Midpoint Reflections and Trivia

War is here, and the official Game of Thrones podcast is back to unpack the new season of the HBO original series House of the Dragon. I'm Jason Concepcion and I'm Greta Johnson. Together we will be discussing every new episode of House of the Dragon with the show's writers, cast, and crew. You will do things that your heart would have recoiled from before you came to the throne . You can watch us on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your bodcasts Uncle Vernon , I need you to sign this form. What is it? Nothing . Scool stuff. Later, perhaps if you behave I will if she does . You're still here, I S? Yes in that ungrateful way. It's good of my brother to keep you. It'd have been straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on my doorstep, Ron My daddy's not winning . Hello and welcome to Harry Potter The Official Film Podcast as we continue our journey through the films that convince us all that it might be fun to try a vomit flavoured jelly bean. I'm Rihanna Dylan, lifelong Harry Potter super fan, film critic, broadcaster, and a proud Slytherin, who's not afraid to admit that my patronus is a cuddly little cat. As we look back at each film, I'll be joined by guests who famously love the series almost as much as me , and together we'll revisit each film and dive deeper, discussing our hottest hakes, dissecting all of the details and exploring the behind the scenes magic. And you can watch every Harry Potter film along with us on HBO Max. Today, we're talking about the first half of the third film in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Here with me to share his love of the wizard ing world is entertainment journalist and filmmaker It's Laur Shamer. Hello. Hello, I'm so excited to be here. I'm so thrilled to have you here. Oh my goodness. Prisoner of Azkaban. I know. Top tier of a Harry Potter movie. Let's talk about it. I agree. First of all, tell me what kind of Harry Potter fan you are. Oh man, you know, I've been a lifelong Harry Potter fan. I feel like I grew up not only with the actors, but you know, like in school that was, what we talked about. I did like a book report on Quidditch specifically. You know about so different ball types were. Like Harry Potter has meant so much to me in my life and I think has, you know, been a core part of my personality growing up and loving pop culture and loving filmmaking to be honest. Yeah, yeah. And I feel like I don't even need to ask this because I feel like you're probably repping your house colors already . But what is your house? Griffindor . I even have a lion ring at the top. Oh my God, you do . Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's I know it's obvious, but yes, I wear it with pride. Yeah. I feel like everyone who meets you and you're like, I'm a g randfather. They ob'reviously your graph. Yeah, they roll their eyes. What is that about? Why would you do that ? And what about your patronus? I've gotten different ones over the years. The most recent and kind of elegant version is the black swan I got. Shut off. Yeah, isn't that cool? That sounds so like unique. Yeah, it's like a symbol of love, eternal love of int rospection and I'm like yeah that is me so interesting so cool. And obviously being from the UK swans are a very big deal. They are protected by the monarchy. That's right. So here go. You're a rare protected species. Oh, thank you so much. Love to hear that. And then tell me about your wand. Okay, so my wand, ugh , I would like to think that I would have like a phoenix feather core in that. Yeah, who wouldn't, right? You know what I mean? But you're not Harry. But I'm not Harry, but you know, I really resonate with that troubled young man. You know what I mean? So I would want like a similar or,ganic looking wand, maybe an oak. I don't know. Yeah. Here's the thing. I'm from the Bay Area. So I would love a wand that's like redwood. You know what I mean? Or Sequoia tree? I know you're not allowed to do that, but it would be really cool with the expected they're protected. Those are protected. Those are our swans about area. I think that's funny. If any of you out there haven't yet been sorted or gone through the wand experience or found out what your patron us is, then head to Harry Potter . com for the full experience and it is really, really fun. Okay, so do you remember what kind of person you were when you first sat down to watch Prisoner of Azkaban? Absolutely. I was, I think, freshly thirteen years old, you know, like I'm the same birth year as Daniel Radcliffe . And so I grew up alongside them. I remember I did midnight showings starting from Azkaban on wards . Like we would meet my cousin s were cool. It was my older cousins . My older cousins, Jan Joanne, they always took me. They like would prepare snacks for being in line. And back in the day it was like you really did have to wait until midnight , you know? And so I remember seeing it and being in awe of it because of the big kind of shift change in the visual language and just like the tone of the films . Yeah, so it's like a very vivid memory. We're gonna get into all of the changes and as you say the visual language . But first of all, we start at the beginning of the film. Harry is committing, I'm going to say a minor illegal act ual baby one. Considering how much emphasis there's been on like not doing underage magic. The first thing we see him do under the blanket, he's doing his homework. He's trying to practice Lumis maxima like, a stressed out night owl cramming for exams. Aunt Marge arrives, immediately insults Harry's parents and basically his entire existence, earning herself the title of West Dinner guest of all time. So understandably, Harry Snaps Welcome to Mount adell Not your dad sorry It is just the best sequence in the film. I mean, we start off so strong imprisoner of Azkaban, with that being like one of the earliest set pieces and it's such a memorable one. We see we meet P am Ferris, who we don't see again . She literally just has this one scene. She's up there somewhere. She's still flying around. She of course played the iconic Trunch Ball in Matilda. And also she is so lovely in real life. Like she goes around to like primary schools, like local primary schools and reads like Matilda as Trunchbull. Oh, Pam. I know. What a sweetheart. Oh my goodness. Tell me about your love for this scene because both of our faces were just like I mean, first of all, Marge kinda deserved that. You don't talk about Lily like that. In my opinion, but what I love about this film is that it's mostly practical. The only digital thing that's happening is the cable removal. Yes. And so I don't know, I was just kind of enamored with the idea that it's a practical like effect that they built these suits up . And I think it was like something like four different stages of that. And I don't know, like, that's like filmmaking magic and that's like the kind of stuff that I love about film, you know, is just like seeing those practical effects come to life and blend in this way that just I don't know, it felt so imag ical. And I had read it was like something like thirty eight different tweed suits. That's a lot of tweeds. Oh my goodness. Yeah, like different versions for the different sizes. Can you imagine? No the wardrobe department on that one. that one. Hold it calm, like just having to sit through that whole experience. I mean, but also what a unique experience to have on set. Nice shape. How many other sets are blowing you up into the size of a balloon? You know? It's a pretty cool opportunity. It's a good point. Needless to say that things get out of hand, pretty fast. Harry hi tells it away from Private Drive with his trunk, running back to the safety of the wizarding world. Although what is that grim looking beast emerging from the shadows? I don't know Enter the night bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard, Harry Mead's legendary bus conductor, Stan Shan Pike, and the bus speeds off like a bat of hell, complete with shrunken head s. Take her away . Take it away . Who is that ? That man Who is that ? Who is he ? That is serious black days . Don't tell me you've never been here in a serious black . He's a murderer . Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it . How did he escape? Well, that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that found it . He was a big suppulter You know who written you bird of him ? Yeah . Him I've heard of What I love about this scene is like the whimsy of it. I love that they're like just in it for the joke. It's very, very funny and I feel like Alfonso Koran brings so much of that to this. But tell me about the Night Bus, what is your favorite element? Gosh, the Night Bus sequence is absolutely insane for so many reasons. I love how stance like demeanor is. I like that they take time to kind of show you how magic is like practical and lived in this movie. Yeah . It's not all beams of light and stuff. Sometimes it's just invisible magic or like magic moments like this. And from a filmmaking perspective, I love that they use like a technique that was used in like silent film. They were under cranking the camera. So they're shooting they're shooting at a slower frame rate . And so the bus is actually moving at a normal speed and all the other cars are moving at like a snail's pace. And so when you crank that up inside of the edit, it just looks like it's zooming through. All this motion blurs happening. That's like movie magic. And Alfonso was really, really adamant about like not super reliant being super reliant on CG . And so this is one of those moments where it's just kind of like old school tech, like low tech filmmaking that just like feels magical. And obviously there's CG elements, but the night bus being actually built out from a double decker, like cutting an extra double decker and then on top. Like yeah that is stuff that I love to see in these movies specifically because it's like grounded enough in real life that you're you're familiar with it, but then it's like elevated to whimsy and magic and that's Harry Potter for you. That's why I keep thinking about the films of Harry Potters, they are just like a frame right away from our normal world. Like it has to match in some regards. Totally. And that's what I love. It's just like owls but extra. Owls but extra podcast and we changed it to Alzbura Extra. That's pretty amazing. So on this bus, Harry learns that Sirius Black alleged mass murderer and Voldemort's biggest fan has escaped Azkaban. What is this going to mean for one Harry Potter? You ready to dive in? Absolutely. I solemnly swear that I'm ready. Harry stop on the night bus is the leaky cauldron. That's in London. That's in London. Where he's pardoned by the Minister of Magic himself and gets acquainted with his newest nasty schoolbook, Harry reunites with Hermione, her ugly cat crookshocks, and the entire Weasley Clan Freshman trip to see Bill in Egypt. You look soed offended. We don't talk about cracker jack crookshanks like that, okay? Beautiful cat Did you catch the cameo by Ian Brown from the Stone Roses? I did. He's reading a brief history of time by St ep Hhaenwking. So good. He's caring with magic. I feel like Alfonso is doing less. It's not like world building from scratch in the same way that Chris Columbus had to do it, but it's fleshing out that world totally. And just making it normal. Yeah, it's that lived in magic yes This is how people use tools, you know? It's a little bit of magic. I don't use a spoon. I use my, you know, my magic finger. My magic finger . Arthur takes Harry aside and fills Harry in the summer's development, mainly that the wizarding is World quite panicking about the recent escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban, and Harry has even more reason to panic than most. The reason that Sirius Black has escaped is to calm after Harry and seek revenge on behalf of Voldemort. Sirius looks so guilty in his wanted poster. Like, why is he acting like that if he's innocent? I don't know. It's like when you take a live photo and it's like catches those moments right before you start smilingbe. M itay's just like, you know, he was shouting that he was innocent. Yeah, he's falsely accused. So he's upset. So I kind of get it. But yeah , Gary Oldman made him look nuts up. Yeah, like I really did. He went all out with that performance Really did. And I love it though. Like it's so iconic. It is great. And yeah, of all of the wanted posters because obviously like that's become a thing, right? You can get your own, I have my own wanted posters. Do you really? Obviously. Oh my gosh. Anyway, no matter after school back on the Hogwarts Express we meet a knacked professor Lupin and soon realise that this year's vibe is going to be very dark indeed . The train is stopped by dementors sou,l sucking creatures in long cloaks that have haunted my nightmares for the last twenty years . That mouth you know? Their arrival plunges the train garage into ex istential despair. Harry passes out instantly. How very neville of him . Although thanks to Lupin, we learn that chocolate has the power to restore you. So keep those chocolate frogs handy. Absolutely. A good reason to have it in your pocket. I would have them on me anyway . So we are we've talked on a previous episode about how each film maybe has its own sub genre and this very much the start ing to feel like a horror film. Absolutely. So how is Alfonso Coron leaning into those tropes in this demental carriage scene? Oh my goodness. I think what he does so strong in this film is like the way that he lights and use contrast, like shadow work and versus light. Like even in the leaky cauldron , we have that really long take, probably the best long take in the movie where Arthur is kind of dispelling to Harry like this is what's going down. If you see how the light shifts in there , that's the transition tone in the movie, right? Like we go from bright Chris Columbus like a little bit warmer to dark and sinister. And as soon as we're on the train, it stays that way. Yeah. I feel like for the rest of the film, you got that like kind of colder tint . And when the ice starts to creep in and the dementors show up, that's terrifying. Yeah. That's absolutely terrifying to have no idea of why this is happening. This is the first time that we're seeing dementors. And dementors, I don't know what you think, but I think they are the single scariest design in all of the Harry Potter films. They terrify me. It just brings to mind all of those kind of really like nightmarish portraits like Edward Munch type things or just really uncanny, not of this world . Like not even close to being human or not even close to being a creature that we know. Because like if we've been introduced to other magical creatures, we can kind of see where they might have come from our earthly world, our earthly realm. Yeah. This doesn't have like a like no parallel . Exactly. We also meet Lupin for the first time , who is one of my favorite characters too. As soon as he comes in, I'm like, yes, Lupin I love you. Yeah. Favorite teacher of all time. What was your first impression? I mean, first impression is that, you know, like he's been knocking back too many butter beers. No drunk? Yeah, well, like he was passed out in the cabin and you know , generally if I see someone doing that on train, I'm like, oh tough day. Yeah, you know , but then he's so kind when he offers the chocolate, when he does the petronus charm , he just kind of like snaps into place and he's just like, eat it. You feel better. You know, it's like , I trust you now. You gave me chocolate, which is a holder way to live. Do no one teach you that law? No. Well, if someone saves me from a dementor How much trust them and their chocolate? You know what I mean? The students arrive at Hogwarts and Dumbledore announces that the dementors will be stationed around the ground for safety , which does nothing to reassure the students . Classes begin and Hermione 's schedule seems mathematically impossible while Ron's nine toed pet rat scabbers looks unwell. Maybe let's file that away for later. Yeah. Divination Class introduces Professor Trulani, who im mediately predicts Harry's death. While reading tea leaves, she reveals that seeing a giant spectral dog, the Grim means the end is a comment. So should divination even exist as a class . I mean , there's some weird classes at Hogwarts. Why shouldn't divination exist? Because as Hermione says, it's just such a woolly subject. I think I'm so firmly in the Hermione Camp about this, but maybe you're, I mean, this doesn't come through in the film so much, but maybe you're in the Lavender Brown camp. In the books, she's a very, very big fan of divination . So maybe you actually like the tea leave reading? Nasium Mancy is what it's called. I mean, Hermione's got a point. And considering what she's going through in this movie , I can understand the frustration the time that's wasted in a class you don't want to be in. Could be doing more ancient rooms, come on. Yeah. Hagrid debuts as care of magical creatures teacher, yeah, Hagrid. Hell yeah and introduces Buckbeak, a proud hippogriff who demands respect. Draco chooses violence instead and invokes his age old retort wait until my father hears about this just before getting scratched. Let's discuss Draco in this scene. I mean, I feel like I should say that in every scene of Draco's in love Draco. His reaction, like his iconic hair , stringy, like almost like a bowl cup curtains vibe, especially when it wasn't slick back. Yeah . Yeah, yeah, it feels like he's maybe coming into his own identity a little bit more his delivery of it's killed me and it's killed me. Totally. It's just so good. Totally. Are you a Draco fan? You know, I am a Draco fan Maybe not when I was younger like I thought it was such a punk. Yeah, I was just like stop being so mean to my my trio. You know what I mean ? But he is a fantastic antagonist and Tom does such a good job at making him this like ratty , really punchable wizard like let's be honest , you know? But I am a fan of the character for sure. I feel like the kids in this film are really we really starting to see them as teenagers now, right? Totally. Because they've been eleven, they've been twelve. Now they are firmly in the teens, they look older, their voices have broken or they're breaking throughout this film. Totally. So what do you think the kind of general vibe is about teenage anks and how does that start to creep in around now? I mean, I think it's super impernt in the styling in the way that they're like just carry themselves. Like everyone's got a little bit more confidence in the characters that they are. And I think we're also at a point in the movies where the actors themselves are taking the acting more serious. Yes. You know what I mean? In the first two films, Chris Columbus did such a wonderful job, but there's like a like almost a sterileness to it compared to this . Quoran lets the kids be kids. He lets them be teens. And you know, we've heard those famous anecdotes about the essays that the kids had to write to like exemplify their characters. But that goes beyond, you know, it's it's the wardrobe. Like how do you want to wear your tie? How messy do you want your hair today? Yeah , you know, and I think it's cool that it reflects that time because as the series goes on, we see them grow up more and more and more. But in three, it's such a shift in I think the actors performances as well to be a little bit more themselves within the character. They feel so much more comfortable in their own skin , I think. And to the point where they can make little decides that you don't think are probably scripted. It feels like they are maybe improvising a little bit more. Yeah. I think Daniel Radcliffe, I think, especially his performance steps up a huge notch in this and he felt it really feels like he's found the sassiness of Harry. Yes. Like he just has got a bit more confidence in who he is . I And find that just so incredibly satisfying to watch. I mean, I was like that when I was thirteen too. I started talking back and I was like, whoa, what is this power? You know ? I'm angsty . In Defense Astgain the Dark Arts, Professor Lupin teaches a lesson on bogarts . The class turns nightmares into punchlines. Neville's snape ends up in his grandma's clothes, and honestly, it's just like the healthiest group therapy that Hogwarts has ever offered. Totally. Until Harry's boggart comes up. Oh , Harry. Looking like a dementor . And also, why is Lupin's bogget the moon ? I don't know. Class dismissed. I wonder . This, I think, is one of those scenes which absolutely epitomizes Prisoner of Azkaban because it's so much fun because obviously in the book, it's a great scene in the book, but you don't get like the jazz. You don't get like the vibes that this is. Suddenly just you're adding a whole new element. Until now, Defense Against the Dark Arts has just been a bit of a joke . Quirrell, I mean, we barely do we even see him teach? Fairly. But he also had Voldemort back in his head, like how good could he have been as a teacher ? Obviously, lockart was complete fraud. Finally, we have a decent defense against the dark arts teachers. We actually see him teaching. Totally. And the kids like him.. Yes Like they're vibing with him. They're having fun. Yeah . And they're learning something that they can actually use out in the wild. Yeah , but can I just say When the boggart transforms , every form it takes besides the moon , everything scares me. The clown. Clown. Why was that? Fighter scary. Why was that like a punchline? I don't know. Because it was a snake and then it turns into a clown, but the clown is equally as scary as I mean, I love snakes , so I didn't find that scary. The found was so much worse. Well, when the jacket ball, the spider gets roller skates. I was like, that's more terrifying. That like Ron , that's not funny enough . You know what I mean ? That said, I do like how they handled like loopin' kind of like not really paying attention that Harry was next and like acting and protecting Harry. I think that's something like, you know, that's a common thing that we see is these adult figures coming to protect Harry for whatever reason they have history or affection. It's it's like a it's nice to see Harry having that support within the magic community, I think. It's interesting because in the books, Harry doesn't get a chance to have a turn with the Bogart. Right. Because Lupin thinks it's going to turn into Voldemort and he doesn't want Voldemort to appear. And so actually it's a really nice moment when he realizes we'll come onto it again later, but that Harry actually thinks that there is something scarier, which is fear itself. That's an introspective guy, right? The Fat Lady gets slashed, not because of her atrocious singing , again, a magnificent turn by Dawn French , who is an excellent British comedian, but because Sirius Black breaks in looking for a certain someone. Feeling left out because he doesn't have a permission slip to visit Hogsmead with his pals, Harry pouts around the grounds and forms a bond with Professor Lupin, who he learns was friends with his parents while they were all at Hogwarts together. What a coincidence. Dementors attack Harry during a quiditish match, so to protect himself from future soul sucking scenarios, Lupin begins mentoring Harry in advance magic outside of class , teaching him the Patronus charm so Harry can defend himself should be he attacked again. And then to lift his glum spirits, friend George, my guys , gift Harry a very special piece of parchment, the marauders map. Now, what I love so much about this is that they don't give this to their own brother . I was like, they love Harry. So they've always loved Harry . They've always had a bond with Harry and they gift him this like unimaginably precious , like, what I got, why would you even call it? It's not a magical artifact. Yeah . And Ron is so outrage that they didn't give it to him. Totally. Well, I mean, tell me about the Marauders map, which is just like become the definitive iconography of the prisoner of Azkabell. I mean, the Marauder's map is such an interesting thing to see in this universe because it's like the idea of being able to keep track of everyone and obviously becomes such a great plot point . Actually before they give him the map, it's kind of cool that you see Harry's footprints in the snow and then transitions to the footprints on the map. I love that there's like a through line in the imagery and obviously later in the film, like we get our credits or the Marauder's map. It is such an iconic prop or artifact. I love the Marauders Map, I love the Marauders. I And love that there's history tied in there, you know? And while we don't spend a ton of time with that group in the movies , it is cool to feel that connection to like this friendship that was formed so many years ago. And then because of that, like Harry's dad's name's on the thing. Yeah. He earned it. He earned it. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. And some people would say like Fred and George are kind of like the numerators of this generation. And I totally agree with you And I do think that they would want Harry as an ally so yeah, of course, of course give it to him. He's a main character. Harry, being Harry, immediately uses the map to sneak into Hogsmeade under cover of his invisibility cloak. While incognit o, apart from tormenting Draco, Harry overhears the truth about a serious black, not a random baddy, after all, but Harry's parents' closest friend and Harry's godfather who's believed to have betrayed them to Voldemort. Harry also learns that another man was killed in the process, Peter Petigrew, and all they ever found was his finger. So Harry has a godfather. Yeah . Surprise. Can you imagine hearing that after a horrible childhood? Like has a godfather who also killed your parents? Totally. And it's now after you. Like the person that is supposed to be that would take care of you after your parents die. That's the whole point, right? Of a godparent . It's just it's devastating for Harry and I really love that we see him cry about this because he shows he's like he always has to be strong , he always has to be brave. And when we see in later films him actually shedding tears, it's like it's something to be ashamed of. And I'm so glad that he has that release and that Hermione goes to comfort him I find it just such a powerful moment in him just dealing with all of the trauma that has been just like thrown his way. Absolutely. And I think that's such an interesting place to also put a really warm moment from the friends because that, you know, that reflects the rest of their journey together like we'll always be by his side. No matter how hard Harry tries to isolate himself and make these big swings to like do things . friend Hsis will always going to follow him. And I love that. That's actually going to make me cry. Give me a proper goosebump saying that. Back at Hogwarts, tension spikes. Harry keepsing a giant dog shaped omen of death everywhere he goes. Thanks for lawny. Buckbeak is sentenced to death for roughing up Malfoy and Ron and Hermione are constantly fighting because Ron is convinced that Crookshanks has killed Ron's missing rat scabers. We're halfway through third year and things are for, lack of a better phrase, pretty grim indeed. There is honestly so much to unpack. I think for so many people is this one is of their favourite films . And I think because we are kind of stepping up a massive gear here, but do you have like a hard to ask, I think with this one in particular, but do you have a favorite scene or a favourite moment? Oh my goodness , that is a big question. I think my favorite moments have to be with Lupin and Harry. There's some really interesting blocking when it comes to those scenes with Lupin and Harry. The first one I'm thinking of is the Bridge scene. Writh. They're talking about Lily , they're talking about James . And it's almost like this like visual representation of the way that they learn to trust each other in that moment . At one point, they're like facing each other, like teacher and student , and then they face outward together like they are on the same level. But when Lupin has to like kind of talk about the darkness or something that he's un comfortable talking about, that's when he turns his back to the camera and by the end we're like seeing them both facing out of the bridge again. And I love that because it parallels the Patronus Charm lesson where Harry is now the one detailing something dark that happened to his life with his back turned to loop in, and they end in a very similar way. They're both kind of sitting down facing out as equals. And I think it's cool to see Harry not only have a professor he can trust ., Y mayesbe a father figure he can trust, but a friend. Yeah, an additional friend who we know will protect him and give him chocolate. Like I do love that scene. It is a beautiful scene and it's not from the book . This is a scene that has been created specifically for the film and I feel like it gives us so much because as I said, Lupin is one of my favorite characters and it does kind of beg the question of where he's been all of Harry's life because understand Sirius was not around he could not be. Lupin actually could have been. And I think that's one of like the biggest kind of wrenches is that he was always out there and he could have helped Harry and he goes on to help Harry, but it's it feels like you feel that loss even more when you see what he could have been Harry. Totally. But it is such an inspirational moment and the fact that we actually get Harry having firsthand conversations about his parents from their peers rather than it's not just about appearances. It's not just about like you look like your father. Although that does obviously come up, but Sirius also says that because I guess it's just such an immediate thing. But Lupin actually gives him a bit more texture about where he's come from which is something that Harry's been so lacking in up until this point. You're more like them than you think. I think that must means the world to have not had those experiences and to know that James lives on in his like trouble troublemaker side and Lily's kindness and empathy . And also, I just have to shout it out the bridge. Like this is the first time we're getting the bridge. Yes. Like the choreography of Hogwarts looks so good in this film. It widened out massively. Yeah. And then it becomes like we see it in Hogwarts legacy. Like now is the new kind of blueprint for Hogwarts and it goes on to become massive in the Battle of Hogwarts. Just from Alfonso Quaron and the set designers, production designers , locations all deciding we're going to we're going to change it. We're going to mix it up and I kind of love that they're not afraid to do that. Yeah, and you know, if you go to the first couple films, you'd almost forget like, oh, it did look like this. Hagrid's hut was here before , but now it's like that is Hogwarts, right ? And I think there's a scene, another favorite scene of mine is the bird flying in the beginning. I'm so glad you mentioned this because this is one of my favorites. I just love that it's such an interesting visual way to be like, Hey, this is what Hogwarts looks like now and these are the major locations of this film. It's like he does such a good job foreshadowing so many things in this movie. And that scene in particular, yeah, so you have the bird, so you're kind of watching it from the bird's eye view watching it kind of like, but then it goes towards the whomping willow . And they use the whomping willow not only to show like the changing of seasons, which I just think is such a like extraordinarily like it's not even subtle but just beautiful way instead of just being like, Oh it's snowing. It's like how we gonna show snow? We're going to show on the Womping Willow. How are we going to show spring? We're going to show the blossoms on the whomping willow. Yeah. And I just think it's so smart, but then you also have the birds flying into the whomping willow and being snuffed out essentially a lot of birds dying you see a lot of death and destruction just in this one sea is giving us so much with just this one repeated location scene, yeah with the Wamping Willow. It's a character in itself on this one hundred percent. You know, I like asking who is your favorite. I think in this one, it's kind of obvious. It's Ben. It's Ben . Does everyone know who we're talking about when we think is the actor's name? Yeah . It's like trying to catch smoke with your baby 's Oh my god just bars from Ben I think I love that scene. I love great Yeah great lines, great character . Again, not in the book. He's a brilliant addition and it's just like he's just there. He's almost like he's kind of like the voice of doom bone. A little bit. Yeah , but just like such a poetic way. Do you remember watching it for the first time and just being like, who is that kid ? Dude, what a downer boy one in the credits but Ben later found that out, but yeah, I love I love that line . I love that. He gives us like some crazy exposition . But yes, Scene Stealer one hundred percent. Yeah. And I really like that they don't attribute it to, you know, Seamus Finnegan is there. They could do Seamous, but they're kind of like just trying to broaden out a bit being like there are other people by the way. Yeah, this school is like full of other students. Yeah . Something else that I love about Quiron, which we've sort of touched on like the whimsy of it all and the like the lived in magic that you were talking about. It's just all of the background details that I feel like every time I re watch Azkaban, I see something new every single time and I've watched it a lot . So like there's like the scene with all the sc ofenes with the Fat L ady, every time we obviously we have the shot on her and then we have the shot on the kids. And then you see behind the kids, Sir Kadugan is in this shot every single time in like a slightly different way. He keeps inserting himself into it. So Sirkidogen is like a massive massive character. He's a character in the books. He basically stands in for the fat lady when she gets slashed by Sirius Black. In this he doesn,'t he's not named but he's the knight. He's in armor and he's basically like this really hapless knight who just is a terrible kind of defense, but he thinks that he's amazing. And I just love that Alfonso has kind of inserted that in for the fans and knowing that he wasn't going to be totally a voice or anything, but he's there if you look for him. Yeah. Do you have any of those or like moments that you love? Like the ghost coming through the great hall like before that really long take where you know Harry, Ron and Hermin are talking at the table, I think something like that is really interesting. Like the headless hunt, like when they smash through the windows? Exactly. Because it's like we don't focus a lot on ghosts in the films and they're such a big part of how Hogwarts functions in like the novels. So it is cool to see like little like winks and nudges Harry Potter fans that are like who are familiar with the source material to see that in the films and kind of just acknowledged in some way feels good. Yeah, one hundred percent. I also think he's like that sort of filmmaker where you can take any shot from like any scene and there will be a detail in there that you don't necessarily focus on, but if you look for it, you get like rewarded. Yeah. That's what I feel like. Whenever I watch this film, I feel like I get rewarded with something new and it's as a film fan, not just like a Harry Potter fan, but as a film fan, you feel like you're watching somebody who really understands what it is to go to the movies and to have the full experience. It's not about just the plot. It's not about just the main characters. It's about the whole tapestry of what it is to be in this world with them. Yeah. There's such a texture to the way that everything is shot too because you know, you'd be really hard pressed to find static shots in this movie. And I think that adds to the diet like how dynamic it feels as a whole . But because of that, like we talked about blocking a little bit, but it every scene is is blocked in such a perfect way , you know? There's a lot going on, but you don't necessarily notice that as a viewer, you just feel it. And I think that's so big. If you're asking me one of my favorite details that I just recently noticed in ways when we get to the Buckbeek scene , Buckbeak poops. Yes. I didn't know that. It does. I was like, it does. Oh my God. Buckbeat just pooped . Amazing. And that's so like lived in magic . You know what I mean? Like that's so realistic horses be pooping. Yeah, you know, and he's half horsed. And so hieroglyphs, exactly. But if we're going to go down the poop route , the minister The Misinter for magic Cornelius Fudge when he's outside the three broomsticks also steps in actual horsepoo because he like because Madame Rosmur is like telling him off right, se?nd Foring d imensions into her pub. And he like steps back from her straight into like a horsepat. Like now we got to rewatch movie again. It's so good, which is a good thing. Yeah, always . We also see we've talked about Dramione in previous episodes , but another thing that people really ship is Draco and his green apples. Interesting. And we see Draco eating his green apple for the first time imprisonment of Azkaban just before he gets like it's killed me just before then. And again, talking about the blocking, like Drake storming through the group of these students and they all kind of scatter for him. He's right in the center of the shot . And I think people sometimes think that a main character being off center is maybe a really interesting way of kind of like, I don't know, making like an imbalance in a scene. Alfonso Coron often puts his main characters right in the middle, right in the center , but really far forward . So if you see like Sybil Trelawney as well, the first time you see the brilliant Emma Thompson being her Zaney wacky self , we see her like really in the foreground a real, kind of close up. And I don't think it's quite a fish eye lens, but it almost like distorts the rest of the frame around her. And this happens with Draco, it happens many times with the characters . And it's just like a really kind of pleasing kind of shot. Yeah, there's a lot of really interesting camera movement here and am going to say this confidently. This is the best shot in Harry Potter film in my opinion. You're not going to hear any disagreements from me.. Perfect Let's move on. That's my line hook . This is one of my favorite segments of the podcast. It's time for Owl Post . And it's not just because of the droppings, which are always funny. This is an alder's arrived from a fellow Potter fan and it's about the best character introduction from Hannah Pee from Colorado . Lupin. Yeah , yeah. At first he's a subtle mysterious presence. I think he was pretending to be asleep just to listen to all the gossip. No one sleeps that deeply, and with his condition , I'm sure his hearing is impeccable. But the moment he opens those sharp blue eyes, someone's gonna crush, stands up without hesitation and creates a patronus epic. He carries real authority but zero ego, and the instinctive, almost paternal way he checks on Harry tells us everything about how much he cares for his best friend's son. Then, of course, his signature move, chocolate. As a devoted chocolate lover and as a kid who is genuinely terrified of the demanders, that's it. He won my heart. That's a great little blur . You should be on this podcast That was great. Super cute, right? Super cute. And I love like the love for Lupin has just clearly just got bigger and bigger and big, run, bigger. Absolutely. I mean, what a, what an iconic character to like stamp in. And also like his affliction just makes him really interesting and layered and for him to still be like kind and protective after being sick for so long. Yeah, you gotta love Lupin. We've got to give a shout out to David Thule who plays Lupin because I get I think we have all of the characters who are maybe slightly older than they are supposed to be, which I think really kind of stems from Harry seeing his parents in the mirror of Erize for the first time , they couldn't really have like twenty year olds, which they are supposed to be like twenty one . They couldn't really have twenty one year olds sort of like being these like paternal maternal figures over an eleven year old. It would have just looked a bit odd . And so I think from there they kind of had to take the ages up a notch. But actually, I think this gives Lupin like that gravitas and that quite a vuncular way of being, not just with Harry, but look at how he is with Neville as well. Like he's so encouraging. It's like the first time that we see Neville really excel and like really blossom and actually do a spell right on the first go. Yeah. That's so rare for Neville. Totally. Imagine like the trust that Neville felt in Lupin right away that he hadn't felt from other professors. In fact, when asked, what are you afraid of, he says a different teacher? Yes, you know, so it is cool to have that contrast of , you know, Lupin is such a good teacher and professor. He just seems like a good guy. Yeah. And I think that's David's acting prowess at work, you know? No, I completely agree. Now we do really want to hear from you guys. Keep an eye on our socials at Harry Potter for your chance to send in your favourite moments or like the best details or your hottest takes. Now there is one other really big change in this film, which we haven't mentioned. Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore is the first time that we see him where we're kind of required to discuss how his approach to the character changed fan perspective on Dumbledore . So do you remember like noticing that shift from Richard Harris to Michael Gambon? Absolutely. Yeah, it's like hard to mention. Yeah , you know . Richard Harris had such a gentle kind of kind way about him when he had Dumbledore. I mean, he was very like whimsical , right? I thought Richard Harris was whimsical. He was kind , he was very sweet to Harry, but the shift in the movies not only tonally from like visual language to Askaban , it also, I think, reflects like kind of how Harry views Dumbledore. Yes. You know what I mean? When he's a little boy, he's just like, oh, this is like, this is my sweet grandpa, my wizard grandpa . But then when you get to the third year , there's a lot more at stake . There's danger in the air. He was confronted by that danger earlier in the train , right? And so Gambon kind of like embodies that shift for not only the viewer, but for Harry specifically, he's starting to see Dumbledore as less of like maybe a godsend and more of like an authoritative figure or like a little bit more intimidating or maybe a little bit more frantic because at this point and we know as like fans of the series, Dumbledore's going through some stuff figuring some stuff out. Yeah, right. And I think Michael does such a good job at like transitioning us into the rest of the series and how Dumbledore actually is because he's he's out there. I mean, and he's got his agendas. You know what I mean? I think it's so interesting that you think that Richard Harris is the more whimsical of the two because I think it's Gambon because like one of the scenes that I love is when they're all in the sleeping bags. And again, we've all heard the famous anecdote about like the fart machine, of course, sleeping bags . But when Dumbledore is talking about like letting Harry sleep, he thinks that Harry doesn't know that Sirius is after him at this point and he just wants to let him dream and he just gives this like really poetic like sweet line about, you know , the world that Harry might be living in his dreams, which also I love that you see Alan Rickman as snape over his shoulder just being like ugh he's just so like eye rolly about it but again it's just like this Dumbledore doesn't feel actually quite so grounded for me. He feels kind of a bit more up in the air, a bit more like theoretical . Yeah, a bit more ethereal. Yeah, so yeah, I do think that that's really interesting. I feel like Richard Harris, if you went to him for advice as Dumbledore, he would be quite straightforward. Yeah. Michael Gambon would give you a riddle. Yeah, you know what ? I do think the whimsy is there in both of them , but I technically prefer a gambons because it is a little bit more riddle esque, you know what I mean? Like you do have to figure it from riddle . I've heard that name somewhere but no, but I honestly do love who they chose to replace Richard Harris because , you know, Gambon kills it for the rest of this series and energetic. It was jarring at first. I think for me as a kid and then now as an adult, I look back ated these films. I was like, now this was it . This was a great choice to like give Dumbledore some like power behind the myth of Dumbledore. You know what I mean? Do you think you see the man then? Yes. In other ways because I think you're right . We are still looking at it from Harry's perspective . And again, as with the whole lived in thing, we're starting to see Dumbledore not just as an ideal. This is a headmaster and he's always in on the knowledge. He's always in on the joke, he's always in on what is going on. We're going to talk about it more when we come to like the execution scene in the next episode , but you feel like he really understands everything in the vicinity rather than just kind of like popping in every now and again, which is maybe what the Dumbledore of Yestery was doing. Totally. It is not in the nature of a demander to be forgiving . But you know , happiness can be found even in the darkest of times . If I only rememb ers to turn on the light . I have high hopes for you in the trivia round. Oh trivia . Yeah, are you ready? We'll do my best . Here we go. When direct Alorfonzo Coron took over prisoner of Azkaban, what did he tell the Hogwarts students to do with their uniforms? I think he said wear it how you wanted, right? Wear tie your tie how you wanted, tuck your shirt in how you want it, style your hair how you want it. I think he gave them some autonomy over that, right? He said, Wear them like actual teenagers instead of magical mannequins. That's great. Poetic. That's an artist at work right there. But I will definitely give that to you. Because yeah, essentially he was like, You do you, you're a teenager. Yeah, where am I that? Imagine that telling a teenager to be themselves. Oh my god . Okay, what does Hermione really think of Professor Trelawney . Does she think that she's an old fraud, that she's a wise wizard or she's a great professor? No, we know this one. That's A . She is not a fan of Trelawney. She's not a fan of reading tea leaves . Shout out to my girlfriend mine and she knows what she likes. Wait, can you remember what the reading the tea leaves is called? Oh my god, you just told me. I did. No. tea Mancy? Tessiamani. Tessium which is pretty close. ain't no pine there He tried. I did. What important skill does Hagrid teach his care of magical creatures class which Draco clearly doesn't listen to. Let me show you . You know what I'm saying? You got the hypograph. Wait, am I the hypograph in this situation? Right now because of the gray, yes. Rude. I'm so sorry. I'm not bowing back. I'm in my Draco area right now , which means because you're not bowing back, you could smack me. You got to back away. Arslaw. Well, it's okay. I got obstacles in the way. I will run. I guess I have to give that to you . You're smashing through these . I love Hagrid's enthusiasm for like he's so excited for this first class and he's so excited to show up but beak. I'm so devastated for him that Draker ruins all. Yeah, but Drake would be doing that. Yeah, he does do that . Who do you do that? What highly disruptive event leads to Gryffindor losing the Quidditch cup? Oh my goodness. The dement infiltrating the field, they're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to be on the pitch, dementors . I do love that it does give us like this Albus Dumbledore moment.. Yes Aresto momentum? Yes. Yes. Oh, so good. Yeah . Great POV shot too. Although I will say as a real fan of Quidditch , I find it so upsetting that they lose the House Cup because in prisoner of Azkaban actually they win the House Cup. It's the only time wins and Oliver Wood gets his moment and then yes in this match he is, trying to drown himself in the showers afterwards, but I do feel like he gets like this the thing that he's always wanted and I always want that forward and we are robbed of that in Prisoner of Azkaban. It's my only gripe. It's my one gripe. You and I share that same love for Quidditch and that same opinion. And same love for Oliver Wood. Yeah, I mean , he's a pretty cool guy. Yeah. I like that Oliver Wood. Okay, you did very, very well . And now if any of you want to try your hand at a bit of trivia, I think you'll do quite well, visit Harry Potter. com forward slash quiz to test your knowledge. It is time for my favourite bit of the podcast. It's the trolley. A I'm gonna reward your hottest take or if you have like a burning question or a detail that I might have missed with something sweet from the trolley. So tell me , what do you have? First thing that comes to mind today is why can't Harry Potter stay on his broom? Yeah , yeah, here. I'm a big Quidditch connoisseur . I love it. I do think the films could have done a better job showing more of Quidditch. And this is the first time always being more quitted. There can always be more Quidditch, but this is the first time that we see Harry fail at a Quidditch match. This is a game. Yeah, it's interesting . But of course, there's like a dementor interference, but like if we go back to like the first movie catches it in his mouth falls off his broom . The second one he loses his bones. Like that's crazy. He has his arm broken and then falls off his broom. You know what I mean? And so in this one, yeah, there's like an interference, but he still doesn't really do his job as a seeker. And he's supposed to be really good at this form It's true. There's a whole like, you know, you get political about like why were the dementors there in the first place? But can we just sorry politically We just know that Cedric Digree caught the snitch after being struck by lightning? Yes, it's not Robert Pattinson. No, it's not. We are blessed with him in the next movie, but it is still a Hufflepuff match. Yeah, they still end the game somehow. Harry and we know that it's not the Gryffindors. Yeah, the way What is up is my question. What do you think? And at the end of the movie, we give them a faster broom . It's crazy . You know what I always find so funny about this particular movie is that when we see we see that moment coming out of the clouds and first of all like the Quidditch like outfits and costumes and robes and like the goggles, they are already so different from anything else we've seen. So sick. Yeah, so cool. And like we talked about like the goggles getting icles on them when the dementors come into view, but also the fact that it is Cedric or at least the seeker of the Hofferpuff team who is ahead of Harry. Yeah. Harry is on the on his tail . And I always find that really interesting because it's supposed to be Harry that spots the snitch, always, he's supposed to be the best and maybe just isn't as good as we think. Maybe it's because he has a faster broom . That's the reason why he always wins. Lepartism . You know what I mean? Privilege. Interesting. I don't know why I think this is a good take. I'm gonna let you have something off the trolley. What would you like? I'm so sorry Gryffindors by the way, but I am taking a chocolate frog. How you do that? Okay, I will . Well done you. I have a question. Yeah . This is my burning question. What is it actually like to stay in the leaky cauldron? Oh my god. Like, what do you get like as a BMB or it's very British to go and stay above a pub . I feel like staying above the leaky cauldron would be a very unique experience. Like what is the food packages ? What do they offer? I mean, we know that housekeeping they're very patient accord,ing to the first half of this film . And also , what is wrong with the pea soup? I think it's in the name You don't like peas? It depends on what we're talking about. Obviously , we're talking about the vegetable law. Head out of the I don't know. I mean, I feel like the if we look at the interior design of the leaky cauldron, it doesn't look like the warmest place to stay. It's drafting. And there's also a part of me that wonders like, oh man, the Weasley's able to get their whole family to stay there. You know what I mean? Like oh, you mean, it's like cheap enough. The Weasleys can afford it. Like a motel foy right now. I know, I'm sorry. That happens from snobs. But my hair slicked back over . I wish I was a snob, I wish I had money. That being said, I don't know, it's interesting 'cause like even the room that we see Harry staying the walls are so empty like yeah it's kind of a bleak place imagine there's many amenities within but it's also magic. So it's like yeah maybe it's like dark and drabby or darken dedrag but, like it's sick and it's like it's cool to stay in. Yeah. I guess and you have so many I feel like Harry would do so much like people watching there wizard watching. Totally. Like we've mentioned Ian Brown, but also like just imagine the warlocks and the hags that come in and out of the leaky cauldron and he can sort of find anything that he wants in Diagonali. Like we know he goes to Florean Fortescues for his ice cream and to do his homework which is just an adorable little thing from the book . So maybe he doesn't rely on eating at the leaky cauldron. If Tom was cooking, I wouldn't eat that either. You know, Tom has a really funny scene in the movie where he's like offering snacks and stuff to Harry while he's getting like de briefed by Cornelius Bud dha I love that moment because I'm just like, oh, he seems so nice even though he's like this like you know he's like egor and young Frankenstein. Yeah, he's very creature esque more than hum . But yeah, I have to imagine they still have options like baggers and mash in a full full English. Oh for sure. Yeah. They are definitely serving up a full English with a black pudding. I love black pudding. Do you? Yeah. I eat everything. Do I get a treat? Of course you get a treat. Do what have I not had? I don't know. We got everything here. Do you know what? Peppermint toads. Peppermint Toads, A . Amphib ians . You and me. Yay Okay, thank you, Trolly. You've done your job, but now you can leave. Audio . So we've reached the midpoint of Prisoner of Azkaban, where the vibes are getting darker and the story that everyone's been telling Harry about Sirius Black is starting to seem a little bit suspicious. Next episode, Laura and I continue on to the conclusion of Prisoner of Azkaban, where the truth comes into focus bends, and nothing and no one is quite as it seems. Ooh Spooky I can't wait. Honestly, this film is so good and the way it concludes . Can't wait to talk about it. Join us on our film by film look back through the series and re watch every Harry Potter film on HBO Max. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. Share your thoughts and keep up with the latest from us on social media at Harry Potter. As we make our way through the series, we'll be checking the comments to dissect your burning questions and your hottest takes. Until then, trust the map, watch the shadows, and maybe don't believe the first story that you're told . Bye see you next time Ronald has lost his rat. I haven't lost anything. Your cat killed him. Rubbish . Harry, you've seen the way that bloodthirsty beast of her is always lurking about . And Scabbard is gone . Harry Potter, the official film podcast is produced by HBO Max, in partnership with Podpeople. This podcast is hosted by me Rihna Dylan. Our head writer and lead producer is Angela Paladino, and our associate producer is Emily Mansfield. Our live producer and production manager is Hannah Pederson, casting by Brianna Freparty , production design done by Liz Klakowski and her team Kevin Fallon, Marcel Banks, Jeff Cross, and Amelia Casarez. Our technical director is Insan Huang, along with camera operator Nick Gregorio. Her makeup by Allie Elizabeth Production Assistance by Sam Sanders IV. Our video editor is Susanna Vasquez and the show is mixed by Carter Wogan and Marina Paise. From the HBO Max podcast team, Alison Cohen Sarokach, Michael Glockstadt, Becky Row, Kenya Rees, and Erin Kelly. Special thanks to Emily Brandon and Reese August from the Harry Potter Digital Team. Thank you for watching and listening, and we'll see you next time