RESEARCH: Deconstruction 2

Film Deconstruction of ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone’

Director: Chris Columbus

Year: 2001

Certification: PG

Genre: Adventure

In this second opening scene deconstruction, I have chosen to use the opening two minutes of the film ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone’. It is a very mystical opening which immediately sets the scene of the movie. It staples some main characters down but it is not obvious of what is happening too quickly. This probably helps to create the mystical and magical theme it is going for. Therefore, I would say the overall goal of this opening is to be a theme setter. The theme is set by many ways which I shall now explain.

The scene begins with a close up focusing on the street sign entitles ‘Pivet Drive’ with an owl sitting on it. An owl is an unusual animal to be so out in the open, which shows the movie could be one of unusual happenings. At the same time as this some non-diegetic sound of the Harry Potter theme tune comes on. In the background it is dark and misty as it is night time. The music which plays sounds gloomy, yet magical at the same time, which really sets the tone for the movie. This combines with the darkness in the background to immediately set the theme of mystery and magic. Following this, the camera slowly pans right, which is a good technique for a film like this because helps build on the tense atmosphere. Once the camera has panned right the first thing in focus is a lamp post, which helps to build the strange atmosphere even more. At this point you see a man emerge in the background and his presentation immediately suggests he is a wizard. You see a long white beard, a long gown, and a long hat on his head. All of this is a stereotypical picture of a wizard, so it is clear he is one. Another way the film conveys him as a wizard is when he comes on, the theme music stops, and some different spooky music comes on.

Following haven seen the wizard walking, the camera pans right and down, to reveal a cat just sitting there. Nothing happens with the cat at this point but you can see the cat looks very alert for an animal. It being placed where it is at that time of night is another strange thing. The camera then shows a close up of an item the wizard is holding up, it is not even clear what this is so that makes everything even stranger. You soon see that the device draws out lights from the street lamps, and the editing cleverly shows dashes of light from the lights to the strange device. All this is done with a long shot of the wizard in the background as he turns all the lights out. The lights makes diegetic sound as it rushes across to the device, which helps the editing look better. Then you hear a cat meow so you now know the cat is coming back into play. The dialogue then has the wizard call the cat by a very human name which is strange. Then the editing shows the cats shadow growing and the cat turning into a human. A transformation like this is clearly magic so that sets the theme of the film nicely.

Once the cat has turned into a human, the camera does a tracking shot walking with the people in discussion. A line of the dialogue is “Are the rumours true professor?” This is very thought provocative speech as the audience will want to know what the rumours are, so even this is mystical. In the background as they walk is the mise-en-scene of the street ‘Pivet Drive’. These houses all look pretty normal so this is the only thing which contradicts the oddness of the scene. Once the pair has finished their conversation, you hear the sound of something coming, which both characters look towards. First you only see a light so the mystery of what this is continues. Eventually you see a robed and shaggy man flying in, who also looks like a wizard. This flying motor bike again clearly suggests that this film is based around magic.

So that is the opening two minutes of ‘Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone’, and it creates a very clear picture of the theme of the film, but not particularly of the plot. Everything that happens in the opening scene is very strange and entices the viewer into wandering what is happening. To summarize, I feel this opening is good because even the fact the plot isn’t clear is purposely mysterious. Therefore, after this the viewer is left wanting to continue watching the rest of the movie.