The Vitality of Editing: Final Scene in Harry Potter

This scene from the final Harry Potter film relies heavily on editing to convey the drama of the series' ending (sorry if this spoils it for you, Mathew). 

The music behind the duel adds to its intensity. At first, the only sound audible is Harry and Voldemort crawling on the rubble to their wands. This is also slowed down, building the intensity. As soon as they stand up, the orchestra begins, a fast and frantic tune. The orchestra is only interupted when Neville destroys Voldemort's snake, and the sword swishes through the air. Then - silence. The silence is also important to the scene because it is short, making it significant, and allowing for the drama to catch up from the slow-mo scenes. The orchestra builds back up again, for the last time, as Harry and Voldemort finish out their duel. The instruments steadily increase loudness until Voldemort's loss and death, which is when the instruments fade away. As the music fades, a faint dying scream can be heard from Voldemort, echoing in the wind. The audio editing for this scene is essential in captuing its tone, and can tell a dramatic story even without the visual component of the scene. 

The aesthetic of the setting is dark and murky. The color gradient is mainly gray, with the exception being the flashes of light emitted from the wands during the duel. This is significant because it not only highlights the vibrancy of the magic, but also contrasts it to the war-torn school that they are fighting on. The colors of the setting capture the idea of desolation and darkness. 

The shots in this scene are cut obviously because of the many storylines that the movie must complete within these last, few minutes. It cuts from close-ups/medium close-ups of Voldemort, to Harry, to capture both of their intense, angry faces as they duel. It then cuts away to the snake chasing Ron and Hermione (and we see the snake in low angle shot, making it look huge), and then back again to an extreme close up of Voldemort's face as he duels Harry. These obvious cuts also convey that all of these dramatic events are occuring simultaneously, adding even more intensity to them.