Many fans find ‘Harry Potter’ books better than the films, however, everyone can agree that watching the movies imbibed a magical experience. While us muggles would never get to feel how awesome it is to attend the wizarding school of Hogwarts, we can still appreciate the pictures that made the characters in the story alive.
chrisdorney/Shutterstock | Some fans loved the books over the films
The ‘Harry Potter’ films wouldn’t be astounding if it weren’t for the stellar cast, impressive storyline, and amazing costumes, but what really set the bar high was the movies’ special effects. We can just imagine how painstaking it must have been to add the ‘magical’ factor to the pictures – in fact, one scene particularly required so much work.
Special Effects
While Potterheads only get to see the finished product on big screens, there’s actually more work done on the set just to create a wonderful movie. As expected with the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, it required time and effort from the team.
However, it was a scene in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1’ that was particularly difficult to film. It was the moment when The Order of the Phoenix arrived at the Privet Drive to bring Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) to a safe place.
Warner Bros | The scene showed seven Harry Potters
Just to make sure that nothing happens to the Boy Who Lived, six of his pals decided to take polyjuice potion, which made them look like Harry. It was wonderful how Hermione Granger (Emma Watsons), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy), Mundungus Fletcher (Andy Linden), and Fred and George Weasley (James and Oliver Phelps) were all willing to help their pal.
The ‘Seven Harrys’ scene, however, was a pain to make – so much so that it had the record number of takes among ‘Harry Potter’ films. All in all, it was done in 95 takes!
How Was The Scene Made?
In a behind-the-scenes clip, the cast and crew dished on how this scene became possible. The lead star revealed that there was a motion control camera that was programmed by a computer. The staff would shoot Daniel as one character and then another version.
S_bukley/Shutterstock | Daniel had to observe his costars’ moves
It was crucial that Daniel would be in a specific position every shoot because if he moved an inch, he would risk standing on another version. Interestingly, David Yates, who directed three ‘Harry Potter’ films, asked the other stars to act out the scene so that Harry could emulate them.
This way, fans would be able to determine who is Hermione-Harry, Ron-Harry, and so on. This was a fun part for Daniel, who said he had to analyze every mannerism of his costar’s characters.
Over 30 cameras were used to capture every angle and emotion of the character as well as a special ultraviolet makeup. The special effects team, meanwhile, was great at seamlessly blending everything together.
