The Half-Blood Prince Teaser Trailer

Wow. Really, really long time no blog.

Today the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince teaser trailer was released (and Pat, Courtney and I waited to watch it together, which was good fun!). As the film series has progressed, I've become more and more interested in how each film has been marketed. As WB has realised the power of the Internet and the web-based fandom, more and more has been released prior to the film, to the point almost too much was released for Order of the Phoenix (and much of which I therefore purposely avoided).

This time around, however, it has been completely different. As compared to getting our first lot of photos nine months ahead, and the first teaser trailer six months ahead, instead it was six and five months ahead, which left many fans (myself included) excited at even a rumour of the trailer being with the film! Tonight, when the trailer has finally arrived, it is quite different to its predecessors, who in the past have often been full of lots of quick glimpses, whereas tonight we got almost a whole scene. It feels as if WB has completely changed it's marketing strategy for the film.

While this was a surprise when I first encountered it, as I think about it, why not? First of all, while they are part of a series, each is a different film, and like anything, should be treated as such. Half-Blood Prince has a different, more linear, plot, one that perhaps does not lend itself to an episodic trailer like the others. Also, it is the first film to be released post-Deathly Hallows, as compared to Order of the Phoenix, which was released while the hype was greatest, almost to the point it could have been overwhelming to people out of the fandom. A longer gap gives more time for people to begin to become interested again. Finally, it is the first film since Chamber of Secrets to feature a returning director. Of course, with Order of the Phoenix marketing through trailers was more essential than ever - your average Harry Potter fan had never seen a David Yates film, and therefore had no idea what to expect. This time around, the previous film could almost be thought of as the real teaser trailer for the coming films. There was less need to 'wow' and excite us like last time.

This trailer left me intrigued more than anything else. It appeared simple, but on more watches I noticed tiny things - for example, I do not think the scenes in Dumbledore's office at the start match with the memory shown, as he says "the most important memory he has collected", which is strange wording when talking about your own memory (as the memory of young Tom Riddle in the trailer is). In addition, the book calls Slughorn's memory the most important. More than likely it is just clever trailer editing (and makes me more interested in the process of editing trailers). Other points of note include the strange wheat field (is that Fenrir or the older-young Tom Riddle?) and the small shots of Ron (after the poisioning) and Ginny (outside during the battle I think), no Hermione or Slughorn, and both this trailer and the incredibly short IMAX one finished with quotes almost word-for-word from the book.

Four final things I have to mention - Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, just from the trailer looks to be an incredible young actor for his age (better than Dan, Rupert and Emma at his age) and reminds me of Haley Joel Osmont in The Sixth Sense. The cinematography looks brilliant as always. The effect with the Pensieve is already interesting and I'm looking forward to hearing from visual/special effects about that one (or is it just water? To me it looks slightly thicker, or something), and finally - the music had me hooked immediately. I hope that is a clear sign of the score to come, or, in fact the whole film to come!

Can't it be December already...?