Not Being at Hogwarts in "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" Gives Movie "Different Feel"

DH Film

There is a new article in LA Times HeroComplex blog about "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" as part of their countdown for the film. The article discusses how "Deathly Hallows: Part 1" is the first Harry Potter film to have the majority of its action take place away from Hogwarts castle and the impact that has on the film:

The absence of the ancient academy from the seventh movie, according to producer David Heyman, informs the texture and rhythm of the franchise’s penultimate installment. The film is very much a road-trip adventure with the three main characters — played by Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson — in fugitive mode and preparing for the final showdown with the evil Lord Voldemort, portrayed with reptilian rasp by Ralph Fiennes.

“It gives this film a very different feel to be away from Hogwarts,” Heyman said. “The main characters — Harry, Ron and Hermione — are on the run and, yes, they do go to some magical places, like the Ministry of Magic, but a lot of the film is set in a quite naturalistic setting, and that makes it feel very real and very human. There’s plenty of magic, of course, but it’s set against a very real context.

“We have them a bit in Whitehall, in central London, we have them on Shaftesbury Avenue in the cafes,” Heyman continued. “It feels real, gritty at times and beautiful at other times. But it is not at Hogwarts, and that gives us a fresh impetus.”

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Radcliffe said treading past the stony floors of the well-used Hogwarts movie set in Watford, England, energized the cast during the production of the seventh and eighth films, which were made together in a shoot that began in February 2009 and did not wrap until mid-June of this year. “I think getting out was a marvelous thing for the story and for the look of the film,” he said. “This movie just looks different than the other ones. We’ve spent so much time at Hogwarts that it makes it fresh to go somewhere new on screen.

The article does mention that viewers will get a brief look at Hogwarts castle in "Deathly Hallows: Part 1":

Screenwriter Steve Kloves said that there technically is one glimpse of Hogwarts in the film but he’d rather not elaborate. “This moment would fall in the category of flashback,” said the writer who finishes the franchise having written scripts for seven of the eight films. “Revealing it may ruin a rather lovely — albeit small — moment of the movie.”

"Deathly Hallows: Part 2" is also mentioned in the article and the presence of Hogwarts in that movie is also discussed:

Hogwarts makes a return in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” in a manner of speaking. That final chapter of the franchise is built around a massive battle that destroys much of the school. That’s not much of a spoiler if you’ve been paying attention. The Warner Bros. poster promoting the two-film finale shows the ramparts of the academy in flames beneath a grim tagline: “It all ends here.”

The films taken together have the cast’s enthusiasm at an all-time high. “Without question, these two are going to blow all of the rest of them away,” says Tom Felton, who has brought memorable sneer to the role of Draco Malfoy. “The last two will not disappoint, that’s something you can rest assured about.”

You can read the rest of the article here.