Life | Travels through a geek's mind

And all was well

At the end of my week in London in 2012, I visited the Warner Bros. studio tour of the making of Harry Potter. This was by far my most anticipated experience of the trip. If you’re a Potterhead and have the chance, this should definitely be on your bucket list! Get the audio-guide (narrated by Tom Felton) and immerse yourself for a few hours in the wonderful world of film and magic. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. There are a lot of them, so keep scrolling!

Sets and set details

The very first glimpse on the tour… the cupboard under the stairs

Set detail - Ravenclaw in the Great Hall

Set detail - Gryffindor in the Great Hall

Set detail - Hufflepuff in the Great Hall

Set detail - Slytherin in the Great Hall

Set detail - house cup scores in the Great Hall

Sets - the entrance to Dumbledore's office

Sets - Dumbledore's office with costume of Albus

Sets - Gryffindor common room with costumes for Hermoine, Harry and Ron

Sets - Gryffindor common room with costume for Ron

Sets - the potions classroom with costume of Snape

Set - The Ministry of Magic's new statue

Sets - that hateful woman's office at the Ministry of Magic

Set - the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow

Set detail - Gringotts bank in Diagon alley

Set detail - Eeylop's owl emporium in Diagon alley

Set detail - Flourish & Blotts in Diagon alley

Set detail - Madam Malkin's in Diagon alley

Set detail - Ollivander's in Diagon alley (day time)

Set detail - Ollivander's in Diagon alley

Set detail - Weasleys' wizard wheezes in Diagon alley

Set details - Weasley's puking pastilles in Diagon alley

Set details - shop front of the magical menagerie in Diagon alley

Costumes

Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) designed some of the costumes for her character herself. Knowledge learned courtesy of Tom Felton 😉

Costumes - Minerva McGonnagal, Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape

Costumes - Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin

Props and portraits

Props - the Weasley's unbelievable clock

Portraits - previous headmasters of Hogwarts

Portraits - additional portraits for the halls of Hogwarts

Portraits - cast and crew member details

Portraits - Young Minnerva McGonnagal in the Gryffindor common room

Props and portraits - The headmasters of Hogwarts with the Sword of Gryffindor

Props - the Sorting hat in Dumbledore's office

Props - a cupboard full of memories in Dumbledore's office

Props - The pensieve in a cupboard in Dumbledore's office

Props - the golden egg (HP and the goblet of fire)

Props - Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets

Props - potions ingredients in Snape's classroom

Props - the Black family tapestry, with members burned off

Props - wand boxes in Ollivander's shops, with cast and crew member names - 2

Props - wand boxes in Ollivander's shops - JK Rowling, Emma Watson

Props - wand boxes in Ollivander's shops, with cast and crew member names - details

Props - wand boxes in Ollivander's shops, with cast and crew member names

Props & makeup - Goblin faces and shrunken heads

Artwork and odds & ends

“I solemly swear I’m up to no good”

Potion labels were hand-drawn, the amount of detail is amazing

The letters addressed to Harry at number 4 Privet Drive were hand-written. Only the flood of letters assaulting the house at a later stage were printed copies of the originals. The weight of the letters also had to be taken into account, so that owls could actually fly with them.

Scale models

Scale models - Hogwarts castle and courtyard with bridge

Hogwarts model

This is the crème de la crème of the experience. The entire model has miniature torches and lights simulating people passing in front of them. To appreciate the full-scale of the model, I’ve added a photo from the Daily Mail to the bottom of this post from their article on the model of Hogwarts. The lighting in the room where the model is kept cycles through a few phases, simulating night and day, showing the model in all its immense glory.

From the Daily Mail article: Proud: Jose Granell, model supervisor, is pictured with the model of Hogwarts Castle. It has been used for every one of the Harry Potter films.

Dîner en Blanc Johannesburg 2013

We spent Friday night at the very first Dîner en Blanc Johannesburg, which was also the first DeB in South Africa. It was fantastic! There are more photos on the Facebook page as well.