Blog #1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

By Kaitlynne Birkett

    One of the few films I saw over break was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  This movie continued the journeys of Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, as they desperately search for a way to defeat the mass murderer, Lord Voldemort.  The series is based upon J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, a huge phenomenon that began in the nineties and has continued a couple decades after.  This movie demonstrates many examples of technological, economic, and cultural convergence.

    Technological convergence is the combination of different types of media to create a digital media form, and is extremely prominent in the seventh Harry Potter film.  The books series the movies are derived from were print turned to a live action film.  Advertising for the movie came through many different forms like trailers before movies, Youtube videos, websites, newspaper advertisements, and commercials over the radio.  By extending to so many different forms of media, the movie was able to become well-recognized and well-known by reaching out to everyone.

    Economic convergence is where the creation of a digital media form comes from a consolidation, or combination, of companies.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was produced by Warner Brothers and Heyday Films, with additional international contributors.  In addition, the release of the Harry Potter film was covered by news stations, local and national all around the world, and articles in both magazines and newspapers gave reviews on the movie.  User experience was also amplified through IMAX, and Part 2 will also be offered in IMAX in addition to three-dimensional and D-BOX motion code (“motion stimulation systems” Wikipedia calls it).  By offering the film with a wide range of viewer experiences, more companies assist in the making of the film, such as D-BOX technologies and IMAX Corporations.

    Lastly, cultural convergence is especially relative to Harry Potter.  J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, is a British author who lives in Scotland.  The books first became popular in the United Kingdom, then crossed the Atlantic to America as it spread to the rest of the world.  The book has currently been translated into 65 languages.  Warner Brothers, one of the production companies, is located in the United States, while Heyday Films, the other production company, is located in England.  The producer is David Heyman, head of the British Heyday Films.  David Yates, the director, is also from Britain, while Steve Kloves, the screenwriter, is from the United States of America.  Nearly all of the actors and actresses featured in the film are from England, with others from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.  Filming took place at Leavesden Studios and Pinewood Studios, both located in England.  The score for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was created by Alexandre Desplat, a French composer.  The film reached far and wide for people to create it, truly demonstrating cultural convergence.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

While not over break, this was the most recent movie I have seen that meets the criteria for this assignment so I’m running with it. Orz

This film provides a good example of technological convergence in several ways. The original basis of the movie was a console game by the same name for the playstation 2, released in 2003 and produced by Ubisoft. The film also incorporates elements of the subsequent sequels while weaving its own creative take on the world set up in the games with an original story. Before being adapted into a movie in 2010, the series of games were released for other platforms, including the PC and mobile phones in addition to the other consoles. Prince of Persia is also the most successful movie based on a video game to date, thereby showing the viability of cross-media adaptation for other media besides just books.

This film also demonstrates the qualities of cultural convergence. Loosely based off of some characters of Persian mythology and the myths of Malik-Shah I, Nizam al-Mulk, and Hassan-i Sabbah, it adapts them for a more modern audience. While not on the scale of cross-border cultural convergence, there is something to be said about the convergence of video gaming and movie watching in this instance. While common for books to become movies, it is still quite rare for video games to make the transition. Laura Croft of the tomb raider series the other notable exception. This represents a convergence in the entertainment sector and, while not a blockbuster hit, with the reasonable financial success of the movie, a possible sign of things to come.

Additionally, this film is an example of economic convergence. The studio that produced the film was Jerry Bruckheimer Films and was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film debuted at #3 at the U.S. box office. In its first 3 days of release the film grossed $30.1 million, making it the third highest opening for a film adapted from a video game. While Disney had hoped it to be its new Pirates of the Caribbean, the film’s lower than desired numbers made this unlikely. In the end, the film grossed $335 million worldwide, making it the most successful film based on a video game to date, if somewhat below what Disney had initially desired. To date, home sales of the DVDs and Blue-ray discs have generated over $33 million.