The Prisoner of Azkaban Film: A Cinematic Masterpiece (Video Essay)

recently I made a video on what the order of the Phoenix was my favorite film in the franchise and after arguing my case a lot of people agreed but I got a lot of comments saying that their favorite was the third film in the series the Prisoner of Azkaban so I decided to make a video essay on this film - it's not my favorite but it's by far the best film in the franchise from a technical standpoint I actually studied this very movie during my time as a film student and in this video I'm going to break this film down and I'm going to explain why I have so much respect for this film from a cinematic point of view before we start make sure you hit that subscribe button and turn notifications on to make sure you never miss a movie flame video now let's get started I do have many problems with this film like the fact that they made Dumbledore the smartest and most powerful wizard in the world dumb and oblivious or having Harry use magic outside of school in the very first scene most Maxima or the fact that they changed Tom from the leaky cauldron to make him pointless comic relief and some other comic relief examples that ruin the suspense of a scene like Trelawney choking after telling the prophecy and most of all the fact that they completely skipped over the marauders backstory and those are just a few reasons why it's not my favorite there many more but this video isn't about why I dislike the film it's about breaking down the cinematic aspect of it as I said I have more respect for this film than most of the others mainly because I see that it's not just a big blockbuster film this is a cinematic masterpiece the man responsible for this is the director Alfonso Curran this was the only film in the franchise that he directed and his style of filmmaking really shines there are so many deeper meanings incredible camera work and just masterful direction throughout the entire film when setting out to make this movie how Fonz I wanted to make this his own and put a stamp on it which I think he did very successfully this film stands out more so in style than any of the other ones that being said Alfonzo realized that he had a big job as this was part of a saga and he had to keep it grounded with the first two films directed by Chris Columbus and again I think he did that very well too JK Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series was very keen on the idea of having Alfonso direct but this decision turned many people's heads as he just came off a very sexy racy and more adult film so the idea that he was going to do a kid's film was questionable to some people but ultimately he was the right choice one thing he did really well was make this movie be able to stand on its own something that the other films could not do if he watched the other movies without seeing the rest in the series you'll be lost but here part of his filmmaking style was to make it be able to stand on its own and that's one of the reasons why it stands out so much in the series and going off Alphonse of style and how it stands out one of the biggest examples of this is the colouring of the movie the two movies before this we're very saturated with bright colors but the third film is much darker even the title going from gold to silver and that darkness perfectly reflects the narrative which has many more dark moments compared to Chris Columbus's films while the other films were more sibling and light-hearted this movie deals with dark creatures that represent depression and other scary creatures like werewolves whose execution and talk of murder and it dives into darker and deeper places for the characters cuz when he does I'm gonna be ready when he does I'm gonna kill him the tone and color palette shifted a great deal and the flat lighting compared to the first two films gave way to a somber and dangerous feel making it seem almost like a horror movie and it's quite accurate when the washington post credit called it everything the first two films were not this movie as many deeper meanings throughout shown through cinematic techniques and my favorite example of this is Harry and lupins relationship let's look at two scenes that the characters have together the first one being the scene on the bridge I'd suggest that what you fear the most to steer itself this was very wise the scene starts with Lupin educating Harry as he does this there's somewhat of a distance between the two notice how Harry is facing out while Lupin is facing in toward Harry then Harry brings up his mother and Lupin faces out just like Harry that's you now on the same level no longer student and teacher but to people who have a shared feeling of loss when thinking about Lily then when Lupin against talking about himself he turned his back on Harry unable to look him in the face as he hints at his disease that he's so ashamed of and a way of seeing the beauty most especially the camera then pans in and has a beautiful shot that separates the two by wooden bar and as the scene ends the to bond over James and Lily and Lupin comes back over and once again they're no longer student and teacher but they're now friends they've become closer during this conversation and they stand next to each other both facing out the same way as equals now if we look at another scene between these two this time the scene where Lupin teaches Harry the Patronus charm this time Harry is the one who gets vulnerable as he talks to Lupin they're both facing each other but as soon as he starts talking about a very deep memory he turns away from Lupin unable to look at him just as Lupin did to Harry on the bridge when he got deep once again as the camera moves in they're split apart by an object in the scene this time the candle in the background and the person talking and getting vulnerable is on the left while the person listening is on the right the scene ends very similarly to how the scene on the bridge ended as well while the two were pretty far apart for the entirety of the scene at the end but soon were next to each other and closer than they had been throughout this shows that they grew closer during the events that took and just like the bridge scene both are facing the same way looking at the camera and on top of that in both scenes the thing that made them bond was James and Lily it's almost as if these two scenes rhyme it's like poetry so what made these scenes work so well well the biggest thing is the technique that Alfonso chose to use for these scenes and really throughout the whole film which is the long take meaning that the scene is filmed in one shot with no cuts let's take a look at perhaps the best long take in the film which was the scene in the leaky cauldron this is probably the most talked about sequence in the film and the most revered and I'm going to explain why it starts with the Lord's view of the place and we see many things going on mostly magic stuff floating in the background which sets the mood and tone for the Wizarding World this being the first real scene in the Wizarding World so far in the film the camera that moves away from the room and moves into the characters to have the audience focus on the conversation rather than the environment it then gets really interesting when mr. Weasley comes in he has to have a word with Harry and as they move a wanted poster of black comes into view essentially foreshadowing what the conversation will be about the camera moves past the post they're making the shot nothing but the wanted poster for a split second and the really cool part about this is that from here on out the poster of black will stay in the shot until it moves to the last part of the scene as mr. Weasley tells Harry that he's in danger you they move closer to the poster of black then Harry mentions Sirius Black has this anything to do with Sandra's backside and looks at the wanted sign and the poster that has been there throughout is finally mentioned when black becomes the key point of the conversation the poster is framed in the middle of the shot in between the two characters in the scene then as the scene ends we move away from the poster and it's just the two of them in a much darker image lighting wise which matches the dark turn that the conversation takes as Harry realizes that black is trying to kill him and kill main it zooms in on just Harry who just discovered this crazy and disturbing news we see his reaction to it and it ends this minute and 49 second long page looking at the beginning to the end of the scene we went from a crowded and large pub to the smallest corner with just Harry it artistically shrinks the scene more and more as it goes this moment marks a crucial change in the narrative tone the film started with two comedic scenes Harry blowing up his Aunt Marge and the comical night bus scene now for the first time in the movie the theme of grave dangers introduced and it's something that continues throughout the rest of the movie this long shot was Karen's way of creatively providing information about the story through choreography and movement which is much more engaging and interesting to watch than a simple expositional table scene and there are many other examples of long takes throughout the film like when Dumbledore and Snape talked and as soon as they start talking about Harry it focuses on him all of these long shots add so much to the scene and they allow Alfonso to move the camera in ways that you wouldn't be able to do how do you not choreograph the scene in one shot the way our Fonzo insisted on doing another thing that i'll Fonzo did that added so much to not just this film but to the rest of the films and the franchise was to focus on the geography of Hogwarts he insisted on linking the different sets to show the relation between these places as well as intertwining the grounds altogether and it really makes you feel like Hogwarts is alive not only that but it also makes the audience know where the characters are going and it adds wander and suspense because you know where they're headed it makes the audience think oh that's the way to Hagrid's hut we saw that earlier I wonder what they're going to do there or that's the way to the whomping willow they're headed into danger turn back while you can it builds so much suspense and it really makes the audience connect with not just the characters but the actual grounds we come to know it and love it just like we did with the characters and going on that one artistic decision that Alfonso made was to not just focus on the characters let's also focus on the things in the magical world and to make them a living entity he made the characters and the environment have the same weight and this was an interesting decision because it led to not many close-ups as it was more powerful to blend the characters with the environment and amazing establishing shots one of the best examples of this is the clock tower we see Harry with this clock tower many times throughout the movie and every time we do Alfonso perfectly made the two mesh and you really do focus on the clock like it's living just as much as you do on Harry the clock is also used for great for shadowing times Lee such an important part in this narrative with the time-turner and the climax focusing on Harry and Hermione going back in time to say Buckbeak and Sirius by constantly showing the clock it gives you the idea that time is important but it does it in such a subtle way that you don't even notice but deep down it's intriguing because your brain does notice it and again focusing on the clock there are two scenes where Harry's by himself with the clock and both times he's watching everybody go to Hogsmeade when he's not able to the first time we see this he's on the ground on the clock he's vulnerable helpless small and most of all defeated he accepts that he can't go but in the next scene that parallels this he's again standing with the clock as he watches them leave but this time he's up higher he feels more powerful looking down and this time he's not helpless and doesn't give up he decides that he's not just going to sit there and accept it this time but rather he's going to sneak into hogs meet with his invisibility cloak while we're on the topic of foreshadowing another great example of this is the whomping willow Alfonso utilize this tree so well not just by showing time pass based on seeing the tree in the different seasons but we constantly go back to the street and it's foreshadowing for how important it will be later on in the narrative as many of the most exciting and important events take place here they also show us how dangerous the tree is in a very subtle way by showing us birds getting killed by it multiple times it puts in our head that this tree is powerful and deadly and now that we know that it makes it even more suspenseful when the trio finally does encounter the tree you do realize what tree this is and we saw this tree in the last film but as I said Alphonse at one of this film to stand on its own so by showing the birds getting killed it tells us that it's dangerous even if we didn't see the danger and imposed in the last film the camera works throughout this film is beyond amazing it's forever moving especially when giving information it zooms in on the character who gives that information and then zooms in on the character who's getting the information it's a great technique and it really adds a lot of gravity to each scene one of the best examples of this are two scenes that end zooming in on Harry and again these two scenes are almost like poetry both examples are long shot sequences the one I discussed earlier in the leaky cauldron and another long shot scene in the Great Hall at the end of each Harry finds out something about Sirius Black whether it be that he's after him or that he was sighted near him and both scenes start with a bunch of people at a table and by the end it shrinks the shot down to just Harry's reaction to this news Alfonso also has some amazing shots that focus on glass as the camera moves through a window or a mirror and they are without a doubt some of the coolest and most artsy shots in the entire Harry Potter film franchise some other really interesting shot choices are those that are from the point of view of an object or a character whether it be from the point of view of the jack-in-the-box moving back and forth on Harry or the camera flowing with the movement of mentor or from the point of view of the whomping willow branch and even seeing the scene from harry's point of view with no glasses or right before he's about to pass out making it very blurred and speaking of point of view shots there are many examples of this throughout the film and Alfonzo used it to great extents to make us feel like we are or are with Harry the most notable scene is the one in the Three Broomsticks when he's under the invisibility cloak we see from his eyes and we can even hear his breathing it gives us much more suspense because we feel like if Harry gets caught we get caught too as we are Harry and every time I watch that scene my heart beats super fast even though I've seen it so many times and even small point of view shots are well done like when Harry's looking up at Stan Shunpike or looking up at the Dementor throughout the film the camera moves with Harry and is almost always at his eye level if he stands the camera stands too if he sits down so does the camera by having these shots follow or having a sieve through Harry's eyes it makes us feel as though we are with Harry on his adventure the film also did a great job isolating Harry especially from Ron and Hermione we constantly see Harry on the other side of the - whether it be the two of them going to Hogsmeade when he couldn't go or when he leaves them in Hogsmeade one minute he's there and the next he's gone and even just small things and very well-done shots like Harry being on the opposite side of them in the shot with Hagrid it shows distance and it isolates Harry throughout the only thing I wish the film did more was explore what's going on inside of Harry rather than what's going on outside of him and this is something I praised in the order of the Phoenix as it was able to go deep down into Harry's character and explore as inner demons whereas here it's all physical it's not mental we see him be isolated but it doesn't explore why he's isolated or why he's away from Harry and Hermione it just shows it but that being said the Prisoner of Azkaban did this very well and in my opinion did the second best job when he came to Harry's character something that I really liked was the fact that they showed water turned to ice when two mentors came with the water bottle on the train if the rain on Harry's broom and the ice forming on the lake this was something that wasn't in the books because in the books they could just come out and say that Harry felt cold when Dementors were coming but in the film you can't say that you have to show it and having the water turned to ice was the perfect way of representing this it's chilling it's unnatural but happened so fast and it really sets the mood for what dangers are about to come one of the most original and impressive decisions that phones are made on this film was to make the shrieking Shack set move and tilt so they could get some really cool and unique looking shots to be honest you probably would not notice this if I didn't tell you but even without knowing it adds so much to each shot and deep down in your brain you can tell that there's a difference and you think it looks really cool but at the same time you never really know why you liked it so much it's so subtle but it adds so much to each shot this also makes the oh so calm and over the shoulder dialog scene much more intriguing and it adds movement to a very boring filmmaking technique I feel I can't talk about this film without discussing the infamous time travel long shot I don't have too much to say but it was really well put together and gave you a sense of time travel in a very unique and creative way transitions are another big thing that I absolutely love in this film the use of sound is utilized very well for some transitions like when they cut from hairy to the Hogwarts Express this is the scene that I broke down earlier in the leaky cauldron and at the end it starts to have the sound of the Train before it cuts - actually showing the Train and it makes the very last shot of that one scene when Harry just found out this disturbing information and by having that train sound effect build up really add suspense and makes you feel uncomfortable which is exactly how I was feeling I also love how Alphonse I used the circle in and out transition when it came to Harry passing out or waking up it was just a nice touch and it was nice to see some consistency throughout the film when it came to that aspect another big reason why I love the transitions of this film is because of the way some scenes end they have fabulous ending shots that really show the weight of the scene and a lot of the time it's after a very important or tear-jerking conversation we see the aftermath of that conversation and it makes the audience hang on to it and allows you to reflect on what you just heard overall this film is not my favorite in the series I have a lot of problems with its story wise and I hate some of the decisions that they made but overall I respected more than any of the other films in the franchise primarily from a technical standpoint Alphonse had put a stamp on this film and he did an outstanding job bringing some artistic decisions to the series changing the tone of the series and adding many things that the later films would continue to use throughout specifically the additions to Hogwarts and the way he made the geography of the castle come to life I hope I've shed some light on what made this film so good and hopefully you guys learned a few things for me ranting and breaking the film down I plan to make a video essay on every Harry Potter film so far I've done order of the Phoenix and obviously Prisoner of Azkaban and next is Goblet of Fire so look out for that thank you so much for watching guys you can follow me on social media and see more of my personal life and see more of this little dude you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for movie's flame updates and I want to give a huge shout out to all my patrons listed below if you want to be featured in the next video plus get a bunch of other awards become a patreon today again thank you so much for watching make sure you press that like button and subscribe and look out for more great videos on the way you

Channel: MovieFlame

Views: 2,113,562

Keywords: Movie Review, TV Show review, Harry Potter, Superhero, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Disney, Hunger Games

Id: 7NgKLywNXbA

Length: 17min 16sec (1036 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 08 2019