Hogwarts in the Snow
Our first glimpse behind the curtain of movie magic at the Warner Brothers’ Studio Tour was a decade ago. Meandering from the Gryffindor common room to Hagrid's hut and from Dumbledore's office to the Ministry of Magic, I was bowled over by the craftsmanship of the sets, costumes, models and props. And thrilled to witness how so many gifted, dedicated people are making a career in the flourishing British film industry.
My strongest response was to the astonishing, large-scale model of Hogwarts - the climax at the end of the tour. I found myself in tears, moved by its nostalgic beauty and the way it represented the beating heart of the world of Harry Potter, with its values of courage, friendship and sacrifice.
On that first visit, I was surprised by how small many of the sets were and that, with the exception of the wonderful Great Hall and Diagon Alley, we were looking at rather than walking through them.
This has changed. Visiting the superb winter exhibition, ‘Hogwarts in the Snow,’ we especially enjoyed the ‘walk through’ sets like the Forbidden Forest, with its monstrous spiders and the fiercely beautiful Hippogriff, Buckbeak (half eagle/half horse). But most spectacular is Gringotts, the wizarding bank. It is life-sized, and there, I really felt transported into another world.
Once again, I was astonished by the Hogwarts model, this time blanketed in snow. In 2011, Stuart Craig and his team of over 40 people spent 7 months constructing it. And it was developed many times during the film series. As I walked around it, taking photographs and attempting to absorb the details, I was taken aback, for a second time, by my response. It’s difficult to convey how a model of a castle can have so powerful an effect. Perhaps you can think of a painting or sculpture you love – one that tells a story and has personal associations for you. The Hogwarts model is like that on steroids. A work of art in its own right, the model captures the spirit of the book/film series that, for almost 30 years, has captivated children and their families with its joyous, mysterious world, where evil can only be overcome by sacrifice.
If you’ve visited the WB Studio Tour or other film sets, please share your memories in the comments.
