Goblet of Fire Wins at DVD Awards

The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVD won a technical award at "The 9th Annual DVD Awards with Leonard Maltin." B1Media, the company which designed the Welcome menu on the GoF DVD, was named winner for "Major Technical - Best Menu Design."

The interactive DVD menus boasted a 3D castle, a fully animated fire-breathing dragon and an amazingly rich view of the entire “Goblet” world. “We’re honored that this award recognized the elaborate and expressive 3D achievement and strong sense of design the menus displayed,” said B1 Producer, John C. Pohl. “The artistic excellence of these menus contributed to an incredible DVD experience and was a result of the sacrifice that our 3D, compositing, animation and design teams made.”

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

'Goblet of Fire' HD DVD Details Emerge

Warner Bros. has released details and cover images of the HD DVD version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, it was reported today.

The discs will be presented in Dolby TrueHD sound and will include an "In-Movie Experience" (IME), as well as all the extra features included in the standard edition.

The release date is unknown. Also unknown is how this relates to recent news that all of the standard Potter DVDs will be put on hiatus by early 2007.

So, what's IME? According to the marketing lingo:

Warner Home Video HD DVD ... provides a new level of interactivity, giving instant access to extra features with the debut of a seamless menu-bar that allows viewers to enjoy features and settings without leaving or interrupting the film.

And what's so special about HD DVD in general? It "provides six-times better resolution than standard DVD," according to the official site. "It's as simple as that. This of course translates to six-times more explosiony-explosions, six-times more impassioned passion and six-times more frenzied shark frenzies. Oh, and six-times the goose bumps."

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Transcripts of JK Rowling's Charity Reading Q&A

The two nights of Harry, Carrie and Garp at Radio City Music Hall in New York City last week had most of us in attendance scribbling notes, sneaking photos and reflecting. Unfortunately that meant we didn't have the complete, exact text of what JK Rowling said in response to fan questions... until now.

What follows is a transcript of the second night's highlights, courtesy MSN Video, with pregnant pauses, sighs, laughs and cheers intact (it's unknown if the first night's video will be made available, but you can read those highlights courtesy Veritaserum).

Read the complete transcript here.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

Midges Affect Potter Film Crew in Scottish Highlands

This is North Scotland has a rather unusual story about filming for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It would seem the Midges (pesky gnat-like creatures) were so bad in the Highlands this summer, that technical crews working on the film had to take refuge under a protective tarp in order to complete their work for the fifth Potter movie.

A special effects team had the job of moulding plaster casts of rocks at the weekendat stony outcrops in Glen Nevis, and along the Road to the Isles. But clouds of midges meant the film's technicians had to work under tarpaulins, using protective headgear.

The technicians' task is to make templates of enormous Highland rocks. The resulting impressions will then be studio manufactured into rubbery rocks and transported to Hogsmeade, the wizarding village which is home to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft.

At Hogsmeade, the realistic-looking finished articles will be used to provide visual continuity for the film - replicating some of the rugged mountain-side scenery filmed earlier this year in the Highlands.

"Most of the filming was done earlier this year but the artificial rocks will blend in with a shooting sequence at Hogsmeade. The technicians have learned a lot about the rockfaces in Glenfinnan and Lochailort, and they've also found out plenty about the midges. In fact, we've been kidding the team on that the midges are so bad this July, they've even been attacking the clegs (horseflies)."

Principle filming for Order of the Phoenix continues at Leavesden Studios in London, England, with location shoots ongoing as well. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is due in theaters next July.

(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)

Video of JKR's Readings in NY Online

For all those Harry Potter fans who could not attend An Evening with Harry, Carrie & Garp last week, Scholastic has released a stream of the event.

The video will only be available free of charge for two days and beginning on Saturday until the end of the month, highlights will be available on demand.

You can read HPANA's live accounts of the event here and here and read a transcript of the highlights here.

(SOURCE: HPANA)

2007 'Potter' Calendars Now Available

The 2007 Harry Potter calendars are now available from Amazon. Each of the calendars includes images from the first four films, with descriptions as well as spotlights on the characters from the movies.

The calendars, published by the Andrews McMeel Publishing company, can be ordered from Amazon:

Wall Calendar: Each monthly spread features a movie poster from one of the four incredibly popular Harry Potter films.

Mini Wall Calendar: One of the movie franchise's larger-than-life characters is spotlighted in multiple photos each month in this calendar spanning all four films.

Day-to-Day Calendar: The most thrilling images from all four films have been chosen for the daily pages of this retrospective calendar. Each photo is captioned and identified by movie.

2007 Desk Calendar: The weekly spreads of this hardcover calendar with concealed spiral binding contain photos from the four movies in the Harry Potter series.

None of the 2007 calendars include any images from the upcoming Order of the Phoenix.

(SOURCE: HPANA)