| Hagrid | 04-12-2003 09:05 AM |
Eric from Mugglenet has generously typed up the interview that appeared on the Chamber of Secrets DVD. UPDATE: Melissa from TLC has corrected some spelling and punctuation errors. This is the new and updated version as of April 14th, 2003: Quote:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD Interview with Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling
Moderated by Lizo Mzimba (whose comments are in bold)
Transcribed by Eric of Mugglenet and Melissa of TLC.
Now, to bring a story like Harry Potter from the page to the screen, the starting point is your original novel, written by you of course, J.K. Rowling. And the script is based on that novel but is written by the screenwriter, of course you, Steve Kloves. Can you explain both how you worked together to produce the final script because it must be very very different writing a book as compared to writing a film.
Steve: Yeah, you know, I mean, I just... steal her best stuff, for the most part...
JKR: [Nodding] That’s basically it. And I don't sue!
Steve:I think the thing…What’s always been great about Jo is that, from the beginning she gave me tremendous elbow room, but when you're in the middle of a series like this it's important that I talk to Jo along the way and ask her, beyond advice, just simple advice, and certain sequences and things, but just, "Am I on the right path?" and Jo's always been good about, in that, she’s maddening in the sense that she will not tell me what's going to happen but she will tell me if I'm going down the wrong path...
JKR:I've given you more than I’ve given anyone else which I probably shouldn't probably say...on screen, or they’ll kidnap and torture him, and we need him. But yeah, I've told Steve probably more than I’ve told anyone else, because he needs to know. Because it’s incredibly annoying of me when he says “Well shall we cut that", or "I wanted to do this" and I say, "Well no... because, you know, in book six, something will happen and you'll need that in" or "that will contradict something that happens" and I can feel him on the end of the emails, you know, [does impression of frustrated Steve typing] "would you mind telling me why?" So I have told him things. But he's very good at guessing. He's guessed more shrewdly than anyone else, I think.
How frustrating is it for you, working slightly in the dark with some of these issues, Steve?
Steve: Well it's frustrating because, you like to know... when you're writing a character, you want to know where they’re going...
JKR: I'd tell you if you were dying!
Steve: [laughing] That's... that's nice to know.
JKR: But you don't need to know at the moment!
Steve: Well, you know, I am dying. Hopefully it's just gonna take a while! But I think it's frustrating just, again, it comes down to the details and the magic of those details and I think just reading the books is just quite a wonderful experience.
There are so many rich details in the books. Can you tell us how you decide what goes in and what stays out?
Steve: I will sometimes ask Jo. I will say, you know, this detail, you just seem to have cast just a bit more light on this in this scene than the other details. Sometimes I’m wrong, but often she'll say "No, that is going to play." There's one thing in Chamber, actually, that Jo indicated will play later in the series. The hardest thing for me, honestly, is I'm writing a story to which I do not know the end. Which is, I'm not going to lie to you, has been the case sometimes in my own originals.
JKR: I was gonna say!
Steve: But I assume I will find an end. With this, it’s just I’m writing a story over a decade, and I keep waiting, you know, keep hoping that Jo will slip-up and actually tell me something.
In this movie we've seen the kids develop from the first film, can you tell us about the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione and how that is developing film by film?
JKR: Well I think it is developing in the films as it does in the books, which is to say that they are, they’re much stronger together than apart. They're much more aware, in the second film, of their particular strengths. So they're more effective, the children are able to do more complex things, for example the Polyjuice Potion. And also Chris in the second film has kind of foreshadowed what I don’t do until the fourth book, which is that you get hints of certain feelings between the three of them, that belong to a sort of slightly more mature person.
Steve?
Steve: Yeah, I think you're seeing in Chamber the magic's becoming a bit second nature to them. At least simple magic is. And that basically it's, you know, a little bit of knowledge will get you into a lot of trouble. And I think that's what we're seeing in the second one: is that they're getting more mature but, it's a dangerous kind of knowledge.
How do you feel about what the kids were like in this movie?
Steve: Well the first thing that you notice when you watch the movie is that Harry and Ron's voices have dropped about two octaves, which is just bizarre. Suddenly they’re not these cute little moppetheads running around. You know, children will grow.
Steve, Hermione is a character that you have said is one of your favorites. Has that made her easier to write?
Steve: Yeah, I mean, I like writing all three, but I've always loved writing Hermione. Because, I just, one, she's a tremendous character for a lot of reasons for a writer, which also is she can carry exposition in a wonderful way because you just assume she read it in a book. If I need to tell the audience something -
JKR: Absolutely right, I find that all the time in the book, if you need to tell your readers something just put it in her. There are only two characters that you can put it convincingly into their dialogue. One is Hermione, the other is Dumbledore. In both cases you accept, it's plausible that they have, well Dumbledore knows pretty much everything anyway, but that Hermione has read it somewhere. So, she’s handy.
Steve: Yeah, she's really handy. And she's also just, I think, just tremendously entertaining. There's something about her fierce intellect coupled with a complete lack of understanding of how she affects people sometimes*that I just find charming and irresistible to write.
We cut a lot out here, so read the complete version from TLC or Mugglenet.
How different has it been working on the script for now the next movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?
Steve: Well we've just started, I honestly think it's going as well as any of the others. Personally I feel it's going to be the best movie.
JKR: Yeah, I think so too.
Steve: I think that we're at a better place than we've ever been on the script.
JKR: Mm-hm.
Steve: And we're months from starting shooting so I think it's the best place we’ve been. I think Three could be really, really be interesting.
JKR: Yeah, I agree.
Where does Three stand on your list of favorites?
JKR: Oh, I know it's very corny and all to say it, but it's like choosing between your children. It really is. But I have a very soft spot for Three because of a couple of the characters who crop up there for the first time. Lupin and Black, obviously very important characters and yeah, I'm really fond of them.
So far you've had two very successful collaborations on Harry Potter, what are your hopes for the future of the Harry Potter series?
JKR: Well, I hope Steve keeps writing the scripts, because I'm used to him now, you know. Just keep being faithful to the books, I suppose. From my point of view I'm bound to say that, aren't I?
J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, author and the script writer, I'm sure we're looking forward very much to the results of your future collaborations, thank you very much.
| Thanks to Eric and Melissa for their hard work! :) |
