Just so you know, during production of PoA, it had to be their supreme luck that it rained every single day of filming...which explains how majority of the scenes looked kinda bleak. It kinda worked well in the end, IMHO because this book was the turning point in the series where things start getting a little darker. But I *do* get what you're saying, Anthony...

I thought the Quidditch scene in PoA *was* undoubtedly shorter than in the first two movies, but I thought it was sufficient. Quidditch did not play an overall importance in PoA as it did in the first 2 books which is why I think the length of it worked fine. I liked the soundtrack used during the scene, it had a very suspenseful feel to it...teamed up with the heavy rain, thunder, lightning and crowd cheering...I thought the bit of Quidditch that he could afford into the timeframe, Cuaron did a great job of!!

The ONLY thing that I have to say I didn't quite like, or didn't quite understand, in the scene was why Cuaron chose to represent the black dog as a shadow and not as the actual dog up in the stands as it happened in the book. I'm guessing he took the more sinister-symbolism approach, like how the tea leaves in Harry's cup formed the Grim. He probably thought that would make a more ominous impact rather than just a dog in the stands. *shrug*

Other than that, hats off to Cuaron for a job well done!! The graphics and animation are definitely improving as the series progresses. I remember at one point in time, there wasn't even supposed to be Quidditch in this film, so hooray for the change of heart!!

Oh my gosh, now I feel really bad! Ever since "Prisoner of Azkaban" was released, I've been blasting it out on various forums because the set looked dull and un-Hogwarts-like. I suppose I never stopped to consider the natural factors -- *kicks herself* -- but jumped straight to conclusions that this was some stylistic, directorial (is that a word?) decision on the part of Cuaron. I guess this sort of thing is bound to happen to people who don't read the set reports and such... I still have to disagree with the idea that the physical darkness of the film fit well with the... um... darkness of the storyline, I guess you could say -- I don't know if those are the right words -- but I do know where you are coming from. If the scene of Voldemort's return in "Goblet of Fire," for example, had a beautiful starry sky and a picket fence around the perimeter of the graveyard, it just wouldn't work at all. I just think that the Three Broomsticks, say, and the Hogwarts Express (before the arrival of the dementors) could have looked a bit more inviting. Okay, that was really off-topic and I apologize, but I really had to address all that.

Back to the Quidditch.... there was an awful lot of Quidditch in the "Prisoner of Azkaban" book. It was the first and only book in which all three of Gryffindor's matches were... detailed, I guess you could say? I'm having a lot of trouble finding the right words for stuff at the moment. I don't really have a problem with them cutting a lot of the Quidditch -- it was just one of those things that had to go for the benefit of retaining most aspects of the larger plot. Some of my friends who saw the movie went absolutely nuts because Oliver Wood never put in an appearance and Gryffindor did not win the Quidditch Cup, but I sort of figured that those parts would have to be scrapped in order to do the Shrieking Shack and Time-Turner bits justice. However, I think it would have been nice if they had shown just a teensy bit more of the one Quidditch match at least, and kept just a little more as it was in the books. Yeah, as ashleigh07 said, the thing with the Grim appearing in the clouds was a tad bit over the top... too melodramatic, in my opinion... Harry falling off the broom was cool though. I liked how the screen got dark except for him at the end of that sequence.

Hehe so now you know. I think fans put the blame card on Cuaron a little too much sometimes. I mean, sure he is the director and is basically in charge of the whole style and technical look of the film, but before a final decision is made, a joined discussion about how the scenes are gonna be done is carried out among him, Heyman, Michael Seresin and Stuart Craig. It's not just about how he wants the scene to look like, he has to work alongside the Director of Photography (Seresin) and Production Designer (Craig) and make sure it *can* be done, y'know what I mean? And of course, in terms of the actual plot and storyline that is discussed together with Kloves and JKR herself.

Sorry for going off-topic there, I can't help myself when I talk about PoA. Back to Quidditch, I thought the names and numbers on the back of their uniforms was a pretty cool addition. More "sport-y" if you know what I mean. I figured out the numbers represent your position on the quidditch field. Like Keeper would most likely be #1 and normally Seeker is always the last position mentioned which explains why it's #7.

No it's not!! I was pretty chuffed too when I saw that Harry's number was 7 coz it was my favorite number.

Yeah of course I'm not denying that it would be great if there was more Quidditch in this movie especially as you've pointed out, there was quite a lot of it in the book. But as I said in my previous post, in terms of its significance, aside from the last match where they won the Cup (mighty shame they couldn't slip that bit in I have to say), it wasn't important enough to give it more screentime.

In the first 2 movies, Quidditch had to be given more attention because of what happens during the match - Harry's broom going out of control and the rogue bludger. Well as you've pointed out, which I'm so stoked that you can see it and acknowledge it, the decision to cut down Quidditch had to be made for the benefit of the Shrieking Shack and Time-Turner sequence which is of course, the more important parts of the book.

Ultimately, the thing everyone has to learn to realize is movies have a time constraint which they have to work with. JKR could afford to go into all the detail of THREE Quidditch matches because books are not bound by a time constraint.

Because that's exactly what happens in that one significant Quidditch scene in PoA...in a nutshell. They were working within a specific timeframe and unfortunately, that was all they could afford. Other more important scenes needed to be given way more screentime than Quidditch.

Of course the books could go into much detail of a Quidditch match. As Anthony has pointed out, there were all THREE matches showcased in book 3. But that's because books don't have a time constraint. JKR can give us even a second-to-second guided play of each match if she wanted to.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it wouldn't have been great to see a bit more Quidditch, of course it would have. I'm just saying that we need to look at things outside the box, outside our own selfish needs. Sadly it can't be really centred around what we want, but what the director and film crew can do within the genre of film and what it encompasses. And when it comes to film, as I've said time and time again, there are many constraints that has to be lived with.

Haha, yeah I suppose...

Nope, didn't like the Quidditch scene. Everything from the random umbrella to those funky goggles...plus it was only like three seconds long. Can that be called a scene?