MuggleNet Interviews the Crew at the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Premiere in New York

Transcribed by Ryan McCormick

Andrew Sims: Hey everyone, [this is] Andrew Sims at the New York premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A lot of stars [are] showing up today…

[Instrumental music playing]

Andrew: We have Micah Tannenbaum on camera and a lot of great interviews coming up for you guys. [speaking to Steve Kloves] How did you decide for this one what stays and what was pulled out?

Steve Kloves: It's a really good question because it was a really hard thing for me. As you know, all the previous books I adapted, I did in one movie. So instantly, certain decisions are honestly made for you. You know you can't have this [and] you can have [that]. On this, instead of having two and a half hours of screen time, I had five hours of screen time, and I thought, “This [is] going to be fantastic, this is going to be easy,” and suddenly I opened the book and I go, “Wait a minute, the decisions aren't made for me anymore? I've got to actually figure this out a little bit.” And I am being slightly facetious, but not really. It was very hard when I started Hallows to find the rhythm of the choices and what to emphasize [or] what to lose. I found that rhythm, but initially, it was a little bit of tough sledding because of what I was talking about.

Micah Tannenbaum: What do you think it is about Harry Potter that drives everyone crazy?

Steve: I think, in a very cynical age, what Jo has done is that she presents things like loyalty, courage, friendship, and honor in a way that's completely un-saccharin. And I think the world hungers for those things; they don't just want them to be presented in this cloying saccharin way, they want them to be presented earnestly, but real, and she does that. I think we've been able to do that too, and I give most of the credit for that to Emma, Rupert, and Dan. I just think you feel it's real.

Andrew: You once joked to David Heyman, [saying] you had so much material, you can make three films.

Steve: No question. That’s my feeling because I love this book, I love this story, [and] I just think Jo's world is so rich. There will be some people who shutter at me saying that, but I think it could have been three movies, personally.

Andrew: Well, I am sure a lot of fans would appreciate that, so thank you.

Steve: Thank you.

Andrew: So with Half-Blood Prince, Warner Bros. asked you, I think it was, to change the color slightly in the film [because] it was a little too green?

David Barron: [They] said [it was] too brown actually.

Andrew: Too brown?

David Barron: Yes, [they said] it was too brown.

Andrew: Was there anything like that that they asked you to change when they saw [Deathly Hallows]? Was there anything they wanted to change for this film?

David Barron: No, they loved Half-Blood Prince, but [said] it developed too strong of a look as we played with the grading, and they were right. In fact, when I was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award, Bruno Del [had] gone back and changed the grade. But no, they loved this film from beginning to end; they were very happy and didn't ask us to change anything.

Andrew: How about anything from J.K. Rowling, did she have any suggestions for you [or] advice?

David Barron: Well, she saw the film quite late on. Obviously, we speak to her throughout the filmmaking process, and she reads the script and offers advice during the development stage. But she was very, very happy with the film. She loves this film.

Micah: What reactions do you expect to get from the fans here in the United States?

David Barron: Well, fingers crossed. We never take it for granted, but we hope they'll like the film. What we set out to do every time is to try and make something that's a proper representation of the book, a visual representation of the book. We then have to satisfy Jo when she sees it, and then we obviously have to satisfy the fans. If it passes muster with Jo, then we're hopeful [and] we become slightly more relaxed that it'll work with the fans too. But, fingers crossed; you can never tell.

Micah: Are you hoping to bring this movie into Latin America where most of our viewers are?

David Barron: Yea, we’d love to! Absolutely.

Andrew: We recently learned that Leavesden Studios was purchased by Warner Bros. and now they're going to create a Harry Potter museum. What are some of the things that fans can expect to find there?

David Barron: It's not… Well, it is kind of a museum; they call it an exhibit, the Harry Potter Exhibit. It's going to be lots of original artifacts, both from the set construction side and costumes, [and] props. I think there'll be lots of things that have actually appeared in the films, that people have seen on the screen, and they'll be able to see detail. [If they see something] that they have not seen, [or] with something that's been seen in passing on the screen, they can stop and have a proper look and actually see detail that I think they'll find really interesting that they've just not been able to see before.

Andrew: Awesome. Do you know when that's going to open yet?

David Barron: I believe it's about two years’ time. Between 18 months and two years. They just started construction work, so it's underway.

Andrew: Awesome. Can't wait, thank you very much, David.

David Barron: Pleasure. Nice to meet you.

Andrew: At the junket, we heard Ron, sorry [laughs], Rupert and Emma, said that you guys might be doing reshoots for the epilogue.

David Yates: Yeah, we might. I looked at it last week. I haven't shown anyone yet. I haven't shown the producers, haven't shown the studio, but I think we might pick it up. I'm not sure yet. I'm going to do another edit on it, which is what we normally do. If something's not quite cooking, you rework it, rework it, rework it, but if we pick it up, we'll do it in December.

Andrew: He said something about to draw it out more to make it…

David Yates: No, we won't draw it out anymore, no. There were just a few things, because it's right at the end of the movie, and you want it to be perfect. So it's one of those things.

Andrew: That's great that you're putting in that extra thought.

David Yates: Oh, we always do. I watched the film - there are some really smashing things in the film - [and when] you get to the end, you want to be lifted up. I wasn't quite lifted up, so we might pick it up.

Andrew: One other question: What deleted scenes can fans expect to see on the DVD? They always look forward to them.

David Yates: Awesome. Great scenes. Rupert and Emma throwing stones in the loch was totally improvised. They were very, very funny. And it's Hermonie trying to get Ron to be tactile with her and to get close to her, she's trying to manipulate him to be tactile with her, basically. It's a really charming, funny scene. [There is] a lovely scene between Petunia and Harry, at Little Whinging, which is very, very strong. And a really fun scene with Harry and Ron hunting in the forest, trying to get food for the table. They are trying to kill a rabbit with their wands, and they're running through the forest and it gets a bit intense, and Ron nearly hits Harry with the wand, nearly kills him, [well] not kills him… That's a really interesting scene.

Andrew: You are one of the hardest workers in the franchise, and on behalf of the fans, we wanna say, thanks so much, you put in a lot of work.

David Yates: Thanks very much for being here. Thanks for coming back time and time again. Thank you.

Andrew: Thanks, David.