The Making of Harry Potter

Our Harry Potter London trip would not have been completed without a visit to The Making of Harry Potter, the self-guided tour at the Warner Bros. Studios in Watford. We booked the tickets for this tour several months before we went, immediately after booking the flight. For my kids this was hands down one of the two highlights of our summer trip (more on the second in a future post).

 

We spent an entire day at the Studios admiring sets, props, costumes and everything else associated with the making of the movies. Indeed, there was much to admire! The level of creativity, imagination, talent and professionalism involved was truly mind-blowing. J.K. Rowling created a magical world through words (and became vastly famous for it), but translating this world into genuine-looking places and objects required immensely hard work by hundreds of equally-talented (yet mostly anonymous) people. Meticulous attention to detail was evident everywhere, from the building of large sets to the design of the smallest prop. Everything was exceptionally well done, and convincingly real-looking, even from up close.

 

The first part of the tour took us through some of the filming sets, both big and small. This, for example, is the tiny set of Harry’s room under the staircase, located right at the entrance to the Studios. It looked as if Harry was about to return at any moment:

 

 

And here is the Great Hall of Hogwarts, which looked and FELT like a magical, medieval, solid-stone structure:

 

 

Only to be revealed as a thin plaster facade from the back:

 

 

The homes, dormitories and classrooms that appear in the movies looked amazingly realistic and lived-in. This, for example, is Snape’s Potions classroom:

 

 

One of my favorite sets was Diagon Alley, which was built for the first movie and then used for all eight. It was exactly the kind of authentic-feeling, old-world street I try (and often fail) to find in my travels, the kind of place I fantasize about. I would have loved to visit some of the stores on this alley (and linger for a long while at a magical fabrics store, had there only been one!):

 

 

 

 

Even props that were used only once were made to perfection. Here is an appetizing dessert table, looking convincingly chocolaty, but obviously made of something else:

 

 

And some of Prof. Umbridge’s outfits, sewn from deliciously-textured PINK fabrics:

 

 

The Black Family Tapestry was a true work of art, surpassing real medieval tapestries I’ve seen in museums. We were told that this was originally supposed to appear on one wall only, but that once the graphic designers were done with it the directors decided to dedicate an entire room to this masterpiece:

 

 

The tour went through a restaurant, where we tasted butterbeer, and through a courtyard that hosted the magical sleeper bus and Hagrid's motorcycle, among other things. For the second part it took us behind the scenes, offering a glimpse into the thousands of hours put in by the army of super-talented people who made the movies what they are. There were painters who imagined what each character looked like:

 

 

Sculptors and others who made the masks for special characters, in this case the goblins:

 

Technicians and robotics experts who made costumes come to life:

 

 

There were architects who designed the sets:

 

 

And people who built the models:

 

 

Each and every professional and artist involved, no matter their field, earned my utter respect.

 

The tour ended in the gift shop, where artists of a different kind performed a different kind of magic:

 

We left the Studios with full hearts, full bags and empty wallets.

Everything Harry Potter

The reason we ended up in London this summer was my daughters’ passion for anything Harry Potter. Over the years the two of them read and re-read the books many times, and watched all the movies repeatedly. For several years on Halloween they dressed as characters from the series, first as “good” characters such as Hermione, then, as they entered their teens, as wicked, goth-looking Death Eaters. A few years ago they forced us to visit Disney World, where we spent a couple of LONG days pacing up and down Diagon Alley. We were coerced into standing FIVE TIMES in the exceedingly long lines leading to Olivander’s Wand Shop, where my children hoped to be chosen by a wand. Little scientists as they were, they soon realized that the wands seemed to have a pattern: they always picked kids from a specific part of the store, one time a boy, the next a girl. And so, on the fifth attempt, my girls managed to squeeze right into that golden spot. Lo and behold, viola! -- a wand picked one of them! A rather expensive one at that, as we later learned at the checkout counter...

This year, after much begging, the kids finally got their way, and we all made a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Pottermanina. Fresh off the plane, exhausted from a long flight and completely jet lagged, we had to hike all the way to King’s Cross Station to look for Platform 9 3/4. Those of us who were concerned it’ll be hard to spot soon realized there was nothing to worry about: There it was, right next to the Potter gift shop, at the end of a super-long line of giddy tourists. There were actually two or three 9 ¾ platforms, one next to the other, each with it’s own line and half a shopping cart (the other half supposedly disappearing into the wall), flashed again and again by professional and amature photographers alike.

The next day we went to Leadenhall Market, where Hogs Head was filmed:

And then we crossed Millennium Bridge, which was “destroyed” by Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:

When we went to the London Zoo a few days later our very first stop was naturally the reptile exhibition:

Even our only day-trip outside the city was touched by the Potter obsession. Between visiting Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral we squeezed in a quick visit to Lacock Village, a picturesque, beautifully-preserved medieval hamlet. Established in 1232 and continuously lived in, the village is a true gem of authenticity of the kind I find really exciting. It is now owned by the National Trust, and its existing houses date from the 18th century or earlier. Walking around town truly feels like going back in time:

The village, not surprisingly, appeared in several movies, but to my kids only the Potter movies mattered, and only one house was worth a thorough look: the house that was filmed for the Philosopher's Stone as the outside of the Potter home at Godric’s Hollow:

Sadly, we couldn't visit Lacock Abbey, another Potter shooting location, for it was closed when we arrived.

Of course a Potter trip could not be complete without a day at the Warner Bros. Studios. But that, I think, is worth its own post.

Inspiration: London!

This summer my family and I traveled to London, where we spent two incredible weeks touring the city. We went to most of the major tourist destinations, as well as to some minor ones. We tasted food from around the world, had tea at Harrods, saw two amazing shows, visited LOTS of museums, and learned some history. We took double-decker buses as well as the Tube, but mostly we walked anywhere we could, between seven to ten miles on an average day!

London was vibrant, lively and exciting. The days were very long (it was already bright at 4:00 am, and there was still some light at 10:00 pm). The weather, as expected, was mostly chilly and gray, spiced by some drizzle or rain every now and then. Yet the streets were always packed, even late at night. Food, music and ART pulsed throughout the city.

As a historian, I loved the layers of the past peeking from every corner. As an artists, I enjoyed seeing the great variety of art that is woven into this great metropolis: old and new architecture, Gothic and modern sculpture, official public art next to street art, and, of course, the vast riches of art collected from all over the world and from different eras, displayed at the many museums that dot the city, free of charge for all to see.

Here is an example of how old and new merge flawlessly to make the urban landscape:

And these are modern sculptures, segments from a series, looking very much in place at the Tower of London:

This three-dimensional drawing stood at the financial district:

And in a side alley somewhere I spotted a waitress painting on a window:

The art displayed in the museums was a humbling testament to the great things humanity can achieve. It was quite exciting to stand in front of world-class creations, both ancient and modern, which I knew well from art history lessons. Here are but a couple of examples from the British Museum:

I found being immersed in this art-infused environment very invigorating. Creativity, it turns out, is catching.