David Yates talks HRH final scene, J.K. Rowling in new interview
Potter director David Yates recently spoke with Manila Bulletin about his experience making four of the HP movies, about Dan, Rupert and Emma's final scene together, J.K. Rowling, and his future plans. Here are some excerpts (he gives a bit of a spoiler about the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2):
You came into the series at sort of that middle point. When did you realize the magnitude of the fan base. And what did you think about it? It was probably a phase in the cycle around about this stage when you do your interviews and you meet the press and walk up the red carpet. Obviously, you notice the fact that it’s globally popular, but it’s just when the fans come from Mexico or Argentina and camp out all night, you realize what it means to them. And it’s a huge responsibility, actually. Also, there are massive expectations on every movie, and in a curious way, you do your very best with the film. And I’m very proud of this film.
On the last day with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, when they were on set together and filmed their final scene, what was that like? We shot the scene on the viaduct, outside Hogwarts, and it was really peaceful. It was a really sunny day. It was all backlit. And it’s a very tender scene where they sort of reflect on everything that’s happened, all the battles and everything, and they hold hands, and the camera falls away. It’s a really tender, lovely scene. I said to them, ‘Look, guys, this is the last scene we’re all going to do with you three together in front of the camera. So, it’s not just the last scene of these three characters in the movie, this is your last scene in this series of films. That’s what today is about.’ And it infused it with a kind of emotion which was really moving actually.
Did you ever talk to Jo Rowling about adapting these books and the choices you made, particularly in terms of its contemporary feel? We never had a big conversation about that because it was very present in the book. She read the script and she was totally cool about the way we’d adapted it. She was always just very enthusiastic about the whole first script, generally. But she’s been really helpful and we had a good chat about a couple of scenes in Part 2. I asked her, ‘What were you thinking when you wrote these scenes?’ And she was really helpful.
Jo was a producer on this film, so how was that? How was her expanded role on it? You know, it hasn’t really changed from the other movies, honestly. She’s just always our biggest supporter. And always very graceful and kind and I think, because she’s been there throughout, it was time her name was up there. She wants to be up there with us; it’s a real privilege.
Do you have another movie brewing after all this? I’ve got so many scripts coming in, I can’t tell you. In fact, I told them to stop sending them. [Laughs] Because I haven’t read any of them. They’re just all piled up. But I’m so ambitious, I can’t tell you. It’s a strange thing about Harry Potter because I don’t feel any sense of ownership, in a way. I don’t feel territorial about it. I feel it’s a bit of a national treasure that I’m curating. For everything I can enter, I try and do my very best. And I’m very proud of the work I’ve done. But post-Potter, my career sort of starts again really. And I won’t feel like I’ve made four of the biggest films in the world. I’ll feel like, ‘Well, that’s it. I’ve done Potter now.’ And I’ll have all these beautiful scripts and I can begin in a way. That’s my plan. And I’m going to do big things and tiny little things. And they won’t have wizards in them.
No wizards? No wizards.
You can read the whole interview here. Thanks to Snitchseeker for the tip.
The official Tumblr of the Norwegian studio behind Rupert Grint’s upcoming film Into The White has released a new clip from the film, in which we get another good look at Rupert in this very different role as a British soldier during World War 2. It’s set to premiere on March 4th in Olso. Thanks to RupertGrint.net for the tip on this.
Congratulations are in order for Harry Potter production designer Stuart Craig and his team.
Over in Beverley Hills last night he took home a much deserved prize in the fantasy film category at the prestigious Art Directors Guild awards for ‘Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film in 2011′, for his work on Deathly Hallows Part 2.
Update: The brilliant people behind the Harry Potter films were also recognised by the Guild with a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery! The press release names David Heyman, David Barron, Chris Columbus, Alfonso cuaron, Mike Newell, David Yates, Steve Kloves, Michael Goldenberg, Stuart Craig, Neil Lamont, Stephanie McMillan and JK Rowling as the recipients.
This should boost the film’s chances in this category at the Oscars in a couple of weeks time, although it faces tough competition from the other big ADG winner, Hugo.
Although veteran Craig has won three Oscars in the past (1982, 1988 and 1996), none of them have been for Harry Potter even though his work is probably the standout feature of the whole production. We hope that can finally change!
The full list of ADG winners for the feature film section is below. You can also see the TV winners right here.
In preparation for the release of The Woman in Black, Dan Radcliffe has been on a few US talk shows to promote the new film. Below we have videos of him on Ellen, in which he talks about his girlfriend and makes a $5000 charity Superbowl bet. And the final video is of a very funny interview on The Late Late Show with Craig Furguson.
Typograph is a standards compliant theme with a JQuery powered tabbed sidebar box and an ad under the first post on the index page. This theme has no images and is purely based on CSS elements and typography. Ideal for future customization. Typograph was styled "from the ground up" on a highly customized version of the Sandbox theme.
Designed by Morten Rand-Hendriksen - designer, information philosopher and author based out of Burnaby, BC.
You can change the contents of the tabbed box by editing the tabbedBox.php file located in the Typograph theme directory.
Congratulations are in order for Harry Potter production designer Stuart Craig and his team.
