David Yates on Emma Watson in Half-Blood Prince: Much More Confident
HBP Film
Posted by: sue
July 02, 2009, 12:28 PM
The Telegraph has a new interview with David Yates where he reflects on his second stint as director of a Harry Potter film, this being the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Mr. Yates notes he has now settled in and is feeling more situated as he directs his second Harry Potter film, saying "Oddly, that meant that when I started this one, I was a little bit warier of
everything rather than being more confident. The first time round you just
do it; you just go for it. But I have settled in and this one’s quite
different from the last one. It’s a little bit more grown up and a bit
wittier. It’s a different vibe.”
That different vibe is seen in the actions of the cast on screen in Half-Blood Prince, with David Yates giving high marks to the actors. “I think the
cast are getting better and better,” Yates says, “and Emma certainly seems
much more confident this time. She really moved on in the last one, but now
she’s even more at ease. And Dan, having done Equus, he’s just finding
moments and beats that are really surprising and lovely.”
He also speaks to visualising on the screen some of the events merely written about in the novel by J.K. Rowling:“I remember when Jurassic Park came out and that was quite a violent movie,
with all these cutting-edge special effects,” Yates says. “But because it
was Steven Spielberg, people said, 'We think kids will go with it.’ “And I
think that’s true here: because it’s Harry Potter and because of the
fanbase, I think there’s a higher tolerance for what we can present to the
audience. The viewers know the world and they’ve read about these things and
they’ve experienced it on the page. Hence we are able to do a little bit
more than maybe other films can.” He smiles. “That’s the beauty of Harry
Potter.”
26 Comments
3703 Points
I like David even though OotP was .. weird. I still like him because he’s dedicated to these books and he seems pretty happy to be in the world of Potter. =) I can’t wait for HBP!
sigh: whether its a film, or a book, or theater, the story must ultimately make sense. if the story does not make sense, then the audience is left unsatisfied.
OotP left me ..and obviously quite a few others …unsatisfied. What we know to date re HBP raises concerns; we will know in two weeks. DH is the last chance to deal with any gaps, issues, puzzles or assorted issues, so it is normal to look ahead to figure out if the ones we have identified over the years will be taken care of.
regardless, we will line up and go to the movies, we will buy the dvds, and we will watch them countless times.
shaking my head, going to make stronger coffee, clearly i need it today.
second sigh: once again, it appears that messages are not being posted in the order sent in. i’ve checked my date/time settings, and those are correct, so I can only assume the problem lies with Leaky?
is there a way to fix that, Sue?
40 Points
Order of the Phoenix seems to be the Potter film that drives a clear divide in the fanbase. Many fans see it as the best film in the series, others see it as the worst.
OOTP was, by far, the most character driven film in the series. Therefore, for me, it packed the biggest emotional punch. Because of this, I see it as the best film in the series.
21382 Points
really nice!!! I don’t read it so good! I’m bit busy!!! But cool!!!
674 Points
Haha, that’s ONE of the beauties of Harry Potter, Mr Yates. One of many :D
783 Points
& Rupert had no improvement? :p kidding..we’ll see how he (David Yates) did soon
209 Points
Oh yeah David 13 more days and we will know what have you done with our fav. Series of all times…………
OMG 13 days i am so so so so excited.. I am going to NYC next week to see the crew on the red carpet I never done this before i figure i do it with one of the best movies of all…….Anyone going to be there??
Now, if only he would STOP LEAVING OUT IMPORTANT PLOT LINES!
Right now, leaving aside the holes in OotP …for example that Aunt Petunia knew what dementers were because she overheard “that awful boy”, orthat Dumbledore had heard the prophecy, (should I add no Dobby here?) …leaving those existing gaps aside, we now have HBP in which we know that the entire issue of working in the Perevell Ring, crucial to the entire DH quest, appears to be left out. there are no Gaunts, so how will that important bit of the story be worked in? AND apparently it is not revealed in HBP that Trelawney made the prediction that sent Voldy after the Potters in the first place [which would have closed the gap created in OotP!], AND it was Snape that passed the information along to Voldy. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have those plot lines included in HBP instead of burning down the Barrow…which now needs to be resurrected (or worked around) if there is to be the opening wedding scene in DH?
Sorry, I am not a fan of Yates’ work, can you tell? I’ll still go to the film, I’ll still buy the dvds, and when WB FINALLY releases the extended versions with all the deleted scenes included I’ll buy those too….but that doesn’t mean I need to turn off my critical eye. Unlike the earliest films, which were made before all the books were out, the final films had the benefit of the entire series being published, and could draw upon the knowledge a large cohort of close readers who had pretty much figured out the key story elements. Let Evanna Lynch be the final word on everything concerning story line, for pete’s sake! There is no excuse for major plot gaffs in the OotP or the final films.
Grumpf. ;-) perhaps I haven’t had enough coffee this morning?
16257 Points
Cool. Hes my favorite HP director.
865 Points
I’m just excited to see what they came up with for this movie. I have high hopes, but then again I had high hope for OoTP….
23113 Points
I agree with the above… I have high hopes for this movie, as I did for OotP, and was disappointed. Just hope he got it right this time!
79292 Points
Just remember folks, it’s just a movie… It’s NOT the book… I hear we will not be disappointed… I hope that is true… The clips sure look good!
24135 Points
anxious to see if we agree with his interpretation of the book
1072 Points
I just want to say to all the people going on about holes in the plotlines and how it won’t make sense to people who haven’t read the books – my mother and sister have not read the books. Yet they understood everything in the films and the only questions they were asking me are all things that are answered in HBP and DH, things i know will be in the films because they are so colossal.
I think people are forgetting that in books you need more description and more events so the reader can really grasp how evil/broken the characters are. In the film that can be conveyed by the lighting, music and from the actors mood so you don’t need all that other stuff.
Yes, it would be nice as a Harry Potter fan to see these extra scenes but it’s not essential to the story
I like David even though OotP was .. weird. I still like him because he’s dedicated to these books and he seems pretty happy to be in the world of Potter. =) I can’t wait for HBP!