One of the first shots used is of Hagrid. He is addressing all of the children and giving them instructions. Hagrid is an important character at this point and the well being of all of the students depends on him and his power is emphasised with a low angle look at him. Compared to a normal human Hagrid is abnormal tall and large but as in real life he's just a slightly larger than average sized man, shots have to be used strategically to make him look even bigger. If I didn't know the character of Hagrid, at this point of the scene I would probably think he was a threatening character because of what he looks like and the way he is presented with camera shots, evil characters are often filmed at a low angle to make them look above everyone else. With Hagrid though, the low angle is purely just to emphasise his size and dominance.
This is a particularly interesting shot that primarily included Hagrid, Ron and Harry as the focus but coming in from the background you can also see Hermione and some other students approaching. At this point, no one else apart from Harry is familiar with Hagrid so this is the first time they're experiencing his vast size. An over the shoulder high angle has been used to make the students look way below Hagrid and to show their feelings and thoughts when they see how big Hagrid is. By making the children look a lot smaller than average at first it helps the audience to understand what the children must have been thinking. Without speaking to or getting to know Hagrid, they were probably scared of him to the camera angle used enforces this idea.
A wide angle is used as the students approach Hogwarts for the first time. In the wide angle we can see the lights of the boats and silhouettes of the students, in the mid ground we can see a mysterious fog that is enticing and makes the Hogwarts building in the background immediately look mysterious. I don't think that Hogwarts is looked up at from a low angle shot in this scene but because of it's huge size and the fact it's based upon some sort of rock, it does look as though everyone approaching in the boats are probably looking up at it in awe of it's size and mystical appearance. All of the students and even Hagrid at the front look tiny in comparison to Hogwarts and although Hogwarts is a building not a character, we know that it's going to be one of the most important things in the film as it over takes even the largest character in size, it has the most wow factor out of everything we've been introduced to so far.
The camera switches from the students approaching Hogwarts, with the school as the main focus of the shot, to a medium shot of Harry and Ron's faces as they approach the school. The boys are looking up which confirms to the audience that Hogwarts is probably bigger and more grand than anything the boys have seen before as they have to gaze up to clearly see what it all looks like. The camera is close enough to the boys for us to see the expressions on their faces as they look at Hogwarts for the first time, Ron has his mouth wide open which is a sign of real shock and Harry is close to that but as a more reserved character than Ron he is probably holding some of his amazement in.
This whole scene is full of emphasis as this is the very start of everything that will happen in Hogwarts during Harry and Ron's time as students. I think it's correct that Hagrid and Hogwarts have been presented as extremely grand and shocking characters as this is one of the most iconic moments of the whole Harry Potter series and if the students didn't look impressed or if everything just looked 'average' to the audience, it wouldn't intrigue us to watch more or think that there would be exciting things to come.
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