NOTE: Due to technical difficulties with this episode, not all of the audio from this episode is available.  Unfortunately the audio stops at 52:28.  The transcript is complete up to that point.  In the event of the rest of audio becoming available, it will be transcribed and posted. Until then, enjoy what is available!

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Introduction

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[Theme Music plays]

Terrance: You are listening to Hogwarts Radio Episode Number 7 for September 9, 2008.

[Harry Potter theme music plays]

Terrance: Okay everybody. This week we actually have some big news – I mean – news worth reporting. It’s so huge it’s actually an announcement.

Alex: Falls into Hagrid size news.

Terrance: Yeah, it’s epically…

Andy: It’s so exciting.

Terrnace: Yeah, epically, epically, epically news.

Andy: Amazing. Epic amazing.

Terrance: We have Eric and Kristin back on the show today, and they actually went to go see a screening of The Half-Blood Prince, so what they’re going to do is give us a – they are going to answer a couple of questions the we have about the – the entire, I guess movie. We gave them a list of questions. Whatever. And we will get those answered.

Alex: You will not be spoiled.

Terrance: Yeah, you will not get spoiled. This is not a spoiler show so.

Greyson: You won’t be spoiled.

Andy: We will steer away from spoilers.

Terrance: This is the Hogwarts Radio. Listen to Hogwarts Radio. I’m Terrance.

Andy: I’m Andy.

Jackie: I’m Jackie.

Greyson: I’m Greyson.

Alex: And I’m Alex.

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Announcements

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Terrance: And we are going to get right to the show. Okay so before we get to they big news. the big big huge news today, we’ve got a couple of – a couple of announcements, so who want to go ahead and start off with those?

Andy: Our t-shirt contest is still open until December 26 – September 26. Sumbit those to our e-mail.

Jackie: Staff@hogwartsradio.com.

Andy: Thank you, Jackie.

[Jackie laughs]

Andy: Vote for us on Podcast Alley because we are currently at seventy one. Awesome awesome awesome podcastalley.com. Vote for us.

Jackie: Wooo.

Andy: We have a brand new site up that we go and it’s amazing so go look at it at hogwartsradio.com, and Terrance has a PO box update for us.

Terrance: Okay guys so first and foremost, before we get to the big news we have a brand new website, and this couldn’t be possible without three people the layout from xalerstudios.com. We do have to give them credit because they did work hard on that. Our two coders, Colin and Grace. They just worked endlessly on the website, and we are so thankful for them too.

Jackie: Because it looks so awesome. So congrats to you guys.

Andy: Thank you guys.

Alex: You guys are amazing.

Jackie: Wooo.

Terrnace: Thank you very much, and we are actually woking on a special project right now that is involving Hogwarts Radio that is involving another site that their doing work for in addition to the site that we’re doing now.

Jackie: It’s going to be intense.

Terrance: So they pretty much got they their hands full, but – you know – honestly without them I mean it couldn’t be possible, so thank you Colin and thank you Grace for everything that you do…

Andy: Thanks.

Terrance: …And are doing for the site.

Andy: Thank you.

Terrance: Like Andy said we do have a PO Box now and that will be provided now and at the end of the show – whenever we give all of the contact information. P.O. Box 761925 San Antonio Texas, 78245-1925. Thats a lot of numbers to remember but hey, at least weve got one now.

Jackie: Send us penguins.

Eric: See thats what I

Andy: Penguins and lemons.

Eric: We dont want pickles either.

Andy: Penguins and lemons please. Thank you.

Terrance: So like I said, before we get to the listener e-mails this week I want to go ahead and introduce again Kristin and Eric for being on the show with us today. So thank you so much for you guys time and efforts and thinking about us and giving us this opportunity to review the movie with you. So thank you very much for that guys.

Alex: Thanks guys.

Kristin: Theres no one that we would rather talk about it with. We love you guys.

Andy: Aw, thanks.

Jackie: Aw, we love you too.

Andy: We love you. Like totally.

Jackie: Can we have a group hug right now.

Kristin: Group hug.

Andy: Yes, a virtual podcast hug.

Alex: Group hug.

Kristin: Skype hug, I love Skype hugs.

Eric: Hey, speaking of Skype hugs, Id love to hug everyone, but Im looking at Alexs Skype right here and it says hes offline. Is that true Alex?

Alex: Yeah. Ive tried six or seven or eight million different Internet companies, and nobody provides service out here.

Eric: Woah.

Alex: So I am not on Skype right now.

Eric: Thats really weird.

Alex: Yeah.

Kristin: That makes us miss you even more.

Jackie: It does.

Andy: Aw, Alex.

Eric: But youre here! Yay!

Alex: But as Mr. Crouch says in Goblet of Fire, Life goes on.

Kristin: Yes, but we still kind of miss you because youre not on Skype.

Eric: Didnt he say it more like Life goes on.

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Owl Post

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Terrance: Okay, moving onto our next segment, The Owl Post. We actually got listener e-mails this week and were going to go ahead and respond to those. So the first one that we did receive was from CJ. Didnt give a location, but she writes Hi Hogwarts Radioers. Hogwarts radio is really awesome. Its been filling my MuggleCast void these last couple of weeks, and its also given my something to listen to while Im cleaning my room. I love you all, keep up the great work. Love CJ.”

Andy: Aw, thanks.

Alex: Yay. Thank You.

Jackie: Yay. Shout out to CJ.

Andy: We love you too. Despite the fact that we dont know who you are.

Jackie: I know who she is.

Terrance: Our next e-mail comes from Shannon and she writes Dear Hogwarts Radio crew. I was just talking to my friend, Amanda, a couple of months ago and we were discussing movie seven. Amanda asked me if I thought Dobbys death was going to be in the movie and I wasnt sure. Then I got thinking. The trio goes to Grimmauld place and Kreacher becomes all lovey-dovey before Dobby becomes and important part of Deathly Hallows. Because JKR said Keep Kreacher because youll need him in movie seven and she doesnt say keep Dobby, I maybe thought theyd forego the whole Dobby plotline and just have Kreacher save the day. Itd kind of make sense because people who watch the movies probably wont remember Dobby from Chamber of Secrets and their hearts will grow fond of Kreacher in the beginning. Do you think that we will be watching Kreachers horrific death and not Dobbys? Love you guys and great job on the show. Shannon.”

Greyson: Well, I think the reason that Jo said to keep Kreacher in is because we hadnt seen Kreacher before, and if youre just watching the movies then youve never even heard of Kreacher. So its different with Dobby because he was in Chamber of Secrets.

Andy: Like, you know – how can people not remember Dobby when he wasnt Yeah in the film and then people remember Kreacher even though his name was never even said in the film.

Eric: Yeah, well

Greyson: Yeah.

Eric: isnt Dobby with us here in the studio?

Alex [as Dobby]: Dobby is still negotiating his contract, sir.

[All laugh]

Eric: Oh, okay I see. Thanks for clearing that up Dobby.

Jackie: Dobby, are you asking for more money? Is that what it is?

Alex [as Dobby]: Its not so much that Dobby needs the money sir, he just wants it.

[All laugh]

Eric: Jackie…

Jackie: Is that a direct quote?

Eric: I think, Jackie, Dobby just called you sir.

Jackie: Ahh. Thanks.

[Terrance laughs]

Eric: Id kick his little house elf tush.

Terrance: Dobby needs to go punish himself.

Andy: With an iron.

Dobby: Bad Dobby. Bad Dobby.

[All laugh]

Eric: Wow.

Terrance: Wow. So that concludes our Owl Post segment for this week and we actually have a couple of listener comments on the show, on the website about the show so Jackies going to go ahead and provide us with those.

Jackie: Okay, Our first comment is from Margaret and she said I love the new site. Its nice to see the hosts keeping us updated with whats going on. I also loved episode six. You all are such wonderful people and I look forward to seeing more episodes. Thank you for sticking around.

Everyone: Aww.

Jackie: Thats nice.

Andy: It makes me want to hug her.

Jackie: Margaret, youre getting Hogwarts Crew hugs right now.

Andy: Aww.

Jackie: Yay!

Andy: Im typing my response right now.

Jackie: Okay. Our next comment comes from Bella. She says Hey guys. The site looks great. Cant wait for the Half-Blood Prince episode with Eric and Kristin. Lucky duckies , Bella.

Andy: Aww.

Eric: Whats a surprise smiley face? The one with the O for the mouth, like OHH?

[Jackie and Terrance laugh]

Kristin: Is that the noise it makes?

Eric: Thats the noise, Huhh.

[Terrance laughs]

Andy: Thats so vivid.

Eric: What?

Terrance: Moving on to

Jackie: Oh wait, theres another one.

Terrance: Our There is?

Eric: Ooo.

Jackie: Yes.

Kristin: Oh, surprise comment.

Jackie: Yes.

Andy: Ooh.

Jackie: And our last comment comes from Aunt Terry.

[Kristin laughs]

Jackie: She says Cool website

Terrance: Guys thats my aunt.

Jackie: Keep it going. Love you Terrance. Aunt Terry

[Andy and Jackie laugh]

Eric: And she talks with an accent.

Greyson: Thank you.

Terrance: Thank you.

Andy: Thank you Aunt Terry.

Jackie: We love you.

Terrance: Wow thank you very much for the comment Aunt Terry.

Andy: Oh my God.

Jackie: Oh my God. That was the cutest thing I think I have every read.

Andy: Aww.

Terrance: Aww. But thank you very much to all our listeners that e-mailed us in with everything and also commented on the website. Just thank you so much for that.

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Wizard Rock Song of the Week: Teddy and Victoire by The Remus Lupins

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Terrance: Okay so our next segment of the week is The Wizard Rock song of the week, a fan favorite as always. Jackies going to go ahead and provide us with that. Jackie whats the wizard rock song of the week?

Jackie: The wizard rock song of the week for this week is off The Remus Lupins new album, Nevermind the Furthermore, which I love. I have had this song on repeat for Ive been listening to it on the bus On repeat every single morning. Its Teddy and Victoire.

Terrance: Aw, that was such a sweet song.

Jackie: I love it. Isnt it so catchy?

Andy: Thats awesome, oh my God.

Jackie: Love it.

Eric: The Remus Lupins is a good quality band.

Andy: Yes, all of them.

Jackie: I love The Remus Lupins.

Terrance: Theyre becoming one of my favorite wizard rock bands.

Andy: I like how they pick a not so important relationship in the series, and made a song out of it. I thought that was pretty cool.

Eric: Yeah, that is cool. Im still waiting for him to do a song about chocolate though. I

Jackie: He should do a song about chocolate.

Eric: Well see, I mentioned it to him a little while ago. Were buds Alex and I, and Im

Andy: Chocolate frogs?

Eric: …Just waiting for it, you know, have some chocolate. No, because Lupin gives chocolate to everyone on the train in book three, and – you know – it makes Madame Pomfrey say ‘hey there’s a DADA teacher who actually knows his remedies. So, it’s pretty cool – so I’m pretty sure that that’s Alex’s next song.

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OMG, ERIC AND KRISTIN SAW HALF BLOOD PRINCE!

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Terrance: Okay, so moving onto our main discussion today, like we mentioned at the beginning of the show, Eric, from Mugglecast, and Kristin, from the MuggleCast Fan Forums, went and saw a special screening of ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ yesterday. So…

Andy: Aah you’re so lucky, lucky lucky.

Kristin: Absolutely – you know – it really was lucky. What happened was…

Eric: Let’s tell the story.

Kristin: Let’s tell the story…

Eric: Let’s start this off with a story.

Kristin: Right, because it’s a good story, so everyone sit Indian style in a circle on the floor and we’ll tell…

Jackie: Yay!

Kristin: …And we’ll tell a story.

Eric: Grab your little – Hey? Did you’re teachers do that? Did your teachers have these little pieces of carpet.

Jackie: Yes! Yes!

Kristin: Wow.

Eric: The patches of carpet that you all grab…

Kristin: Look at that Eric, you throw out a shiny thing and everybody follows you, let’s tell the story about the movie.

Eric: Okay, I will let my darling girlfriend Kristin tell the story of how we got into this secret, super secret uber surprise test screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Take it away Kristin.

Kristin: Okay. So Eric emailed me at work – no, he called me at work on Thursday and said: “Hey! I just got an email inviting me to go to a screening of a movie I believe it’s going to be shown at “our theatre,” in big quotes. There’s a theatre that’s about two blocks from my office that we meet to go to movies at because it’s really close, so I can get there, you know, right from work. And so we’ve been going there – meeting there for movies for a long time. And so he asked me if I wanted to go to this screening and of course, you know, I figured: “Heck, why not?”. The email didn’t say anything about what movie it was. It said that it was a movie that was rated PG-13 and that we had to call and RSVP for it. And so Eric called and RSVP’d and he put our names on the list… And we were kind of not thinking too much about it, but speculating: I wonder what the movie could be? And Eric said “What if it’s High School Musical Three?”. Oh, that would be awful.

[Eric and Jackie laugh]

Kristin: But we would sit through it, and, you know, we were kind of tossing some ideas around, thinking: “Okay, what if it’s Twilight? You know that’d be kind of cool, if it was Twilight,”.

Jackie: I know some people would be jealous.

Kristin: Oh yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it’d be kind of cool if it was Twilight. And so we were standing in line waiting for the movie and one of the girls that was in line with us was talking about how they had handed out some tickets when they’d seen Tropic Thunder last week. And she mentioned that the people that gave her the ticket said that it was a movie that was filmed in Chicago, and was going to be next summer’s blockbuster. And I got to thinking about that, and I was thinking: okay now nothing that was – nothing that’s going to be next summer’s blockbuster is in post-production far enough that they would be doing test screenings. Except – and I grabbed Eric’s arm and said: “Oh my gosh! What if it’s Harry Potter?”. And Eric said, “Well, that wasn’t filmed in Chicago.” And I said, “No, but what if she’s wrong? What if it’s Harry Potter?” And so, you know, that kind of got my hopes up and, you know, we got all unnecessarily excited. And we got in the theatre and sat down and as it happened, in front of us there were four seats that were roped off. In front of us, and about two seats to the left, there were four seats that were roped off. And they were, you know, leaving them empty and the theatre was all full and they had filled up all the other seats. And then a bunch of guys in suits came in and we assumed that they were the movie executives, and all of a sudden it was like the coolest moment of my life. Eric, like, grabbed my arm in this death grip. [Eric laughs] He did, he did…

[Jackie laughs]

Eric: It wasn’t…

Kristin: No!

Eric: It really wasn’t that hard.

Kristin: He grabbed my arm in this death grip and he goes…

Jackie:Abuse! [laughs]

Kristin: He goes: “Kristen! That’s David freaking Heyman!”

[Jackie theatrically gasps]

Kristin: “It’s Harry Potter!”

Andy: Oh my God.

Jackie: Oh my gosh!

Terrance: Wow.

Kristin: It was the coolest thing ever. I looked up and standing there is David Heyman.

Terrance: Oh my God.

Kristin: I – I vapor-locked.

Eric: He didn’t notice us. He was at the other side of the auditorium, but we noticed him.

Kristin: Right. It, it and…

Eric: Or I noticed him.

Kristin: … Right – he comes and sits right in front of us.

[Jackie gasps]

Eric: As the movie – as the lights dim!

Kristin: Right, as the lights dim he comes and sits right in front of us, and this guy goes down to the front of the theatre and says, “You know we’re glad that everybody came today. We want you to know that you are the first audience in the world to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!”. And the whole auditorium erupts into cheers – you know everybody starts cheering, and everybody’s all excited…

Eric: We just couldn’t believe it, but…

Terrance: Oh my gosh.

Eric: Like all of our stunned excitement, all of that, was totally cut short by the movie starting.

Kristin: Right.

Eric: Immediately to the giant Warner Brothers’ sign in the sky like how all the other movies have opened, starting with Chamber of Secrets. That – the movie follows that tradition.

Kristin: Right. It’s – and of course…

Eric: So we all had to get quiet because we had to soak it all in.

Kristin: Right, and since it was a screening, obviously, there weren’t any credits at the beginning, any – you know.

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: Any previews or anything like that.

Eric: Yeah, it just went straight into the movie.

Kristin: Yep, so the lights just dim and the movie comes on, and really…

Eric: Everyone’s still freaking out.

Kristin: Yeah.

Eric: They’re like, “We’re so glad it wasn’t High School Musical.

Kristin: I know. That’s it.

[Everyone laughs]

Eric: It may have worked out, you know.

Kristin: I was – I just kept thinking over and over again, what if we had decided not to come? Oh my gosh.

Eric: Yeah, yeah, and then we got – and then we heard all the news and there was this big test screening this weekend. Like, I just got the email from movietickets.com because I frequent them and we get our tickets online, and we go to this theater, and we got an email, and it was really fate.

Kristin: Right, it was really funny, and, you know, I keep reading all these comments on Mugglenet News…

Eric: News post comments, yeah.

Kristin: Yeah. Talking about, “Oh, sure, it was just coincidence that Eric happened to be there.” No, really, it was.

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: It was just coincidence. It was.

Eric: Yeah. We’ll tell our story later that WB was kind of freaked out that I was there.

Kristin: It was.

Eric: But that’s a story for later.

Alex: Did the movie executives descend upon you?

Eric: No, they were just really worried that they had some kind of security leak at first, then when I quelled their fears, they said, “Okay, what did you think of the movie?” And I was like, “You know, I really, really, really, really liked it.” And they were really happy.

Kristin: Right.

Eric: We’ll talk about that later. Anyway, you guys have some questions for us. You could do a little intro about that.

Terrance: Yes, actually we did come up with ten questions, not necessarily about events in the movie, but about the movie in general. So like I said at the beginning of the show, no spoilers whatsoever. So you can crank up your iPod, crank up your stereo, whatever you’re listening to the Hogwarts Radio on.

Alex: Oh, I am crankin’ it.

Terrance: Yeah.

[Kristin laughs]

Eric: Crankin’ it.

Terrance: Just sit there, have a good time, because we’re going to ask some great questions.

Eric: That should be the new tagline. “Crankin’ it,” for the…

Terrance: Without further hesitation, here we go. First question – who wants to take that? Anybody want to take the first question?

Jackie:: I’ll take it.

Terrance: Anyone want the first question, then? Okay.

Jackie:: Okay.

Terrance: Adaptation – is it more faithful than the other Harry Potter films?

Eric: Can I buy a vowel?

Kristin: No.

Alex: Which vowel?

Kristin: You can’t buy a vowel.

Eric: Sorry, these questions really – I don’t know. I’m kind of nervous.

Kristin: Don’t be nervous. It’s okay.

Eric: Are we giving away the movie?

Kristin: It’s okay.

Eric: I don’t know, I already said that the movie opens with the giant Warner Brothers in the sky. That’s a spoiler, whether or not you think so. That’s a spoiler.

Alex: Eric, all of the movies do.

Kristin: Right Eric, you’re going, you’re going to have to have to relax about this whole spoiler thing because your not really spoiling anything. It’s all right. Your going to be okay just breathe, in through the nose out through the mouth. Everything is going to be fine.

Eric: All right. All right.

Alex: Plus this is not a live show. There is editing involved.

Eric: Yeah, I will take… I will take the-well, you know. Whoever is editing can keep that all in because I thought that was for fiber of the thing. But anyway, you don’t have to whatever. Editor, speaking directly to the editor. Pause for editing. Okay, I’ll take that question first. It was… I wrote, now I did a little review. I wrote a review for, it’s posted on Mugglenet, and I mentioned in there but I want to elaborate here that I really think that this movie was, is quite a faithful adaptation in the way that a lot of the scenes from the book did make an appearance in the movie. And it’s, I mean surprisingly so… Surprising amounts of the book do appear in this movie. I mentioned in my review that they notice that Olivander is gone missing. I mean what? That, that… Your thinking they want to paraphrase the books into the movie. That sort of thing won’t, won’t happen but the found a place to throw that in. Aragog’s funeral, which is technically a spoiler, but that’s in the movie as well. Things from the book…

Kristin: Right, I didn’t…

Eric: …that you just wouldn’t expect to be in. Not major things and they chose, the writers of the movie, chose to keep that in so… As you know their story telling method, other scenes may have been changed or rewritten or sort of moved around a little bit but things like that really come out and jump out from the books and made it into the movie.

Kristin: Right, I agree. I think they, they kept what… They kept everything that they could keep, and that was what was really cool about… about this movie. They didn’t rearrange anything that I don’t think needed to be rearranged to make the story make sense as far as what they’ve done with the other movies and what they’ve done with… What they’ve done with the information that they had so far. This was interestingly enough the first movie that, I think, Mr. Kloves who wrote. Who has written all…

Eric: All of the scripts.

Kristin: …the scripts except for five. Right?

Eric: Oh yeah. True. No.

Alex: Goblet of Fire, wasn’t it?

Kristin: Oh everything except for four, sorry.

Eric: Let me look that up while your talking.

Kristin: Yeah, you’re right everything except for four, sorry. This was the first one that I think they had less interest in the, less interest in the newcomers to the series and more interest in the faithful fans. The movie seemed like it was made more for the fans because if you weren’t familiar with the series, yeah, it’s an entertaining movie and you would have been entertained but you would have been a little bit lost.

Eric: It did, yeah it did very much seem that a lot of this was really given the fan treatment. I don’t know that just, that’s just our opinions here watching the film. But a lot of it is enjoyable for those who’ve read the books and I am going to be interested to see when the movie does come out what people really think if they felt sort of more nodded towards than it previous Harry Potter films. Now Mr. Kloves wrote all the films except for Order of the Phoenix according to Internet Movie Database right here.

Alex: My mistake.

Eric: Just clearing that up. So…

Jackie: You don’t know how happy I am to hear that this is more geared towards the actual fans…

Andy: Yeah.

Jackie: Of the books. That… Ahhh it makes me really happy.

Eric: It’s almost like it wasn’t even a consideration to – is not even a choice to them that they – that they haven’t needed to – I mean – you get to see a lot of stuff that you just – that just – that you it just flows. You just go with it, and…

Kristin: Right. It’s a very fast-paced – the movie is very fast-paced…

Eric: I wouldn’t say that.

Kristin: …Oh, and I think…

Eric: Order of the Phoenix was fast-paced because of all the montages that skipped months in time. This film doesn’t do that at all.

Kristin: No. You’re right. It doesn’t do that, but the action flows. Now, of course…

Eric: That’s why.

Kristin: …We’ve seen…

Eric: There’s always something happening.

Kristin: …A movie that isn’t a finished product…

Eric: That’s true.

Kristin: …So who knows what’s going to happen in the editing down the road and if the pace is going to remain the same, but what we saw was a very fast-paced film. I was really actually kind of disappointed that my mom couldn’t be there because my mom is a faithful fan of the movies but has never picked up a book, and so I – I’m really looking forward to seeing how well she can follow the action. Eric and I don’t really have a good perspective of this since we’re so familiar the books, that – you know – we don’t really have any frame of reference…

Eric: And…

Kristin: …For not knowing the story line.

Eric: And it’s hard to believe we can write anything or talk about the movie because it was such a blur in a way. In a way, it wasn’t. In many ways it wasn’t, but in one way, it was – that it was just shock and awe – you know – because we really didn’t expect to be seeing this movie. We didn’t know in advance. Some – some reader who wrote into Leaky claimed that she was sworn to secrecy but knew before hand. I don’t know how valid it is, but I didn’t know, and no one I talked to – you know – really seemed to have a clue what we were seeing and that made it all the more special when I saw David Heymann, and…

Kristin: Right. And speaking with – speaking with some Warner Brothers people afterwards, they didn’t seem to think that anybody knew either, so…

Eric: Yeah. Yeah. Even the workers said that they hadn’t been told, that movie screenings happened all the time – several times a month, so we felt less special. I mean – if we were seeing like Twilight but not really because like – but anyway just a – just a – just to wrap up this first question. Wow. It’s only the first question. Hopefully you guys feel happy about our quality answer.

[Terrance laughs]

Eric: There were also – we got a survey at the end of the movie. As soon as the movie ended, there’s another story. I went off to meet David Heymann, but we all got a survey, and it was two – both sides of a page that everyone – pretty much everyone in the theatre filled out regarding all sorts of questions. ‘Whose acting do you think is the best? Who – What were your favorite and least favorite scenes? Be as specific as possible.’ All of the questions ended with ‘be as specific as possible’. ‘What did you not like about the movie? What did you like about the movie?’ And one of the questions was about pace. There were actually three lines, and you could write the scenes you thought moved too fast and the three scenes you thought moved too slow, so they are taking all of these into consideration. They wouldn’t ask that if the movie that we saw was a finite product – if there wasn’t much room for editing – if they couldn’t take these three hundred or so fans opinions and actually do something with it…

Kristin: Right, and they planned to. That was – that was one of the things that speaking with David Heymann after, and actually Eric and I had the opportunity to just speak at length with David Heymann and David Yates and David Barnes, the two co-producers and the director, as well as Alan Horn from Warner Brothers, and also Diane Nelson from Warner Brothers.

Eric: And Mark Day, the editor.

Kristin: Mark Day, the editor, which was a really cool opporunity.

Eric: That was amazing.

Kristin: They were very interested in what we had to say about the movie and – you know – what our thoughts on the series were and how this one fit it – that kind of thing, but one of the questions that Eric asked Mr. Heymann was ‘Has Jo seen the movie yet?’ And Mr. Heymann said – his answer almost verbatim was ‘No, we usually don’t show her until things are a little bit further along.’

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: Meaning that there are changes that just they still have to make which that’s why they’re doing this.

Eric: Yeah.

Alex: Interesting.

Eric: Yeah. Actually. I’ll tell you what he also said though about Jo, is that she saw – she did see twenty minutes or so of the movie, unfinished, uncut. She said already that it might be her favorite one ever. I mean – I know she says that with every new film, but…

Kristin: Yeah, and he did mention that she has said that with every movie that has come out so far, but this is her favorite.

Eric: Yeah, it was, yeah. But that’s okay, that might just be Jo, but…

Alex: Did they happen to mention if it was the first twenty minutes? Or just some random…

Eric: Oh, no, not the first – I doubt it was the first twenty minutes. But it could’ve been. They just said she saw about twenty minutes.

Kristin: And actually, I very much doubt it was the first twenty minutes. Not to spoil anything, but if you had to pick a twenty minute segment of that movie to show Jo, it sure as heck wouldn’t be the first twenty minutes…

Eric: I quite disagree because – first of all, I love the first twenty minutes, even though Kristin didn’t but – Jo kind of likes the stuff in the movies that strays completely what she wrote in the books. Case and point, Alfanso Cuarón’s – she praised his movie for highly referencing book seven, which hadn’t been written yet. So – I mean – you know. So he kind of took a stab in the way he thought ways were going, and she hadn’t written it but she found it to be prophetic, and liked it a lot. So that was the first question! Let’s get some more questions flowing! Yeah! Whoo!

Alex: Wow, lovely discussion.

Andy: Yes.

Alex: Okay, I have a question that’s not on the list, because I don’t know what is on the list.

Andy: Okay, well…

Alex: My question – sorry, what?

Andy: Go ahead.

Alex: Eric and Kristin, you mentioned that this was in your opinion, the most faithful to the original text and the movie that the fans have been waiting for? Why do you think this is? Is it because of the director, the producers, is it because Deathly Hallows is out?

Kristin: I honestly think that it’s gotten to the point in the series where they can’t do anything else. It’s gotten to the point in the series where six books into – we’re six books into a very complex series – you know, this book series has it’s own world and so there comes a point where there’s not a lot else that they can do…

Eric: To keep re-establishing stuff.

Kristin: Right. Except to – without – you know, without making it a whole separate movie. Which they have. I think they’re kind of banking on the fact that everybody that’s going to see this movie has seen the first five. And don’t get me wrong…

Eric: Or can be told about it by a friend who has brought them to the movie, for sure. Which is how I first experienced the first movie.

Kristin: Right. Exactly. Don’t get me wrong, if you haven’t seen the first five movies, if you haven’t ever picked up a book, it’s an entertaining movie! It’s fun, they’re all fun. But in order to follow it faithfully – you know, you kind of have to know what’s going on. You have to have some background.

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: I don’t think they have any other options.

Eric: Yeah. Absolutely. That was a very – that was very insightful. Who wants to go next?

Andy: Okay well, when the teaser trailer came out, there was a lot of people who were really – they enjoyed Michael Gambon’s performance in the trailer. So – Michael Gambon. How did he do in the film?

Eric: Good question.

Kristin: I can answer that one very quickly, from my point of view. I have not been of Michael Gambon from – from the time that he first appeared. I am still not a fan of Michael Gambon.

Andy: Fair enough.

Eric: I was not a fan of Michael Gambon since he first appeared. I thought he finally got it right. They’ve changed Dumbledore a bit in this movie. He has all white hair instead of that darker grey that I think I’ve seen him with before, and so – and they’ve really made him – he looks kind of older. I mean, I don’t mind Michael Gambon himself as getting older. One day…

Andy: Does he finally have glasses?

Eric: Yes, he does! He does have glasses.

Andy: Ah sweet!

Jackie: Yay! It’s only taken three movies.

[Andy laughs]

Eric: Doesn’t he have – I don’t, I didn’t…

Kristin: Not the whole movie he doesn’t.

Eric: Not the whole movie. There are times he doesn’t, but…

Kristin: There are scenes when there are glasses and scenes when there aren’t.

Eric: Yeah. But still – it was all that sort of thing – it seems to – that they really made a point, or some sort of effort that – to get him to read a book, and I think that what has been mentioned in one of the reviews that has been posted online already is that Dumbledore – especially in the cave scene and the ending scene is really – really quite good and quite fun and really intense. And it was emotional, and I think that I wouldn’t have gotten as emotional as I did about the climax of the film if I didn’t actually start to like Gambon’s Dumbledore. And one of the things, too, is that the – the line about knitting patterns in Slughorn’s house that he is occupying in the beginning where Dumbledore asked to use the restroom and says “I do like knitting patterns. Can I keep this magazine?” That’s in the movie and Dumbledore is…

Jackie: Oh my God! I love that line!

Eric: Yeah, well it was – it was so – to hear Michael Gambon utter it. It’s like Michael Gambon wanted to – and now that Dumbledore is gay and more interesting, he could get more into it. So, I was a bit happy from that scene on with Michael Gambon. I thought he did a good job throughout the film.

Alex: That’s pretty encouraging.

Andy: Sweet.

Jackie: That’s really awesome.

Andy: Jackie?

Jackie: I know, but I don’t know – they already that the editing and special effects aren’t done. So…

Kristin: Not all of the CGI…

Eric: But we can still answer the – all these…

Kristin: Right.

Eric: …questions we want to answer. All the questions that we chose we want to answer, yeah.

Kristin: Well, we picked the questions.

Andy: Yeah.

Jackie: Oh, okay.

Andy: Go ahead and ask it Jackie.

Jackie: Ok. So are the editing and special effects done yet? Or…

Kristin: Not all of it. Some of it.

Eric: Some of it was. It’s interesting, I wonder if they chose to complete the ones that really needed to be completed for us to see it or if its – like I don’t think so…

Kristin: No, I don’t think so.

Eric: …but certain- It did seem kind of random. But important scenes, like the inferi thing in the lake was absolutely astonishing. And…

Kristin: And completely done.

Eric: Or, not completely done. I still think there will be lots more that they can add around the edges, and…

Kristin: Well, I don’t know. That looked awfully done to me. Compared to some of the other scenes where it was obvious that the CGI wasn’t finished. And there were also a few that were done in front of a blue screen.

Eric: And actually in front of a blue screen. Like Dan’s on the Quidditch Pitch, or he’s supposed to be on the Quidditch Pitch, because they have Quidditch in this movie. YAY!

Terrance: Aw, Sweet!

Jackie: Yay!

Andy: Yes.

Eric: And he’s on the Quidditch Pitch and it’s funny too because, I mean, seeing this – and its something that you won’t – you might not even see on the DVD. Because he’s talking to everybody and he – you know – it’s supposed to be the three goal hoops in the distance to back him, but instead it’s a giant blue screen. Literally, eight feet behind him and he is acting in character, and because of all the scenes juxtaposed around it, and all that, you still see him as in character, just not tremendously offputting. But he’s standing in front of a blue screen. And you just really wonder how these actors do that. I mean – you know that they do it, but it’s just – it’s something to notice because…

Kristin: Right.

Eric: …They are standing in front of a blue screen.

Kristin: Sure. It gives you a whole new perspective on the whole acting thing because – you know?

Eric: Yeah, because they don’t know what it’s going to look like- You know they don’t see the Quidditch Pitch behind- It’s not just that they don’t see Dobby and they have to talk to an imaginary character. The whole world there in, a lot of that isn’t sets. Or some of that isn’t sets. I think one other thing to mention is the Snape and Harry scene at the end of the movie, was – I guess Hogwarts is supposed to be in the distance, but it’s done in a giant black screen behind him. So it was slightly – it was funny, because when Snape and Harry are – are sort of deuling, having their own sort of deul of wits and words. It’s a long shot from afar, and Harry is on the left end of the screen, and Snape is on the right, and there is this big black canvas across the whole thing and it’s just – it’s hilarious. It was great. But, special effects-wise, I think the pensieve was the most noticeable not-done. Because it was kind of imaginary, they had the sort of- the basin I guess you would say? The puddle? It was sort of there, floating in midair. There were a few other things like that that were just really cool and…

Kristin: Oh, the waves during the cave scene weren’t finished.

Eric: The cave scene…

Kristin: …And…

Eric: …There were some waves that were…

Kristin: …Yeah that was kind of…

Eric: …Yet to be added.

Kristin: …That was kind of fun too. Just seeing – you know – just seeing what they actually do with CGI…

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: …it’s just kind of a behind-the-scenes glimpse that was kind of cool.

Eric: Just really special.

Kristin: Yeah.

Alex: That’s awesome. Look there’s a wave! You can’t see it, but it’s there!

Kristin: Right. [laughs]

Eric: We saw it, it was just bright, like actual blue, like a series of colors…

Andy: Wow.

Eric: …Like a straight color – it was cool, but you know they will add more and all this stuff will get touched up because – I mean – there’s no rush now, but it didn’t detract from the film to be honest, it was – you know…

Kristin: It was actually kind of cool.

Eric: …It was even more special…

Terrance: Awesome.

Eric: …I think…

Terrance: Awesome.

Eric: …It’s even more special.

Terrance: Now we haven’t seen that much of Bonnie Wright in the films. I mean – of course we see her, she’s there, but we haven’t seen much interaction with her and anybody else. Now do you think Bonnie Wright pulled it off as Harry’s girlfriend?

Eric: I think she did. I think she absolutely did, and I only mention in my review on mugglenet that I – you know – since the first scene that has her in it I was convinced. But she actually – she pulls herself through the entire film. And there was – again these complainers. There were a few other people who have seen this movie with us too in Chicago and – you know – written in other various fan sites and have really complained because they changed some things, but the Harry/Ginny relationship in this film is well developed – I think – if anything and there are fun scenes between them too. Just because it didn’t have it exactly like it happened in the books people feel all these oppositions to it and won’t let it live organically. I think – one of the things – I said this to David Yates afterwards too – I said thank you for giving the characters the treatment. The Harry/Ginny thing was very well handled. I thought it felt more organic, it didn’t have to be scripted, in a way it happened, and it was a big enough thread throughout the whole movie and I felt Bonnie Wright did just find.

Kristin: Right. There was definitely some good chemistry there, and Bonnie Wright really kind of had the opportunity to shine in this movie, but I don’t think she was the only one. I think that there were a lot of actors that we haven’t seen actually have legs underneath them to this point, that haven’t had the opportunity to really show us what they were made of. I thought Rupert Grint was exceptional in this movie.

Eric: Yeah. Rupert and especially – I mean – Rupert’s worth mentioning. I had convindence in it before, he did some great stuff for me before. In this movie he really does shine. Like, when he takes the love potion and all the Quidditch scenes and all of it is really just good, but all the actors are really good in this movie – I mean – the trio is good, but then there are the other characters – I mentioned this in my review – there are the other characters – like even Neville – who have again minimal screen time. You want to see them more a lot more than you do. Neville I saw good – I can’t wait for him in movie seven – but even they seem to know what they are doing and if they are in the background they are still in character and – you know – one of the things about stage acting – you know – my director told me that he’s always looking at the extras – you know – because if the extras in the scene aren’t in character it ruins everything. So that was kind of what I took to looking at sort of these scenes, which are featuring the trio, but have the other characters in the background because they’re in the movie, and they are in the world of the movie.

Terrance: Awesome.

Eric: Bonnie Wright does a great job, and I was very pleased with it, and so does the girl who plays Lavender Brown, I’ll just say that.

[Kristin laughs]

Terrance: Awesome.

Andy and Jackie: Okay.

Andy: So a lot of people are very pleased with David Yates directing in The Order of the Pheonix. Does this movie make you more confident in David Yates directing for Deathly Hallows?

Eric: I – this question might be biased because he kissed Kristin.

Kristin: Okay, absolutely – no, I will try not to – I will try not to be…

[Eric laughs]

Kristin: It was nothing like that; just a little kiss on the cheek. No big deal. But he…

Eric: No, he is a very polite man.

Kristin: Yes, he is. I actually – well, Eric and I had the opportunity to speak to him after the screening. And…

Terrance: Awesome.

Kristin: …I was very impressed with him as a person. I think I might be kind of biased about this question because I was really kind of floored by the genuine interest with say: the movie, and why we liked it, and why we didn’t like it, and what we thought about the characters. And he just seemed really invested in making a quality product for the fans, and he kept telling Eric over and over again – you know – we’re so pleased to have your input, and we’re so glad that you were be here, and – you know – thank you for what you do for the fans, and…

Eric: That is what – yeah, they all thanked me for what I do.

Kristin: …Yeah. It was just – it was just wonderful. You could tell that he was really invested in a quality product…

Eric: Yeah.

Kristin: …and so – you know – as much as I didn’t like – and I was one of the people who didn’t like Order of the Pheonix. It was not my favorite Harry Potter movie. In fact, it was probably my least favorite Harry Potter movie, but I think – yeah, I have – I’m more willing now knowing what he had to say about the state of things, I’m more willing now to give him a little more leeway than I might have been before, I think.

Jackie: I’m a huge fan of the scores of all of the Potter movies. So how did you – what did you feel about the score compared to the other movies?

Eric: Okay, well it’s important to know that the score along with the special effects was not finished and it’s – and Mr.Yates did say that specifically too, and it does make sense. If they’ve got a tremendous amount of editing to do, scenes to be added, scenes to be cut, all that sort of stuff, yet. It wouldn’t – you know – it wouldn’t make sense that the score was completely fit to the movie because it’s not the locked, whatever they say in the industry, cut. So there was however, there was a lot of music, pretty much – you know – in all the scenes. It’s just – you know – it’s not finite, not polished, and not into specific themes I guess. Certain things like the Felix Felicis did have a theme to it, I think. Which I – that was a great scene, but I won’t say any much more about that. One of the things I did want to mention about the score was that there is a recurrence of “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. Not sort of the Hogwarts choir version, but that particular tune from Prisoner of Azkaban the movie was brought into this at one of the best – just it was so awesome. It was during a really ominous scene. Kristin, do you remember when that was? That it was playing; it was maybe Dumbledore and Harry…

Kristin: Yes, but it would be a spoiler to say.

Eric: Okay. It was just something like that, but thank you for preventing me from spoiling.

Kristin: No problem.

Eric: Jeeze, thanks. But – yeah – it’s a really awesome thing for them to do is to bring the previous – and of course it may be the Room of Requirement sound. That [sings Room of Requirement theme]. They play that song, too, from Movie Five. And you know what, that’s my favorite theme from movie five, so if anybody just groaned that’s okay with me, but I totally disagree. I like that. So…

Jackie: No.

Eric: So…

Jackie: I have the entire fifth movie soundtrack on my Ipod. I love the fifth movie soundtrack.

Eric: Same. Absolutely. Nicholas Hooper did a really good job. So – yeah – the score we heard was incomplete, but – and there was some specific Movie Six music which I could tell – you know – I hadn’t heard before. Which was really good. You know – what I’ve heard of the Movie Six stuff – what we’ve heard was really good.

Terrance: Awesome.

Alex: That’s really interesting that they’re…

Jackie: Nice.

Alex: …Referencing the scores from the previous films. Didn’t they do that in the trailer, also? Wasn’t there Prisoner of Azkaban music in that?

Eric: I don’t know about the trailer for sure – I think – I forget about that because trailers, even the Warner Brothers trailers – the trailers these days have songs from all sorts of different movies. Like there will be a musical – a score piece from 300 in the latest James Bond trailer or some crap like that. So – you know – I wouldn’t even go there about the trailer, but I don’t know for sure.

Terrance: After seeing the movie, and given what you’ve said so far in answering the questions, what do you think that the real reason for the push back was?

Kristin: Actually, we had the opportunity to speak with Diane Nelson of Warner Brothers at length about this. They were actually absolutely horrified at Warner Brothers that people thought that it was a production problem, that there was something wrong with the movie, or that someone didn’t like the movie and that was the reason that it was being pushed back. What they conveyed to us was that they were telling the absolute truth when they said that it was a writers’ strike issue. Not that it was a writers’ strike issue with this particular movie, this particular movie was not affected by the writers’ strike, but the movies that they did plan on releasing next summer were affected by the writers’ strike. And – so it was a financial decision for Warner Brothers and, quite honestly, that’s okay. I know there are a lot of people that are upset about that and that are throwing temper tantrums because Warner Brothers cares about money more than the fans, but honest to God guys, Warner Brothers is running a business here and…

Andy: Yeah.

Kristin: …They have to pay attention to their bottom line and that’s not me kowtowing to Warner Brothers because, as anyone who is familiar with my position on a lot of things knows, I’m not a person that’s going to kowtow to what Warner Brothers wants, what they need – you know…

Eric: Absolutely.

Kristin: …What they want us to say. This is a financial decision for them and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. They need to make money too.

Eric: Especially, because we really do like what we saw.

Kristin: Exactly.

[Eric laughs]

Kristin: And not only do we really like what we saw, and it’s not a production issue with the movie, but I prefer that they have – that they supply a substantial budget for Movie Seven – both Movie Sevens. So – you know – I’d rather that they do what they need to do financially in order to be able to do that.

Eric: For Movie Seven, that’s really an interesting point.

Andy: Makes sense.

Alex: Yeah.

Terrance: Yeah.

Andy: Okay, okay so will this movie make the Harry Potter films a more respected franchise in the cinematic world? Example: The Lord of the Rings movies are considered to be some of the most – some of the best fantasy movies and some of the best movies ever. Do you think Harry Potter is heading in a similar direction?

Eric: That’s an interesting question. As far as being a respected franchise in the cinematic world, I don’t think the movies are out to prove anything in one way, but in the other aspect they are – they have sort of gained some ground as being a…

Andy: Right.

Eric: …Realistic thing. I mean if you look at – I mean – even in Movie Five at the Ministry of Magic scene where they have the older wizards dueling, and – you know – we hear from the actors that they actually went to dueling lessons and took all these things…

[Andy laughs]

Eric: …And actually wand craft and learned all that crap. They taught the actors that crap, so – I mean – things like that is what I think of when I think of a big production film like Lord of the Rings where they get into that sort of thing, where they learn the languages, where they learned all this stuff that goes in making the film and sort of the film taking it more seriously. I think this movie totally has aspects of a – and it’s certainly a more adult film. I mentioned that in the review in one sentence. I’ll say it here again: This film, ladies and gents, is not for kids. It is – it’s got some very scary scenes, and I’m not talking about a Basilisk or big spiders, even though there is a big spider.

[Andy laughs]

Eric: I’m talking about the Katie Bell necklace scene, Ron convulsing from the poison…

Andy: Aw, sweet.

Jackie: Oh, my god. It sounds so scary already.

Eric: …The young Voldemort scene. It’s all dark, and you know what? There is a little bit of relief but even the relief is like this teenage relationship relief, and it’s a very dark film; it’s very simple. I said it might lead into the seventh movie a little bit better then they could have made it, but it’s a dark movie. It – there’s no ifs ands or buts about it, and I would not recommend this to kids that are under thirteen, at least. And that – you know – I’m not surprised it’s PG-13 because it is a very deep movie.

Kristen: Right…

Eric: Yeah.

Kristen: …And I don’t think that the actors have had the, like I was saying before, I don’t think the actors have had a choice but to take this a little more seriously since they’ve seen the fan base as well. Harry Potter fans are rabid that – we are, and…

Andy: Yes.

Kristen: …We don’t miss anything…

Jackie: We agree.[Jackie laughs]

Kristen: We really pay attention to the details and they don’t have a choice but to get it right, and so…

Eric: Anymore.

Kristen: Right, anymore. They don’t have a choice but to get it right, and so they have to take it seriously and they have to make it a little bit more respectable as a series – I guess. I – you know – and I’m certainly no expert; I’m just a fan of the movies myself. I tend to think of the movies as an alternate cannon, and so I don’t get as worked up as some people do about how the movies don’t follow the books exactly and…

Eric: I think…

Kristen: …That doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it does some people. But we really pay attention to the details, and so there seems to be an understanding that if this isn’t a quote unquote respected series, fantasy realm speaking, then it’s at least iconic.

Eric: Yeah, and it does it’s own thing in a way. It doesn’t borrow from other films’ effects. I think some of the effects that we’ve seen have been completely different, and in their own – sort of – universe, they haven’t run it like that’s from Star Wars, or that’s from this and that’s from that. I mean – obviously – you know – the art of special effects has a linear progression of evolution, but this series has stayed to its own, and part of that is due to the creativity of J.K.R.. Things like Slughorn being a couch; they kept that in this movie and that effect was almost nearly – was finished, and things like that you just don’t see in other films, and it was very well done and kind of fun to watch, so I think it will be more respected. I think the dark tone of this movie will, again, serve the issue where there will be kids – I think – that go to see this movie and are deeply disturbed by it. That might make headlines and this will gain the film sort of a more respect if it doesn’t have it already.

Terrance: Awesome.

Jackie: Which characters didn’t get enough screen time in your opinion?

Eric: Kristen, what do you think?

Kristen: Well, I know how much – I know how much screen time Neville is going to have in the next movie. I know he’s got some really cool things coming, so – you know – I – we didn’t see a lot of Neville in this movie, but I think – damn, I’ve derailed. I’m sorry, the brain had not caught up with…

Eric: I’ll take over if that’s cool.

Kristen: Yeah, please do.

Eric: Well, okay, I think too that judging by the story that they were telling in this film too was – I’m not going to say exclusive because they had things like the Slugclub…