Synopsis:

I've always loved the Harry Potter books, but the movies have been pretty hit or miss for me. I completely love what they have made, but there are many scenes of poor acting, or bad character choices that are completely fixable. My main goals overall: - Create light edits that don't try to reimagine or create anything new, but rather just enhance the original movies - Remove small annoyances and some poor performances (Harry shushing Ron, Barty Crouch Jr tongue flicks, dumbing down Hagrid, etc) - Retain as much world building as possible (Clock in the Weasley's home, monster roar at housekeeping in PoA, etc) - Keep the original music to their own movies, except for a few rare occasions - Tighten up action wherever I could Goals for the Prisoner of Azkaban: - This is my favorite movie and will probably have the least changes - Trim some of the poor performances (Hermione's laughing, some of Harry's acting) - Cut out some of the one liners and poorly written lines and scenes (Neville's "I'm okay" joke, Hermione mocking Trelawney, and Harry always needing to get a final word in) - Reduce some of the more over the top stuff (Trim the whole whomping willow scene)

Intentions:

Harry Potter is one of my favorite series' ever. I've got so much nostalgia from growing up with the books and movies. But even watching as a kid I remember disliking some things about the movies. I don't want to rob the movies of their charm, but I did see some things that I believe would be better changed or removed. I think these small changes make the experience a better one overall.

Change List:

- Trimmed some of Harry's awkward delivery after Marge asks if he gets hit with canes at school - Cut one of the two button attacks on Dudley in the beginning. It was just a bit too goofy for me having a second button knock him down - Cut the old lady crossing the street during the Knight Bus along with the first of Harry slamming into the window. I absolutely hated Harry slamming into the window. I tried cutting around the old lady but it worked better to just cut her out entirely - Right after Harry asks Mr Weasley why would he go looking for Sirius, the shot lingers on Harry's face way too long. Shortened it just a bit. - Took out Hermione shouting at Ron for stepping on her foot when the dementor is coming in on the train. It was a weird moment that Ron doesn't even react to - Trimmed just a bit of Ron holding onto the window as the dementor is coming. He holds it there for so long. Just felt a little forced - Cut Hermione's cringe delivery as she mocks Trelawney on the way to Hagrid's class - Cut Neville getting knocked down by the monster book and the awful joke - "I'm okay!" It's one of my most hated "jokes" in film for a character to fall down and then get back up saying "I'm okay" - Slight trims to Harry's Patronus lesson. I took out Harry's line "just do it" to Lupin. Felt weirdly aggressive in the scene - Cut back a bit on Hermione's over the top laughing after Harry's snowball fight with Malfoy & gang - Very slight trims when Harry is crying in the snow. Lots of bad acting here with the fake cries and yells. I tried to cut out most of the crying but I could only turn it down a bit because it is on every channel in the audio mix. I also trimmed a bit of his intense breathing after he yells. I just can't take him seriously. Sadly I couldn't get rid of all the bad acting, but these very tiny trims make this scene better - Trimmed up the Whomping Willow fight. At first I tried cutting the whole thing out, but ended up keeping most of it in. Hermione still flies around but I tried to tone it down a lot so it isn't so ridiculous - Trimmed a bit of Harry's first encounter with Sirius for pacing - Cut Sirius gasping at the Dementors and then the next scene being knocked out again. Weird jump cut - A few quick trims for pacing as Harry and Hermione are getting Buckbeak out of the pumpkin patch. Wanted to speed this up so it was more realistic to the timing while the trio are originally running up the hill - Cut Harry and Hermione seeing Snape walk into the Whomping Willow right after Lupin when he should've arrived a short while later. The timing on this one always bugged me - Trimmed a bit of when Harry and Hermione see the bats fly by so Harry doesn't have to have the last word on everything - Cut Harry's nonchalant line when the Werewolf starts running at them - Cut Harry saying Lupin is having a bad night right after they get saved by Buckbeak in the forest - Straight to black right before credits instead of the freeze frame

Additional Notes:

I didn't want to do anything too drastic, but instead create a very light edit to remove things that might take you out of the viewing experience.

Other Sources:

Special Thanks:

Anjohan (Andreas), and JJPotter! I took a lot of inspiration and some exact cuts from their edits to make my own. Poster art by Carlossap on TPDb: https://theposterdb.com/user/Carlossap