My report from the UK Prisoner of Azkaban Premiere -
including some pictures Summary:
As some of you know, I went and stood outside at the UK PoA Premeire back in May of this year. It's taken me forever and a day but I've finally managed to finish my report, which, I warn you, is very long! Pictures are included!
Article: My report from the UK Prisoner of Azkaban Premiere The European Premiere – Leicester Square, London (30/05/04)
(Please note the report spreads over two posts - it would not fit on one!)
London, May 30th in the year 2004 and the second I exited the coach terminal, I knew exactly where to go. Having been to London a few times previous I was familiar with certain surroundings, but London being a huge place, I’d imagine it’s impossible for anyone to ever learn their way around there completely.
The screams were phenomenal. From around five blocks away from where the actual cinema was, it was possible to hear the ominous chants of “We want Dan!” and “We want Tom!” I assumed that it was because of Rupert’s name and the fact that it lacks in the same rhythm, which was why there weren’t as many chants for him.
I have to admit, the amount of noise was ear shattering at certain points. I myself am surprised that no-one fainted, or at least no-one I’d heard of had. One thing that was very irritating, the fact that the people who were stood at the front were all fan girls. It seemed that you needed a banner or picture to be privileged enough to stand directly behind the barriers. I’d take a smart guess and say half those girls hadn’t read the books at all, but that would be judgmental of me
No doubt, after an hour, their screams became annoying, but they still did not cease. I can only imagine what wrecks their tonsils were the following day, they were screeching and flailing for no less than 8 hours solid. And that was only from when I had arrived!
Some eager fans had been present at the event from as early as six in the morning, a feat which would have proved impossible for me as my journey required a four hour coach ride down to London. Eventually I arrived, with my boyfriend in tow, at around half past eleven in the morning. The sun was at its hottest, girls were worked up into frenzies and the security and official people around us only encouraged it more.
Not many seemed unaware of the event, although a couple of times I was asked what was going on and proudly, I explained. Surprisingly not many fans were dressed up either; only around twenty did I see. I did have the pleasure of seeing someone dressed up as Snape, but then alas, saw they were female. She must have the same obsession with him as I do. There were plenty of Gryffindors around, no Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, but a few Slytherins like myself. There were many Hogwarts colored scarves being wavered around too as the cameras loomed over the crowd and took shots of all the fans screaming. It’s amazing how excited people become over one hovering camera when the adrenaline is rushing.
At one point, a car pulled up, at around two o’clock, which was far too early for a cast member to be arriving. Screams broke out and the Canadian guy stood in the same box as us, who might I add, was hilarious, started shouting, “Wow” It's boxes!” which, true to form, it was. I think he was taking the mick out of the fan girls, although I can't be sure.
I should explain where I was stood. The Odeon, in Leicester Square, has a central entrance. The small compartment I was stood in was directly left to that. This meant we were slightly beyond the entrance, thus a few stars skipped our area and just went straight in. Don’t worry, I shall name and shame them! Whilst there I met one girl, from northern England, called Daisy and she I became fans for the day. Like me she was seventeen years old and had applied to be in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There was also a Canadian man in our “pen” who had brought his girlfriend over from Canada to catch a glimpse of the stars. How sweet. He was absolutely hilarious, and kept us all in high spirits, despite the awful heat and the scattered showers. He even had us doing the Mexican wave, “For Alfonso!” at one point.
Although it did not work out well in the other areas, as they decided to copy us, it worked out pretty good on our side of things. Across from the entrance, there was a long line barrier and loads of fans, to our right was a cut off point and more fans and further beyond the entrance, to the right of it, were many more barriers, sectioning off the press pen and beyond that there were even more barriers where the limos would be driving down to. I assumed they, the actors, might not have much time to spare down at the bottom, once they had exited their cars so I stayed where I was throughout the course of the event.
The decorations, in my opinion, were cheap and tacky. The Aunt Marge balloons were already billowing about in the breeze as I arrived. The huge poster of the trio, splashed across the cinema was awesome but sort of annoying when you consider how airbrushed those pictures in fact are. The only other decoration was a blow-up dementor hand which stuck out from the top of the building and looked to be made from lack bin liners. I suppose Warner Brothers spent the majority of their budget on security; there were loads of police there. The only other decorative items were wooden banner fixed to the barriers, the side that faced where the stars would be walking, most of which were had mysteriously vanished by the end of the day.
Another aspect of the day I did not like was the amount of adults stood in front of me. Many of them were even discussing selling stuff on eBay! That really peeved me off, so many genuine fans were there and yet because of their sheer size they managed to get in front of us. I really did not think that was fair, if they had stood behind they still would’ve been well within reach to get autographs. Not that I think they should’ve got any, because they were planning to get them to make a profit. I also did not find the discussion in good taste. Men around the age of thirty were discussing
Emma Watson in such a perverse manner that it took all my strength not to promptly spin and interrogate them. Many of the genuine fans around me were shocked, horrified and disgusted too, which was partly the reason why, when the actors started to arrive, we “accidentally” stood on their feet a couple of times, just to get our feelings across.
Some of the other adults, the more mature ones, weren’t as selfish. Many passed forward notebooks from struggling short fans like myself and tried to get notepads signed, but alas on many accounts they failed. But at least they tried.
I think many like me went home partially disappointed; there just wasn’t the time for everyone to receive an autograph. I’d estimate that only a lucky 10% got any in the end. It was also estimated, by many newspapers following the event, there were double if not triple the amount of fans in London, as there were in New York for the Official Premiere of Prisoner of Azkaban. Even James and Oliver Phelps (The Weasley Twins) claimed the screams seemed a lot louder on this side of the pond! But that isn’t surprisingly, we British fans have always been known for being obsessive and I for one, am proud of that aspect.
Overall – despite not getting any autographs, I had a fantastic day. As you can see, many pictures are scattered throughout the article, I hope you like them. I did not take them, my boyfriend did. I’d like to request that if anyone wishes to use them, they contact me first via PM and then save them to their own image servers.
You thought it was over didn’t you? Far from it….here’s the review of when the stars actually arrived!
*
They were scheduled to start appearing at 4:30pm and appear they did. I must mention that beforehand, on a huge screen, they transmitted an exclusive look at Prisoner of Azkaban, which looked amazing and was later screened on ITV 1, but I could not hear a word of it. I don’t think anyone it could. It took ten minutes of screaming for the people in charge to actually acknowledge that we wanted to volume turned up.
Jenni Falconer, a presenter from GMTV, was present and hosted the majority of interviews which were also up for view on the huge screen, which was almost directly in front of me, only slightly to the right. She was stunning, absolutely beautiful, so I personally don’t blame Tom Felton for being cheeky enough to eye her up. The interviews were held no more than 500 yards away from where I was actually standing, so the people in our left barrier could catch amazing glimpses of those who were being interviewed, which was great. It did rain, but only briefly and that only served to cool us all off as for the majority of the day the temperature had soared way above 80 degrees.
I did mention previously that I thought as did the cast, that there were more fans in attendance at the London Premiere than at the New York one. An estimated count was taken and the London crowd turned out to be three times bigger than the New York one!
A lot of other big name stars attended the premiere. These included
Claudia Schiffer,
Natalie Imbruglia,
Anna Friel, the actor who plays
Gunther from Friends and
Lizo Mumba. There may have been others there, but these were the one whom I saw. I think in total, Lizo, who is a host on the CBBC show Newsround and the Gunther actor obtained just as many screams and chants as did
Daniel Radcliffe, the lead actor in the film!
One of the most aggravating aspects of the event was when the Knight Bus, one which was apparently used in the film, drove past the cinema and then out of sight. I think this was done to pump up the atmosphere once more as it drove around the block several times before vanishing out of my sight.
The trailer for “Troy” another Warner Brothers film was then played repeatedly on the big screen, to my estimation about ten times in all. You would not believe the screams that echoed around the area, as Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt appeared on this huge screen. The more cynical fans like myself, shouted things like “Why don’t you show the Harry Potter trailers?” seeing as to me, it would’ve made more sense to do that. In the end they played the documentary of Prisoner of Azkaban repeatedly too, although that was overshadowed by screams too.
I don’t really know why, but as I stood there, in great awe of the atmosphere, the adrenaline, the spirit of just being there and knowing you’re there to support the people who made the film, I watched the documentary and found that even though was stood, in London, in Leicester Square, where the stars were due to arrive any minute, I still could not believe my luck. I still could not believe that any second,
Rupert Grint or
Alan Rickman or even better,
Jo Rowling would be walking down that pathway and signing autographs all around us. Even now as I write it gives me that fuzzy feeling I had that day too, not quite believing that the people from the screen, some, like Alan Rickman, who I’d watched all my life, would no longer be in that world of movies, but actually right in front of my face, walking past me, breathing the same air as me!
The first to arrive was
Chris Rankin aka Percy Weasley. One thing that was hilarious about him was his shoes. The pattern was sort of like the body of a black and white cow’s. They were really odd with his suit, but they made me laugh anyways. Whilst he arrived Lizo from Newsround was still wandering around, signing autographs and chuckling as fans chanted “Lizo! Lizo! Lizo!” – The man is a celebrity in his own right.
Gunther from Friends was being interviewed by Jenni whilst Chris ran around and manically signed autographs. Unfortunately for us, he did not come down our end “Booooo!” – I have a sneaky suspicion he was dragged away despite it only just being 4:30pm and, in the end, the film could not have started until seven because some of the actors were still outside giving out tickets.
The rest of the actors appearances aren’t in order, I’m afraid, because the event is too long ago to remember in what order they appeared. I know for a fact that neither
Emma Thompson (Trelawney) nor
Maggie Smith (McGonagall) attended. This sort of upset me, they’re two of my biggest female acting idols, but there will be other opportunities.
As the cast arrived they first went to the press pen, and then went to have photos taken by the media, followed by an interview with Jenni Falconer, a Channel 4 presenter, on the would-be red carpet. Apparently
Timothy Spall (Pettigrew) and
Warwick Davis (Flitwick) were there but I didn’t see them, probably because they went straight in.
Emma Watson’s appearance was that of lightening. She can’t be criticized for giving autographs, she gave them at lightening speed but one couldn’t help but feel, having watched the fans, that they felt a bit cheated as she didn’t really talk to them or greet them as much as the others did; the priority seemed to be signing. I suppose a lot of people were happy with that and in her defense her minder kept bugging her, trying to drag her away. At one point she did scowl but after deliberation I’ve decided that was probably aimed at the people trying to take her away. Still, her fans could see her and I think she has to learn that you can’t let fans see you like that; it did upset a few kids around me. t shocked me because I never actually thought she could be like that. Whoever it was aimed at, she more than redeemed herself when, after being taken in, came out a second time with Rupert and Dan. She then also came out a third time, hand in hand with
David Heyman, giving out tickets for people to go inside and watch the film with the stars.
This move was definitely pre-arranged, the kids who got the tickets did not act in the least surprised or excited. But I think the girls next to me, who got the tickets, were one of the few ones who did not know beforehand. I think David must have assumed I was in tears over one of the boys (which I was not, I was in tears over JK – more on that later). He leaned forward and asked the girls how many people they were with and they said two. He then shoved the tickets into Emma’s hand and told her what to say. She smiled and handed them the tickets saying “I hope you enjoy the show.” At one point, it did seem as if he was dragging her along, probably because she kept stopping to wave at fans and maybe the show had to start soon, by this time it was around seven in the evening. I was dying to cry out “I’m with two people too!” and I have to admit I became hysterical and just cried. My boyfriend tried to get them to come back by calling Emma’s name but it didn’t work. I have to say though; afterward David did seem to give me a would-be sympathetic smile. He also seemed highly arrogant though. So when the girls got to go through, security checked them, but they still did not seem excited. All I could think of was, if that was me, I’d be ecstatic, hysterical and all the way home on the coach all I could of was, “What if I had had those tickets…”
I also saw the likes of
Bonnie Wright (Ginny),
Jamie Waylett (Crabbe),
Tom Felton (Draco),
Devon Murray (Seamus) and
David Thewlis (Lupin) all of whom were given little or no chance to see fans or give autographs. However, fair play to Jamie, he was a whiz kid from what I saw of his signing/hugging/having photos taken with fans. He seemed to really love it and, who could blame him. Bonnie was interviewed by Jenni and then almost immediately taken away by a minder. Tom signed a lot of autographs down the other end, which was before the entrance, but none down our end. Devon signed a lot too, and he spent a good hour going around the area where I was, which was left to the entrance. However, having seen what his autograph is like, I’m glad I didn’t get it. Just a “DM”. He was very courteous and also seemed to love the attention, especially from screaming females. David did try to sign down our end and, with
Gary Oldman (Sirius) started to make his way down to us, however they got taken away before they got to our end, presumably for photos.
Michael Gambon,
Robbie Coltrane and
Fiona Shaw were also in attendance, but I saw nothing of them other than snippets of their bodies on the widescreen.
J.K.Rowling was mainly seen on the big screen too. Understandably she could not sign many autographs and she didn’t go near many fans. Knowing now that she was pregnant then I think I can appreciate much more why she didn’t interact as much. From what I saw, a lot of fans had brought books down, like me, intent on meeting their idol. She did not, however, grace us with her presence in my sections of the pens and that was probably when I became most hysterical. She did a short interview with Jenni (this when I saw her, so I promptly stood and started jumping and waving. I think she saw me, however I can forgive her for thinking I was a mad person, as she didn’t wave back) and then went inside, much to my dismay. I clutched my first edition Order of the Phoenix, in absolute tears. She looked stunning, she is beautiful and I have no doubts that she wanted to see all her fans and would have done so if she’d had all the time in the world to do it, but with 5000 fans there, the majority was going to leave disappointed and disheartened like me.
Previous to her appearance,
Rupert Grint,
Daniel Radcliffe,
Alan Rickman and the
Phelps twins had graced us with their presence. From what I saw,
Julie Walters and
Mark Williams (the Weasley parents) weren’t there either. Rupert was an angel, a true gentleman and I believe, from what I saw, he is set to be the one who lasts. He laughed, took pictures with fans, looked at banners, signed borders, hugged girls and just looked to be enjoying every moment of it. He seemed to want to make it worth the fans while, being out there in the scorching heat. He did come past me but, as luck wasn’t with me, I couldn’t quite reach him to get an autograph. Neither did my friend Daisy who was, by this time, hysterical and desperate to meet him. He too, like the others, eventually got taken away.
Daniel Radcliffe, bless his soul, was probably the keenest of the lot. Very eager, very smiley and very happy, he signed loads, talked loads and seemed very sociable. But, one fans just had to spoil it. Someone, probably a hysterical fan girl, thought it would be amusing to open one of the security gates. Thus Daniel was instantly pounced on and dragged away by security, which, needless to say, spoilt it for the other fans who were behaving themselves. I couldn’t count how many girls broke out into tears at that point, but there were a lot of them. And, ever the gracious celebrity, Dan fought back and genuinely looked as if he didn’t want to be taken away. And, what guy would? A girl tried to smash down a barrier for him; of course he’d love that! I honestly think he felt awful after that and, when Emma came back out with Rupert, he came out too and tried to make his way around again but he was not allowed back over to where the barrier had broken open. This was a pity for a lot of fans. Seeing him up close was strange, I can understand why he goes on about wanting to grow because he is extremely short compared to the likes of Rupert.
Alan Rickman, aka Professor Snape, what can I say? Perfect gentleman in every sense of the word. Despite women and teenage girls throwing themselves at him, he stayed calm and neutral, with a mild smile fixated on his lips. He signed a lot and talked a lot. One girl near me, about mid-20’s, did seem to annoy him and I did see him roll his eyes, but, in his defense, she was too loud and her screeching was hurting my ears too. Someone behind me had made a collage of the entire roles he’s starred in, which he took time to look at, read and then he signed it, laughing. Just being so close to someone so famous, so talented, staggered me. Needless to say, I was gob smacked. I couldn’t speak, I think I stood there gawping which must have amused him to no end, especially as I was dressed as a Slytherin student! I think he must have seen me and guessed why I was acting the way I was, because I was just in awe. He sort of smiled and then winked at me. Which, I have to say, is far better than an autograph.
My boyfriend, who is to credit for the amazing pictures, was a little to the right of me. He’d managed to sneak forward and got a space by one of the barriers. Ever lucky, he promptly fell, after being pushed and landed a little over the barriers, on
Alan Rickman! If I had seen this at the time, I would have died, but it was only after that he relayed the following amusing conversation to me:
(My boyfriend – James – was trying to get a photo of him and he tripped up, after having been pushed and fell a little over Alan Rickman)
Alan Rickman: What yourself there! (Chuckling and helping him up)
James: Sorry
Alan: Do you want me to sign anything? (Smiling)
James: Can you sign my hand, I haven’t got any paper.
Alan: I haven’t got a pen; I’ve been using theirs (points at fans). How about I shake your hand instead? (Shakes hands)
James: My girlfriend will never believe this!
Alan: (smile and exit)
So you can imagine my excitement when I found that out.
<3 BunBunz Class
I can't believe you saw JK!
Rupert*
