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JULY 1, 2004 at 1:51 AM
Posted by CHEESER
Source: HPANA
After making international headlines and enduring the wrath
of Harry Potter author JK Rowling herself, the person responsible for releasing a false title -- Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé -- for the series' sixth book offers an apology and explanation in an interview with HPANA.
The real title of book 6 -- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince -- popped up on Rowling's official site just days after the hoax (perhaps because of the hoax?). It has since been confirmed by the author.
The prankster, a 19-year-old male student at the University of Florida, speaks:
Firstly I would like to offer two apologies. I owe an apology to all of the Harry Potter fans that I lied to; I never thought my hoax would go so far and I felt awful when some of you got so excited about knowing the title. I am sorry. I also would like to apologize to J.K. Rowling, as I did an awful thing by impersonating her. I consider her a literary genius.
In the end, the hoax was all in good fun. I thought the title was rather funny and had hoped that at least some people would get a good chuckle out of it.
And now, explained in full, here's what happened -- straight from the horse's mouth:
Do you have any official connection to JKR, Warner Bros., or the book publishers?
No, I have no connection to them whatsoever.
What made you think of doing this, and specifically, the timing of it?
I had recently finished a re-reading of Order of the Phoenix and it got me excited about the Harry Potter series again. As a result of that excitement, I stumbled upon JKR's website for the first time and was fascinated by the unopenable door. I also thought it was great that she was dispelling some of the rumors about the series. Somehow I put two and two together and the hoax clicked in my mind.
The timing of the event was never planned; it was simple dumb luck on my part that I released the hoax at the start of a weekend so that it [became] more effective.
How did you do it?
A hobby of mine is computer graphics/video editing, so I knew I could produce a realistic video. I realized that this was exactly what I needed to make the hoax believable.
I used two programs: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. In Photoshop I edited and manipulated pictures from JKR's site, and in After Effects I animated them into the finished video. I did not use [Macromedia] Flash at all. The blue bars (see image) at the bottom and top are a result of me changing the aspect ratio of the video without distorting it so that I could compress it into an MPEG file. I whipped the video up in about two hours.
As far as the "message" was concerned, I just tried to mimic JKR's style as much as possible. I came up with the title Pillar of Storgé, trying to formulate something with a hidden meaning that people would be able to figure out. It's an ugly title, but I'm quite fond of it.
What did you expect as a result of the hoax? Did you think it would receive the worldwide press it garnered?
I NEVER expected this much attention. I even wondered if anyone would believe it at all. My original goal of the hoax was that a rumor about the title would slowly creep through the Harry Potter community (much like the Green Flame Torch rumor), and that JKR would eventually dispel it as a myth (perhaps releasing some real information while doing so) on her site.
I never wanted the attention of all the Harry Potter fans; there was a clear and specific reason for the hoax and it involved the attention of only one woman. I was highly amused by the fervent guessing of the meaning of the title by eager fans and by the international press that it received.
Finally, a closing thought from the anonymous mountebank: "If I had not started the hoax, would we all know the real title to book 6 right now?" Read The Leaky Cauldron's analysis of that question. In the meantime, consider what an astute reader over there observed: Rowling said on her site that "as a little bonus, and compensation for having been messed around by Mr. or Ms. Storgé, I shall tell you one thing without making you shift any bricks at all: the HBP [half blood prince] is neither Harry nor Voldemort."
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Squib
Points: 198
simdave2000 says:
I don't mind. Well, I mean, I kind of mind. It was a bit mean, but true Potter fans knew it was fake from the start (I know I did . . . ). I'm actually quite impressed with his video, it's really very good. But, to do it well, he would've needed to pay attention to the way he wrote the message. To American-y (no offense to any Americans, I'm an American too!). Ah, well. Good try for him, bad luck for us.
Posted Jul 7, 2004 at 9:51 PM EST
Keeper of the Faeries
Points: 5239
juliebug04 says:
I just think it was silly--no real harm done. I work in a computer environment and know that there are more hoaxes than not out there at present, so I didn't believe it anyway. Some people just have entirely too much time on their hands. Can you imagine the good that he could do if he applied his intellect correctly??? It takes a lot of intelligence to come up with something that elaborate. That is the real shame.
Posted Jul 8, 2004 at 11:36 AM EST
Student
Points: 227
mister_moony says:
Hmm must be very smart to be able to mimic JK's site but no one should do it, it's not a very nice trick to play on the world
Posted Jul 8, 2004 at 1:08 PM EST
Student
Points: 217
Dreyven says:
Just another idiot trying to draw attention to himself...I have to say though, it wasn't a bad false title
Posted Jul 8, 2004 at 1:37 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 68
LibatiusBorage says:
I knew it was fake. Why would there be a video if it was a suprise to him?
Posted Jul 8, 2004 at 4:04 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 68
LibatiusBorage says:
Well, at least he appolagized for what he did. I dont think he knew this was gonna be this big. Anyways alot of people already knew the title piller of storge was a fake. I certainly did. I guess we are still on the look out for a book six title.
Posted Jul 9, 2004 at 1:11 AM EST
Magical Sanitary Supplier
Points: 2518
5225 says:
I admire this person for letting the world know that he did something wrong like that. He has a great talent and he should have use it for something good and useful. It must be really hard to confess about the whole hoax thing. After all the time he put in making the videos...
Posted Jul 9, 2004 at 10:02 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 370
Lady Dionise says:
He was pretty clever to be able to make such a convincing hoax. (If he had spelt 'realized' 'realised'.)But it's really not such a big deal, I'm not mad. Forgive and forget!Now if only some one would start a rumor on who the HBP is, then maybe Jo would dispell it and tell us who it is in the process! :D
Posted Jul 9, 2004 at 5:17 PM EST
Witch
Points: 761
MrsKatzz says:
To be honest, who has that kind of time on their hands? I mean really now. Don't people have better things to do?
Posted Jul 10, 2004 at 4:15 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 559
mr. peloponnese says:
the hoax video is Interesting though, if you'll look at it, but very funny, and good thing he admitted.
Posted Jul 10, 2004 at 10:12 PM EST
Witch
Points: 818
ElizabethRG says:
Who honestly does something like that though! arrrrrg >:O >:O!! WOw! Well, at least we know the REAL name now!
Posted Jul 11, 2004 at 10:39 AM EST
Seer
Points: 15207
Brittany Radcliffe says:
HUMPH well good im glad he appologized.
well he uhhhh fooled me i believed him at first.
hehe hes from Florida. and hes 19.
well i have to say he did a good job. we believed it at first and i hope he knows what he did.
Posted Jul 12, 2004 at 3:44 PM EST
Professional Beater
Points: 20891
feltonluver says:
Well you know what, this hacker obviously doens't have a lot of free time to make this kind of stuff. It's really weird what people can do.
Posted Jul 13, 2004 at 2:02 AM EST
Squib
Points: 167
iTS-JuST-a-BooK says:
Dude your the best
I really liked that you tricked the all of the Harry Potter fans :D.
Oh yeah people dont forget its just a book.
Posted Jul 13, 2004 at 8:47 AM EST
Mrs. Percy Weasley
Points: 2762
FairyPrincess says:
If I had not started the hoax, would we all know the real title to book 6 right now?"
That's a good point. I never thought of that.
Well, I'm glad be apoligized to the whole HP community and Jo. You have to admit though, the hoax was quite amusing.
Posted Jul 13, 2004 at 11:12 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 25
Dudemom_2000 says:
Basically this is an ethics issue. I see a lot of people saying this hoaxer is "clever" or it was "funny" so that makes it all right? The bottom line is it wasn't funny nor particularly clever and ethically and morally it is a poor way to start out in life. It also is a great insult to JKR who put her time and effort into her creation only to have someone as juvenile and silly as this think he can pull one over on people. I would imagine he will think it was "just a joke" when he gets caught doing something else more serious and possibly more illegal than he is already guilty of. He has had his 15 minutes of fame and that was way too much!
Dudemom_2000
*****\(@@)/*****
Posted Jul 14, 2004 at 7:02 PM EST
Witch
Points: 734
Fawkes' signal says:
I think it's a little cruel to exploit the feelings of so many eager people. Plus I would imagine it was irritating to JKR because everyone will look to her for answers and solice. I can understand the fun of it, and it was nice of JKR to release the real title and the tidbit about HBP.
Posted Jul 17, 2004 at 6:37 PM EST
Student
Points: 227
Dark_side says:
I can't beleive i was dumb enough 2 beleive him, at least we all know the truth now!!! idiot! it's like he's being prased
Posted Jul 18, 2004 at 11:43 AM EST
Muggle
Points: 86
JamesPotter55 says:
Im with the prankster, it was all in good fun and cleverly done. J.K came out with the truth a couple days later. Its not a big deal and no one got hurt... right? The fact that it worked so well is the amazing thing, and is what makes it so funny.
Posted Jul 19, 2004 at 8:18 PM EST
Muggle
Points: 22
hermy1 says:
Nice graphics, great job at minipulating them
Posted Jul 21, 2004 at 1:21 PM EST
Wizard
Points: 547
ivanlo says:
Do you guys really think that the title was revealed because of the hoax. I don't think so. It is a possibility...I dunno. I have my doubts. This hoaxer did rile everyone up tho.
Posted Jul 23, 2004 at 10:43 PM EST
Witch
Points: 597
bambee says:
Ok you guys, it was just a joke. I probably would have done the same thing if I could. And just like him, I never would have expected it to get out of hand. I congratulate the guy on apologizing, most people would have. And he's right about her telling us extra stuff, too. Kudo's for him.
Posted Jul 27, 2004 at 10:02 PM EST
Witch
Points: 577
SiriusLupinGirl says:
I think it was a really clever title, not one that JK would choose, obviously, but one that made us all think. I also think it took a lot of talent to be able to did what he did. It was all done in fun, but now we know the real title and are having quite a lot of fun trying to figure out who the Half- Blood Prince is.
Posted Jul 27, 2004 at 11:48 PM EST
Witch
Points: 741
Auror Tonks says:
Why is everyone over reacting? He said he's sorry!!! I think he should pay a fine and people should get over IT!!!
Posted Jul 29, 2004 at 1:08 PM EST
Points: 8
4evacheerin says:
I think that was really mean!! I mean to do something that insane i mean it is wrong!! i dont care if we no the real title now! i mean im glad we do but that kid was insane and i hope JKR really gets mad at him! Tring to get a little fame well do it some other way than getting kids to believe you and getting there hopes up! JERK!
Posted Jul 30, 2004 at 12:15 PM EST
Points: 8
4evacheerin says:
Hey i just went to the Leaky Couldron.com and it says that JKR says that she would of given the title ne way. Even if there wasn't a hoax. She says that it was completley planned and that the hoax wasn't.
Posted Jul 30, 2004 at 5:36 PM EST
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