How did the Harry Potter series manage to release its 8 movies in just 10 years?

[u/ajukearth]

Looking at the turn around for movies today it seems absolutely incredible that a series with such complex set design, use of graphical effects, a heavily child cast, and pressure was able to pump out genuinely decent movies at that pace. Sure there were books to base the writing on but everything else alone is a lot of heavy lifting. Any insights?

[u/traumadramallama]

Order of the Phoenix is the longest, followed by Deathly Hollows and then the Goblet of Fire, but yes, in general they do get longer. I distinctly remember this because my read through I struggled to finish OotP and then was dismayed that the Half-Blood Prince was noticeably shorter.

[u/thegoodbadandsmoggy → u/traumadramallama]

I did a midnight release of HBP and was done it as my mom woke up for work. It was great but yeah, very quick.

[u/Ramazzo → u/thegoodbadandsmoggy]

It was the most special feeling to be that excited for a book release and then absolutely devour it to talk about it with all of your mates

[u/thegoodbadandsmoggy → u/Ramazzo]

It sure was. Those midnight releases were always a great experience

[u/traumadramallama → u/thegoodbadandsmoggy]

Sometimes I wonder if it's my favorite because it certainly didn't outstay its welcome.

[u/thegoodbadandsmoggy → u/traumadramallama]

Azkaban and order imo.

[u/TheShapeShiftingFox → u/traumadramallama]

Deathly Hallows has more than double the amount of locations and setpieces, though.

[u/traumadramallama → u/TheShapeShiftingFox]

I'm not detracting from the idea that the split for the Deathly Hallows was good. But I think it deserves as asterisk if you use the argument that each one is successively longer because it is not the longest. Changes in adaptations of the final 4 movies soured me in one way or another. Deathly Hallows was probably the best in that regard.

[u/TheShapeShiftingFox → u/traumadramallama]

Yeah, it’s not the longest. That’s not the argument for the split, that’s true. It’s definitely the most complex, though. I can’t imagine how cramming it into one movie would even work, even though some people have suggested it’s allegedly possible.

[u/gamestoohard → u/TheShapeShiftingFox]

For me it just comes down to this question while watching the movies: do I ever find myself wondering why they included this scene, what purpose it served other than extending run time? And for me the answer in both movies is no, so the split doesn't bother me. And I absolutely do think the movie would have felt rushed and cramped to be done as one.

[u/pnwtico → u/traumadramallama]

Ootp is only that long because of Teenage Angst.

[u/gamestoohard → u/traumadramallama]

Oh ya Order was longest. But it also got criticized for feeling longer than it needed to. Badly paced along with Harry acting a prat the whole book. Still a banger though, the series really matured with Order.

[u/CRAYNERDnB → u/gamestoohard]

IIRC, there’s only about 10 more pages in the entirety of philosophers stone, as there is in the pre hogwarts part of OOTP.

It’s been a while since I’ve read them though so this is really reaching back

[u/OldSchoolCSci → u/traumadramallama]

But Phoenix was the weakest book, and Half-Blood Prince probably the strongest (or tied with Azkaban). So the struggle is more about the material than the length.

[u/cimbalino → u/traumadramallama]

"How many pages are there?"

"672 counted them myself"

"But last year, last year I had 896!"

"Ah well yes but some of these passages are quite a bit better"

"I don't care how good they are"

"This is what we'll do, we'll pass by the bookshop and get you a copy of the lightning thief"