It seems that there is no such person who has not heard of Harry Potter. Many (even adults) have read books, let alone watched movies. However, as is often the case, most of the filming process is behind the scenes even for the most devoted fans. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to refresh the memory of the entire franchise, at the same time learning new interesting facts about Harry Potter.
The beginning of the film adaptation
It's hard to believe now, but when J.K. Rowling sold the film rights to her books, she received only a million pounds in bonuses. Then it seemed like a worthy price, since the "Potteriad" had not yet become a global phenomenon. However, even then, Rowling achieved a lot of control over the filming. In particular, she insisted that all the actors in the film be of British origin. For this reason, many performers came to the franchise from the stage.
The director of the first two parts was appointed, however, Steven Spielberg claimed this place for a long time. But the eminent director did not agree with the studio. He wanted to make a cartoon, while this did not suit the company and the author.
Philosopher's Stone
The role of Albus Dumbledore was vacant for a long time due to the fact that Richard Harris, who was called to the project from the very beginning, noticeably hesitated in his decision. He turned down the role three times until his eleven-year-old granddaughter found out about it. She had read Harry Potter and was a fan of Rowling's novels. The girl threatened her grandfather that she would never speak to him again if he did not act in films. In the end, Harris still agreed to become Dumbledore.
Interesting facts about Harry Potter are associated primarily with the huge success of this franchise. This is especially noticeable in Britain, where JK Rowling herself is from. For example, after the first film, it was noted that the British began to buy a huge number of owls in order to care for them as pets. In the story, Harry has Hedwig, who delivers letters and lives in a special room at Hogwarts. But real owls are completely unsuited to life in domestic human conditions, so many birds bought on the wave of "Potteromania" eventually surrendered or were released into the wild.
Interesting facts from the filming of Harry Potter were supplemented by the same release. Warner Brothers, after releasing the film in the US, gave it a non-original title. This was due to the first edition of the book in the West under the title "Harry Potter and the Magic Stone" ("Sorcerer "s", not "Philosopher" s ").
Chamber of Secrets
For the second part, Hogwarts Castle was "rebuilt". Interesting facts about Harry Potter can be found here. In some scenes, a high-quality layout of a large size was used. For this, 40 specialists were used, who worked for 7 months. The layout was changed in the following parts, depending on the plot twists. For example, in the third film, a prison tower was added. Natural shooting was carried out against the backdrop of the Enik castle. Next to it is a playground where the Quidditch field was recreated. Now this place is actively visited by tourists, so many of the decorations are not specially cleaned.
In the second film, the ghost of Moaning Mitrl, a Hogwarts student who tragically died several decades ago, appeared. The spirit retained the appearance and voice of the 13-year-old. However, Shirley Henderson, who played this role, was an order of magnitude older - she was 37.
"Prisoner of Azkaban"
The film became a turning point in the sense that the director of the first two parts left the project. Instead, Alfonso Cuarón was appointed. He was known for his unconventional approach to the filming process. For example, the director instructed the three main actors to write autobiographical essays on behalf of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Radcliffe and Watson completed their task, while Rupert Green refused. When the director asked the actor why he would not write an essay, he replied that Ron in his place would never do this. For this, he received praise from Cuarón, who said that Green had a good feel for his character's character.
Unfortunately, on the eve of filming, the performer of the role of Dumbledore passed away prematurely. His place was taken by another Irish actor - Michael Gambon. The role was in high demand due to the success of the series. One of the candidates was Christopher Lee. Ian McKellen was also offered the role, but he refused, arguing that he had already played the wizard Gandalf in the film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Interestingly, the sorcerer Saruman was also there. Another failed castling was an invitation to take the place of director Guillermo Del Toro. The eminent director decided to take on another project - Hellboy. As a result, Alfonso Cuaron was invited.
Other interesting facts about - that it was in the "Prisoner" that several important new characters appeared. For example, the godfather of the sorcerer Sirius Black. He was played by the famous Gary Oldman, known for such tapes of the 90s as Dracula and Leon.
But the interesting facts about Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban do not end there. Remus Lupine, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, also appeared here. The role was entrusted. The funny thing is that he already tried to get into the "Potteriad" during the casting for the first film. Then he auditioned for the position of Professor Quirrell, but the place went to Ian Hart. And now, a few years later, Thewlis still ended up in the project, while getting the role of a more important and long-lived character.
The village of Hogsmeade appears in the film, where the students go for the weekend. It was filmed in Gotland, North Yorkshire.
Goblet of Fire
Many interesting facts about Harry Potter from the book were not included in the film. This was due to the large volume of the novel. For example, the house elves from Hogwarts were not included in the film. However, the director decided to make a small scene with them.
So Harry Potter continued. Interesting facts about the actors can be supplemented by the fact that Joanne Rowling herself flashed in the film adaptation. She played a cheerleader who sat behind Hagrd during the first mission.
Order of the Phoenix
The shooting process was interrupted for about a month because Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson had to take final exams in their schools. Warner Brothers had to re-schedule, causing the studio to lose about $5 million.
Particular attention of all viewers was attracted by the fate of the new odious character Dolores Umbridge. Even the legendary Stephen King responded to her, calling the teacher "the greatest fictional villain, comparable to Hannibal Lecter." Also, a cameo role was received by the false Moody who appeared in the form of a shadow in the Developer of Enemies.
Half-blood prince
As in previous films, for filming a large number of scenes inside Hogwarts, the premises of Oxford University - the oldest in England - were used. For example, in one of his colleges, there was the very hall where the selection of students was carried out. Scenes with stairs were filmed in the same place, while about two hundred "magic" pictures were specially drawn, which were then animated with the help of visual effects. Some of them depict direct members of the team that filmed the movie.
In general, Hogwarts locations are scattered throughout the UK. For example, Hagrid's hut was filmed in Scotland, in an isolated valley with amazing nature. For the giant himself, a tall understudy was found. But the Forbidden Forest (where Snape runs away in the final) is very close to London (32 kilometers).
"Deathly Hallows" Part One
The last Harry Potter book was filmed in two parts. This decision was made in order not to cut important scenes and storylines. The result was two full-fledged films with a very intense development of events.
Interesting facts about the film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" meet the viewer already at the Ministry of Magic, where three friends get incognito in order to steal the Horcrux locket. Russian viewers can recognize in these halls the Moscow metro, whose decoration served as an inspiration for the specialists in charge of visual effects and film sets.
In particular, the main production designer later admitted that when creating the scenery, he was guided by the architecture of the Stalin era. It was during these years that the first metro lines were launched, they were made in a pompous style. There are other references to Soviet culture in the film, for example, propaganda posters for the fight against Mudbloods resemble propaganda against the bourgeoisie.
"Deathly Hallows" Part Two
In the scene where Harry found Ravenclaw's diadem, he ran into Malfoy and his friends. According to the book, one of them - Vincent Crabbe - died from an inadvertently released hellfire spell. However, in the movie it happened to another Slytherin student, Gregory Goyle. Crabbe was not in the scene at all. The reason for this was the arrest of Jamie Waylett, the actor who played Vincent in all previous parts. He went to jail for growing cannabis illegally. The team that made the film decided not to look for a replacement for Crabbe, but to "kill" another character who looked like him.
The last film was a success in cinemas all over the world. To date, this is the seventh tape in the list of the highest grossing premieres. The eighth film was the only one in the "Potteriad", which collected more than a billion dollars.
The scale can be confirmed by other facts. For example, over 400 extras were used to film the final battle. These were scenes with death eaters and besieged students of Hogwarts.
Interesting facts about Harry Potter in this part also apply to the main actors. For example, the performer of the role of Draco Malfoy ensured that in the epilogue the role of his wife went to his own real girlfriend. As you know, the final scene shows the future in 19 years. What other interesting facts about the characters of Harry Potter are there? So, for example, the effect of "aging" was achieved by makeup and visual effects. And much more - you can't list them all.
In this article, we have collected the most interesting facts from the filming of the legend of British cinema, the movie "Harry Potter". Filming took place at Leavesden Studios in Britain over the course of 10 years. This huge room contains all the technology and secrets of filming the Potteriana.
While working on the film, special departments were created, each of which employed many specialists from different fields:
- Department of Magical Creatures
- Department of Animal Training
- Visual effects department
- Department of Decorators, Engineers and Inventors
- and many others
Filming Harry Potter: Essential Secrets
1. To recreate the floating candles in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, I had to hang ordinary candles on threads. After the threads were removed by computer graphics. This was done in the first film, in subsequent films they abandoned this method, because the flame burned the threads. The candles were recreated using graphics.
2. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, underwater scenes were simulated using computer animation and were considered phenomenal at the time. In order for Daniel Radcliffe to have gills, the creators had to work for an hour and a half. Made the gills out of silicone and silk.
3. To make Dumbledore's office atmospheric and majestic, I had to collect a library of hundreds of telephone directories with aged covers, invent and hang portraits of the "former directors" of a magical educational institution. For the scene with Dumbledore's memories, about 800 bottles were made, which contained the most important moments from the professor's life.
4. Voldemort's makeup was recreated by three people for two hours. They thought of everything: from the shade of the face and darkened eyes, to false eyebrows and nails. But they decided to remove the nose with the help of post-processing.
5. The defeated spider Aragog was created for half a year by 20 people! Weighed a ton, was the size of a car!
6. A special team was in charge of training animal actors. Owl Harry had 4 doubles, four cats played Hermione Crookshanks and about ten rats played Ron the rodent. Dog Hagrid was played by nine mastiffs.
7. Cutie Dobby was not involved in the filming. Instead, the actors had a dialogue with a tennis ball attached to a stick. Dobby was added at the editing stage through graphics.
8 The Ron Family Flying Machine brands Ford Anglia was chosen randomly. The analogue was once run by the writer JK Rowling herself. During filming, 14 of these cars were smashed.
Magical things from the world of Harry Potter
1. This is how the pan was washed. Give me one!
2. And so the books returned to their places.
3. And here is a broom ride.
Where was Harry Potter filmed?
Fans of the Potteriana have repeatedly visited the hot spots from the filming. We will tell and show where, what and how:
1 The Dursley House Where It All Began
The same house of the Dursley family, where Potter lived in a closet before being invited to Hogwarts.
Address: 12 Picket Post Close, Martins Heron
2. Legendary platform number 9
The platform they crashed into and disappeared from was at King's Cross Station. Now there are many tourists who take funny photos.
There are successful examples of entering the platform: 
And not so much: 
In the first and second parts of the film, the corridors of Hogwarts were filmed in the cloister of Gloucester Cathedral. In the "Goblet of Fire" - within the walls of the monastery of College New, in Oxford.
The courtyard of Durham Cathedral is the same one where Harry first lets his owl Hedwig out for a walk, and Ron fights slugs in Chamber of Secrets.
5. School library, hospital, stairs
Located in the Oxford Bodleian Library. The hospital ward and the stairs of Hogwarts were also filmed in Oxford.
6. Hagrid's hut
First located in Black Park Country, Buckinghamshire. During the filming of The Order of the Phoenix, the hut was moved to Scotland.
7 Hogwarts Lake
To visit that same lake, head to Loch Shiel in Scotland. The second lake is located in Surrey and is called Virginia Water. It was there that Harry flew by on a hippogriff.
This is the only scene filmed outside of the UK. The Glenfinnan Viaduct Railway was located in Oslo, Norway.
9. Chamber of Secrets
Located in Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire. Some episodes of "Half-Blood Prince" were also filmed at this location.
10. Dining room of Hogwarts
College of the Church of Christ is the very place where the guys rejoiced at the flying letters that came to them from their parents. It was here that the three wizard friends discussed their plans and shared their secrets.
Address: St. Aldates, Oxford OX1 1DP, UK, tel. +44 1865 276150 (Christ Church Сollege)
How Harry Potter, a film about the film, was filmed
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/"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (eng. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) is the first of a series of films about the wizard boy Harry Potter, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling.
The film was directed by Chris Columbus (he also worked on the second film in the series). The main roles were played by 12-year-old Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint and 11-year-old Emma Watson. Leading British actors such as Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, John Cleese and others are occupied in many adult roles. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards in technical categories, but did not win any of them. It can be watched by children of almost any age (PG rating from MPAA)Contents [show]
Plot
At the beginning of the film, on November 1, 1981, Professor Albus Dumbledore and Professor Minerva McGonagall meet at number 4 Privet Drive, Little Winging, on the outskirts of Surrey, England. They discuss the latest events in the wizarding world. Lord Voldemort, the most powerful and sinister dark magician of all time, is finally defeated. Unfortunately, he took with him to the grave his two last victims: Lily and James Potter. Their young son, Harry, somehow managed to survive. As a memento from the meeting with Voldemort, he was left with only a scar in the form of a lightning bolt. Harry is destined to become a legend in the wizarding world, the Boy-Who-Lived, and Dumbledore thinks it would be better for Harry to grow up away from the unwanted fame and attention that would surround him in the wizarding world.
The half-giant Hagrid, a Hogwarts forester and close friend of Dumbledore, brings the Potter child to the two professors.
Harry is placed in the care of Muggle relatives (which they do not like very much), his mother's sister Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon. The Dursleys also have their own son, the spoiled and spoiled Dudley.
The Dursleys have a strong dislike of magic and hide from Harry that he has magical powers, instead saying that his parents died in a car accident. They mistreat Harry - for example, he has to sleep in a closet under the stairs, where there are spiders. Harry Potter and the Dursleys went to the zoo in the Terrarium, where he talks with a boa constrictor. Dudley is fascinated by "things that snakes do". The hooligan cousin rushes to the enclosure, and the “interfering” Harry is pushed hard, so that he falls. Then Harry - unexpectedly for himself - made the glass of the enclosure disappear. The boa constrictor crawled away, before thanking Harry for the release. Dudley remained in the terrarium instead of the kite, and the glass was back in place.
Owls begin to fly to Harry a week before his eleventh birthday, bringing letters inviting the boy to study at Hogwarts, a school for young wizards where they teach witchcraft and magic. The Dursleys try to stop Harry from receiving the letter and take the boy to a small island, but Hagrid tracks them down and tells Harry the truth about his family and the wizarding world. The Dursleys don't want Harry to learn magic, because then he will become "one of THESE" and "die like his parents." Vernon Dursley insults Albus Dumbledore in absentia. Enraged, Hagrid waved his umbrella (with the fragments of his wand hidden inside) and at the same moment Dudley Dursley grew a pig tail.
In the Leaky Cauldron pub, Hagrid and Harry Potter meet a new teacher at Hogwarts School - a young professor Quirrell, who suffers from a stutter and a nervous tic. From the magical pub, the heroes go to Diagon Alley, where Harry buys everything he needs for his studies. There, Harry learns about the killer of his parents - Lord Voldemort, a wizard who is still feared, despite the fact that he has already been defeated.
An interesting similarity pops up between Harry and Voldemort - in their magic wands there are two feathers from the tail of the same phoenix.
Despite the protests of his evil family, Harry goes to a school where he will learn magic. He meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a poor family. Ron has a rat Scabbers. In the same compartment with Ron, a girl named Hermione Granger is an annoying know-it-all.
After arriving at Hogwarts, all new students are divided into four faculties, allowing them to try on an old hat that once belonged to one of the founders of the school, Godric Gryffindor. Each house is different from the rest: Slytherin gets ambitious people who achieve their goals by any means; Ravenclaw will become a home for those who value wisdom and a sharp mind the most; brave men will become Gryffindors, but Hufflepuff students are distinguished by honesty, hard work and fairness of judgment (often those who do not fit other faculties get there), Susan Bones joins there. The hat says that Harry is hard to identify in any of the houses. Harry whispers to the hat that he does not want to be in Slytherin when it tells him about the virtues of this house. After that, the hat sends Harry to Gryffindor. That's where Ron and Hermione come in. Draco Malfoy, rude and arrogant, and also hating Harry, gets into Slytherin.
At school, Harry learns more and more about the world of wizards. The wizards' newspaper reports that unknown people broke into Gringotts Bank on the day that they were there with Hagrid, but cell number 713, which they wanted to rob, turned out to be empty. At Madame Trick's lesson, Neville Longbottom is unlucky, when he mishandled the broom, he caught on the roof and crashed on the ground; Madame Trick finds out that the boy has a broken wrist and takes him to the hospital, and Malfoy takes the reminder from him and takes it to himself by flying on a broom, and Harry flew on a broom after him without the permission of the teacher (despite Hermione's warning) and catches the reminder, which he dropped; McGonagall, instead of punishing the boy, invites him to the Gryffindor Quidditch team - the main and most popular sport in the magical world. At Professor Flitwick's Levitation lesson, Ron does not succeed at all, and Hermione began to do Levitation herself and the pen takes off, and the boy exploded when he tried to cast the Levitation spell. After class, Ron calls Hermione "nasty" and says that no one wants to be friends with her.
On Halloween night, Hermione sits in the women's restroom, seeing the troll, she was very scared. Harry and Ron sensed that something was wrong. When they ran to rescue her, the troll grabbed Harry by the legs. Ron casts the Wingardium Leviosa spell and the troll's club hangs in the air. Then Ron spread out over the spell. The club fell on the troll's head. McGonagall is disappointed that Hermione thought she could subdue this troll, and McGonagall gives both boys five points for being lucky. For Christmas, Harry is given an invisibility cloak that once belonged to his father. Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised, where he sees the reflection of his parents. Dumbledore advises the boy to stop looking in the mirror, as it eventually replaces the real world for people, and they can no longer move away from it.
Harry, Ron and Hermione discover that in one of the corridors of Hogwarts, where students are forbidden to enter, a three-headed dog, whom Hagrid dubbed Fluffy, is guarding some kind of hatch. After thinking, they decided that Fluffy was most likely guarding the legendary Philosopher's Stone, with which you can prepare the elixir of life. The friends decide that Severus Snape, the sinister Potions Professor and Head of Slytherin, is trying to steal the stone to restore Voldemort's strength.
Albus Dumbledore in the hospital
As Harry recovers from his encounter with Voldemort, Dumbledore tells him that Harry's mother protected the boy at the cost of her own life. The sanctity of pure love gave Harry protection against evil forces.
Dumbledore also says that even though the philosopher's stone was protected, it will still be destroyed so that Voldemort cannot steal it in the future.
Harry leaves Hogwarts, having made friends with Ron, Hermione and even Hagrid, he learned a lot and gained confidence in himself.
History of creation
J.K. Rowling sold the film rights to the first four Harry Potter books in 1999 for a modest £1 million (at the time just over $1.5 million). More importantly, it was agreed that the writer would receive a certain share of the box office of each of the films, and would have significant control over all stages of the production of the films. She made it a sine qua non that all actors in future films must be British. Only in the fourth film of the franchise, where it was necessary for the content of the book, did actors from other countries appear.
Initially, Steven Spielberg was the main contender for the director's position. Negotiations with him were conducted for several months, and in February 2000 ended with his refusal. Steven Spielberg considered the creation of an animated tape as the main option, where the voice of the protagonist would be Hayley Joel Osment. Neither the film studio nor the author of the books liked this option. Subsequently, the famous director continued to insist on the participation of an American actor in the title role. Another reason for his refusal, he called the lack of creative interest in the project. According to Spielberg, the film was destined for a colossal commercial success, no matter how successful his work would have been.
After Spielberg's refusal, negotiations began with several directors at once. The main candidates considered were Chris Columbus, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling and Peter Weir.
In March 2000, Petersen and Reiner for various reasons dropped out of the job applicants, which were reduced to four: Chris Columbus, Terry Gilliam, Alan Parker and Brad Silberling, of which J.K. Rowling preferred Gilliam. Despite this, on March 28, 2000, it was announced that the director's chair went to Chris Columbus. Subsequently, Terry Gilliam openly expressed his dissatisfaction and disappointment, saying that he was the perfect candidate for this role, and calling the Columbus film simply terrible, boring and corny. The director's extensive experience with young actors and the success of his previous family-oriented films Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire played a decisive role in choosing a film studio. On the other hand, one of the main reasons for Chris Columbus's consent was the tireless requests of his daughter, a big fan of J.K. Rowling's books.
The honor of writing the script went to Stephen Cloves, who negotiated and met with Steven Spielberg when he was considered as a prime candidate for the director's position. According to the screenwriter, he was sent a number of short book synopses for adaptation, from which he immediately singled out Harry Potter for himself. He went outside, bought a book and instantly became a fan of Rowling's work. At the same time, he undertook to write scripts for the next films in the series.
Initially Warner Bros. planned to release the film on Independence Day, July 4, 2001 (or July 31, Harry Potter's birthday). Time constraints eventually forced the premiere to be postponed to November 16, 2001.
Susie Figgis was put in charge of casting the actors. Working alongside Columbus and Rowling, she held numerous auditions for the three leading roles. Thousands of potential candidates were screened, but none of them received the approval of the director and producers. At the same time, searches began in America, which caused dissatisfaction with Suzy Figgis, who left the project on July 11, 2000, claiming that many of the children she viewed were worthy of the role, but were rejected by the director and producers.
At the end of May 2000, the official website of the future film posted a message about an open casting for the three main roles. Only British children between the ages of 9 and 11 were considered as candidates. At the auditions, the children were first asked to read aloud a page from the book they were given, then to improvise the scene of the arrival of the students at Hogwarts, and in the third stage to read aloud several pages from the script.
In July 2000, there were numerous reports that the American young actor Liam Aiken, who had previously worked with this director in the film Stepmother, became the main candidate for the role at the insistence of Chris Columbus. He flew to the UK and even managed to get an official offer to play the role of Harry Potter, which, however, was withdrawn the next day at the insistence of Rowling, firmly standing on the fact that the role should go to a British actor.
Finally, on August 8, 2000, it was announced that the three leading roles went to Britons Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who were practically unknown at that time.
Robbie Coltrane, who was cast as Hagrid, was the very first adult actor to be signed to the project. The second was Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall). The main contender for the role of Severus Snape for a long time was Tim Roth, a British by birth, but since 1990 living in America. Tim Roth declined the offer, preferring Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, after which the role went to Alan Rickman, whose invitation was personally approved by J.K. Rowling.
Despite Rowling's demands, the role of Mrs. Weasley could go to American actress Rosie O'Donnell, who was in talks with Chris Columbus. The role went to Julie Walters, who had previously been considered as the main contender for the much less important role of Madame Trick's broomstick flying teacher. The role of Professor Quirrell could have gone to David Thewlis, who later landed the role of Professor Lupin in the third film. Rick Mayal became the voice of the annoying poltergeist Peeves, but all the scenes with his participation were cut and were not included in the final version of the film.
Richard Harris accepted the role of Albus Dumbledore only after his 11-year-old granddaughter threatened that if she refused, she would never speak to him again. Another possible candidate for this role was Christopher Lee.
In general, J.K. Rowling's demands that all significant roles in the film should go to the British were fully met, although several non-British actors appear in the film. Richard Harris was Irish and Zoë Wanamaker, although she made a name for herself as a British actress, was a US citizen at the time of filming. Also, the role of the goblin in the Gringotts bank, accompanying Harry and Hagrid to the vault, turned out to be played by the American Vern Troyer, and one of the students of Hogwarts, Susan Bones, was played by Eleanor Columbus, the daughter of director Chris Columbus.
filming
Filming began on October 2, 2000 at Leavesden Studios, located about 50 kilometers from London and in the city itself. Most of the scenes set at Hogwarts and around the school were filmed in the cathedrals of Gloucester and Durham. The decision to film in Gloucester Cathedral sparked massive protests from local residents. Many indignant letters were published in the local press and accused the filmmakers of blasphemy, threatening to prevent the film crew from entering the cathedral. True, on the day on which the filming was scheduled to begin, only one protesting local resident showed up. Scenes in the hospital and the school library were filmed in two ancient buildings of the Oxford University Oxford Divinity School and the Duke Humfrey Library. The building of the Australian representative office in London was used as the bank of Gringotts wizards. According to the book, filming also took place at the London Zoo and at King's Cross Station. Filming ended in July 2001.
Columbus considered it necessary that both specially designed moving mechanical models (the so-called animatronics) and computer graphics should be used to create magical creatures in the film. CGI was mainly used in the creation of the cave troll and Norbert the dragon. In the scene with the cave troll in the girls' bathroom, Daniel Radcliffe was not actually hanging around the troll's neck, since the troll's sudden movements could easily break his neck. The actor's image was added using computer graphics.
Fees
The film's final gross worldwide was $976.5 million. Of these, 317.6 million (32.5%) fell to the share of the United States, and 658.9 million (67.5%) - to the share of world rentals. At the end of its release, it was the second highest grossing film of all time behind Titanic. It is also the highest grossing of all the Harry Potter films.
Interesting Facts
The scene showing Harry's parents being killed by Voldemort was written personally by J.K. Rowling, as only she knew exactly what happened then.
One version of the film's script suggested a cameo for Drew Barrymore, who proclaimed herself a big fan of the Harry Potter books.
Three owls, Ook, Gizmo and Sprout, were involved as Harry Potter's owl Buckley.
The film is known as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" throughout the world except the United States. The title was changed to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at the North American box office. For this reason, all the scenes in which the philosopher's stone is mentioned were filmed twice: in one case, the actors pronounce the philosopher's stone (Philosopher's Stone), and in the other, the witch's stone (Sorcerer's stone). The same distinction applies to the game of the same name based on the film. This is due to the fact that by the time the film and game were made, a book with a different title (Sorcerer's stone) had already been released in the United States, as the publisher felt that children would not read a book with the word "philosophical" in the title.
In one scene in the film, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione approach Hagrid's hut, he is playing a makeshift pipe. At this point, he plays Hedwig's Theme from the film's soundtrack.
The Hogwarts Express in this and subsequent films was a GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall steam locomotive, once owned by the British company Great Western Railway and built in 1937. Since 2004, the private tour operator Beyond Boundaries Travel has been organizing UK tours exclusively for Harry Potter fans.
On the Quidditch Cup, in addition to the name of Harry's father, the names of M. McGonagall and R. J. H. King are also engraved, among others. The second character got his name in honor of John King, who was responsible for the production and use of scenery in the project.
In the Trophy Room, to the right of the Quidditch Cup, you can see the award "for special services to the school." Part of Tom M. Riddle's name engraved on it is visible.
Among the portraits on the disappearing staircase, you can see a picture of the English Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I. Many of Anne Boleyn's contemporaries believed that she was a witch.
The tabby cat used in the filming disappeared without a trace and was found after intensive searches only two days later.
The magic chess played by Harry and Ron was inspired by the Isle of Lewis Chess, the most famous chess piece in the world found in the sand on the beach of Lewis, Hebrides and dating back to the 12th century.
According to the book, the students of the school go to Hogwarts from platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station, invisible to the ordinary eye, which can be reached through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. However, it turned out that at King's Cross Station, platforms 9 and 10 are not in the main building , but in a separate building and they are separated not by a barrier, but by two railway tracks. In one of the interviews, J.K. Rowling admitted her mistake and said that she mixed up London's King's Cross and Euston stations, although at the second station, platforms 9 and 10 are also separated by tracks, and not by a barrier. Platforms 4 and 5 were used for the filming of the film, which are located in the main part of King's Cross station and were simply renamed 9 and 10 for a while. Subsequently, a cast-iron sign indicating "Platform 9 ¾ ”, and under it a quarter of the luggage cart is mounted, the rest of which, as it were, has already disappeared into the wall.
The actor who played the attendant at King's Cross Station, whom Harry turns to for help, actually works as an employee on the British railway, however, in a different position - the head of the train.
Before the release of the film, a video game of the same name, created by Electronic Arts and became a big hit, went on sale. American toy company Mattel Inc. became the winner of the competition for the right to produce toys based on the upcoming film. A little later, another industrial giant in this industry, Hasbro, also received such a right.
Composer John Williams wrote the musical score specifically for the film's trailer. Subsequently, she entered the soundtrack of the film called "The Prologue" (The Prologue), which in itself happens extremely rarely.
The publishing house of educational books and magazines "DeAgostini" in 2008 published the magazines "Harry Potter Chess" teaching how to play chess. The prototypes for creating pieces were chess pieces on a huge chessboard where Harry, Ron and Hermione collided.
In the film, Harry sees Quirrell's death, which is inconsistent with the film and the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which mentions that he saw a human die for the first time in his fourth year. In the first book of the epic, this discrepancy is absent: in the book version of the plot, Harry passed out too early and did not have time to see Quirrell die.
In the article below, we will try to tell you everything about Harry Potter. The story about this boy, told by JK Rowling in seven novels, won the hearts of not only kids, it became a favorite book of representatives of different generations living in all countries of the world. This book teaches you to love, trust, be brave and responsible, go against your fears and be true to your principles and ideals. The work has a deep philosophical meaning. It explains with examples that the world is not divided only into good and bad, good and evil.
Often these concepts are mixed up and look different, one has only to learn and understand the background of events. Children, the same age as Harry and him, grew up along with their heroes with each book released. From 7 to 17 - 10 years of life associated with this work could not but leave a mark in the hearts of fans of the novel.
How Harry Potter was filmed
In 1998, the writer sold the rights to stage films about the life history of her characters to Warner Bros., setting the condition that all the actors who would participate in the creation of the epic were from the UK, and the process itself took place only on the territory of this country. The shooting of the first film was entrusted to the director who shot the once famous film "Home Alone". The producers of the company considered that the director's experience with child actors would play a positive role in the creation. Grandiose sets were built for filming, which served for the next years and were used in the film adaptation of other Potter books.
About a hundred artists worked on them, and the author of the idea, production designer Stuart Craig, was awarded the BAFTA award. Harry Potter filming locations were carefully selected. The coloring of old English villages and forests was taken into account, which were supposed to help emphasize the mystery of the places mentioned in the novel. In the story of how Harry Potter was filmed, it is impossible not to mention the excellent work of makeup artists. It was a truly difficult but interesting job. The images created by these specialists were truly impressive. These were both huge giants and dwarfs, some of the heroes scared away with their ugliness, while others, on the contrary, attracted. In other words, none of the characters left the viewer indifferent, including thanks to the work of make-up artists.
Telling how Harry Potter was filmed, it is impossible not to mention that the author of the novels, Joanne Rowling, was directly involved in the filming, acting as a producer of one of the parts of the film. Her work has been highly acclaimed by film critics. Together with other filmmakers, she was awarded the BAFTA Award for her contribution to the development of British cinema.
Amusement park
Now a huge amusement park based on the work and films based on it has been built on the filming site using real scenery in London. The Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore's office and, of course, the Hogwarts school itself - all correspond exactly to the scenery that was involved in the movie novel. Visitors don't just ride the rides, they get to see how Harry Potter was filmed.
Most of the scenes that take place in the Harry Potter films were filmed at a film studio called Leavesden. In its place in the past there was a large military airfield, and after the Second World War it was abandoned - by 2000, when they began to select a place for filming, only one hangar remained.
This room was chosen by the producers of a movie about a wizard for a reason: huge spaces and high ceilings made it possible to create excellent scenery for a medieval castle where young magicians studied.
This studio has scenes in the Great Hall where people dine at long tables. The ones suspended above the tables were real, held up by strings that were then removed from the frames using CGI. In the same hangar were the bedrooms of the main characters of the films, and the common living room of the Gryffindor faculty.
Today, Leavesden Studios houses a museum dedicated to the filming of the film, featuring the original sets, complete with the actual costumes and props used in the filming.
Other filming locations
But not all scenes were filmed in the former airfield, because in the Harry Potter films a lot of action takes place outside. So, the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of each film passes through the real-life Glenfinnan Viaduct, which is located in Scotland. The Goblet of Fire scenes, where Harry Potter had to go through the difficult tournament tests, were also filmed in Scotland: where else can you find such amazing green landscapes. This is the place of Glencoe - they also played Quidditch, a magical sports game.
For filming scenes at Hogwarts Castle, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Great Britain was chosen - Durham, built in the style of Norman architecture. Its graceful galleries became the courtyards and corridors of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The rector's house near the cathedral turned into an office and Professor McGonagall.
The Hogwarts Library was filmed in Oxford, in the famous Bodleian Library. There is also a theological school, which became the scenery for the school infirmary. One of the most famous Harry Potter filming locations is located right in London - Leadenhall Market. It has become Diagon Alley, home to magical shops and a bank.
The Hogwarts Express, according to the book, departs from King's Cross Station, so these scenes were filmed in a real station. Between the ninth and tenth platforms, a cart is embedded in the wall, and above it is the inscription "Platform 9 ¾".
