Film Openings: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Genre: Adventure/ Family/ Fantasy/ Mystery
Box Office (gross): $878, 979, 634 (worldwide)
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Studio: Heyday Films, 1492 Pictures
Critical Acclaim: The film was nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards: Best Production Design, Sound and Achievement in visual effects
Success and reception: No. 1 box office for 2 non-consecutive weekends and the film was the 2nd highest-grossing film worldwide in 2002 (9th in the US and Canada)

Entertainment Weekly stated: "Among the things this Harry Potter does well indeed is deepen the darker, more frightening atmosphere for audiences. this is as it should be. Harry's story is supposed to get darker."

The New York Times reported: "Instead of feeling stirred you may feel battered and worn down, but not, in the end, too terribly disappointed."

Narrative

The scene begins with a black screen where a non-diegetic sound motif begins to play. A long shot of clouds fades in and zooms closer as the Warner Bros ident appears. The movie score increases in pace as the ident disappears and the title emerges from the clouds. A non-diegetic sound effect resembling the inferred sound of a wand plays along with the music. As the camera moves from the clouds the music gets quieter and we are shown an establishing shot of a mildly urban neighborhood to which the music changes and we are shown a middle long shot (from the view of a window) of Harry Potter. A variety of camera shots such as a point-of-view shot and eye-line-match is used to put across to the audience that he is looking through a book. An over-the-shoulder-shot in deep focus is used to show an owl where the realism is enhanced with the use of the diegetic sound of the owl's biting of the cage. A close up shot introduces a female character, Aunt Petunia and a long shot follows this to provide a sense of the house and its furnishings as well as helping the audience to infer more from the mis-en-scene. A crane shot is used to introduce 2 more characters, Vernon and Dudley, both characters remarkably similar in arrogance and attire. Several middle close up and middle shots are used along with shot-reverse-shot to convey the relationship Harry Potter shares with the family. For example, there is also a middle shot which tracks Dudley who pushes into the side of Harry, suggesting hostility between the two. As the scene begins to end, a middle shot of the characters is used along side non-diegetic music which grows heavy to suggest authority and dominance above Harry.