Today was amazing! We went to Harry Potter Studio Tours here in London. I can not even begin to tell you how amazing it was. This is where all of the original costumes, sets, props and everything else is filmed and used. So I have been in the same place as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and many others. It was just so cool. We left our flat at 2:30 pm and didn't get home until 10:30pm. It was quite the day. So here is the small tour that I can give to you.
Of course we have to have Harry's bedroom under the stairs.
Then we went into the Great Hall. What was cool, is that they don't have a ceiling here, they use the computer to put the ceiling in.
Here is Hagrid and Professor Snape. I'll have to tell you a little more about Hagrid later because he is pretty awesome.
Annalise, Brooke, Sydney, Me
Then we go to the Yule Ball in number 4. These are Harry's, Hermoine's, Cho's, and Krum's costumes for that. It was so cool to see.
There is a lot of behind the scenes of Harry Potter. This is just one example. The make up artists have been practicing how to write "I must not tell lies" for a scene in the 5th movie.
Hogwarts Gate
The Gryffindor Boys Dormitory
Here is the mirror that was used in the 1st movie.
Gryiffindor common room. I took the "official" Harry Potter quiz and got Gryiffindor, so I was right at home :)
Dumbledore's office. Seriously all of the sets were so cool. They only have a few sets that they keep. Others are blown up in certain parts of the movie. They have one set that they use for many different sets. It was really cool to see how they were built and staged. A lot of things were done with Green screen though. Computers are amazing!
Some real props. Golden snitch, deluminator, cup used in number 6, sorcerers stone, and many others.
Was right at home in my potions class
The statue at the Ministry of Magic in number 7. It was huge and very impressive.
The broomsticks were another really cool thing. The wood here in London is not very good, it's very brittle. So they imported wood from somewhere and then put titanium in the main stick so that the bigger characters wouldn't break the stick. I don't remember what they said how much it cost to make one broomstick, but they are each ornately designed and handcrafted. Really cool!
I used my flume powder to get into the Ministry, and it worked!
Just chillin with my main man, Lord Voldemort.
Marauderer's Map
Then we went into the square, they had the bridge and other sets that were used. Here is Gina and I on the bridge.
The Knight bus
Number 4 Privet Drive, seeing if Harry's in.
Playin some wizard chess
Can't really see, but Annalise and I are in the front with Gina and Brooke in the back
Hagrid's motor bike.
Ok, Hagrid was really cool to learn about. The actor that played Hagrid was pretty tall and big, but not big enough. So his costume was ginormous and then at parts he had an animatronic head. This head would move its face like a normal humans would. This was used when shots were made far away from Hagrid. It seriously was just so cool.
A wax figure was made of every character who was injured. One fun fact was that Dumbledore was made smaller than his actual size. This was because it would make Hagrid bigger when he carried him, the same was done to Harry in the 7th movie. It is so cool how they figure all of these things out to get the perfect picture.
This is a wax of Dobby. Daniel Radcliffe had to practice holding Dobby when he died because he has to have his hands in perfect position during filming so they can add Dobby on the computer.
I took this picture for Dad and Michael, kind of. It's a mandrake, but it shows all of the robotics in it.
The actual spider.
We made it to Diagon Alley. Mallory, Me and Annalise.
Nearing the end of the tour. This part was amazing. Here is the actual Hogwarts model. They used this in filming. They would film it and then shrink or expand it on the computer for the movie. Then if Harry was walking outside of it, he would walk on the green screen and they would just put a clip of this castle and distort the size and there you have it, a clip of Harry at Hogwarts.
As a thanks, the film made each person behind the scenes a wand box of their own. There were thousands of wand boxes. The guide showed us one of a Dr. It was there because a doctor or nurse had to be on the set at all times for insurance purposes. So even he has his own box. It was just awesome
It was a little expensive to do Harry Potter, but it was the best money I have ever spent. I loved it! I was thinking the whole time of Joseph and the rest of the family and how much they would have loved to see this. There is one part that we got to do for free. We rode on a broomstick with a green screen in the back and saw that we were flying around Hogwarts. That was a highlight. It was just so much fun and interesting to learn all of the tid bits about the making of the movie. There is so much more than what goes on when you watch the movie. I didn't realize how much work it was to produce a movie. I will definitely be back someday and see it again. It is very highly recommended and worth every pound spent on it.
Cheers
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