Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Case Study

Director: David Yates
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Adventure

Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures

Certificate: 12A

Marketing: Several Different Trailers, Merchandise, Posters.

Release Date: 15th July 2011

Domestic Total Gross:$381,011,219

Worldwide total: $1,328,111,219 

Running Time: 130 mins.  

Production Budget: N/A

Trailer Analysis

There's also Snape walking alone in a corridor: is the trailer already setting him up for the big reveal? There are more menacing looks from our bald dark wizard, then a taste of the battle scenes with witches and wizards running and fleeing, explosions and spell casting. Kingsley Shacklebolt makes an appearance, helping protect the fighters as they retreat into Hogwarts. What appear to be fireworks light up the night sky over the castle – it's either the celebration at the end or some kind of protection spell. Narcissa Malfoy shows up next in the woods, which can only be the scene in which she lies to Voldemort, agreeing to pretend that Harry is dead in exchange for the whispered news that Draco is alive and well. A man on a broom defies protection spells by swooping in (hopefully to the rescue) and a proper look at the armour army precedes a rather grotty-looking Ron telling Harry: “We can end this”. Harry then has another flash into Voldemort's memory judging by the grimace on his face, before Nagini bursts onto the screen from nowhere. Hermione and Ron back away, flinging spells in the rubble of the Hogwarts grounds; our dragon breaks free of Gringotts; and Harry crawls painfully across the earth. Our first heart-wrenching death scene comes next: Molly and Ron crowd over the unmoving form of Fred, the only fatality in the Weasley family. A tearful Hermione hugs Harry (we assume after they realise he isn't dead), Voldemort casts more spells and Ginny looks mournfully at the sky. You catch a peek at Harry looking hot and bothered inside Bellatrix's vault, surrounded by cursed gold (when touched the treasure duplicates and heats up to burn skin), but is that Hufflepuff's cup that Harry has in his hand? Lupin and Tonks share a look which implies their deaths won't occur off-screen and there's another look at a protection charm around Hogwarts before a slightly baffling encounter between Harry and Voldemort. While backed into a corner by Voldemort, Harry declares “Come on Tom, let's finish this the way we started it. Together” and grabs the evil wizard, pulling them both off the edge of a steep drop. There's certainly nothing of this nature in the original story and this is not how Voldemort meets his destruction, so perhaps this is a dream? Not really sure what to make of it to be honest. You get a sense of the scale of the battle in the next shot which shows figures running from the Forbidden Forest. Harry, Ron and Hermione look to the skies again, this time perhaps assessing the size of the giants on the Death Eaters' side. Snape then manages a true apparition: with a swoop of his cloak he disappears. Ron and Hermione run for their lives in the Room of Requirement after Crabbe casts cursed fire, Fiendfyre, in there. You get a sense of the scale of the battle in the next shot which shows figures running from the Forbidden Forest. Harry, Ron and Hermione look to the skies again, this time perhaps assessing the size of the giants on the Death Eaters' side. Snape then manages a true apparition: with a swoop of his cloak he disappears. Ron and Hermione run for their lives in the Room of Requirement after Crabbe casts cursed fire, Fiendfyre, in there. There's another look at the dragon as it takes flight over London, more deadly spells from Voldemort and Harry barely escaping a roof collapse. Harry and Volemort's wands connect again (the first time was during their graveyard meeting after Harry had completed the Triwizard Tournament). Many witches and wizards shoot sparkles at Hogwarts castle and Harry and Voldemort fling spells at one another. A rather desperate-looking Ginny runs from the castle, we assume when everyone thinks Harry is dead, accompanied by Arthur Weasley and Neville (who has a surprisingly small amount of screen time during this trailer). We end with Harry looking quite flustered as spells are shot in his direction.

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has makes a spectacular entrance. It's packed full of glimpses of exciting scenes, but as it's just under two minutes long it's easy to blink and miss something amazing. While Part 1 may have been a little bit of a let-down for those who are not avid fans of the novel, Part 2 definitely makes an impression on all fans of the kid with the lightning scar. Not only is the second half of the novel more action-packed than the first (which suffered from the turgid scenes of Harry, Ron and Hermione's argument-filled wanderings) but from what we can see here the cinematic outing has amped up the battle scenes, making sure that this boy wizard's adventures really and truly end with a bang. The trailer opens with a slightly juddery version of the theme tune that has accompanied the Potter series since its cinematic début in 2001. You can see Snape's silhouette stalking through an underpass; you'll see him arrive at his destination a little later and we'll puzzle over the location then. Next we have a good look at Ravenclaw's diadem – one of Voldemort's horcruxes that Harry, Ron and Hermione don't manage to get their hands on until the end. You can just about see the inscription on the band: “Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure”. It's unclear why it appears to be in a velvet-lined box, unless when the grey lady tells her tale we get a flashback. The two young girls standing on a hill doing tricks with flowers are none other than a young Lily and Petunia Evans; the only time they're seen in the novel is in one of Snape's memories. In the novel, this scene takes place in a playground, while Snape is secretly observing them. Its function is to show that muggle-born Lily has powers her sister does not, something Petunia will grow to resent. A series of images lead into the Warner Bros logo: a glimpse of the destroyed diary from Chamber of Secrets; two hands reaching one another but not quite touching; and a creepy look at Voldemort's eye. In the next part, Harry sits beside Dobby's grave with Bill and Fleur's home, Shell Cottage, in the background as a voice commends Harry for his valiant efforts in combat. There's a close-up of Harry's bespectacled eye, then a flash of Voldemort casting a spell and the fate of Fenrir Greyback (probably unrelated to the previous snippet) as he's knocked backwards out of a Hogwarts window. Three shapes plummet into some deep water (possibly escaping the dragon our heroes freed from Gringotts) and another screech from the Dark Lord. We can't quite figure out the identity of the figure who falls to the floor is and whether he is a wizard or a policeman – but either way, it signifies death. Taking the deathly theme further we next see Voldemort walking past rows of bodies, his snake Nagini at his heels like an obedient dog, as he approaches what appears to be Draco Malfoy. He's addressing Harry, humiliating him in front of the rest of the school by magically amplifying his voice, taunting him with the fact that he's allowed his friends to die rather than facing him personally. We see our trio look to the skies, perhaps for the source of Voldemort's voice, before we're spun down the tracks of Gringotts' underground vaults with Griphook the goblin steering (despite the fact that the carts don't need steering, fact fans). Harry braces himself at the front, Hermione polyjuiced up as Bellatrix is on the right and the top of Ron's head can be seen over Harry's shoulder. They're heading to Bellatrix's vault where they believe a horcrux has been hidden. Down in the lower vaults of Gringotts bank, further protection of their treasure comes in the form of a chained, blind dragon that the goblins keep in check by using Clankers (metal tools used to make a ringing sound. The sound is initially accompanied by a hot knife pressed against its skin and the dragon soon learns the noise is something related to pain). It's this dragon that the trio use to escape the depths of the bank, coincidentally freeing it. We're back to Snape standing outside the cottage. Next, the scene has shifted to Hogwarts again, along with our first sighting of the animated suits of armour courtesy of Professor McGonagall (and in place of the attacking desks in the novel). We see a rather grimy-looking Harry then Voldemort standing proudly ahead of his army of Death Eaters.