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Harry Potter has touched the lives of children
and adults all over the world, but few have been more involved than
Norfolk actor Chris Rankin.
As muggles save their galleons, sickles and knuts
to buy the latest Potter instalment The Order Of The Phoenix, Chris
is busy learning his lines as filming continues on The Prisoner
Of Azkaban.
"It is odd," he said, "but it’s
nice when people come up and say ‘are you Percy Weasley’, especially
little kids who just sort of look at me with this woooah look on
their face."
With a new director on board, Chris has been telling
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳i's Martin Barber, the third film promises to hold a few surprises
for those who've fallen in love with the previous Potter movies:
We’re taking a new slant with a new director it will be a
very visually different film. There's’s new costume designs,
all sorts of stuff has changed.
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This film is going to be really different to the
others, mostly due to the new director Alfonso Cuarón from Mexico.
His style is completely different to Chris Columbus’,
he’s going for a real dramatic, tension building to a climax kind
of film which I think is going to be perfect for Potter three.
I think the way Alfonso is doing it, the way he’s
shooting it, the style of camera work we’re using – just everything
is reflecting a slow and dramatic build up to an amazing end.
I shouldn’t talk about it really, but it’s all
going to do with the camera shots and lengths of takes. When we
did dialogue with Chris we’d never do more than three or four lines
at a time before we changed a camera angle, stopped for a break,
change a light over or something like that.
With Alfonso, the scene we did the other day we
did as one long take.
It was all done on one camera and that scene was
four minutes long without a change in angle or anything like that.
I think that’s how it adds to the tension. It
might change in editing to how it is now, but it certainly seems
the ways he’s doing it is much more ominous.
From what you’re saying, it sounds as if the
third film is going to be more grown-up?
Yeah, a lot more. Being 19 I can’t really judge
how a 12-year-old may view the film, but it does seem... certainly
the first film was a typical children’s film, there wasn’t anything
too scary in it.
In the second one it was as if the group of children
who’d been to see the first one were now a year older and could
take a bit more, but in this film they’ll seem as if they’re four
years older.
If kids have read the book they’LL know what’s
coming anyway so it won’t be too much of a surprise and they’LL
know where the scary bits will be and what’s probably about to happen.
Obviously when working on a film you have to edit
bits down to get everything in, but I don’t think it’LL make too
much difference. I’ve a feeling it might be a 12A certificate, but
that won’t stop kids coming to see it.
Apart from new ways of making the film, are
the locations and people involved the same?
Basically, but I don’t think we're doing any of
the location stuff as such this year. I’m not entirely sure why
as it’s a shame because it was like going on a free holiday [laughs].
Chris and Lizo from Newsround at COs party |
It must be weird not jumping on the train and
going up to Gloucester and Scotland?
Yeah, it’s a shame as I’ve made lots of friends
up there having been there for a few weeks for the last couple of
years.
I know the people there and I’ve made friends out
of it, but it’s easier to get to the studios in Watford where it’s
all shot.
It was back in March when you first met up for
the first block of filming on Prisoner of Azkaban, how was that?
It was a scene in The Leaky Cauldron so it involved
all the Weasley’s, Harry, Ron, Hermione and lots of animals. The
main few were there, but obviously none of the teachers.
I’ve noticed a real difference on this film with
the new director.
Obviously it’s still the same set of people and
everybody is equally as nice, but you feel there’s going to be a
very different atmosphere in the film, I think it’s going to be
much darker.
Read more: Chris
talks about Chamber of Secret DVD launch and Sean Biggerstaff
»
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The
first week of filming on HP3
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