harry potter and the philosopher stone

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone
The Harry Porter is one of the most watched films. One of the things that make it a popular film is the quality of fiction. People like seeing criticism in the family. The film applies many features, and one of it is the use of suspense. From the time Harry leaves the Dursleys and enrolls in a school for the magic, we experience a plot full of content in the form of action and camera work. It’s the aspects of the content include ridicule, superiority, evil and a common feeling of wonderfulness. Criticism, in rather a satirical way, of a family as caressing as that of Harry is part of the plot of the novel. The Dursleys attend horribly to the strange, the familiar, the conventional and even the wondrous. They hold so much hatred for the protagonist that they do not want to see him perform any magic in the world. The reality is presented in the obnoxious Dudley among others, who regards the reality as a something to grab and uses it to bully Potter. The scene welcomes the criticism of acquisition which relates the basic family to the entire wideness. The film is not only about the magic but the other feature such as the staging, character, music, tone, and cultural text. All of these combine to produce a rather entertaining content. This paper seeks to assess the aesthetic quality of the Harry Potter film delving into the qualities of lighting, narrative style, sound, color and entire cinematography.
Magic does not require one to have a concrete understanding of the world but only to use their powers to change it into their suit.

However, for Harry, the supernatural power is not a means to terminate the real world but to link the ordinary and the strange. It is, however, the introduction to Harry’s magical world, and he is more than excited to learn (Paterson 1-3). However, according to Southall, William’s work is repetitive and dull. Aside from the themes of Hedwig and Harry’s wondrous world, there are no other epic moments. He considers a repetition of other films like The Witches of Eastwick whose themes are similarly obvious. However, the scene is a combination of good camera work, staging, language, and framing.
Williams uses a combination of monochrome and natural color to create a cut line between the past and the present. Magic was highly dominant in the past. To effectively represent the era when digital media was unavailable, any film must apply the two-color tone. This is fully employed in the scene where much of the background uses a monochrome. It does not only produce a clear cut line between the present and the past but also brings the quality of originality. However, the natural color is also utilized in the motion pictures. This helps introduce the quality of technology and realism. Not only is the viewer able to acutely visualize and identify characters, but also relates the scenes with the surrounding photography. Further, there is a perfect combination of light and dark. Use of dark scenes could have brought a dull mood about the entire scene. Yates must have gone for a light-hearted scenario due to his use of a lifted lighting. Although the scene still brings about the subject of the evil and sorcery, it is more lit to eliminate a dull mood. The author further uses a perfect combination of color filters to introduce the blue tint at the background. This diffuses the rather orange, yellow and red light that could have made the film too shouting. The author devised the scene to look like a menacing set with each moment having light-hearted bleak colors and dreamlike glow. This style subtly set up the fact that all the magic were temporary and every character was making the best out of what they had. What comes out of the cinematography is a beautiful animated sequence of events.
Silhouetting the characters is an art used that the author uses efficiently. This starts at the shot angles. In this scene of the film, the camera was not straight-up pointing. Some of the applied angles are the oblique angle, high angle, and the eye level shots. One point that might have proved challenging for the cinematographer was the instance both Dumbledore and Harry entered the cave. With probably no any other point to place the light source, it remained static at the bowl. However, an oblique angle is used to raise the light up and then circle the characters. Taking an instant when Katie is sprawled out in the sky as the others watch in the half-blood prince scene, the red sweater is perfectly contrasted against the white snow creating an image that looks utterly real. One other depiction of the use of timed staging and use of silhouette is when Potter enters the restricted section after running from the library. His figure is matched with that of the parents. Although he is visualizing this in a mirror, the image looks real, and there is a perfect match for them (Mccoy 2). It is even realistic when the author applies motion in the image.
While some people may have expressed disappointment over Rowling’s use of straightforward language, it is a perfect selection for a film of its kind. The film is a fiction story initially meant for entertaining children. Just like any other types of fiction the language had to be straight and so was the plot. This way, it was easier to reach the young and put forward the themes as directly as possible. However, to entertain the viewer, the tone must have been accompanied by a decorative atmosphere with some artistic elements (Duncan 174-182). Williams never enforces any moral judgment, leaving the viewer with the freedom to either condemn or praise. This is the essence of fiction whose lessons are usually hidden and bound to the viewer’s interpretation. Anyone could have different perspectives. However, the principal themes that the author wanted to put forward were the use of magic contrasted to non-magical human beings and how to manage authority. As the protagonist ages, the tone and atmosphere of the series change gradually. The tone lightens after the end of the scene after Potter helps the group to win the trophy despite being penalized for some misconduct (Berndt and Steveker 174-182). The change comes as a result of the maturing Potter who has started to reveal more about his magical powers and whose confidence has been lifted by being the champion in the school. He had to grow stronger to face the imminent threat of the other magicians in the succeeding scenes.
One other factor that brings an aesthetic quality is the background music. This helps to enhance the spectacle of the long shot. The bits the author uses are efficiently aligned to the mood in the different scenes. The music in the scene emphasizes Harry’s joy and amazement of finding a new world where he was fully accepted. This is different from his home setting where he was not allowed to exercise his magical powers. With five of the scenes having the music played by the Symphony Orchestra, the Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone shows the consistency of bits from the beginning to the end. There is an even texture in the scenes creating a longing to know more about the school life, the magical journeys, to unveiling the future of Potter as the seeker. The strong bond between Harry and his owl, Hedwig, creates what can be regarded as ‘Harry’s Theme’ that is blended with orchestral color. William uses a harp as a traditional form of decoding musical phrases and adding magical tones. This is used in the scene to keep the three-headed dog, Fluffy, asleep.
Many adult viewers could describe the Harry Potter and the Philosopher stone as having displayed too much the theme of Hedwig. It can be regarded as a negative lesson for the young viewers who were the key audiences. However, the content is entertaining for the children owing to the notion that the film is generated from a fiction story. Although the fiction is set in the present day, many of the magical worlds take the viewer to the past world that was ruled by magicians. The author could not have presented a better shooting than the current. It does not only make it original but also real and entertaining. The aesthetic factor combines with the plot throughout Harry’s realization of his magical powers, his challenges and struggles as well as creating an environment so real that one cannot avoid but watch again and again.

Works Cited
Berndt, Katrin and Lena Steveker. Heroism In The Harry Potter Series. 1st ed. Farnham: Ashgate, 2011. Print.
Duncan, Diane. Teaching Children’s Literature. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Mccoy, Patrick. “Harry Potter Cinematography: The 7 Most Magical Shots”. Hypable. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Paterson, Jim. “Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone By John Williams – A Soundtrack Review”. Mfiles.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Southall, James. “Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’S Stone”. movie-wave.net. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.