The Deathly Hallows: Cinematic Analysis

Introduction
The Harry Potter series follows the lives of Harry, Ron and Hermione who go through the trials and tribulations of growing up while simultaneously trying to overcome a world immersed in darkness. Over the course of ten years the series had four directors and it is evident, through the cinematography, that each director developed the maturity of the films.

Due to the word constraints of this essay, all eight films and the entirety of each of the chosen films will not be analyzed; however the way a specific cinematic aspect of the series’ evolution translates through the first, third and last two films will be. The couplings of films represent key transformational moments of the series through their cinematic purposes and in some ways are contrasting reflections of each other. The development of the series begs the question, how has the cinematography of the Harry Potter series evolved in order to capture its maturing content?

To the audience “Harry’s magic” seems like “movie magic”, but to a film critic it’s obvious that the magic is not magic per say, but carefully planned out direction and cinematography.

The Classic cinematography has returned and the cinematic elements go unnoticed. The difference is that we’ve gone from childhood innocence to full-blown maturity. The farewell ambience of the film is, in ways, its most beautiful aspect and the scene where the trio is running through the courtyard embodies the entire series. At first glance it seems pointless to show them running until you realize that it is showing all of their previous adventures in one long tracking shot. From the giant, to the spiders, to the werewolf, to the Dementors; the sequence captures how much the characters have gone through by showing their past obstacles in a cinematically matured