Poop Shute

My first movie is fully 100% in the can.

Well, it's mostly 100% in the can.

Okay, so it's probably not done. There's talk of flying some of us out to LA in the next month or two for some last minute second unit stuff.

I can tell you this much: I know they're going to need us to come in and do some voice studio work. A lot of the sound from the stuff shot on the prison transport bus is fuct.

I know my sound experience is limited. I mean, a mere three years of theatrical sound designs hardly qualifies me as an expert, BUT it would make sense to me that recording synch-sound on a bus traveling at 55-65 mph (with all the windows down because the AC was busted) would probably be a lame idea.

It's all good for me though. Now I get some valuable sound studio experience. Not only that, but I get a free trip to LA for a few days. Room and food paid for. Plus a nice $75 per day.

Life is good.

******

On a sadder note, I saw Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban tonight. Not an entirely bad movie by any means, but... well... At two and a half hours it is still an inadequate length to fully capture the book effectively. Carefully written and well drawn flashbacks become quick monologues tossed off in a heated rush. These crucial past moments become over-done exposition, and leave me feeling cheated.

The worst of it is this time around the three main characters seem totally passive until the last half hour. In the first two films (and in ALL the books) we follow our young heroes around as they fight and solve their way through. This time it seems it all happens around them as they sit by until finally at the end they take some action. I can assure you, this is not the way it goes down in the book.

Those that would leap to defend the movie will bring up that JK Rowling was intimately involved in all three films and personally works with the screenwriter to make sure all the important bits get in. Sadly our author does not have complete creative control. She tells them which bits are important, but she does not control HOW the important bits get in. Besides, even if she did have complete control I would argue that she didn't do her own work justice.

The first two films were good enough. The first two books weren't all that impressive to tell you the truth. Books three and on have been good, solid entertainment. To do these stories justice we need to see them done Kill Bill style. Shoot the whole thing and split it in half. After seeing Azkaban it's clear that the next two will be horrible if crammed in to one theatre-going experience. The next two books are significantly longer than this one!