1. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins with Harry dealing with the very mundane issue of disliking his family, or foster family in his case. It is interesting that Rowling has created a very normal problem for Harry that anyone could relate to within this larger world of magical impossibilities. The larger issue within the book is that Harry believes he is being hunted by Sirius Black, a man he is told killed his parents. In this book Harry deals with many issues, the biggest of which is dealing with the death of his parents.
2. Cuaran’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has a rather dark feel, focusing on issues such as Harry’s struggling to deal with his parents’ deaths and Harry having an apparent killer looking for him. After leaving his home Harry arrives back at school and befriends his new professor, Professor Lupin. Harry also deals with the Dementors who are all over his school due to the escape of Sirius Black, and affect him very strongly. Harry later discovers that Sirius was not the one who killed his parents, and that it was actually Peter Pettigrew, who has been hiding for several years as Ron’s rat. Harry and Hermione travel back in time to save Bugbeak and Sirius, and Sirius helps him to deal with the issue of his parents’ death, while also offering some sort of parental substitute that he has been missing.
3. Cuaran has created a fairly good adaptation for Rowling’s book; however, there were small details and parts of the story that were left out. Cuaran’s moving picture, books, doodles, photographs and such show a very different technology than Rowling does in the book, for example. However, it would be difficult for Cuaran, just as it has been for the other directors we have looked at, to include every detail faithfully. The general plot and story have been carried over into the film and the darker feel from the book was also carried into the film.
4.
A. Deleted Scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eBE8CttgvQ
This youtube video contains some very short clips that were deleted from the movie.
B. Harry Potter on Twitter
This is a twitter account for Harry Potter.
C. Harry Potter Quizes
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/for_children/harry_potter/harry_potter_book_3.html
This website is a fan site that has several quizzes relating to the book and the movie. I took one of the quizzes and it was very interesting and well-made. It asked questions comparing scenes from the book and the movie, so it is a good source of information when comparing the movie adaptation to the book.
5. To many critics, Alfonso Cuarón did a good job in the film in steering the Harry Potter series in a darker direction. How is Prisoner of Azkaban “dark”? And how does this relate to the growing maturity of both the main characters and the actors?
I definitely found this film to be dark; the overall feel was rather dark, and the scenes with the dementors, the apparent death of bugbeak, and the fight between Sirius and Lupin are a few scenes that show how dark the film is. There is not an abundance of violence in this film; however, I feel that the overall dark feel and dark scenes are geared toward an older audience. The fact that the characters in Rowling’s books and the actors playing these characters are getting older means that it would be unconvincing for the books or films to be portrayed as innocent little children, because they are no longer so innocent or little. Therefore, the fact that Cuaran has chosen to make this film more dark gives the film a more mature feel, which suits the characters, the actors, and the audience.
aclafol1 
Everything is good, as usual. Your argument paragraph was persuasive in showing how and why the film was “dark.” In saying it’s dark, I mean really that it’s human because what it indicates is what it means to grow up and face evil in the world in in one self. 10/10. JB.
I agree with Professor Byrne’s post, and your own critical argument. The film’s “dark” feeling leads to a gradual maturing of the characters within the novel and film. The “dark” feeling in this film continues to grow and expand as the series goes on, ending with Voldemort’s death in book seven (and film eight). As everyone gets older (characters and fans), the themes in the novel become more mature and “dark” leading to a loss of innocence that’s expected as people grow older.
yes agreed with the loss of innocence= darker film cinematography. It really reflects their dealing with deaths, and how it’s become their reality
I like your interpretation of the darkness in the film – for me, though the environment and setting were rather grim (a “warmed-over Guillermo del Toro” as one critic called it), the warmth of the characters’s interactions with one another was enough to keep the film from being too despondent. There was a spot of very bright light against a dark backdrop, which I appreciated.