I love the Harry Potter fandom. Its fans are just so… creative.
In trying to better organize the menus on this website (above), I decided to create (and expand) a fandom section. What better place to start than with the most-viewed Harry Potter fan film currently on YouTube. With close to 1.4 million views (about 300K more than The OMEn Chronicles), there are so many reasons why this awesome fan film has been viewed so much. It’s not just “good for a fan film”. I mean, it’s really good. Go ahead and watch it now (it’s 17 minutes):
Wasn’t that awesome?! I hope you agree! Then again, if you go to the main video on YouTube, you might come across some commenters who criticize this and that for not being “canon”, or others who criticize the less-than-Hollywood-quality special effects. Let’s take a moment to remember that this is a fan film without a Hollywood budget and that, all things considered, the resulting product is truly spectacular.
Setting: Yes. According to “canon”, this battle did not take place on a beach. However, I love that the filmmakers chose this place. Firstly, because it’s such a beautiful location. If you don’t agree, take another look at the image at the top of this post! Secondly, because, as Ariana says again and again, “I want to be safe”, under normal circumstances, this would be a “safe” and peaceful place. I love how the film starts on the deserted beach and the four of them apparate onto the beach, and at the end, the four of them apparate away, leaving the deserted beach once again peaceful behind them.
Actors: All the actors did so well. Sure, a younger actress could have been chosen for Ariana, but honestly, she’s just how I pictured Ariana in my head when I first read Deathly Hallows. It may not seem like Aberforth to pick a fight, but perhaps it was Ariana’s death who changed him into the introverted, goat-loving, bitter man that he became. And when Gellert says that he does not know love, Albus’s reaction to that is perfect. You can see the nature of the relationship between the two characters in this fan film far better than the few sentences that Jo gave us in Deathly Hallows.
Music: The epic music was epic. The score was just brilliant. It evokes such a range of emotions, and I know that I would not have loved this fan film as much as I do if not for the music. Being a musician and sometimes-composer myself, I might be more than a little jealous of the composers’ talents. I love the bits with piano (my primary instrument)! You can listen to the music without the dialogue (in other words, the soundtrack) at SoundCloud.
Writing: Not that the dialogue was bad or that I didn’t like listening to it! Quite the opposite. In fact, I thought that the screenwriting for this fan film was very impressive. I loved that it was so rooted in JKR’s canon, it’s almost as though the dialogue was pulled directly from the book, which is definitely not the case for the OMEn Chronicles.
Visual and sound effects: Some might criticize the effects of this fan film for being sub-par, but honestly, this film features the best magical visual and sound effects that I have seen from any fan film ever.
And these are the reasons why this fan film has garnered over 1.3 million views!
Severus Snape and the Marauders
The filmmakers need your help, though. They are looking to produce a second fan film, called Severus Snape and the Marauders, but they want to be able to produce it on a larger budget than they had for this film. Since this film, The Greater Good, was so good, I trust them to produce an even greater second film with more money to back the project.
How can you support the project, though? By donating at Indiegogo! View their video preview below!
If you aren’t able to support the project by donating, do them a favor and at least share it! There are sharing buttons on their Indiegogo page. Or, you’re welcome to follow @fictionrow on Twitter and retweet every time I mention it, because I plan to signal boost it a few times over the next two weeks! July 8th is the deadline for this “fixed funding” campaign (which means that they won’t get any money unless they reach their goal of $39,000). There are even perks to donating!
Thoughts about The Greater Good? About Severus Snape and the Marauders? Share in the comments!
