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masterofmystery · 08-05-2011, 10:21 PM

Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, and producer David Heyman recently discussed the decision to reshoot the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 epilogue at Leavesden Studios in December 2010, rather than keep the original footage from King's Cross for a variety of reasons, not least being that they realised how old the cast looked in the first shoot. The LA Times also released the first official promotional images from the epilogue, with peeks at Dan, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Bonnie Wright as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in their later 30s, as well as their Potter and Weasley children. Those can be found in our galleries.

“Potter” producer David Heyman was thinking of that when he told Radcliffe that there was no way that three “strangers” could deliver the final lines of the three main characters right before the final fade to black.

“After all we have been through with these characters, the way that a generation has grown up with them, they need to be the ones on screen when it’s time to bring it to a close,” said Heyman, who was a key decision-maker back when Radcliffe and his costars were first cast in their roles back in 2000. “There’s an expectation — even if it is not articulated — that they need to be on the screen when it’s coming to an end.”

“The thing we didn’t want was for it to be distracting and I think we figured it out,” Radcliffe said. “We did it with prosthetics, in the end, and I’m sure there will be little bits of visual effects for retouching on those moments when we do a close-up… when you have the prosthetic on for a long time, it’s hard to maintain it, that illusion, and with close-ups you need to fix it up. It’s also a challenge to make someone who is 19 or 20 — an age where their face is still changing — and make them a fully grown adult. I think they looked fantastic though and, if I do say so, particularly mine. Mine looked pretty dead on. That’s me in the future I think.”

“Rupert looked like he was about 75 years old with the triple chin and the belly, he looked like he had really lived as a lush,” Heyman said. “We knew we needed to rework the makeup. There was another problem, too, shooting at the train station proved quite challenging for some of the younger kids who played the children of Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was really noisy every few minutes a train from Liverpool would pull in on one of the other tracks. We only had our one track closed.”

The makeup team for “Deathly Hallows” was led by Nick Dudman and, to Heyman, the second shot on the “age-up” work was a home run.

“It made all the difference in the world,” Heyman said. “We got what we were looking for. There was a challenge in the performance for the young actors. I know Emma talked about her approach was to think of her young siblings — her father has remarried and she has a new family — and how being with them was her way to get into the head of a parent going off to school. It wasn’t easy for them.”

“We should have thought to film it last in the first place,” Heyman said Wednesday. “It created a reality of sorts to the feelings in the scene and in the air. And I think now we’ve heard from the rest of the world that it worked. In the end, we used some shots from King’s Cross, too, to make a hybrid. There was a little bit of CG as well. The combination is subtle, which it needed to be.”

“It was something very strange and affecting,” Heyman said. “I was really pleased because I thought there was a real tenderness about the last scene, a feeling of closure and the cycles of life. There’s a new beginning and there’s an ending. There are different sorts of adventures for these actors and for all of us. But we made it to the train station together.”

WeaslyTwins'Girl · 08-06-2011, 05:45 AM

I was dissapointed with the lack of Teddy. There really was alot they cut out, but part 2 was the best with following the story line. HP will live on forever!

TalonsAndTeaLeaves · 08-06-2011, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HallowedGround

LOL, I love how Albus Severus has a ferret. For some reason, I see that as a little nod to that Malfoy/Ferret scene in Book 4.
P.s....the music in this scene is directly from the end of Sorcerer's Stone, which started me BAWLING.

I agree with that, the music definitely made it much more awesome. I wish they'd spent a tiny bit more time on how James Sirius was a prankster just like James Potter I, but other than that, it was pretty good. Actually, given how much I've been disappointed in the movies over the years, this was actually pretty awesome. Also, I thought Radcliffe acted really well. But Hermione didn't age much, did she? Maybe she found the Draught of Everlasting Youth or something ...

Ga.b. · 08-06-2011, 07:11 AM

Awwwwww, I love this epilogue.

snapefan · 08-06-2011, 07:21 AM

awesome pictures!
I love the epilogue

Laurie · 08-06-2011, 08:25 AM

LOVE these pics that are so great

Aynoia Damianeci · 08-06-2011, 09:41 AM

The third picture is the best! I love Harry & Albus Severus.

WitchLadyJ · 08-06-2011, 09:54 AM

Great epilogue, missed Teddy though

was looking forward to seeing him, everything else is great

moony- · 08-06-2011, 10:10 AM

I really enjoyed the epilogue, wished it was longer though! :-)

RupertsLil'Princess · 08-06-2011, 10:41 AM

I loved how Hugo was the spitting image of rupes.

and the little snuggle he gave him at the end.

Devina Wellheart · 08-06-2011, 11:45 AM

They did do a great job " aging them up" . Now we need to wait 15 years and see what the trio looks like.

hp-fan · 08-06-2011, 12:37 PM

Can't wait to watch it again on my dvd

All the photos are so sweet! They've done a pretty good job.

Tazzie · 08-06-2011, 01:21 PM

weeeeeeeeeee !! great , legendary, epic , sublime, magical !

sml · 08-06-2011, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by typoqween

I saw some pictures in an interview Ron gave of the original epilogue. I didn't think he looked like 75 at all. I actually liked how they had him in the original much better and felt it to be way more realistic in appearance than the one they went with. He gained weight and was balding. Looking at my own husband at the same age they were predicting Ron to be, that one was DEAD on. The one they have him as now is in a dream world to still look /that/ good, lol.

Really?!! Your husband must not have kept himself up. My husband is 47 and he looks younger than that - a full head of hair, a bit salt and pepper, slender and fit. It's not a dream world at all. Eat well, if you're losing hair, get a good cut to make it work, and stay in shape. That other Ron looks like he's in his 60s.

Buggy-Boo · 08-06-2011, 02:06 PM

Nice pictures. I hope we get to see the other ending they filmed!

Ginny GL · 08-06-2011, 02:44 PM

I still think that the aging process was exaggerated. The quartet looks a lot older than the age they're supposed to be. Bue, qué será, será. Nothing to be done now, and it certainly is much, much better than what we got the first time we saw papparazzi images of the epilogue.

That photo of Harry hugging Al? Precelesss! beautiful. Pretty much what, in my opinion, saves the whole scene.

xHazel.Eyedx · 08-06-2011, 03:24 PM

Epilogue could've been better, a few extra minutes with a bit more dialogue. But the fact that 'Leaving Hogwarts' was played as it faded to black....*begins to weep loudly*

stephani · 08-06-2011, 04:15 PM

i miss harry potter,

HP is great movies and books

Expecto-Penguin · 08-06-2011, 04:27 PM

i cried at this scene soo hard in the movie. I even cried the third time i saw the movie because it gets me everytime. The music and the realization that my childhood ended was too great for me. I loved watching the films and seeing them have children and move on with their lives was fantastic! <3, long live the boy who lived <3

gryffindor13 · 08-06-2011, 04:57 PM

I enjoyed watching the epilogue ,I thought it was brilliantly done.

scarlet5890 · 08-06-2011, 05:22 PM

I love the last picture of the trio, but so sad :'(

YodatheHobbit · 08-06-2011, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindofabigdeel

Ahhh this is interesting. Hm, I really didn't like the fact they looked the same and was very curious to hear why they decided to do it this way. Now I guess it makes sense. Still rather silly when you first see them during the epilogue. Either way, the movie was wonderful. I'm sure going to miss it all and look forward to seeing all the behind the scenes stuff on the Ultimate Edition DVDs

They don't look the same.

phoenix_tears · 08-06-2011, 06:37 PM

I absolutely loved the epliogue, they looked convincingly older; the makeup, and effects were perfectly done.

I'm very pleased about how it turned out, the only thing I regret is that they didn't add more conversation to it!

Harri06 · 08-06-2011, 09:16 PM

They did such a fantastic job of ageing Dan, Rupert & Emma (and of course the others) - this moment really made me cry, its one of the best moments in the film!