Harry Potter Journals
Day Four: The Room of Pre-Visualization, and "Greg Goes to the Book Bindery"
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
I was looking forward to Visual Effects all week, and today was the day. What I didn’t realize is that most of the big visual effects are done outside of Leavesden Studios, namely in London, Los Angeles, and Australia. Here they do mostly pre-visualizations (Pre-Vis) and smaller effects like the invisibility cloak. They still have a lot to do!
Upon entering the Pre-Vis room, I saw what appeared to be eight guys playing video games. In actuality they were meticulously preparing scenes on the computer for the director’s approval. The approved scenes were then used by other departments to prep them for filming or the real visual effects.
After I met everyone, an intense and fascinating Pre-Vis meeting began. One artist had prepared a scene in which a camera followed an owl flying. During the meeting, the artists commented on issues like the owl’s movements and the camera’s angle and speed. The artist of the scene was then to spend the rest of the day making adjustments to his pre-visualization. They discussed a couple scenes like this, and then everyone was back to work.
I got to see a Pre-Vis rendering of the dragon sequence. Wow! It should be exciting. It was “Pre-Vis number 49” – that means it had been through 49 different reviews before they settled on what I saw! One crewmember lamented that they had just cut a huge chunk he spent weeks preparing, but apparently it happens all the time. [Note: it appears that most of “Pre-Vis number 49” was not used in the movie – there must have been a room full of lamenting crewmembers!]
Now I actually had to get to work. I helped to measure models (specifically a mermaid bust and a huge dragon) in the Creatures Department that needed to be shipped to other Visual-Effects studios.
Half-way through the morning, I went to the Flight-Shed and helped photograph the actors. One of the Visual Effect studios was going to use these pictures for reference when they turned the actors into small computer graphics in the faraway shots. Photographing Madame Maxine was the wildest! My head only made it to her torso.
Today at lunch I had a salad and a BLT. I wasn’t in the mood for any of the entrees: steak, goat’s cheese quiche, and BBQ chicken.
I was to spend the afternoon with the Props Department. They began by giving me a terrific tour of Ron’s Room, Dumbledore’s Office, the Great Hall, and a Tent. In exploring the sets, you transcend any earthly bearing and believe the world exists. It’s incredible. Ron’s Room was recently emptied of its props, but I could still feel its aura. It was crooked, small, and still filled with Chudley Cannon stickers. Dumbledore’s Office, interestingly enough, had been the same space used for other environments in the Harry Potter movies, including the bookstore and Lupin’s office. Most impressive was a giant double-telescope looking out Dumbledore’s back window – I later met the man who spent two months constructing the prop. The Great Hall was being arranged for tomorrow’s filming. It was obvious it would be a breakfast scene because the tables were covered in “Pixie Puffs” and “Cherri-Owls.” Toast, boiled eggs, cauldrons of porridge, juice, and milk were on the way – they had a kitchen outside already preparing the food!
I spent the rest of the afternoon working in the Props Department. They arranged me at a station to paint knobs on magnifying glasses for Dumbledore’s Office. There was a pile of 30 or so they were hoping to finish. An hour and a half later, I had finished only four.
From 3:30 to 4:00, I enjoyed afternoon tea with the hilarious Props Department crew, and while upstairs I snooped around the “book bindery.” Some books were made realistically of lightweight Styrofoam. Others had a soft-foam lining inside so it could comfortably hit a person in the head! And of course, some books were made the traditional way, but with recycled paper. Today they were busy preparing reports and files to line the Courtroom set. Poking around, I jotted down book titles – some of Rowling’s origin, others of their own invention:
- The Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology
- Predicting the Unpredictable
- Quaint Muggle Machinery
- How to Tame Lions
- Children’s Anthology of Monsters
- Learned Comments of Wisdom
- The Invisible Book of Invisibility
- You and Your Owl
- Lizard’s Claws from Africa
- Moronic Muggles
- Cooking the Muggle Way
- The Encyclopedia of Bat Eyes
- Wanderings of a Tree in the Alps
- House Elves and Self Hatred
Back downstairs I designed and painted a couple banners supporting the champions in the trials. I felt like I was in grade school all over again! You’ll have to watch for it!
Day One: An Alternate Universe on Dan's Birthday
Day Two: Minced Mouse, Slobber, and Dragon Skin
Day Three: The Beauxbatons, the Durmstrangs, and the Department of Wonder
Day Five: "...and...ACTION!"
< Back to the Harry Potter Page
