I a new interview Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II director David Yates discusses the film and Ala Rickman.  He also talks about the theme park and how he couldn’t attend the grand opening this past Spring because he was finishing Deathly Hallows 2.

We hadn’t the chance to speak at the theatrical release of the film, but I must ask what your inspiration was behind the pre-credits sequence which recaps Voldemort stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s grave, then centers on haunting images of Professor Snape in the turrets overlooking Hogwarts.  There’s no dialog, only some sound effects and music. It’s a stunning and heartbreaking way to begin a film.
DY:  I wanted to start with Snape because he’s so integral to the story and we discover so much about him in the movie.  And Alan Rickman is so amazing as an actor, and what I love about him and the way he works is he thinks rather than shows.  I know we usually open the movies with big bangs and bridges falling down and all sorts of stuff, but to open on an actor’s face, quite close was so compelling.  And it’s actually quite an enigmatic expression; he’s not giving away too much, but it completely pulls you in.  And then visually, just this notion of this shape, this black shape, and you’ve seen these Dementors just floating there in the ether and he’s almost like another Dementor.  Visually, that felt quite strong, and also we needed to remind the audience of where we left the last movie.  It was just a nice, neat reminder of our characters are in trouble, this is the guy who’s got the Elder Wand, it’s going to be scary.  So, all those things just rolled together in the first few minutes.

How did you get such completely different feel from each of the films based on this one book
DY:  It was always my intention.  I wanted the first one to feel like a European road movie.  It’s very slow, very gentle, very intimate.  Someone said to me the other day, “I can’t believe you got away with that. It felt like an art house movie, and it was like a blockbuster film. Didn’t Warner’s give you a hard time? Didn’t they watch the first film and say, ‘What are you doing? This is Harry Potter, for God’s sake!’?”  Ironically, Warner’s was so supportive, they absolutely loved that approach, and I wanted the second one to be more of an operatic spectacle and that was always the intention. I didn’t want them to feel very similar.