Harry Potter: Page to Screen

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Daniel Radcliffe wasn't even going to try out for the role of Harry Potter; fortunately for him, his family ran into one of the producers at an opera and talked his parents into letting him audition It's fun to see which anecdotes I remember from magazine articles over the years, and which details are entirely new...

J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World: Movie Magic Volume One: Extraordinary People and Fascinating Places / Volume Two: Curious Creatures / Volume Three: Amazing ArtifactsThe first time I saw this, I flipped out. As someone who's obsessed with all things Harry Potter, I just had to get my hands on this massive book. Reading it was even more fun than I thought it would be. It goes through the entire process of making each movie, from selecting the cast to writing the scripts to bringing the incredible magic to life on screen. It's got the big-picture stuff, like the different directors' and producers' visions, as well as the details, like how they made each magical creature. There are tons of interviews and quotes from the cast and crew, plus memorabilia from the sets. Basically, this is the best coffee table book ever if you love Harry Potter. The books is lavishly illustrated from production images both in front and behind the scenes - it shows a very intimate side to the films and the people who created them which is rarely seen especially on such film considering the huge budgets and massive attention they were drawing.

There are exclusive photographs of the actors and the crew. There's a list of the actors' heights at the start of the franchise, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. There's sketches of Dobby and Kreacher and Quidditch. There are concept arts. There are costumes. There are character references. This book is what happens when someone converts all the behind-the-scenes portion of the DVDs into writings on the printed papers of a hardbound tome. (And the DVD's extra features still can't compete with even half of the book.) The book consists of a detailed chapter on each of the films, characters, costumes, locations, sets, creatures, makeup /digital effects, artifacts and prop making. Love the info about Robbie Coltrane and his Hagrid body double. And how his double started practicing his lines just for fun to the point where Coltrane felt "threatened" they'd just use the *real* big guy. the Sorting Hat from pre-production on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 8 MIDDLE The final Sorting Hat 8 ABOVE Steve Kill, a member of the design team, breaks down a group of Sorting Hat props to ready them for filming.Funny to hear actress Clemence Poesy talk about her character Fleur. She says she enjoyed playing the role, but that Fleur was just like all the girls she hated in high school. Lol 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. Unfortunately, this scene ended up on the cutting-room floor.

The book itself is absolutely gorgeous. The biggest and heaviest book I own by far, and it's one of those books that you will look over again and again for years to come. It would have been nice to have a ribbon bookmark included for the book though, just as a useful crowning glory. I often begrudge movies the fact that they are not like the book, but it's really like comparing apples and oranges-- though similar, they are inherently different. There are concept art in the book as well, and they are great. There are designs for Dobby, dragons, props, environment art, etc. This is the only book where you can see them because there aren't any Harry Potter art books.As soon as I got this book, I knew I would have to read it cover to cover to really feel complete. I couldn't just skim, I had to know everything! And it was lovely and so rewarding. I knew a lot of stuff, granted, but that's what comes with being so immersed in this universe for so long.

Having said that, if you are a fan of the movies or at least fans of the people working in the 8 HP movies, this is the one book you simply must have. If Harry Potter: Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley is the fan's ultimate fun book, this is the budding filmmaker's ultimate textbook on how to make an epic franchise that lasts a whole decade. Whatever shortcomings the films have, you can not deny that a lot of thought went into the making of the films. From casting to scriptwriting to designing sets and characters, this book reveals all of them. Richard Harris actually thought the animatronic Fawkes was a real bird, it looked that lifelike on the set. The Good & The Bad: I read another book on a *very* similar topic earlier this year, Harry Potter Film Wizardry. You might ask what the difference between them is, and the surface answers would be size and the fact this book encapsulates the final film, while the other (rushed out for last year's holiday gift-giving season) did not. But on a more realistic level, this is a book for a student of the films, not a fan. You have to have a real interest in production and art direction (which I'd say I somewhat do...but not quite to this degree) to really appreciate the final detail included here. sorting hat The Sorting Hat was originally to be portrayed using a puppet, but when the filmmakers tested it on camera, that’s exactly what it looked like—a puppet on a child’s head. So the on-screen Sorting 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 further shaped with wires sewn into its lining. When Makovsky first brought the hat to the set, visual effects supervisor Robert Legato asked, “Where does it talk?” Director Chris Columbus looked at Legato and said, “She made the hat. You make it talk.”This book is highly recommended to fans of the Harry Potter films. It gives a new sense of appreciation for the film and the people who worked behind the scenes. It's something you'll want to make the magic last a bit longer.