Harry Potter: Page to Screen

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Admittedly, it got a little rote. The first half of the book was definitely the most interesting to me, although even then it veered into really dry territory. The second half had much less substance and was almost distracting with all the photo / captions. I mean really, did you ever really care to know what thought went into Percy Weasley or Crabbe & Goyle's "Looks"? No. All too often, the book felt like it was written for the people on the film, as a way to sing the praises of the very talented designers behind-the-scenes that you probably don't give a second thought about, but would if they weren't doing their jobs as well as they were. Sort of a catch-22. the Sorting Hat from pre-production on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 8 MIDDLE The final Sorting Hat 8 ABOVE Steve Kill, a member of the design team, breaks down a group of Sorting Hat props to ready them for filming. 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. 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

Thanks for another great review! I'm definitely getting this book :) Does anyone here know if there is any difference between the Titan Books and the Harper Collins versions? I want this book! I've put it on my wish-list but unfortunately I live in Denmark so it's going to cost a million to get it over here, it's so huge.sorting hat The Sorting Hat was originally to be portrayed using a puppet, but when the filmmakers tested it on camera, that’s exactly what it looked like—a puppet on a child’s head. So the on-screen Sorting Hat was created digitally based on a leather hat made by costume designer Judianna Makovsky. The leather hat was soaked in water, squashed into a cone shape, left overnight to dry, and then further shaped with wires sewn into its lining. When Makovsky first brought the hat to the set, visual effects supervisor Robert Legato asked, “Where does it talk?” Director Chris Columbus looked at Legato and said, “She made the hat. You make it talk.” The book is like a tome and I love it! You get to read about how all of the sets of each movie were put together, who the directors were, how they found each person etc.

How I Came To Read This Book: I believe I first saw it in Entertainment Weekly and thought it'd be a good fit for my blog, so I requested a review copy. It's very well written, and the balance between photos and information is just right. The behind the scenes anecdotes and unknown tidbits, really make this an interesting and enjoyable read. All of the sections were informative, without tipping over into the over detailed, boring and sometimes irrelevant info, that film tie-ins can sometimes lean towards.It's fun to see which anecdotes I remember from magazine articles over the years, and which details are entirely new... The book details the story of the film series, from the acquisition of the film rights to the casting of the main actors and the shooting at Leavesden Studios, including: 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. 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.