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“Harry Potter” Press Event Coverage at Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Island Of Adventure
Universal Orlando Resort
1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Orlando, FL 32819

To celebrate the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2”, there was a special celebration and some magic throughout the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Island Of Adventure park in Orlando FL. This special event hosted by Warner Bros. celebrated not only the home entertainment release but also a decade of movie history by allowing fans to share their love for the Harry Potter films. During the day on Friday and Saturday, we were given VIP press park tours of Island Of Adventure and Universal Orlando parks. Friday night was packed with excellent press conferences with the following talent and filmmakers: David Barron (Producer of “Half-Blood Prince” and “Deathly Hallow, Part 1 & 2) , David Yates (Director of Order of the Phoenix, “Half-Blood Prince” and “Deathly Hallow, Part 1 & 2) , Rupert Grint (Ron Wesley), Warwick Davis (Griphook/Professor Filius Flitwick), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan), Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley), David Bradley (Argus Filch), David Heyman (Series Producer), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), James Phelps (Fred Weasley), Oliver Phelps (George Weasley), George Harris (Kingsley Shacklebolt), Nick Moran (Scabior) and Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum).

After a great day of touring the parks, Saturday night featured a red carpet media event at Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The energy was very high during the red carpet event which ran from the middle of Island Of Adventure leading into Wizarding World of Harry Potter. During the red carpet, the talent was on hand for interviews as they walked down the red carpet. Even with all the red carpet action, the coolest event of the weekend had to be Warwick Davis conducting the Frog Choir. This event was also held at the opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year, but overall it was a very fun and amazing event.

The guests also had a chance to celebrate this event where they had the chance where they can celebrate their love of “Harry Potter” with the filmmakers, cast members and other fans. The guests were able to attend an exclusive evening gala, autograph signings and Q&A sessions with stars from the “Harry Potter” films, and lastly there were screenings of all eight Harry Potter films – including “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2” – at the AMC Universal Cineplex 20 in Universal CityWalk. Fans of the series were having “Harry Potter” overload. It was an event that could not have been missed. If you were not able to attend this event, you still need to take a trip down to Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Island Of Adventure and check out this amazing attraction.

Blu-ray Review “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint
Directed by: David Yates
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Warner Brothers

Overall Score: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Well this is the end of one of the biggest franchises in film history. “Harry Potter” series has taken us on a journey with eight films ending with this very climactic film. I quite recommend that you watch “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” as a whole for the full effect but this film does stand very well on its own. It is sad to see this series end but this film is a great way to do it. The video on the Blu-ray is really amazing especially since most of the film is so dark. The dark scenes look very crisp and sharp. If you though that “Part 1” was dark, this film puts it to shame but it looks real good. The sound is outstanding boasting a phenomenal DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The surround track is very intense and adds so much to the film. If you get a chance to see this film in 3D though, I would highly recommend that as well since it is very subtle but adds a great dimension to the film. Overall if you are a fan of this series then you have obviously seen this film already numerous times but this release is a must own.

The extras on the disc are damn good for one main reason called “Maximum Movie Mode”. Warner Brothers’ trademark Picture-in-Picture track includes many great interviews, behind the scenes, in-depth special effects analysis, production designs, concept art and more. It is also hosted by Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), producer David Heyman and much more talent from the film. “Focus Points” is a great collection of production featurettes including “Aberforth Dumbledore,” “Deathly Hallows Costume Changes,” “Harry Returns to Hogwarts,” “The Hogwarts Shield,” “The Room of Requirement Set,” “The Fiery Escape,” “Neville’s Stand” and “Molly and Bellatrix.”. “Final Farewells” is short but is a sad goodbye from the franchise cast and crew. There are seven minutes of deleted scenes including “Shell Cottage,” “Grave on the Beach,” “Hog’s Head,” “Marble Staircase: Harry & Ginny,” “Wooden Bridge,” “Hogwart’s Battlements,” “Slytherin Dungeons” and “Marble Staircase: Ron & Hermione.” Not spectacular but definitely worth a watch. “A Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe” runs about about an hour and is one of the best features easily. The duo chat about their favorite parts of the franchise and it is really fun to watch. “The Women of Harry Potter” is a very important look at the strong women from the books and films. “The Goblins of Gringotts” gives some props to the series’ pit-eyed goblins. There is a cool sneak peak at the UK attraction in “Warner Bros. Studio Tour London”. Lastly J.K. Rowling introduces her new website, Pottermore.

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Synopsis: In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.

Interview with Harry and the Potter’s Paul DeGeorge

Paul DeGeorge and his brother Joe started the band Harry and the Potter in 2002. Since that time the duo have been the subject of a documentary titled “We Are Wizards” a film that delves into the impact of the Harry Potter book series on its fans. The group has also been credited with the creation of “Wizard Rock”. Media Mikes had a chance recently to talk with Paul about a variety of things related to the band.

Adam Lawton: What led you to starting Harry and the Potters?
Paul DeGeorge: It kind of started with reading the books. My brother and sort of pop culture at large turned me onto the books. I just thought there was something about the Harry Potter character that was similar to some of my punk rock heroes. I figured it would be cool if Harry had his own punk rock band.

AL: Can you tell us what some of those influences were?
PD: I would say as far as punk rock goes Fugazi as well as Adam and his Package were both real big influences. The thing about Adam and his Package was that they played really fun and goofy punk rock songs that were also smart. I remember being in college reading their tour diaries which made it sound like anyone could get out on the road and have a band.

AL: How did you guys get involved with the “We Are Wizards” documentary?
PD: We had received an email from the directors of the film telling us that they were interested in us being a part of a film they were planning that was going to talk about Harry Potter fans and different theories and phenomena’s related to Harry Potter. We said sure we would be interested and then one day they showed up to film us at our parents house.

AL: How was your experience with the filming?
PD: It was fun! Every two or three months the guys would pop up at a show or something and start shooting. As with most documentaries they use only a small portion of what they shoot. They shot some of our coolest shows ever played and I wish I could see some of the footage. I remember they were at one show in Brooklyn and it was a bigger show at a newer venue. At night I guess it’s a pretty intense place so they had their normal security crew there who were these huge dudes. These guys were patting down every 12 year old that was trying to get into the show. It started to freak everyone out so we moved the show to the space next door and it was really great. The place we had the show at now has shows pretty regular and is called Death by Audio.

AL: What is your take on being dubbed the originators of “Wizard Rock”?
PD: I guess we were in the right place and right time. (Laughs) We didn’t set out with any purpose to create a genre. A lot of what our band is about fostering the DIY punk spirit of doing things for yourself.

AL: Other than the show you already mentioned are there any others that stick out?
PD: We are all about pushing the boundaries of what you would expect a concert to be. From the start we were trying to do rock shows in libraries. The library is already a safe all ages places for anyone to go to. No one gets turned away at the library. We don’t want people to be turned away from our shows and the library is that kind of space for us.

AL: Can you tell us about the Harry Potter Alliance?
PD: The idea behind the Harry Potter Alliance was to form a real world Dumbledore’s Army and become the heroes that we read about. The books are really empowering and tell the storey of teens who all stick together to help change the world. We wanted to use the premise of the books to get youth involved with social activism and social justice issues. We try to draw parallels out of the books and relate them to real social and political issues. One of the current campaigns we are working on is that we are trying to get Harry Potter fans to lobby Warner Brothers who control all the merchandising related to the films to make their Harry Potter chocolate fair trade chocolate. Chocolate is notorious for really bad working conditions especially along the Ivory Coast where about 2/3rds of the worlds chocolate comes from. The main idea behind the campaign is to educate Harry Potter fans about the fair trade issues. We also have the opportunity to use our power as Harry Potter fans to maybe affect change on a large corporate level. We can use our leverage as an organization to get our message into the press which will hopefully influence Warner Brothers to change their business practices. We really want to tryand use Harry Potter as a tool to create global citizenship.

AL: What other upcoming plans do you have for the band?
PD: We just finished a two month summer tour and we are going to take it easy during the fall. I think the biggest thing on the horizon for us as of right now is we are in the planning stages for our annual Christmas shows. We have been doing these shows for a few years now in our home base of Boston, MA. This year will be our 7^th annual Yule Ball in Boston. Last year we branched out to New York and Philadelphia which we plan to do again this year. We might possibly being do one other city but I can’t say too much about that just yet.

For more info on Harry and the Potters you can go to www.harryandthepotters.com

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“Harry Potter” Press Event Coverage at Wizarding World of Harry Potter

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