An Analysis of the 'chess board scene' in the Harry Potter video

For my essay I have decided to analyse the ‘chess board scene’ in the Harry Potter video and compare it with the book, paying a special attention towards the social and media significance, the technical features and appeals to the audience, furthermore the pattern and details of language presentation. The social significance in the Harry Potter video is that it’s go a universal appeal, it appeals to everyone both children and adults. The reason for that being is that there are a whole variety of accents in the video, which is what brought a wider audience in being fans of Harry Potter.

The language is much more simplified in the video, which would make it easier for younger viewers to understand. Ron has a cockney Londoners accents, Harry with a standard well-spoken English. Hermione’s viewers however would be the posh & snobby people as her accent and manner shows it. Hagrid the half-giant man that has delivered Harry to the Dursley family when he was a baby has an up-north accent.

Dumbledore the head master has a Scottish accent.

The other social significance is that the storyline contains a moral issue with a slight adversity between normality and magic, which would appeal to the older viewers as good overcomes evil. And also as the video is visual it’s more successful than the book as you can see everything more clearly with a lot of excitement being added to. The media significance of making Harry Potter into a movie was that it has achieved attracting more audience throughout, as it was a best seller.

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It has also taken more money than any other film in the first week.

The way the media has achieved this is by putting a lot of extras in the film such as building up the storyline, making it more enjoyable. They did this is by using a lot of special effects to make it as believable as possible, which makes the movie more exciting. The start of this scene in the book it says that ‘is very much dark they couldn’t see at all. ‘ This has being exaggerated a little bit as in the video as dark as it might be, they in fact could tell what it was as they identified the chess board pretty much straight after Harry, Hermione and Ron entered the room.

The video uses the music and the camera angles to show feeling, whereas the book just says it through writing; “Ron, Hermione and Harry shivered slightly,” This is how J. K Rowling describes feeling, which is not as exiting. And also in the book is so much shorter in the chess scene than in the video, and is not as violent. And yet the film is being given a PG it could get quite horrendous for little ones in this scene as it so violent. The video starts with a very mysterious music with a lot of banging effects.

The language is very much simplified for example when Harry checkmates the king in the end, in the book he doesn’t shout out checkmate he just moves a step forward. A lot of changes has being made in the video, because is visual and therefore the music, camera angles, costumes has all got to link in order to make the details and pattern presentation perfect. This would make it more dramatic to create the climax For example the costume is very casual in this scene Harry is wearing a red t-shirt and jeans Ron the same jeans and t-shirt, and Hermione with a little skirt with a simple top.

The red t-shirt Harry is wearing for example symbolises war and blood. However when the chessboard is first seen the music gets louder in a sort of crescendo with a battle vibe background, the music increases it’s loudness to create a sense of excitement, and at the same time it gets brighter. The set of swords that stop them leaving the room as the walk on to get across the room symbolises war, but this little scene doesn’t get mentioned in the book. For ones throughout the book and the film this scene is Ron’s moments of glory as he takes charge.

And is the reason why the camera angles gets closer to Ron’s face each time he’s giving out instructions to show facial expression, which makes it dramatic as you see how brave he is as scare as he might be. The scenery at the same time is very much bright as all the background in the chessboard is lit with fire. There is a great sense of enormous power as the chess moves; a sound effect of grated stones is being used to make it sound huge, as it looks it too. The drumbeats sound effects make it sound scary and yet again symbolises war. The pieces get animated it becomes alive with a similar human movements.

As the game goes on the media cuts it down bit by bit to create suspense, and fasten up the scene. All these changes that has being made to the video made it more successful and more enjoyable at the same time created by lots of sound effects, and whole variety of special effects to create the movements of large creatures such as the trolls. And at the end when Ron realises what must be done, he sacrifices himself in order to help his friend. In the book is not as sad as in the film, because the music slows down as Ron says ‘the queen will take me, and that leaves you to checkmate the king Harry’.

In this bit Hermione seems like she’s crying and says ‘No’ in a very dramatic way that it makes you feel sad. The reason for that is the music makes it sound more dramatic with its sound effects in way that would be impossible for a book to offer. The lighting at that point changes into a more subtle clear light, aiming specially towards Ron to show what he’s expression are like. And as he orders the Night to make he’s move in the book it says ‘she struck Ron hard around the head her stone in the head and he crashed to the floor. ‘ However in the video the queen doesn’t struck Ron on the head but he does crash on the floor.

There is a slight similarity between the book and the video, but with a lot of changes made such as not saying the exact words in the book, but simplifying the language a whole lot more. Furthermore as there is so much in the book, the produces cuts down certain scenes, for it would go a whole lot longer. The troll and the potion scenes that was supposed to be straight after the chess scene is not in the video, as the video goes straight to where the mirror was. The reason for that is that the film would go a whole lot longer if it wasn’t for the scenes to be shortened out.