FEELING THE MAGIC AT HARRY POTTER WORLD

Growing up, it felt like Harry, and I grew up together. South Africa’s second longest school holiday was the winter holiday. And somehow, the books were always released just before the holiday started (probably to align it with the northern hemisphere’s summer holidays).

While my sister would pack her days with friends, I would be curled up on my bed in the weak summer sun with my cat Thomas, reading away, and taken to the magical wizarding world.

T knew of Harry Potter, but not being a big reader, he only knew what I told him. When we learned of our trip back to the UK, I tried my luck of visiting Warner Bros studios. Once again, T made my wish come true, but this meant he had to go on a crash course.

I only ever saw the first movie, as I’m a firm believer in avoiding a movie based on a book. But this was an emergency. And in hindsight, it was much needed for me as well to appreciate the studios so much more. So we binge-watched the movies, one every weekend building up to our visit.

What you need to know before you go.

The first and most important thing to note, is how far in advance tickets are sold out. Despite how “old” the movies are and the price of the tickets, I was super lucky to secure tickets a month ahead of time.

Since it’s quite a bit outside of London, look into bundles that include transport. For us it was combined with a bus ride.

Lastly and most importantly, take your time. It’s a lot bigger than we expected, but there’s so much detail, and things to learn and see, that it can easily keep you busy for four hours.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you are at all planning to visit the Studios, carry on with caution. I’ve taken loads of photos, and tells some fun facts we’ve learned on the journey. I don’t think photos will ever do it justice, but wouldn’t want to spoil the experience for you.

If you’ve been hesitant about visiting… DO IT!!! It really made me feel like a kid again. If you happen to have a non-Potter fan with you, be assured it’ll still be fun just being on a movie set and seeing how things are done.

Goosebumps from the get-go.

As soon as we got off the bus and saw the entrance, I got gitty. The giant chess pieces welcoming you outside, and the dragon greeting you inside, the script against the wall, to the set design of the Dursleys house all sets you up for what’s coming.

Costumes

From the moment we entered the great hall, costumes were some of the main display items. The detail and though that goes into each outfit is usually missed by the average viewer.

My favorite costume fun fact had to have been about Professor Umbridge, and how her outfits got more pink, the more power she got from the ministry of magic. Also, Hagrid in full length view, was actually a Scottish rugby player on stilts.

The Sets

We’ve lost count of the number of sets they had to create. Here are just a few of my favourites.

The Great Hall made a great first impression.
The Weasly kitchen, with interactive knife chopping away, needles knitting, and dishes were washing on their own.
The different houses common rooms, down to the tiniest detail.
Dumbledore’s office with all the portraits. The portraits were a way of honouring behind the scene staff, by using them as portraits. Stephan Fry also has a portrait in Dumbledore’s office, as a tribute to him reading the audio books. The last fun fact about the portraits were that they had to be asleep, otherwise their eyes follow the camera instead of the actors.
The forbidden forest, were dark, moody and full of all the creatures we saw and read about.
Belatrix’s volt with all the shiny objects, many made out of rubber so the actors won’t get hurt in filming the scene.

Diagon Alley

Gringotts

Gringotts was my second favourite moment of the entire experience. Sadly I wasn’t able to capture a clear shot of the set, but that did not take away from the wow moment I felt as we walked in. There was also a second Gringotts set, the dragon-wrecked version.

The Props

There were tenths of thousands of props used during the make of the movies. Wands, newsletters, brooms, the Triwizard cup, books (my favorite, the monster book of monsters), Quiditch equipment, newspapers, cauldrons, well you get the idea.

Although they weren’t props, I want to mention the use of animals in the movie. Each animal character was between three and seven different animals, each with a personality to suit the scene. For instance, Hedwig was four different owls, one just for sitting on the shoulder, one for flying from one spot to the next, and so forth.

The Grand Finale – Hogwarts

Hogwarts blew my mind and almost brought me to tears. While the photographer in me usually can’t wait to capture the beauty, I first took several minutes just enjoying the pure grandeur of the mini castle. As we walked around it, you keep on seeing it from another angle, giving you another tower, or bridge, or grounds.

The mini Hogwarts was one of three layers they would use for the movie. In the first layer, they would record the castle piece they would use in a scene, then overlay it with the actors filmed in front of the green screen, and end with special effects, such as snow, fire, or a dragon flying by. It is astonishing how much work goes into a production such as this.

Final Words

Firstly I would like to thank T for enduring my childhood fantasy and being there so I could share it with my best friend.

We could relive and experience the true magic of Harry Potter. One of the things that stood out was that you could see that JK Rowling herself was a movie producer, and the detail was as close as possible to how she described it in the books.

Warner Bros studios were worth every cent. It’s not cheap, but if you have the opportunity and the finances, I strongly encourage you to put it on your bucket list. The experience has to be one of my travel highlights.

Next up, I’ll be having a day trip alone, and we’ll finally be off on a new adventure.