There are no words to describe the experience I had today at The Making of Harry Potter. I watched a world that made me so happy when I was young animate before my eyes. Everything became real as I stepped foot into the actual Great Hall, where the actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint etc filmed the story of Harry Potter for 10 years of their (and my) lives. We were in the actual building at the studio that was filled with hundreds of original sets, thousands of original costumes, hundreds of thousands original props and all the detailed amazement of makeup, hair, special effects, visual effects, music and scoring covered. I saw so many places and things today that were actually used in the making of the movie. From wigs, to the Triwizard cup, the griffindor common room, dumbledore's office, hagrid's hut, all of diagon alley, the knight bus, Privet Drive, countless costumes, the burrow, umbridge's office, the bassalisk, buckbeak, grawp, the ministry of magic, the Weasley clock, the hand painted portraits, the harp that puts fluffy to sleep, aragog, the potions classroom, life size models of the actors and the replica of the hogwarts castle that is used to film all the shots you see in the movie of it.
Having such a connection to the actors and the place where the magic was made brought me to tears after they showed us a short intro featuring the three main characters and dramatically revealed the doors to the Great Hall. This is a selfie I took as I was shedding tears over my excitement for what was about to happen.
I was engaged the entire time and excited to see what was coming next,but I had to rush at the end and didn't have enough time to take it all in. However it was by far my favorite thing I did on the trip so far. Let's be honest, I was a total fan girl. The costumes were particularly beautiful. Here are some:
I used to imagine prom being like Hermione's experience when she wore this purple dress to the Yule ball- the whole school noticed how beautiful she was. Lol no such luck, high school is cruel, hogwarts is not.
Even plain costumes like snape's were just displayed to perfection!
The great hall!
The door to the Chamber of Secrets!
Hagrid's Hut!
The amazing giant castle model that made my jaw drop and my eyes well up- the dream is a reality!
This is one of the events that most directly ties to my children's literature course. While I was exploring, I couldn't help but think of two things in particular that connected to The Making of Harry Potter tour and our course:
1) Harry Potter vs Children's Literature in the Marketplace
2) Harry Potter vs Children's Literature as Art
1) Harry Potter, like Children's Lit in general is an industry.
£31 just to get in.
£6 for an audio guide.
£20-100 for a video/pictures riding a broom.
£25 for a wand.
£70 for a sweater.
I don't even know what a cloak costs!
7 books
8 movies
Video Games
Glassware, plushes, key chains, magnets, you name it they've got it!
If they can smack the words Harry Potter on it and sell it to you, they can and will. So it seems, buying into reading and getting a child involved in a series with as much popularity as Harry Potter (when they're probably gonna want to read it anyway because their friends are) is an investment. Publishing companies, when partnered with powerful entertainment companies like Warner Brothers, have the power to amaze us with exhibits while understatedly slamming our wallets, for the sake of the kids. This tour was a strong reminder of the emphasis on publishing, while yes, JK Rowling struggled to get published at first, I wonder how much pressure the abundance of her success is having on Children's fantasy authors who are expected to create the next Harry Potter, which has completely evolved from a book to brand (one that I am happy to buy into but others might frown at).
2) In connection to the power Harry Potter has in the market, a lot is due to the artistry that we might overlook for the story. Would we still love Harry Potter the same if the special effects were different? Or the Gryffindor common room looked different? Or someone made a change in a costume or makeup decision. Why do we open our wallets as soon as the opportunity arises to get prints with new covers? This tour gave me the answer: Art. Harry Potter encompasses written, engineering, technological, special effects, costuming, makeup and prop artistry that I could never even begin to comprehend. We first fall in love with the beauty of it all in JK Rowlings novels, and when it is brought to life by the thousands of hard working artists, it just becomes purely and amazingly a beautiful art form. This should not be overlooked simply because it is for children, which so often happens. Art is for everyone, and can move you as a child and through adulthood, as it did for me revisiting Harry Potter in general today. Here are just a few of the shots I got of the emphasis of artistry:
Written art
Makeup/Hair with crazy wigs art!
Molding and creation of characters through makeup art!
Engineering art!
Graphic design art!
Graphic design art!
Actual canvas art concepts
Actual canvas art concepts
Actual canvas art concepts
Engineering/creation of the castle through models art
Going on this tour let me apply the concepts we learned in class about the market for children's lit and children's lit as art in a real world setting, a lens that I can and will view through for the rest of my life.
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