Harry Potter: Page to Screen: Updated Edition

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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. An amazing Christmas gift... no way is this amazing volume going to be merely a coffee table book. I plan to read it cover-to-cover and soak up every amazing little detail that went into making this series. There are three parts to the book. The first is "The Making of Harry Potter" and covers the complete film making process of all the seven Harry Potter titles. The second is "The Art of Harry Potter" and that covers the characters, locations, creatures and artifacts. The third is the epilogue. It took me several days to finish reading. Harry Potter: The Character Vault / Harry Potter: The Creature Vault / Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault

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. You read about how the children were like deers in the headlight on their first day of filming. There were extensive laughing, constant looking into the camera. As you read along towards the last film, you know how much they have grown as actors. This book has kind of made producer David Heyman one of my heroes. Love how he said he first grew interested in working on Harry Potter because he just generally adored reading so much.In addition to his role as a Weasley twin, James Phelps also served as an assistant director on the "Half-Blood Prince" set. Emma Watson (Hermione) had a huge crush on Tom Felton (Draco) during the filming of the first several movies 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. J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World: Movie Magic Volume One: Extraordinary People and Fascinating Places / Volume Two: Curious Creatures / Volume Three: Amazing Artifacts

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. 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.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. 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 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 At first, I was in love with this book. I am a big fan of the books and then the movies, and I always wondered how they adapted those wonderful books for the big screen. There is just so much information in this book, and it is presented artistically through pictures as well as words. When I finished it, I felt like I knew so much more than I could have ever asked for. However, after a while, I realized that something was missing. The book discussed the changing directors and how they brought their visions to films that became progressively more dark, but the changing composers that brought music to these films are never discussed. Being a musician, I was somewhat disappointed. I would have liked to read about how John Williams was chosen to start the series, why he left, and how he and the others created the music that brought so much feeling to these films. The only thing I missed, and would have liked to see was maybe a short interview from JKR herself. Although there are mentions of her collaboration in the book, it would have been nice to read her thoughts on seeing her magical world on the big screen.

To call this a labour of love is like calling the Taj Mahal a shed... A coffee-table volume worthy of the most successful movie series of all time." --Heat Really, really cool behind-the-scenes information about the production of the Harry Potter movies. I learned so much about the Harry Potter universe, the actors, and the way movies are made. Like the fact that Mafalda Hopkirk was played by Sophie Thompson, the younger sister of Emma Thompson, and Bill Weasley was played by Brendan Gleeson's son Domhnall. And that the prop crew bought sixteen Ford Anglias from around the country to use in filming. That most of the amazing props and sets were really physically made, with animatronics to make them move—like the Whomping Willow, the doors to the Chamber of Secrets, Aragog, the basilisk's head and 25 feet of its body, etc. The wizard's chess scene was done entirely in real life—the only effects they added digitally were some extra dust and debris for the explosions. They built those giant pieces and actually blew them up on-set.

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A Guide to the Graphic Arts Department: Posters, Prints, and Publications from the Harry Potter Films Anyone interested in this field of fantasy art should invest in this beautiful, rich source of inspiration. 5 out of 5." --Imagine FX The Plot: This is basically an encyclopaedia to everything on the Harry Potter films. The first half of the book is the 'story' of the eight films (although Deathly Hallows is combined into one chapter), including getting them made in the first place, before the series was the phenomenon it became. Each film is discussed in terms of how the casting process worked, with commentary from the producers and the actors on what it was like to add each new cast member. The plot is also vaguely discussed in terms of what went into bringing certain scenes (or adding / reducing certain plot points) to life on the big screen - whether it's technical effects, locations, or fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes and photos. There's also a fair bit of discussion and commentary from the three lead actors on what it was like to work with each director / make each film. The second half of the book is more where the encyclopaedia designation comes in. Giant chunks of the book are dedicated to costumes (really, characters), sets, props, and creatures and what went into the design / how they came to life / concept art. It's very photo / caption heavy at this point, with little snippets of information on materials used or hours that went into something. 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.)