the main cast and Williams though.

But still, I'm sure they could compensate.

Maybe make it animated this time?

So it has an excuse to maintain its book charm?

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5 hours ago, Holko said:

the lighting, blocking, staging, editing, and especially grading make it just as bland, murky, flat and dreary as everything else in this... thing.

 

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I’m a fan of the look of the film, but I’m also a fan of the looks on the earlier films too. I mean sure, you could’ve gone for big, vibrant colors, and super bright lighting, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

 

I think there’s a middle ground in there probably as I think the later films...well...HBP and later were going for really natural looking lighting. The grade isn’t super natural, but the lighting is and feels way more naturalistic than the Columbus films. Personally, I think the Columbus films are too bright and too...lit feeling? It all feels perfectly lit and feels like a movie. I tend to prefer more natural lighting styles these days.

 

That being said though, I think Azkaban is certainly the most well-shot and lit of the series. It blends that brightness and the naturalistic. But again, the issue you seem to have isn’t necessarily a Yates issue (Not is reusing sets, Azkaban did that too) It started with 4. And actually from my memory HP5 is brighter lit and more colorful than Yates’ other entries. All that doesn’t mean I can’t also like the look of HP6, which I do.

 

I get what issues you have, but none of that is enough to bug me nearly as much as it seems to bug you. So again, agree to disagree I suppose. I concede they’re not perfect films, none of them are, but I hardly think all of Yates’ entries are bland and boring and that he’s a talentless hack.

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20 minutes ago, TSMefford said:

(Not is reusing sets, Azkaban did that too)

Problem's not reusing sets, but reusing the wrong set for the wrong reason without adapting it well.

 

I think more than anything I just feel that it's absurd that he of all people was given the key to the kingdom, the exclusivity to the golden goose, when his main contribution was sucking the fun, personality and magic out of this fun, personality-filled and magical universe.

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36 minutes ago, TSMefford said:

Personally, I think the Columbus films are too bright and too...lit feeling? It all feels perfectly lit and feels like a movie.

 

The Columbus films have very high-key lighting. This contrasts hugely with the low-key lighting that Cuaron often uses in Prisoner of Azkaban.

 

The Half-Blood Prince is a bit too extremly graded. But then, so is Goblet of Fire.

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11 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

The Columbus films have very high-key lighting. This contrasts hugely with the low-key lighting that Cuaron often uses in Prisoner of Azkaban.

 

Yeah. That’s it. I definitely prefer the low-key approach.

 

13 minutes ago, Holko said:

Problem's not reusing sets, but reusing the wrong set for the wrong reason without adapting it well.

 

I think more than anything I just feel that it's absurd that he of all people was given the key to the kingdom, the exclusivity to the golden goose, when his main contribution was sucking the fun, personality and magic out of this fun, personality-filled and magical universe.

 

It does seem rather absurd that he’s STILL going. Even Star Wars has cycled through more Directors. It’s not a bad thing to get new blood. I just don’t think he needs to be replaced because he’s a fun-sucker. I don’t think that’s true.

 

To get slightly back on topic, I’d be more than happy to see someone else take over the next Beasts film. Clearly after CoG something needs an overhaul. Mostly it was the script.

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It's too late, they needed a new director from the beginning for the Beasts films.

10 hours ago, Holko said:

Another example for that I just thought of: Wesley Wizard Wheezes

 

The set is built to follow the book description of a bright orange spot of fun in the dreary dying Alley, the one island in depression, the music follows that well, too, but the lighting, blocking, staging, editing, and especially grading make it just as bland, murky, flat and dreary as everything else in this... thing.

What about the establishing shots when they enter and leave the building clearly showing that the shop is the most vibrant, living thing in the whole alley?

 

 

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I don't like the movie Order of the Phoenix. I loved the book as a kid, and the movie was a great disappointment when I first watched it. It's like @TSMefford said, it looks like a low budget TV movie that plays bureaucratically all the main beats of the wonderful book, and makes its powerful story limp and pathetic, with an equally dreadful score. 

 

Half Blood Prince is a little better, and has some nice touches to the book. It's not brilliant, but it... kinda works? Deathly Hallows Part 1, on the other hand, is a genuinely good movie, but DH2 is just kinda there. 

 

Generally, I'm no Yates fan, but I like some scenes he does that don't exist in the book, like the attack on the Burrow on HBP and Harry and Hermione dancing to Nick Cave on DH1. It's cool to see another vision for the characters and for that world that differs from JK's.

 

Which is too bad, if wasn't for her being so overprotective over the franchise, it could've grown to the size of a Star Wars or a Star Trek. I'd love a prequel show Clone Wars-style centered around the rise of Voldemort and the first wizarding war, which was just alluded to on the main books/movies.

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46 minutes ago, Alex said:

Half Blood Prince is dreadful, gets worse and worse every time I watch it. The grading, the omission of most of Tom Riddle’s memories in favour of more Lavender Brown, Harry and Ginny having literally no chemistry at all, The Burrow burning down. It’s a shame because I think the book is the best of the series.

 

Alan Rickman is great though, as always. 

Yes, it's my biggest gripe with the film, in omitting what I believed were some of the most crucial aspects of the book. Not only were those moments in the book fascinating to get stuck into, but they were also great moments between Harry and Dumbledore uncovering fragments of Voldemort's past.

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11 hours ago, Holko said:

Another example for that I just thought of: Wesley Wizard Wheezes.

The set is built to follow the book description of a bright orange spot of fun in the dreary dying Alley, the one island in depression, the music follows that well, too, but the lighting, blocking, staging, editing, and especially grading make it just as bland, murky, flat and dreary as everything else in this... thing.

 

I decided to watch this scene on mute, just so I could properly study the camera movement and direction. I recommend others try the same, you might understand why some people can't stand Yates and his total lack of vision/creativity.

 

Talk about an unimaginably dull, pedestrian sequence for a "whimsical" store nestled in the middle of miserable Diagon Alley. Visually uninteresting, drained of colour, an endless succession of 5-6 second long flat/medium shots with the same camera movement repeated (every shot starts wide then slowly moves towards a focal object). Sometimes he gets really experimental and does a pan from a character to something they're looking at out-of-frame.

 

To be blunt, this is amateur-level filmmaking. An illiterate first year film student could do better with the same basic challenge (create an exciting, minute-long sequence in a magical wizarding store) and this is the best Yates can conjure. And people still don't understand why he's considered the wrong filmmaker for this series?

 

The only thing telling viewers this is a fun, happy place is the music -- which feels like a total misnomer given the dreary events on-screen (and gives me some solace about Williams never touching these lifeless Yates films).

 

1 hour ago, Arpy said:

What about the establishing shots when they enter and leave the building clearly showing that the shop is the most vibrant, living thing in the whole alley?

 

Frankly the terrible colour grading makes this unnoticeable. The point is that this "vibrant" shop contrasts with the rest of Diagon Alley, so why is the shop taking up 85% of the frame in the establishing shot? From the very beginning, this contrast isn't made clear. And I'd question the so-called vibrancy of this shop anyway, because even the "colourful" sets just look washed out/sepia with the piss-yellow filter smeared across the entire frame.

 

The closing shot is mildly better, with 4/5 of the frame grey and 1/5 "colourful" to establish that contrast, but it's still barely noticeable due to the overall grading and is totally pointless for the final shot in the sequence (when it's meant to be established that way).

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Eh, it's fine. Now you're being nit-picky, when the true pitfalls of HBP are in the story. I do agree it could be graded much lighter, but the camerawork and composition are all fine.

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5 hours ago, Edmilson said:

but I like some scenes he does that don't exist in the book, like the attack on the Burrow on HBP

Oh god that bullshit

 

Why

 

It's annoying, unexciting, totally pointless and weightless, especially when DH1 shows the Burrow is just fine, no lasting damage done by all that burning. And they just stand there looking like mannequins again, even Hagrid knows to Aguamenti his house when set on fire at the end.

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2 hours ago, Arpy said:

Eh, it's fine. Now you're being nit-picky, when the true pitfalls of HBP are in the story. I do agree it could be graded much lighter, but the camerawork and composition are all fine.

 

It seems like nitpicking until you realise all the points I made can be applied to the entire film, not just this one scene. If anyone can't understand why people don't like what Yates did to Harry Potter, the answer can be found simply by studying his direction in that one scene (because it perfectly encapsulates his entire approach to the films themselves).

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I've studied film for the past six years, and aside from the colour grading, I can't fault the cinematography, the storyboarding or the visual direction of OOTP or HBP. DH and FBs have some wonky direction going on, but that to me all stems from a lack of a strong visual storytelling perspective guided by the story.

 

 

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I thought Fantastic Beasts 2 was well directed, as well. Yates' camerawork was really exuberent in terms of movement, without ever being showy or overwhelming.

 

The script, though...

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I do think its time to inject new blood into the series, but not because I'm disatisfied with Yates, but because he's already helmed six (!) of these films.

 

Rowling should absolutely step down from scripting the piece.

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6 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I do think its time to inject new blood into the series, but not because I'm disatisfied with Yates, but because he's already helmed six (!) of these films.

 

Rowling should absolutely step down from scripting the piece.

 

Absolutely. Even in Beasts 1, the reveal of Grindlewald at the end is awful and pointless. But Beasts 2 certainly shows that screenwriting is not her thing.

16 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

I decided to watch this scene on mute, just so I could properly study the camera movement and direction. I recommend others try the same, you might understand why some people can't stand Yates and his total lack of vision/creativity.

 

Talk about an unimaginably dull, pedestrian sequence for a "whimsical" store nestled in the middle of miserable Diagon Alley. Visually uninteresting, drained of colour, an endless succession of 5-6 second long flat/medium shots with the same camera movement repeated (every shot starts wide then slowly moves towards a focal object). Sometimes he gets really experimental and does a pan from a character to something they're looking at out-of-frame.

 

Gonna disagree here. I find the cinematography in this scene and in this film more interesting than HP1 and 2. 3 is clearly better, but HP1 and 2, while well made, feel more basic than this. It could be the lighting, but I feel like the framing isn’t quite as interesting as this film.

 

Heres a genuine question: How would you specifically move the camera and frame the shots of this one scene to fit your standards? Are there any scenes from other films that represent the style of what you would want from this scene?

 

I think if I had some visual reference for what you like, then I might understand more why you and others despise Yates’ work (and his cinematographer) on this film.

 

Ill also add that the cinematography and grading of HBP is not objectively bad. Some seem to paint it that way, but it’s purely opinion. As clearly plenty do like it, so there’s certainly something to it to like for some. I’ve seen plenty of amature projects and there’s clearly far more going on here.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You think abuse allegations made against Depp for the last few years were enough to get him fired, but Miller, in a clip lacking context and any corroboration is going to be recast?

 

I think Miller will make a statement but can't see WB or Rowling giving more oxygen to this controversy.

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Please let this be the moment they decide to get rid of that stupid character once and for all. Or, on second thoughts, maybe it's the actor... or YATES... that makes me dislike him.

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On 4/7/2020 at 9:47 AM, bollemanneke said:

Please let this be the moment they decide to get rid of that stupid character once and for all. Or, on second thoughts, maybe it's the actor... or YATES... that makes me dislike him.

 

At this point, just cut your losses and call it a day.

 

I have almost no interest in the upcoming films, because I'm not quite sure they can redeem it. If they have to start cutting characters midway through after building them up, due to casting issues, then why bother keeping it going.

 

I have a feeling, from everything I'm hearing, that FB3 is gonna be a massive disappointment. I sure hope I'm wrong.

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But they wouldn't totally delete him just because Ezra Miller has to go, right?

 

Also, at this point I totally don't care about this franchise anymore. I just don't have better things to do than posting in this thread.

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Oh no, Misery McPoutface in trouble? What ever will become of his thoroughly dull, monotonous, lifeless, stilted, moody, miserable, frowning character? An absolute crisis for WB.

 

Pfft. As if anyone would notice, or care, if this character obliviated from the series. Miller is hardly Jack Nicholson; he has all the presence of a paint brush without the paint (dutifully washed down the drain by David Yates, such is his penchant for diluting any semblance of personality his actors possess).

 

You could replace this role with a mannequin and no one would notice, such is the impact his character has.

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On 4/10/2020 at 1:54 AM, crumbs said:

Oh no, Misery McPoutface in trouble? What ever will become of his thoroughly dull, monotonous, lifeless, stilted, moody, miserable, frowning character? An absolute crisis for WB.

 

Pfft. As if anyone would notice, or care, if this character obliviated from the series. Miller is hardly Jack Nicholson; he has all the presence of a paint brush without the paint (dutifully washed down the drain by David Yates, such is his penchant for diluting any semblance of personality his actors possess).

 

You could replace this role with a mannequin and no one would notice, such is the impact his character has.

The Potterdom fandom is as fickle as any; they still haven't gotten over Depp's continued role as Grindelwald, or the idea that the author of a series can make an addendum and write whatever the fuck they want.

 

Just to pick open an old wound - I find myself continually disappointed that Rowling became a meme for making harmless additions to the series via Pottermore and Twitter - but oh, it's Twitter so why care anyway...

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6 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Isn't McGonagall supposed to be dead in FB2? Or can Animagi change their age too now?

How can she be dead in FB2 when she is alive in Harry Potter? You do know that FB2 is a prequel?

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4 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Of course I do. Because FB2 takes place before she was born.

Well still she is not dead until after Harry Potter.  

McGonagall in the book was perhaps not born during the FB2 but Film McGonagall was. 

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