The lyrics to the chorus are from MacBeth, Act IV, Scene I – they’re excerpts from the witches’ chant.
Is the musical arrangement old or new?
Oh, and just since no one’s provided it yet: a direct link to the trailer page.
I think the chorus is kind of stupid, unless its only for the trailer. The movie has to slice the books into slivers anyway: why waste film time to add something goofy and contrived when it has to replace elements of Rowling’s own story?
My real question is for people who have already read the books, so please answer in spoiler tags: what the heck is going on when Snape is protecting Harry, Herm-ai-Mo-ninny, and Ron from… something, and they are all standing in some sort of rocky, mossy area? I don’t recall that ever happening in the book, and I’ve just relistened to the unabridged audiobook.
Let’s also play spot the scene, in spoiler space of course:
-Is that the Shrieking Shack in the very first few bits? The tall, thin building in the snow?
-Who is the dude sitting next to Lupin in the scene where Dumbledore welcomes the kids to the school. The one that’s not Snape, of course.
-Who is conducting the chorus? He looks REALLY short.
-Knight Bus is avoiding hitting a car… isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I was hoping for a really cool warping/ animation effect to match Rowlings description of objects “leaping” animatedly out of the way of the bus.
-Marge looks to be getting in much more trouble than she does in the books: floating away into the sky!
-Malfoy has definately aged the most visibly, but Goyle seems to have seriously outgrown Crabb!
-Evil Oragami? Not in the book that I remember.
-Where is the class going when it heads downhill? It’s near those odd threefold stones that appear later in the trailer: what are they? Who is the person in front? Percy? Lupin leading the class down to his obstacle course?
-Neville is thin: isn’t he supposed to be stocky? I guess they could force a kid to get overwight just for a part in a movie. 
-Sirius’ photo: his prison number has some weird symbols in it. Do wizards have an alternate numeral system that includes runes?
-On the train: crookshanks is one matty cat! Doesn’t Hermoine groom the poor thing?
-Snape and Harry in the hall: what’s going on here? Harry seems to have the map, but in the book, Snape doesn’t meet Harry and his map until back in Snape’s office, when Harry is forced to turn out his pockets
-Is the fountain at Hogsmeade?
-Is that Harry turning on the Muarader’s Map under his invis cloak?
-The three (well, six) stones in the forest again, this must be during the Timer Turner journey, since only Harry and Hermoine are there.
-the hiding behind the pumpkins scene: when is this happening? It has be before halloween, but in the book, there is no cause to hide behind pumpkins until they visit Hagrid at the end… and they have the cloak on then.
-Hagrid holding up his hands: could be to placate the Hippogriff, which has just slashed Malfoy, and everyone else running for it. If you go through frame by frame, something odd is happening: some sort of furry object appears near Hagrids hand, and then morphs down into his chest. Probably just some furry animal pelt, but it looks weird.
-Dumbledore spends entirely too much time unimpressively lighting a single candle.
-Harry in the room with the spine candles: is this him practicing against the Bogart/Dementor? I can’t imagine what else it could be, given that it’s not the Shrieking Shack (which we already saw the interior of)
Interesting, if unrevealing. Is it true that there will be no Quidditch? Oliver Wood won’t be in the this movie, and he’s sort of important to the Quidditch scenes, which are in turn a fairly large part of the book (they are what get Harry going on his anti-Dementor kick)
THANK YOU. I love Williams, and I loved the music on the first two movies, which I only saw this week. (I’ve only recently been converted to a Potterdom-I FINALLY got around to reading the books since Sunday and I’m actually in the middle of the fifth one already!)
I cannot wait to see this. I’m disappointed that they didn’t cast Sir Ian, but hopefully Gambon will live up to Harris’s Dumbledore.
One good thing about Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore (or is it Alfonso Cuaron’s?) is that he will have more of the impish humour that he has in the books, which unfortunately Chris Columbus didn’t include in Richard Harris’s version.
I’m actually glad that Gambon got the role of Dumbledore… much as I love Ian McKellen, the associations with Gandalf would still have been too strong. Sort of like seeing Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith and Elrond within months of each other… it’s hard to switch gears, especially with two such powerful (and very different) roles, even though Weaving plays both very well.
Gambon will surely have some fun with it, and as GuanoLad points out, we might see some of Dumbledore’s more prankish side. Richard Harris did a fine job, and I think Gambon will continue the trend admirably, with a few extra twists.
Just so we’re clear, I actually like many of Williams’ scores. His music for Born on the Fourth of July, JFK and Presumed Innocent was all very good, his themes for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark are unforgettable, and he delighted me last year with the Catch Me If You Can score. He’s not my favorite, but I can certainly appreciate some of his work.
Which is what makes it all the more disappointing when he turns it such trite and ultimately shallow music as that he has crafted for the Harry Potter movies, and the new Star Wars movies as well. It lacks the richness and depth I would have liked, to reflect some of the undertones of the story. It’s fluff music, really… catchy but without real impact.
However, once again GuanoLad had something good to point out regarding this:
It’s interesting to hear this (I hadn’t been aware of it before… I had assumed that Williams did his own arrangements), because I noticed that many of the complete pieces from the first film were repeated recognizably in the second, which made for some very strange associations. However, if it’s true that Williams didn’t arrange the music for the first two films, than I’m willing to reserve judgment for now on this. He had better come through on the third one, though… or dammit, that boy is SO fired! 
OK, I’m done with that particular hijack. Sorry for starting it… if anyone wants to continue it, maybe open a new thread…?
From the Boston Globe, June 3, 2003
I heard that Goblet might be two movies: is that no longer true?
Apos, my understanding is that the current “official” plan is to make Goblet of Fire a two-and-half hour movie.
Personally, I think this is a horrible idea, and I’m not the only one. There’s a whole “Save GOF” campaign going on right now to get them to either extend the length of the movie, or split it into two two-hour halves.
If you want to sign the petition or read more about it, go to www.savegof.com.
Yeesh… what a disaster that would be. Thanks for the heads-up, Oreo, I just signed the petition as well.
Well, I couldn’t get the trailer to load without freezing up my computer-three times I tried and had to exit Internet Explorer, I give up.
:mad:
Actually, I loved Williams’s music for the prequels-Across the Stars gives me chills.
Guin, there are many different versions of the trailer here. One of them should work for you.
It actually ONLY looks odd frame-by-frame. Watching it at natural speed, it’s obvious that it’s the end of that weasel thing he’s wearing around his neck. He has spun around quickly in the portion of the scene that is not shown, then our clip picks up as it begins its downward journey.
Some of your other points are interesting, but minor changes such as whether or not they’re wearing the cloak don’t worry me. In movie language, it’s easier to show that they’re not being spotted – a wide shot with no one else in it tends to imply the sort of “invisibility” that comes from being far enough away from anyone to be seen. And it’s easier to film and allows for more interesting interactions. If I were the filmmaker, I’d get them out from under the cloak as soon as possible in order to be freed from the claustrophobic “under-the-cloak” shots – especially when it’s more than one person under there.
In response to a few of Apos’ points (no particular spoilers in response):I had wondered about the building in the snow, too… That scene sort of has a WWI feel to it (I think it’s the barbed wire).
There are plenty of teachers whom we’ve never really seen in the book: Professors Vector and Sinistra are only incidental, and we don’t even know who teaches Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies. So it’s OK to have a few unfamiliar faces at the staff table
The only short characters I can think of are Flitwick and Dobby, but they’re both bald, and the conductor has hair. I guess it’s a student, but even so, he’s awfully short.
Not only is the origami not in the book, it doesn’t even look particularly evil. Were it not for the fact that it’s Malfoy sending it, I would think that he’s sending a love trinket to a girl.
With Harry lighting the light under a cloth, I don’t think that’s under the cloak. He’s wearing Muggle clothes there, and it looks like a book that he’s holding. I’m guessing that’s him doing his summer homework under the covers at the Dursleys’.
Maybe, but he’s using a wand isn’t he? That would be a no no at the Dursleys.
Just a note, I wasn’t complaining about the things I pointed out (Except for the one or two bits where I clearly was), just speculating, interested. What ARE those three rock thingies: just scenery, or something more? What is happening with that Snape scene that has them all so scared?
For all those that are having questions about which parts of the book are in the trailer, check the Leaky Cauldron’s shot-by-shot notes on the trailer:
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/PoATrailer1.html
Guin, if you still have problems downloading the trailer, that link has frame grabs of each scene of the preview, with quotes from the book.
WARNING: If you have not read the books, there are some spoilers there!
OMG! It’s like you’re in my head! I thought the same thing when I saw this kid for the first time. It’s that jutting bottom lip.
Malfoy needs his roots touched up.
I hope Snape gets more screen time.
Neville looks like he’s thinned out and darkened his hair.
I wonder if Chris Columbus’s daughter will be featured in this film at all. She was/is the slightly chubby red head from Hufflepuff, I think.
Susan Bones is her character name.
I haven’t seen her in any publicity shots, but then I haven’t been looking very hard.
I dunno. I think Malfoy looks like a dork. And nastier? How could he look nastier? He looked like a creep in the first two…
PS: Dumbledore looks more like the Chinese dude in Gremlins, played by Joley Grey. I’m waiting for him to admonish Harry not to give the hippogriffs food after midnight.