SnitchSeeker.com - EXCLUSIVE: SnitchSeeker previews Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter

On September 22, SnitchSeeker was invited to get a preview look at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter which is currently under construction at the site of Leavesden Studios in Watford, England, where all of the Harry Potter films were shot over a period of 10 years. The attraction is set to open sometime in Spring 2012, with tickets available at wbstudiotours.co.uk from October 13 – TICKETS ARE PRE-BOOK ONLY, NOT AVAILABLE ON SITE (meaning that tickets can only be purchased in advance; none will be available at Leavesden Studios).

The whole attraction is estimated to take three hours, at most, with tickets being assigned time slots; there will be around 120 people allowed in per session. It is estimated that 5,000 a day will visit during peak times. A free shuttle bus will be used to transport visitors from Watford Junction train station to the studios, with coach companies/tour operators (to be determined) in Central London also to offer packages which will include both tickets and transport, to make it easier for tourists.

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The closest comparison you could draw, in terms of Harry Potter attractions that already exist, is with Harry Potter: The Exhibition, which is currently touring the world, displaying props and costumes from the films. However, during my preview visit it became abundantly clear that the studio tour will be infinitely more interactive and experience-based: The Making of Harry Potter seeks to entertain, inform, involve and invite you into how it felt for the cast and crew working day-to-day on these sets which became their home for a decade.

The experience begins with a lobby which will feature 8 55-inch digital screens with footage from all of the films. Automatic doors will then open to reveal a small cinema room where you will watch a video featuring messages from the cast, inviting you in and introducing you to the place they called home for much of their childhoods. While on the tour, I was told how this will culminate but will not share that detail with you as it would spoil the element of surprise.

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Sets featured will include but are not limited to; the Great Hall, the Ministry of Magic (fireplaces, offices and the Magic is Might statue), the Black Family Tapestry, the Gryffindor Common Room and boys' dormitory (separate sets beside each other; it would be impractical to have visitors climbing stairs from one to the other), Dumbledore’s Office (complete with green screen pensieve and portraits on the walls) and griffin doorway, Hagrid’s Hut, part of the Hogwarts Library, the Potions Classroom, the Hogwarts gates, the Weasley kitchen and living room, and Umbridge’s Office (complete with creepy cat plates).

It is important to stress that the tour covers two sound stages (J and K – a lovely tribute to Jo Rowling); I only saw J on the day, so there is definitely more to be revealed. There will also be prop cages, filled with thousands of items behind glass and costumes in free-standing display cases. A total of 180 shipping containers were required to move all the props from storage to the studio, to prepare for use once again, containing 11 years worth of history.

Fans will be pleased to know that there will be NO restrictions on photography; in fact there will be several photo opportunities which fans of all ages will relish with excitement. These include but are not limited to; the Chamber of Secrets door (which might open on special occasions – utilising the snake head mechanism), the Flying Ford Anglia (which you can sit inside and will have disabled access), the cupboard under the stairs (yes, you can get inside!), the majestic doors to the Great Hall and the house tables within (which you are allowed to sit on).

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As well as static props, there will be ones both in the air and in motion, including brooms, Hagrid’s (formerly Sirius’) motorbike and the Gringotts cart from Deathly Hallows (complete with spinning wheels), with green screens behind for moving backgrounds. Static displays will also feature special effects to create a more detailed experience, for example mirrors and shafts to create the illusion of a Moody at the bottom of the trunk from Goblet of Fire and Lupin’s self-packing trunk from Prisoner of Azkaban, with mechanics showing how that effect was achieved for the films.

Fans will have a chance to get hands-on with some of the props, for example items (frying pan, knitting needles, iron) in the Weasley kitchen which they can bring to life with a flick of a wand or a little bit of wandless magic. The purpose of many of these displays is to demonstrate how much of what we saw in the films was achieved through physical effects, rather than those generated by a computer – you’ll honestly be surprised how much was achieved on set, thanks to the magic of the film-makers.

Much of the Harry Potter feature is walk-through based, where you can determine your own experience, however there will be guided sections in the Great Hall due to the sheer amount of history for that set; there’s far more to learn about it than can be achieved simply by looking at it. Audio and media guides will also be available.

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The hall will be decked out like the beginning of a school year, with all the tables set out (with hand-dipped gold goblets and cutlery) and the flamboes and fireplace alight. One addition that the cast will envy is the presence of state of the art air conditioning, which will heat the room in winter (something they didn’t have during filming). To get this centre piece ready for the tour, the Great Hall set was moved for the first time in 11 years, transported in specific sections with the stone floor cut into a giant jigsaw puzzle – at the time of my visit, it was still to be re-laid.

Up close you will be able to see the attention to detail with the house tables, from the way they were distressed prior to filming, to age them, to the way in which extras on set were encouraged to graffiti (to add to the authenticity of it being a school) and have consequently left their unique marks now for all the world to see. The teachers table will sit at the top, featuring the costumes of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and more.

On the day I went, there were roughly seven months still to go on the construction process (which presumably means the earliest it will open is April 2012), with work having begun on the studios before Deathly Hallows finished shooting. Key film-makers have been involved in the process, from both an artistic and hands-on perspective, to ensure that the attraction is as true to the world they worked in as possible. These include: Stuart Craig (production designer), Stephenie MacMillan (set decorator), Nick Dudman (creature effects) and John Richardson (special effects). Lots of decisions are still to be made, for example how to light the different sets (should they be lit for a night or day scene) which just goes to show the level of detail the film-makers are putting into this project and the sheer amount of thought they are putting into maximising the experience for fans, both from a Harry Potter and a behind-the-scenes film-making perspective. They are also considering sight lines; for example how far you can walk onto a set to get the best view of everything that there is to see and from what angle.

A sense of authenticity is important to those involved in this project, which is why, for example, you’ll be able to see not just the sets but what’s behind them (e.g. scaffolding, plastering, polystyrene, etc.) You will truly get to experience these sets as the cast and crew did while shooting on them. On top of that, there will be video screens interspersed throughout, with contributions from cast and crew, talking about filming from both a technical and personal perspective, guiding you through the journey they’ve had working on these stories.

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There will also be an outside element to the studio tour, incorporating sets and props, including but not limited to; part of the Hogwarts Bridge, 4 Privet Drive, the Riddle tomb from Goblet of Fire and giant chess pieces from Philosopher’s Stone. More may be added to this section and certain elements may be rotated and changed.

Of course, the sets and props don’t paint the full experience of film-making, especially on a project like Harry Potter, which utilised a great deal of prosthetics and models created by the creature effects department. This is another element of the tour which will, again, bring home how much artistry went into making the world of Harry Potter as real as possible, not simply relying on a computer to do the magic. The elements on display from this area will include but are not limited to: the basilisk (both dead and alive), Buckbeak, the Hog’s Head plaque, the Hungarian Horntail, Aragog, a dead Charity Burbage and Goblin masks.

All of these and more are currently going through a process of refurbishment; since many have been in storage or else were damaged during filming. The team wants to make sure they are in perfect shape, ready for visitors to admire. Once again, many will form the basis of photo opportunities for fans and most will utilise animatronics, to show how they came to life on set to interact with the actors. I for one cannot wait to see Rupert Grint’s reaction when he comes face to face with a levitating Aragog.

No attraction is complete without somewhere to eat and shop, so as such there will be a café for visitors which will serve refreshments in keeping with the studio experience (sorry, no Butterbeer here folks) and a shop which will sell merchandise that is unique to Warner Brothers Studio London.

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While The Making of Harry Potter is obviously of huge importance to us at SnitchSeeker, Warner Brothers Studio London will also be a fully functioning film studio, the biggest in Europe. Though it wasn’t revealed what for (other than it being a ‘big production’), I was told shooting will begin there in the summer of 2012. The studios are uniquely situated in the sense that they provide largely uninterrupted views for outdoor shooting. Some buildings have been retained from when the site was originally built in 1939 and used as an aircraft hangar, while other parts of Leavesden Studios have been gutted and are being totally re-vamped ready to compete with other English studios, such as Shepperton and Pinewood.

And although there is no set end date for the opening of The Making of Harry Potter, there is a possibility that sometime in the future other filmic elements could be added to the tour section of the facility (e.g., other major Warner Brothers brands; Batman, Sherlock Holmes, etc.)

But that’s looking to the long term future of the studio. For now, with the official opening of The Making of Harry Potter sometime next spring, it stands to be a fitting tribute to not only J.K. Rowling, and the cast and crew of the films, but also to fans, as a massive thank you for all that the past decade has meant to so many people; opening the doors on a world which many, until now, could only dream of entering.