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.
Jun
27
Yesterday marked fifteen years since the first publication of Philosopher’s Stone (they only printed 500 copies!). In honour of this anniversary, The Guardian re-published one of their very early articles about JK Rowling and Harry Potter. It includes an interview with JKR herself, which is fascinating to read in hindsight, where she speaks about getting accepted by Bloomsbury and expresses her astonishment at the huge (now comparatively tiny!) six-figure sums of money coming her way.
Have a read of that right here. Click the image for a larger version:
Jun
24
With Pottermore making updates until the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the Pottermore Insider recently announced that they are setting up a House Cup Tournament. As you already know, the House Cup is awarded to the house with the most house points at the end of the school year. On Pottermore, you can achieve house points through brewing potions and dueling. Here is what Pottermore said:
Pottermore students have been working hard on their potion-making and duelling skills to earn house points for their respective houses. Those points have been gathering and, with the numbers building up to impressive heights, we can now announce that the Pottermore House Cup will be awarded soon! The house with the greatest number of points will win the Pottermore House Cup, so keep up the duelling and brewing. We’ll be posting updates regarding the Pottermore House Cup both on the Insider and on the Pottermore Gateway, but also somewhere else… We’re pleased to announce that each Pottermore house now has its own noticeboard. Your house noticeboard can be found in your house’s common room on Pottermore – make sure you visit to stay up to date with the latest house news as we begin the countdown to the announcement of the Pottermore House Cup winner. It’s an exciting time; good luck to all houses!
Everyone go online and get to brewing and dueling! The House Cup will be awarded on July 5th.
Jun
12
E3, the video game and entertainment conference, was held earlier this past week and CinemaBlend previewed Harry Potter Kinect. They shared a few thoughts on how they thought gameplay faired on the Kinect console: Get the whole story »
