Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
I was trying to think about how you might shorten the wilderness scenes and I kept running into things that needed to stay in.
In the first place, let's define what we're talking about. The "wandering aimlessly in the woods" section starts with the frantic escape from the Ministry of Magic (after stealing the locket from Umbridge) and ends with the trio's capture and transportation to Malfoy Manor. Right?
Okay, in between we've got to keep:
-- The visit to Luna's home, where the trio learn the legend of the Deathly Hallows (and that Luna is a prisoner of the Dark Forces). Plus, it's kind of a fun scene and a thrilling escape.
-- Ron's disaffection and departure.
-- Harry and Hermione's visit to Godric Hollow, the visit to the graveyard and the battle with Nagani there.
-- The appearance of the mysterious stag, leading Harry to the discovery of the Sword of Gryffendor in the pond -- leading to the return of Ron and the destruction of the locket.
Everything else can be summed up by a nice music montage, but I don't see how you can leave these scenes out. I'm also not sure about the night where the trio overhear the refugees on the riverbank -- there's some important info imparted there (and an important character introduced), but I guess you could work that in somewhere else.
Certainly there's enough in the pre Malfoy Manor stuff for a whole movie -- the escape from Privet Lane (with the midair battle), the wedding at the Wursley's, the escape to the Order of the Phoenix hideout and the raid on the Ministry ... all before the wilderness chapters.
Hope they don't break it with a cliffhanger -- say, just after the trio is captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. Tought to generate much drama when 95 percent of your audience knows what's going to happen.