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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Following the huge success of the book, in September 2000, filming began on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Directed by Chris Columbus, the story follows Harry as he discovers the Wizarding World and starts his magical education at Hogwarts. One of the first sets the crew produced was the Great Hall, the heart of Hogwarts. The set was a huge space that could fit up to 400 children, complete with a real flagstone floor that would survive many years of use.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Only three days after the cinematic release of the first Harry Potter film, production began for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Monday 19th November 2001. When embarking on this new project, filmmakers employed a number of innovative techniques to create the movie magic that audiences see on-screen.

Dobby the house-elf is one of the most popular characters from the Harry Potter series, and multiple talented crew members were responsible for his unforgettable debut in the second film. The process of creating Dobby took three months in total. Rob Bliss from the Art Department oversaw the conceptualisation of Dobby’s appearance, whilst Nick Dudman and his Creature Effects Team carefully made a physical model that the cast could interact with during filming. Finally, CGI (computer generated imagery) was applied to this model, bringing the house-elf to life on-screen and turning a behind-the-scenes mannequin into the much-loved Dobby.

The mystifying set for Dumbledore’s office was first built for the second film and designed as an extension of the Headmaster’s personality. The floor-to-ceiling bookcases lining the cylindrical walls are filled with leather-bound books and manuscripts – during filming, these were actually just telephone directories that have been cleverly re-bound to look much older!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In 2003, production began on the third Harry Potter film with the cast and crew returning to begin principal photography for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This time, the film was led by Director Alfonso Cuarón and Producer David Heyman, who wanted to highlight the third film’s mysterious storyline by bringing elements of film-noir into their filmmaking practice.

The process of designing Dementors was lengthy, involving lots of experimentation. In the early stages of production, their ethereal movements were created by puppeteers, who moved large pieces of cloth around in water tanks to create the illusion of these terrifying creatures hovering above ground. Ultimately, the Dementors seen on-screen were later produced through visual effects, as this yielded a better overall result, and more realistic effect of drifting through air.

The third film also saw the construction of one of the most difficult set pieces ever made for the Harry Potter film series, which is the magnificently tall, triple-decker Knight Bus. Remarkably, this impressive structure was created practically, without the need for CGI – it was built out of the combined parts from two disused double-decker buses, which were stacked on top of each other. The completed Knight Bus was fully operational and exterior shots were taken on location around London. This route required careful planning due to the impressive height and complicated design of the Knight Bus, and any bridges or low structures had to be avoided – cars were also instructed to drive slowly around it, to simulate its magically fast speed.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

On 4th May, 2004, filming began for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which took over a year to complete, finishing in March 2005. Due to the large scope of this film, multiple new sets were constructed to accommodate its diverse settings. This film also debuted the Great Hall’s Yule Ball makeover, which required countless metres of silver fabric and magical ice sculptures.

To film the underwater scenes for the Triwizard Tournament challenge, it was necessary to construct a huge underwater filming tank, which held over two million litres of water! Due to the large stretches of time Daniel Radcliffe would spend submerged within it, he earned his official PADI diving certificate during filming. Other innovative filmmaking techniques were required for the second Triwizard Challenge, including Harry’s physical transformation after taking gillyweed. Practical effects were used to create his fishy appearance, which involved stretching thin ladies’ stockings over his hands to create the illusion of webbed fingers.

Another impressive feat of practical effects employed within this film was the construction of a 40ft long Hungarian Horntail dragon model. Led by John Richardson, the Special Effects Team fitted this beast with a 35ft flamethrower, so that the mechanical dragon could shoot real fire out of its mouth. However, the Visual Effects Team were ultimately responsible for creating the Hungarian Horntail that audiences see on-screen.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

After a one-year break, the cast and crew returned to film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on 6th February 2006, which involved building some of the most daring and technologically challenging sets to ever be created for the Harry Potter film series.

Radical new approaches to set design were used to create the huge Ministry of Magic. Scenes taking place within the Hall of Prophecies required a great deal of effort from the Visual Effects Team, as these were filmed entirely against a blue screen backdrop. Although similar green screen technology had been used in earlier Harry Potter films, there had never been a complete blue screen set used prior to this.

The glorious Ministry of Magic atrium was also the largest set ever created for any Harry Potter film, and is renowned for being Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson’s favourite set to work on, due to its awe-inspiring dimensions – which are large enough to house 50 double-decker buses!

This film also saw the creation of Dolores Umbridge’s office, where she doles out cruel detentions to students. 40 kittens were recruited to create the kitschy plates decorating her garishly pink walls – after filming, these kittens were rehomed, and their new owners weren’t informed of their celebrity backgrounds!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Just 74 days after the cinematic release of the fifth film in 2007, filming began for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, on 24th September. Largely taking place in Hogwarts, this film saw the return to and expansion of many iconic sets.

The Potions classroom was initially built for the earlier films, decorated with gilded inscriptions of alchemical formulas on the stone arches, and filled with hundreds of glass jars, each containing curios like plastic newts or baked animal bones. Although the overall design of the set remained largely the same in the sixth film, its size had to be dramatically enlarged during filming to fit Professor Slughorn’s class inside.

This film also saw the destruction of the Weasley family home, which was set alight by Death Eaters. To shoot these exterior shots, a 1:3 scale model of The Burrow was burned to the ground during filming, then re-built and re-dressed for the later films.

Director David Yates also drew attention to the romantic plots in the sixth film, as he wanted to show how Harry, Ron, and Hermione were maturing through time. Ironically, during filming, Rupert Grint celebrated his 21st birthday with the cast and crew by throwing a children’s-themed party!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Parts 1 & 2

The final two films were created back-to-back, with filming for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 starting on Thursday 19th February 2009. Initially, the shooting schedule was set to 250 days, but it took a total of 478 days to complete the first instalment and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

This film saw the destruction of Hogwarts castle, which required immense quantities of props. 32 tons of polystyrene were brought in by five trucks to replicate the rubble created during the wizarding battle. Following this scene, the infamous hug between Lord Voldemort and Draco Malfoy was improvised – audiences saw Tom Felton’s genuine reaction to the surprising gesture on-screen!

In order to accommodate the immense quantity of wands required during the Battle of Hogwarts, Prop Master Barry Wilkinson manufactured over 500 individual wands, including those just used for stunts. Throughout the entire Harry Potter film series, Daniel Radcliffe required roughly 70 unique wands!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Set 70 years before Harry Potter attends Hogwarts, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them follows the adventures of Magizoologist, Newt Scamander, who arrives to New York with a case full of magical creatures. Directed by David Yates and written by J.K. Rowling, the film was produced at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the home of the Harry Potter film series.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The second instalment of the Fantastic Beasts series follows Gellert Grindelwald as he sets about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. Set in both New York and Paris, the film is the first introduction to the French Ministry of Magic; the Ministère des Affaires Magiques.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Released in 2022, the third film in the series sees Professor Dumbledore work with Newt Scamander and others to embark on a dangerous mission to stop Grindelwald. Shot at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the film was directed by David Yates and stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen.