I remember when I first read harry potter and the philosopher stone. I was reading it around my lessons during break times, even just before bed time rushing to reach the end to find out what happened. From there reading the rest of the series have been an enjoyment as well. When they announced they were producing films of the books I was ecstatic! I now own the box set of the films. What I enjoyed about the films is they were family friendly and great for adults to get stuck into, a whole new world opened up for lovers of the both the books and the films to enjoy!So a little treat to ourselves me and my other half became wizards for a day!
When we arrived it seemed to be just a massive warehouse from the outside but walking through the doors you were able to see their shop full of treats,surprises and goodies. You were taken through into a small cinema which explained how harry potter world became to be. It was great to see how the stars enjoyed their time working and living around warner brothers studio. The crew that helped put together the sets, costumes, the designs, animations and much more. Then the screen lifted up and revealed the great halls doors.
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| Chess Pieces from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
It was a lot smaller than I expected aha! But it was magnificent. Each house had their uniform displayed with two great long tables filled with plates and culturally from the film. At the end of the great hall was Dumbledore's robes and podium. The detail on the podium was unreal it is covered in real gold and melted wax, the thought of how much effort went into creating it amazed me. After we excited the great hall i had a look back and was shocked the walls were made from plater board and plater as from the inside it looked like solid rock.
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| Left to Right: McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape Costumes |
The first section was all about the directors. They had videos explaining their experiences with each of the films. It was really wonderful to see how they enjoyed filming their own depiction of the books.
I am a little bias here as I also ended up buying a chocolate from the shop (naughty I know) but we found the chocolate feast. This was a beautiful display of creative chocolate designs and ice cream that were unbelievably realistic. We really couldn't believe our eyes, it looked like someone had just dished this all up just for us! Next to the chocolate feast was the ice carving display from the yule ball it was utterly beautiful. The costumes were uniquely made for the yule ball, each character had their own costume to display their character. We also viewed the wigs used for many of the characters. They were so lifelike, each strand perfectly placed to create a natural look and flow from the characters movement.
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| Hagrid's Hut |
Each set we viewed from the Gryffindor common room, Gryffindor dormitory, Dumbledore's office made me realise things iv never noticed in the films that really create the set, such as the portrait of professor Mcgongall in the common room or all the portraits and how the layout of Dumbledore's office is set out to match the towers of the castle. I enjoyed the detail on his memory cabinet how each bottle had been hand written to create a lifelike feel. Another set that really amazed me was the potions room. They had created magic by using the potion pots and creating motorised spoons to stir the potions inside, I loved that something so simple could really make the set. Hagrids hut and the burrow really showed me how much effort really goes into creating a realistic set. I really appreciated how much people had paid attention to detail such as the weasley's family clock where prop makers outfitted it with new pendulums, gears and hands to make them feel realistic and like someone really had lived in them.
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| Potions Room |
One thing that I was extremely excited to view was the special effects and visual effects room as I loved how they helped create the beautiful magical world.
The magic of green screen was opened up to me as I was allowed to ride on a broom and in the Weasleys car. I was allowed to wear a robe. The brooms they had which were created for comport for the riders giving them easy movement whilst using them. Creatures effects created a small section of a dragons back which the actors could interact with. Actors and stunt doubles were filmed on a green screen soundstage giving the visual effects team complete control, where the post-productions team of digital artist combined the section of the dragons back with a computer generated creature to final film scene.
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| Gringotts Vault Cart |
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| Hagrid's Motorbike |
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| Hagrid's Motorised Head |
I enjoyed viewing how the special effects team created the motorised characters. I was also shocked and surprised when I found out some of Hagrid's shots were actually a motorised machine covered in a lifelike latex movable face.
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| Fawkes The Pheonix |
Three animatronic versions of Fawkes the phenix was created, an old mounted phenix, a new born phenix and a non mouthed adult phenix from these a computer generated version of Fawkes was created from the models of the bird.
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| Hungarian Horntail Dragon Model Head |
My absolute hands down favourite machine they made was the dragons. Not just because I have enjoyed dragons since I was young but how they created maquette which were scanned by visual effects who then created their own computer generated versions.
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| Latex Goblin Faces |
Their was a small paper model of the Hogwarts castle which I found well detailed amazingly they created it from sketches bringing it too life.
Then I turned a corner to which I was gobsmacked to see a intricately detailed model of the Hogwarts castle. Created by a team of 86 artists and crew members who hand sculpted and built the school of witchcraft and wizardry. To make it more realistic the artists built miniature versions of courtyards and towers inspired by Alnwick castle and Durham cathedral. The model was filmed and with added digital effects to create breathtaking realistic views of the school and the land around it.
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| Hogwarts from above |
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| Hogwarts from below |
I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys from the books to the films even if you have only seen one. It really is an amazing experience and I would love to go back again here is a video from my experience.
Harry Potter World Video
For tickets and more information head to warner brothers Harry Potter studio tours website
wbstudiotour Website
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