After spending a full day at Leavesden Studios early last year during the filming of
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, I’ve finally been given the green light by Warner Bros to tell you about it.
The tour
The coolest new set I was shown was the headquarters for Dumbledore’s Army, where Neville and his band of rebels hide out in the Room of Requirement. There were rope ladders and hammocks hanging from the walls and ceiling, as wells as sleeping bags on the floor – remember those purple puffy ones with the Hogwarts crest on them from back in
Prisoner of Azkaban days when the whole school slept in the Great Hall during the reign of terror from Sirius Black? By each sleeping bag were chests (I spied on with Ginny Weasley’s name on one), schoolbooks and House scarves from Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. In the center of the room was a huge desk on which sat herbology books that clearly belonged to Neville, the leader of the group. There was a giant chalkboard behind the desk with transfiguration symbols, plans and notes. At the end of the room was a rather large portrait of Ariana Dumbledore which I tested and, yes, it swung open.
I saw an interesting view of part of the set built for the Lestrange vault in Gringotts. It was about eight feet off the ground, oval shaped and had a three-foot hole in the bottom. I was told it was used to film the scene where the Gemino Curse multiplies all the treasure in the vault and nearly buries the trio. Later I saw several thousand golden goblets in a storage bin and was told each was made by hand for that scene. Just a sidenote, in nearby storage bins were piles of cauldrons, old Christmas trees , the ministry of Magic phone booth and Slughorn’s giant flower lamps from his party in
Half-Blood Prince.
The guide showed us Dumbledore’s office and said that the overal tone of the room was made darker once Snape became headmaster. One of the highlights of the entire visit for me was getting to sit in Dumbledore’s chair. I also wandered around the alcove located behind his chair, where I discovered a comfy couch and several drawers lining the wall. Admittedly, I searched through a few of them. Oddly enough, each drawer contained something, even if it was just a blank piece of paper.
In the creature/art department, we were shown several animatronic pieces, including the piece of Voldemort’s soul for the King’s Cross scene with Harry and Dumbledore. We also saw the dummy of Harry’s “dead” body. One note of interest: Harry’s “body” was made smaller than actual size to make Robbie Coltrane look bigger while portraying Hagrid as he carried the body through the forest to Hogwarts.
The Piertotum Locomotor scene
After the tour and interviews with the cast and crew (which you can read below), our group was lucky to witness filming of the scene where McGonagall calls the suits of armor to life to help defend Hogwarts from Voldemort and his followers. We saw take after take as Maggie Smith (McGonagall), Julie Walters (Molly Weasley), Warwick Davis (Prof. Flitwick), Devon Murray (Seamus Finnegan), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Katie Leung (Cho Chang) stop on the steps of an almost unrecognizable Hogwarts. There was rubble everywhere and giant holes in the side of the castle.
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Neville: Let me get this straight, Professor. You’re giving us permission to do this?
McGonagall: That is correct, Longbottom.
Neville: So, blow it up? Boom!
McGonagall: Boom!
Neville: Wicked. Um, and how exactly do you propose we do this, Professor?
McGonagall: Why don’t you confer with Mr. Finnegan? As I recall, he has a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics.
Seamus: I can bring her down.
McGonagall: That’s the spirit. Off you go.
Flitwick: You do realize, of course, that nothing we do will keep You-Know-Who out indefinitely.
McGonagall: That doesn’t mean we can’t try and delay him. His name is Voldemort, Filius. You might as well use it. He’s going to try and kill you either way. (waves wand) Piertotum Locomotor!
One of the best parts of watching the filming was looking at the crew in between takes and seeing producer David Barron walking around with his jack terrier “Sam” who he apparently brings on set quite often. Also, we had to pass by the Privet Drive set to get to the Hogwarts courtyard.
Cast and crew interviews
Below are interview with actors Dan Radcliffe, Matthew Lewis and Warwick Davis, director David Yates and production designer Stuart Craig.
Dan Radcliffe discussed with us The Forest Again scene and Snape's death.
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What was your favorite scene?
Dan Radcliffe: That scene in the woods and actually walking into the forest was one that I was looking forward to the most to film because I see it as one of the key moments in the film. Naturally, I came away feeling I didn’t do well enough. It’vs very hard to judge how scenes like that went. I know I certainly gave it everything. David [Yates] and I worked very closely on this scene. It’s a funny thing when you put that much pressure on yourself, the whole day becomes, “This is the most important scene in the film,” which kind of takes away from the objectivity, and it’s harder to judge what you’re doing.
Can you tell us about Snape’s death?
Dan Radcliffe: We did it quite recently. It wass pretty violent. Nagini offs him and it’s a great scene. There’s this great part in the film … the scene takes part in the boat house. (acts confused) The boat house? We’ve never talked about a boat house in the other films. (laughs) But that’s where it takes place and it’s a great set.
David Yates explained to us "the feel" of
Deathly Hallows - Part 2.
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How will you start Part 2 off with a bang?
David Yates: I think what’s really potentially fun about Part 2 is I always feel these movies carry a lot of freight where you need to remind the audience where you’ve been and where you’re going. I always think the first acts they tend to be slightly tricky because you’re always setting things up. I love the notion of parachuting straight in. I love the notion that the audience has experience six or seven of these movies and they don’t need an intro. They don’t need a big bang so the notion where you parachute in from the first minute I think is really fun. Steve [Kloves] wrote a first draft of the second part with that spirit. When I first read it I said, “Steve this is great. It doesn’t have a beginning. It just goes.” You’re in it and you’re just off. I really like that. So that’s kind of the spirit of how we’re approaching Part II. I feel doing it is more fun this way and is more engaging, and you feel more involved.
Production designer Stuart Craig talked to us about the change of venue for Snape's death and how they destroyed Hogwarts.
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You said in a recent interview that you saw the dailies for Snape’s death scene and they brought you to tears. Can you talk about that scene? Does it differ from the book?
Stuart Craig: Well he’s just so good. I’m not an actor. I’m sure it’d be much more interesting to talk to an actor about this, but even on dailies, his death is extremely moving.
We did actually, with J.K. Rowling’s permission, make a departure there. Snape dies in the Shrieking Shack in the book. It’s an interesting interior, but it didn’t have somehow the breadth and the romanticism that I think Snape’s death required. So we made something of the boathouse, which has always been there, beneath Hogwarts. It’s the boathouse that supposedly the first-year students on their arrival, they take boats, and everybody else goes around by road. So there’s always been a boathouse, but we decided to make something of it, expand it, explore it. It now has a real sense of place. He dies somewhere that is very atmospheric, looking out over the lake and the mountains across the lake, the school in flames above. It’s exposed and influenced by the atmospherics of all those things. So I think it’s a suitable setting for a magnificent death, really.
How do you find ways to create opportunities for those more intimate moments in sets that are so vast and so epic?
Stuart Craig: But I think we have small sets as well. The boathouse I just described isn’t particularly vast. Internally, it’s not a huge space at all. It’s just, as I say, the landscape around it and the atmospherics—the fire, the cloud, the mist on the lake—it is a suitably intimate scene given the context of it. And I think we would be very mindful of that. If it were an intimate scene, we would make sure that the setting was appropriate.
What was it like designing the destruction of Hogwarts in the last film?
Stuart Craig: As you do in films, for reasons I cannot explain, you do things in the wrong order always. So it isn’t as final as you may believe it is. In other words, you don’t build a nice, pristine set, shoot it in good condition, and then ruin it and it’s gone forever. It’s not like that. For some reason, in movie schedules, you always end up building it ruined first because it’s harder, and then you make it good again.
And that’s exactly what we’ve done, in fact. We are building it ruined, and then making it good, and then making it ruined again, and it’s all to do with actors’ availability. And the buildings have expanded so much that we’ve filled the stages here, going to Pinewood, renting stages at Pinewood. Then once you’ve rented them and built on them, you can’t just leave them sitting there forever and ever as you do here. You have to shoot them out and finish with them. So, not as devastating as you may think. But I walked past a set here the other day that I was particularly fond of, I suppose. [I was] pleased with Malfoy Manor—the interior, two large sets—and I guess two thirds of them are gone. I’ve seen hundreds of sets built and pulled down, but I was a little disturbed by that.
Matthew Lewis describes Neville's tough guy role in the film.
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Neville has quite a lot to do in these last two films. How do you like getting so dirty and grungy?
Matthew Lewis: The first week was really enjoyable. I thought this, 'This is fun. This is great.’ 12 months later it’s pretty boring now. The novelty has definitely worn off.
Can you give your take on the things Neville gets to do in the upcoming movies?
Matthew Lewis: Neville this year is sort of taking over Harry’s role. He’s the unofficial leader of Dumbledore’s Army. He’s sort of barking out orders to people and telling them where to go. He’s really evolved into this leader which I never thought years ago he’d end up doing. It’s really cool to see and to play.
What do you think pushes him into that new role?
Matthew Lewis: I think he’s watched Harry all these years be a leader and have so much courage. As he’s seen Harry take on all these responsibilities from everyone, he realizes that they’re not too dissimilar. They both lost parents at when they were very young. He starts to think that maybe he can do this and when Harry leaves the school in number seven, Neville realizes it’s his time to step in and take responsibility. He’s always had this good heart. He always wants to do the right thing and look after people, but he’s never really had the courage to do it and now he’s thought, 'Okay it’s now or never. We’ve got to fight this evil. If no one else is going to step up then I’ll do it.’ That’s what he does and he’s not perfect, but he gives it a go.
Was that fun for you to play?
Matthew Lewis: Oh yeah, definitely. It’s brilliant. The character was so brilliantly written, it wasn’t that hard to get into character. It was wicked, especially when we were with Ralph Fiennes. It was all these feelings coming out at once. There’s the sword of Gryffindor, Voldemort, Ralph Fiennes – it was just really special. Yeah, that was great because [Neville] pulls in out of the [Sorting] hat. I’m going to see if I can nick that sword if I can at the end.
Warwick Davis talked about playing dual roles of Professor Flitwick and Griphook the Goblin in the final film.
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Warwick Davis: I get some real wand action this time, which is really nice. I actually get to dispatch a few Death Eaters. I also put the shield around Hogwarts. It’s a pivotal moment using these security measures as a last resort. We’re ringing the statues to life to ome out and guard the perimeter. It’s a lockdown situation for Hogwarts, so it’s quite cool.
Can you take us through the process of playing Griphook?
Warwick Davis: Griphook’s been quite an integral part of the plot. He’s a very interesting character. You don’t know whether to trust him or not. He does get his comeuppance on that. That was a nice thing to work with David and work through. We’re still not finished with it yet. It’s funny for me. I’ll be in one day as Griphook and the next day as Flitwick. I start calling myself Flithook. I’m very confused.
You’re coming in as Flitwick, you’re coming in as Griphook, and you’re also coming in as a casting agent.
Warwick: Indeed. I do have a third hat. Without the big scar, I do have that third hat. Now it’s really an honor to even have been asked. It’s nice to provide 60 short actors to play goblins [for the Gringotts scene]. It was also a great challenge to try to find that many people who were at the height they were looking for and had the abilities. It was – dare I say it – a tall order.
How long does it take to get into makeup for each of your characters?
Warwick Davis: Flitwick is about three to three and a half hours, and the goblin Griphook is about four hours.
And then to take [it] off?
Warwick Davis: About an hour, hour and a half, somewhere in that area. You have to be very careful, especially when I’m working subsequent days. It doesn’t come off Mrs. Doubtfire style. I wish it was that easy. It’s a quite painstaking process to get it off and preserve my skin. After several days you have to be careful. Back at the hotel I’ll have to make sure to get all the glue off. That’s another half an hour there. Just to really make sure it’s all out, working day after day, week after week. I’m used to sitting in the makeup chair. It’s something I’ve done my entire career. As long as you get on with the makeup artist and have a repoire with them, you can just chat and watch DVDs. Well I watch DVDs, they don’t. We have DVDs on, we listen to music and have fun with it. It takes my mind off of the glue and all of the annoyance and everything. They make it what it is and make it a really pleasurable process.
Nick Dudman, who’s the supervisor, he applies the makeup for Griphook. I’ve worked with him ever since I started back in 1981. He did my very first lifecast, which is a process you have to go through before you have any sort of special makeup made. They put dental alginate on your head then plaster bound it on the top to create what is essentially a bust of your head. Then they take clay and sculpt on that the shape of the character’s face. Then through some process I don’t quite understand, they take those two bits apart and they can create these bits and sculpt the clay to fit your face basically. That was the worst technical explanation of anything. Nick did my very first lifecast for Star Wars back in ’81. I’ve worked with him on Star Wars, Labrynth, Willow, Star Wars, Episode One, then, of course, all the Potter films. It all went very well.
Do you prefer playing Flitwick or Griphook?
Warwick: That’s a difficult question. Both of them are good, and that sounds like I’m being diplomatic. But Griphook’s such a more involved character. He’s a sneaky character. He’s essentially a villain, which is more fun as a performer. It’s lovely to have a villainous character. They’re quite opposite ends of the scale. So I couldn’t say I prefer … as an actor people say, “Choose the favorite character you’ve ever played.” Because of what you do as an actor, you find a little seed of you and that becomes the start of the character, you have a connection and a fondness with all of them. So to choose one is really hard work. Flitwick. Flitwick, then. If he was somebody I’d want to hang out with. I wouldn’t want to hang out with Griphook. You’d never know quite whether to trust him or not. So I’ll have beer with Flitwick. Not that we drink, ever. Butterbeer. Is butterbeer alcoholic, do you know?
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SnitchSeeker full set visit of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 
Awesome! 
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thank you so much!
