Design in Harry Potter

art presentaion

Design in Harry Potter

02

Models

Index

01

Wands

03

Costumes

01

Wands

Wands' design in the Movies

"The wand chooses the wizard, mr.Potter"

Wands design is a key-part of the Wizarding World visual worldbuilding as well as a very important tool for the characters.

At first, both in the movies and on the book covers, wands were only a fin, simple stick of wood. They were not unique to the characters.

Wands' design in the Movies

"The wand chooses the wizard, mr.Potter"

"For the first film, we probably made two dozen sample wands all in completely different styles . . . to show J.K. Rowling. There were some like roots with crystals tied on the ends, some with metal castings, through to crazy, Baroque-style wands with gilding on them. Loads and loads of different types of interpretations of what a wand should be - right down to fairly simple, straightforward, turned precious wood versions. And she went for the very simple wands."

Wands' design in the Movies

"The wand chooses the wizard, mr.Potter"

Then came Prisoner of Azkaban, and with it, a new director, new costumes, new sets, and of course - new wands.

"Director Alfonso Cuarón thought that the other wand [from the first two films] looked too smooth, like it was from Ikea." - Daniel Radcliffe

"Alfonso Cuarón was quite keen on the actors choosing their own wands" - Hattie Storey, Art Director

Wands' design in the Movies

"The wand chooses the wizard, mr.Potter"

"After the third film, there was a lot more development of the concept of the wands. Wands from then on were a lot more liberal in their design, which was great. This is essentially a stick that's been reinterpreted hundreds and hundreds of times in lots of different ways. From simple wands, we went into all sorts of different finishes, incorporating bone finishes, different metal components. . . inlays, crystals, and on and on."

Wands' design in the Movies

"The wand chooses the wizard, mr.Potter"

Horace Slughorn's wand is notable for it's metal parts. The pommel is also an on-the-nose depiction of his name.

The deatheaters' wands are very creative. It is a good exemple of the way the prop departement of the movies started to create wands especially for individuals characters.

02

Models

Models in the Movies

Hogwarts

Many models of animals, places and objects were made for the movies.

The model of the castle was made for outside shots. All the details of the castle have been recreated to scale, right down to the details of the rooms that can be seen inside the model.

Models in the Movies

Hogsmeade

Hogsmeade has several models:

A reduced scale model for the aerial shots and a human scale model divided in several trays. The human scale model represents the main road and the candy shops. The reduced scale model represents the whole village and it's surroundings.

Models in the Movies

the Hungarian Horntail

The Hungarian Horntail, The dragon Harry faces during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, during the fourth movie, was built with used parts of the basilisk. The dragon's face was made of Nommex, a fireproof material, as the head can spit fire with a Flamethrower.

Models in the Movies

the basilisk

The basilisk was made with soft rubber and with aluminium scales for the skeleton. The model of the snake is 8 meters long and weights a ton and a half. The model can move: Blink, open it's mouth...

Models in the Movies

Fawkes the phoenix

Fawkes' model was inspired by Vultures and Eagles. There are 2 version of Fawkes: a Digital one and an animatronic one. The animatronic version can move, react to characters, move it's wings and cry. Annecdote: Richard harris, Dumbledore's actor, thought the Animatronic bird was a real one.

Models in the Movies

Actors

Models of the actors were made for specific scenes, notably in the second movie, when several students were petrified by the basilisk. Each mannequin has the same eyes and hair as the actors. The process form the actor to the model is called "Life cast". For the record, a cast of Draco Malfoy was made for the third movie, and it looked so real the actor's mother thought it was really him.

03

Costumes

Costumes in the Movies

Uniforms

At first, no uniform was mentioned in the books. But the costume designer of the first movie, Judianna Makovsky, and the costume team, thought the actors looked better with an uniform.

Costumes in the Movies

Civilian clothes

All of the civilian clothes for the saga are classic, simple and unbranded. They didn't follow any particular trend to make sure the saga would go out of style.

Costumes in the Movies

Lindy hemming

She followed Judianna Makosky at the head of the costume department. While there aren’t many new costumes for the second movie, she did a very rococo style to Gilderoy Lockhart’s outfit, and she created the very aristocratic look for Lucius Malfoy.

Costumes in the Movies

Jany Temime

Jany Temime is a french Costume Designer and worked on the Harry Potter movies for the 6 movies. As soon as the was placed at the head of the departement, she intended to make the saga less childish. She also worked on the Quidditch uniforms, to give them a aspect closer to rudby or soccer uniforms. She, for example, added leather to the uniform.

Costumes in the Movies

Yule ball

The most emblematic dress of the Yule ball is Hermione’s pink dress. Originally, the dress is blue, but the design team thought the color didn’t suit Emma Watson (Hermione Granger). The dress took 3 months of work. Ron's outfit is made of old rugs and lace.

Costumes in the Movies

Voldemort

Voldemort’s costume is made of very dark silk. We can see that, throughout the movies, Voldemort’s costume fades, along with his power and the destruction of the hocruxes.

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