Analysis of Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets

I did an analysis of one of my favourite cues from that movie, and would like to share it with you the hope, that you can learn something from it.

I would really like to know, if you find this useful or not.

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1m3 Vernon Gathers Family (2:16-2:58)

The first cue for analysis is a cue that I’ve always admired. Everytime I’ve seen this film I’ve always enjoyed the pure nature of this cue. On the ‘Chamber of Secrets’ DVD this cue enters about 2 minutes and 16 seconds in right were Harry’s uncle Vernon says ‘Which should be any minute’ and lasts until 2:58 were Harry opens his bedroom door. It is called ‘Vernon gathers family’ on the cue sheet. I have not been able to find it on any soundtrack CD, so please tell me if you find it. I strongly encourage you to loop the time code of the cue in going through this analysis - as I’ve done transcribing it. Film music analysis can not be done with words nor music sheets alone, so use your eyes and ears to see and hear everything I’m talking about.

During this analysis I want you to keep the genre of the film and characters in mind. The series is a childish fantasy world with caricatures more than characters in many cases providing the personalia of the story. Many of them sinister ones who make everything they can to prevent Harry and his friends from doing what they do and make their life miserable. The music is reflective of this in the orchestration and the way it mimics the play.

The cue is divided in two segments. The first 36 seconds is in the dining room with Dudley, Vernon and Petunia Dursley along with Harry. Vernon is planing the dinner and how everyone - including Harry - should act during the visit of the Masons. In Harry’s case he is just told to stay away and not disturb (which he doesn’t obey because of Dobby, but we don’t know that yet). The second half which last 6 seconds takes place upstairs with Harry opening the bedroom door and discovering Dobby the house elf.

The characters in this cue are then The Dursley’s, Harry’s unpleasant uncle and aunt with their son that see Harry as a burden to their otherwise perfect life with Dudley as their sunshine child - a vicious egoist of a spoiled child.

The character of Harry is at this point wondering why none of his friends have written him a letter - he is unknown to the fact that Dobby who we meet in this cue has a role in this - After a great year at Hogwarts he feels lost in this trap of his only biological family.

Lastly we meet Dobby for the first time. During this cue his role is not explained further.

Musically speaking John Williams have chosen a tempo of MM95. Because of the way the music plays to fit the picture the tempo goes from anywhere between MM93 and up to about MM100, but generally sticking to MM95. Generally all the long notes in the cue has a slightly faster tempo than the short notes. Writing out the cue in MM95 we get 18 measures in 4/4 bar 12 being somewhat a 5/8 bar.

Because of all the dialog the orchestration is kept to a minimum of a string orchestra and from what I can make out of it, 3 flutes and celesta. The cue is largely a melodic cue. The first 15 bars the strings play a melody almost always in three octaves. In the first segment the flutes and celesta merely play three staccato chords and in the last segment the celesta just provides an arpeggiated chord. Everything else is not harmonized, only octaves laying out the melody.

The melody of the strings starts on Bb2 (C4 being middle C) with the violas and cellos violins playing an octave above and the basses an octave below. Violas and cellos are the only ones playing the entire melody with violins largely enhancing the top notes of the melody and basses the low notes.

Planing out the cue it would seem that Vernon finishes his line ‘...be any minute’ on beat 1 of bar 1 in the rhythm of a quaver followed by 4 semiquavers. Vernon then waves the family to him on 2& thus setting up to start the music on beat 3 with a minim on Bb2 sliding up to Eb on the next downbeat, again nicely conducted by Vernon coughing on a quaver triplet up to the downbeat and again on the downbeat.

A brief pause on 1 until Vernon says ‘Now...’ on 2 an continuing to talk through bar 2, as the music plays a series of quavers grouped in two suggesting an Eb harmonic minor altering between dominant-root and leading note-root.

Bar 3 sees the music modulating to an E minor feel starting on a minim root ending on the dominant note in the brief pause after Vernon’s ‘Petunia’ said in a quintuplet manner between beat 2 and 3. He then continues and is interrupted by the music in bar 4 that has returned down a half step to Eb.

Bar 4 is very similar to bar 2 in the music only that the quaver figure is now occupying the last 5 quavers of the bar but still suggesting the same source scale. Petunia then does a wonderful job of singing her line unpitched. In the brief pause between the musics beat 1& and 2& Petunia cuts Vernon off at 1& with her line ‘In the lounge’ as three consecutive semiquavers. The flutes each cover an Eb minor triad in first inversion as a short articulated tenuto chord with Eb6 as the top note. Celesta doubles the flutes at pitch. Continuing her line ‘...waiting to...’ falls perfectly as three semiquavers on the second through fourth semiquaver of beat 3 and ‘...welcome them...’ continues as three quaver triplets on beat 4.

Bar 5 starts with three quaver triplets from Petunia continuing her line ‘...graciously...’. This word is strongly emphasized by the music crescending to A3 suggesting D minor ending on a short note on the third beat giving Vernon a soft 3& for his ‘Good’ continuing ‘...and...’ on 4& thus framing the crochet slide from the dominant up to the returning of Eb harmonic minor of beat 6.

‘...Dudley?’ falls as a sort of flam on the downbeat with the camera cutting to a 2-shot of Harry and Dudley on the last syllable of Vernon’s line on the second quaver triplet of the bar. Even though the music is the same as bar 2, the flute and celesta enters with the same chord as before on beat 2 introducing Dudley’s role in this evening.

Bar 7 being the same in the strings as bar 3 in E minor, we have a cut back to a 2-shot of the parents on the second quaver of the bar with Vernon uttering ‘Excellent’ as three quaver triplets starting on the second quaver triplet of the bar thus creating a nice rhythmic counterpoint to the camera cut. Vernon then clutches his fist right on beat 3 accentuated by the flute/celesta chord now a minor second up to fit the harmony of the bar.

The next 3 bars (8, 9 and 10) are a small portion of spotting genious. The music of bar 8 plays an Eb minim sliding down a tritone with a pause on the fourth beat. Vernon takes his first step towards Harry directly on the first beat and the camera starts panning to embrace the three of them, stopping about 3 quavers in to bar 9, where the music repeats bar 8 a minor second below. The music then leaves room for Vernon’s question ‘And you?’ directed at Harry, which falls on two quavers from 3&. Bar 10 ends the first musical segment leading in to the first close-up of Harry right before the second beat, the music playing a minor second on two crochets.

Harry then continues the dialog without music for 6 beats. Counting on bar 12 somewhat fits as a 5/8 bar with a medium shot back to the three Dursley’s on the second beat (quavers in this bar) Vernon picking the dialog up as 4 quaver triplets from the third of its kind the bar with his line ‘Too right you will...’ with the music starting almost as bar 1 and 2 with the only difference being the length of the dominant note. Bar 12 being an exact replica of bar 2 with Vernon’s dialog talking about the biggest deal of his career.

Bar 13 being nearly a replica of bar 3 goes up a fifth this time in stead of down a fourth ending on beat 3 thus making Vernon really accentuate his warning ‘... and you will...’ as the last 3 quavers of the bar continuing in to bar 14 as a crochet followed by three quavers with ‘...not mess it up.’ ‘Not’ and ‘up’ being emphasized by the descending minor sixth.

Bar 16 starts with a cut to a close-up of Harry lasting for two beats with the violins holding a Bb4 while the celesta plays a combination of a minor third down from Bb4 and up again as quaver triplets in the right hand and an arpeggiated G major seven sharp 5 chord (Gmaj7#5) as semiquavers in the left hand. On the third beat the picture cuts to upstairs for the last two beats of the bar. Bar 17 continues the music while the camera zooms in and the violins start to trill between Bb4 and Cb5 (a minor second) on beat 4 as Harry grabs the door handle and continues the trill through the cut to door opening on bar 18 with a strong crescendo as the camera zooms in on Harry’s face. The music stops with an abrupt effect as the camera settles on Harry’s face - before showing what’s in the room.

After all this technical transcription and analysis we see that what makes this cue so musical and what makes Petunia sing her lines is Williams’s clever choice of tempo and phrasing. Throughout the cue he has chosen a sparse orchestration and not even harmonized the melody so as to not speak too much during the lively conversation. He has especially made a good accompaniment to Vernon’s sinister remarks using pauses, and the good use of the Dursley’s theme that goes up and down in harmonic source for almost every bar and blends half note steps and leaps of fourths a great deal makes a very good background as to what the three really feel of Harry.

The three staccato chords has been used to punctuate the three Dursley’s extravagant statements and Williams has planned out the cue so as the camera movements pick-up or sets the start of musical phrases.

As you’ve read this an gone through the video loop countless of times, I hope that you appreciate all those things that went in to planning this cue from Williams. None of this is coincidental and observing cues of this standard reveals how much film composing is a tough craft, so as to make it musical and meaningful instead of ‘moods’ and ‘melodies’.

Feel free to write me with any additions you might have to my analysis both musical and dramatical, and I will be happy to include it were appropriate, and lastly I hope you’ve learnt as much from reading and watching this cue as I’ve had transcribing and analysing it.

Thomas Bryla © 2010 thomas@bryla.dk - www.thomas.bryla.dk

I hope this will be more useful with a sheet:

Sheet