Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – Forest Chase Scene Analysis

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – Forest Chase Scene Analysis

Sound:

-          Use of silence, all you hear is diegetic sounds, like the panting, twigs breaking under feet etc (This is very effective as the scenes before the chase have loud musical backgrounds, creating a large contrast with the silence).

-      This element of silence is kept throughout the entire scene, and means at points like falling or breaking through branches is more effective, as you can hear the sounds from the world of the scene a lot clearer, and strengthens the power or these falls etc.

-      Using just diegetic sounds, puts the viewer in the chase, not just watching a film, as there is no backing like you would normally expect in a chase, however I do not think this would be effective for our clip, as we are only doing the chase, and so there is no contrast between sound in this scene or in any others.

Camera Shots/Angles:

-          The camera moves quickly/twists quickly with every shot.

-          Lots of fast cuts, no shots lasting more than a few seconds (Works well because this is an active and fast scene).

-          Several tracking shots at the beginning, but at low angles behind the main characters – Low angle shows superiority, but tracking from behind creates the best running away effect.

-          High angle tracking shots in front of the enemy – high angle makes them seem less powerful, however tracking from the front shows they are the ones chasing.

-          There is a large panning shot, going around all the characters in this scene, shows the size forest in the chase, and how fast all the characters are running.

-          Close ups of wands when firing spells, and also of the trees and ground where the spells hit, showing the blasts and bursts caused.

-          Camera shake is very strong, both when tracking and when filming POV shots,

-          Very effective POV showing arm showing out, wand firing a spell (Put the viewer in the scene, enhances how fast and high octane this chase is).

-          Shot of camera zooming through the middle of the chase, characters running in the opposite direction to the zoom – makes the chase seem faster/characters run faster – camera twists, following the character running at the back of the chase, so there is never a part in this scene without at least 1 character present.

-          Camera often tracks alongside characters, lots of trees passing between camera and character – enhancing the speed of the run.

-          As the trees pass between camera and character, several times a graphic match is used, so as one character goes behind a tree running, it will cut so another character comes out the other side, making it obvious these people are not the same person. (Very effective way to cut between characters)

-          When characters fall over, the camera tracking them often continues to move after they have fallen, creating an element of shock that they fell, as well as keeping movement in the shots.

-          THE CAMERA IS NEVER STILL WHEN FILMING ANY OF THE SHOTS – ALWAYS KEEP THE CAMERA MOVING (Enhances the fast paced movement of the chase)

-          Before cutting, often the main character in the shot runs out of the shot/passed the camera first.