C ontents

PART I 8 The Making of Harry Potter

17 introduction
21 setting the scene
43 harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone
71 harry potter and the chamber of secrets TM

93 harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban

119 harry potter and the goblet of fire
149 harry potter and the order of the phoenix

PAGE TO SCREEN
171 harry potter and the half-blood prince
195 harry potter and the deathly hallows

PART II 8 The Art of Harry Potter

233 introduction
The Complete Filmmaking journey
235 characters       Costuming
323 locations        Set Design
421 creatures       Special Makeup and Digital Effects
479 artifacts       Prop Making

PART III 8 Epilogue

529 the golden boards
531 acknowledgments and colophon

An Insight Editions Book

 hogwarts castle
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had to be grounded
in reality. “An early decision was not to make it whimsical, not
to make it a fairy-tale castle, but to make it heavy, enduring, and
real,” explains production designer Stuart Craig. “Here is a story
about an English public school [similar to an American private
school], so we made it as much like one as we possibly could.” And
so Craig looked first to “the two great universities in England—
Oxford and Cambridge. But we also went to the great European
cathedrals. We wanted Hogwarts to be in the medieval Gothic
style, which is strong and dynamic, and so we cherry-picked
TOP Concept art by Dermot Power of
Hogwarts seen through the trees from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 8
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
324
from everywhere—the best from the universities, the best from
the cathedrals—and then slammed them together.”
Although designed to look and feel like an enduring institu-
tion, Hogwarts has evolved to match the needs of the story over
the course of eight films. “The way to go would have been to be
able to read right through the seven books when we started,”
Craig laughs. “But I think some of these changes and additions
have added a level of interest to the films. We’ve moved things
around, let things expand, had them develop, or made them
disappear altogether.”
LEFT Concept art by Andrew Williamson of the castle from Harry
lo c at ion s 325
 The
slytherin
common room
The Slytherin common room has a completely different atmosphere than
Gryffindor’s. “It’s in the dungeon under the lake, literally underwater,” says pro-
duction designer Stuart Craig. “We chose a slightly earlier style of architecture
that’s Norman or Romanesque. It’s stockier, sturdier, much more dungeonlike.
Our other premise was that the room should appear to be carved out of solid rock,
like Petra, in Jordan.” The Slytherin house colors of green and silver added to the
austere atmosphere. “They have those wonderful black leather sofas,” says Craig.
“And the tapestries on the walls have all the red taken out of their color palettes.”
Not surprisingly, the silver fixtures in the room are replete with snake-head motifs.

left The Slytherin common room, as seen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The décor makes
ample use of the green and black colors of the house. 8 TOP Another view of the common room, highlighting
its tapestries. 8 ABOVE LEFT Detail of the Slytherin door knocker. 8 ABOVE RIGHT The list of Slytherin house
captains from throughout the house’s distinguished history.

lo c at ion s 349
 The
HOwler
Graphic designer Miraphora Mina wanted to give the Howler
in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the look of origami,
the Japanese art of folding paper. “I thought there were so many
things in the design that lent themselves to this,” she explains.
“The ribbon that encircles the letter could turn into a tongue,
for example. The white paper inside could turn into teeth within
the red mouth. I didn’t want there to be a face put on the letter
digitally; I wanted the letter to tell its own story.” As the talking
Howler would be animated, a library of shapes that mimicked a
real mouth saying the dialogue was created.

The
sorting hat TOP Expression studies by Adam Brockbank for the Howler, ranging
from a demure, sealed envelope to a hysterical, spitting, screaming
The Sorting Hat was originally to be portrayed using a puppet, but letter. 8 ABOVE The design by Adam Brockbank for the Weasley wax
seal that adorns Ron’s Howler. 8 RIGHT The text of Molly Weasley’s
when the filmmakers tested it on camera, that’s exactly what it
letter was transcribed onto a sheet of paper that was incorporated into
looked like—a puppet on a child’s head. So the on-screen Sorting this mock-up of the Howler. 8 BELOW Phonetic mouth shapes for the
Howler animation.
Hat was created digitally based on a leather hat made by costume
designer Judianna Makovsky. The leather hat was soaked in water,
squashed into a cone shape, left overnight to dry, and then fur-
ther shaped with wires sewn into its lining. When Makovsky first
brought the hat to the set, visual effects supervisor Robert Legato
TOP LEFT Different views of the Sorting Hat from pre-production on Harry Potter and
asked, “Where does it talk?” Director Chris Columbus looked at the Sorcerer’s Stone. 8 MIDDLE The final Sorting Hat 8 ABOVE Steve Kill, a member
Legato and said, “She made the hat. You make it talk.” of the design team, breaks down a group of Sorting Hat props to ready them for filming.

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 The
SNEAkoscope
The Sneakoscope, used to detect untrustworthy or Dark magic,
was created for a scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
that takes place after Ron and Hermione return from their first trip
to Hogsmeade. Sad that Harry couldn’t join them, Ron gives him
a Sneakoscope he bought for him at Zonko’s Joke Shop. Unfortu-
nately, this scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.

The
Deluminator
The Deluminator, or “Put-Outer,” as it is also known, was first
used by Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to
withdraw illumination from the street lamps on Privet Drive.
After Dumbledore bequeaths the Deluminator to Ron in his will, it
is learned that it also functions as a type of homing device.

TOP Blueprint by Hattie Storey for the Deluminator, a device that captures nearby light
and holds it until the owner chooses to release the light again. 8 RIGHT A preliminary
concept for the Deluminator by Peter McKinstry. 8 BELOW The final Deluminator prop,
as seen in the Deathly Hallows films.

THIS PAGE Concepts by Dermot Power of a variety of different designs for the
Sneakoscope, and the final prop (top right). The illustration directly above
describes materials to be used in making the prop and attempts to explain how
it might work.

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