Pre-Production
Before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, there was a long and arduous pre-production process. The filmmakers had to find locations and scout for props and cast the actors. They had to also get the script finalized, secure the funding, and work out the logistics for filming the movie. All of this takes time and patience and it’s no surprise that pre-production for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lasted over two years.
The Harry Potter Studio Tours offer a unique and exciting experience for fans of the Harry Potter books and movies. Located at Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden, England, the tour includes visits to iconic sets from the films, interactive experiences, and a chance to take a behind-the-scenes look at how the franchise was created.
Script Writing
Script writing for the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows began in 2007 and was completed by January 2008. The task of adapting the story was split between frequent Potter screenwriting veterans Steve Kloves, who wrote all others entries in the franchise and Obscure script writer Barry Cohen.
Kloves focused on condensing a 584-page novel into a 128-minute movie and took care to retain as much of author J.K. Rowling’s original story and character arcs as possible, while omitting what he felt were unnecessary at keeping with timeliness concerns. He paid special attention to directing crucial dialogue scenes such as Hermione’s warnings that “the picture is more dangerous than anything” to Harry concerning his mission in life. Additionally, he rewrote finale sequences such as Dumbledore’s funeral in which Dumbledore’s backstory with Grindelwald, who do not appear in Deathly Hallows, were omitted for brevity concern.
Cohen focused on other changes to adapt the source material from novel to film, such as changing Bill Weasley from Hogwarts teacher to an Auror working for Ministry Of Magic or replacing Ron’s angst about Ginny going out with Dean Thomas with conspiracy about potion ingredients favored by Severus Snape for unspecified purposes that are never discussed in the novel. Overall, Klove estimates it took him approximately six months of full time writing before completing a final shooting script which underwent several rewrites before being ready for shooting.
Casting
Finding the perfect cast was an integral part of pre-production work on the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film. Producer David Heyman brought Mike Newell, who had worked on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, onboard to direct the movie. While casting for the film began almost immediately after David joined, he had been discussing it with Chris Columbus since 2001 when filming for Philosopher’s Stone began.
The core trio were cast by Chris: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. They reprised their roles in every subsequent movie. For other characters in The Deathly Hallows, Mary Selway (the British casting director) and Bina Dadabhoy (the American casting director) oversaw extensive casting processes that resulted in Rupert Everett playing Malfoy Sr., Alan Rickman playing Snape (as before), Helena Bonham Carter playing Bellatrix Lestrange and Bill Nighy playing Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour amongst many others both new to and returning from previous films in the series.
Location Scouting
Location scouting is an essential part of the pre-production process. Before filming can begin, the production must determine exactly where each scene needs to take place and then secure permission to use those locations. For Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, location scouts had an ambitious task of locating British locations that could double for a variety of settings based on author J.K. Rowling’s imaginative world from magical castles to mysterious forests and even bustling urban areas.
The scouts searched all over England for places that best fit each scene before recommending them to the studio who would then have to approach owners in order to secure permission to film there if needed. These decisions were made months in advance so as production got closer, chances were that most decisions had already been made and all that was left was making sure everything was in order before filming began.
The Harry Potter films are well known for having a wide variety of countries amongst their filming locations ranging from Scotland, England, Wales and even Germany. The final film in the series however fully utilized U.K.’s beautiful landscape with over 150 days of shooting taking place solely on British land alone with additional scenes occurring close by in neighbouring Ireland rounding out the total shooting days accumulated from this location scouting process at approximately 160 days or roughly five months of work done before anyone got close to actually filming anything seen on screen!
Production
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was an incredibly complex production that took years to complete. It was the final installment of the Harry Potter saga and the filmmakers wanted to make it a memorable experience. Filming took place in 2009 and 2010 with principal photography being completed in June of 2010. Let’s take a look at the production details of the film.
Filming
The production of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final instalment of the Harry Potter franchise, started on 19 February 2009, when David Yates and David Heyman attended a script reading at Leavesden Studios. The film was shot back-to-back with its sequel until 26 November 2010 when principal photography concluded. This extensive shooting schedule resulted in a total of 309 sets being built for the two films.
The first scenes to be filmed were in March 2009, taking place mostly in the arid landscape of Winchester Cliff for backstory flashbacks featuring Lord Voldemort’s early life. After filming at Yateley Heath Woods near Sandhurst, Berkshire in April 2009 and Snowdonia National Park in May 2009 their shooting shifted to London on 4 June 2009 at King’s Cross railway station. Following this they moved to St Andrew’s Church and then Oxfordshire until 18 June 2009.
During the summer months there was filming further north taking place around Pembroke Castle in Wales from 9 July up until 27 July. In November crew members travelled to Goathland railway station, North Yorkshire where scenes set on the Hogwarts Express from King’s Cross were filmed from 22–23 November before commencing their final scene on 26 November 2010 (the same day as Deathly Hallows Part 2).
Post-Production
The post-production process of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was a complex task. Final touches to the film such as special effects had to be added, and there were still considerable areas of improvements to be made to the film’s master cuts before it was ready for release. It took 18 months from start to finish for post-production.
The first part of post-production was spending longer completing the final edits on the extended cuts. This included finalizing the 3D conversion for those cinemas that were able to project it, fixing sound levels and adding additional scenes or even entire sequences that had been cut in principal photography. A significant amount of time was also spent in perfecting visual effects. 450 people worked on over 2,000 different visual effects shots, led by Double Negative Visual Effects Supervisor Craig Lynne Sharman who previously had worked their magic on The Dark Knight, Stardust and Clash of the Titans.
Among more traditional tasks such as color correction, audio mixing and prepping for DI (Digital Intermediate) processes, Harry Potter’s post production team also assembled a complete library of ‘Hogwarts Objects’. Specifically created by Industrial Light & Magic they are 1080p HD images f High Definition environments which show unique elements such as spirit animals, paintings versus ghosts et cetera in full HD resolution alongside 3D models of objects like wands, potions et cetera that were all available at ILM’s studios near London Fields.
At the end each department carried out its own analysis with a big focus being put on making sure the shot decisions held up against scrutiny at every level including editorial engineering out any structural problems with scenes using digital tools such as Previz which can be used to edit rough drafts together digitally without having shot material available yet.
Release
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the final instalment of the Harry Potter movie franchise and it took up to 18 months to film. Filming for the movie took place in the UK and on location in Scotland, England and Wales. From July 2009 to June 2010, the cast and crew worked hard to complete the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was released in November 2010.
Theatrical Release
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in two parts as a theatrical movie, with Part 1 released on November 19, 2010 and Part 2 released on July 15, 2011. The two parts were also sold as a double feature DVD set in 2011.
The filming of the movie first began in February 2009 and was shot over 39 weeks, with shooting sites located all around England, Scotland and Wales. Interior scenes were mostly filmed at Leavesden Studios near London. Some outdoor scenes were also filmed on Quidditch pitches at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire and Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.
Additionally, it took several months of post-production work to complete both films by November of 2010. To capture the full quality of meaning and magic that is Harry Potter, filmmakers undertook an impressive process to create visual effects shots such as magic spells and daunting dark forces found throughout each film’s epic tale. These special effects combined with stunt work seamlessly added an unparalleled dimension to its cinematic experience unlike any Warner Bros movies before.
Home Video Release
The home video release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 occurred on 11 November 2011 in the United Kingdom, 14 November 2011 in the United States and 22 December 2011 in Australia. The film was released in the Blu-ray, DVD, 3D Blu-ray, and UltraViolet formats, as well as premium Blu-ray Giftset Combos and a limited edition DVD Giftset box set.
The movie’s Blu-ray edition offers a number of bonus features, including new Maximum Movie Mode viewing options that allow fans to learn more about J.K. Rowling’s magical world while they watch with cast interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and much more; behind the soundtracks segments with composer Alexandre Desplat who reveals some technical tidbits about creating musical background for a giant blockbuster; Harry Potter: : Behind the Magic – an up close look at Daniel Radcliffe’s premiere performance as our brave hero on his journey to kill Lord Voldemort; Casting Hogwarts focus on casting director Janet Hirshenson’s signature style of finding and choosing actors who could transform into beloved characters such as Dumbledore or Snape; Being Me: Big Launch segments letting us get a peek of star actors’ feelings after they all needed to put an end on their extraordinary film experiences.
Statistics
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2010 and was the final movie in the Harry Potter franchise. Filming took an incredible 226 days to complete over the course of a two-year period. Here, we will look into the various statistics behind the movie and the filming process, including how long it took to film and the budget involved.
Length of Filming
The length of filming for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was approximately 225 days. Principal photography began on 19 February 2009 and finished on 12 June 2010; this covered the entirety of both parts. Filming took place in a variety of locations around the United Kingdom, including Leavesden Studios and on location around England, Scotland and Wales.
Rehearsals began in February 2009 at Leavesden Studios prior to the main filming, while two weeks of second unit filming took place in March. This included scenes at Pyecombe churchyard which filmed was wrapped up by 20 March 2009.
Principal photography then continued with a month long shoot in England that included dozens of locations, including many familiar Hogwarts locales, such as Godric’s Hollow, The Burrow and 12 Grimmauld Place — all within the idyllic Oxfordshire countryside — North London sites, St Pancras station and London Zoo amongst others.
In May of 2010 Harry Potter cast members Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) Emma Watson (Hermione) Rupert Grint (Ron) and other members returned to Leavesden for ADR dubbing for several weeks after which principal photography officially ended on 12 June 2010 when scenes set predominantly at Malfoy Manor were filmed There were few reshoots between July – early November but these did not include any major cast members from the main crew apart from Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange). Subsequently post-production commenced late summer 2010 concluding November 2010 prior to an early release date set for 19 November that year.
Budget
The budget for the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film adaptation was estimated at over $250 million. The costs included digital effects created by a number of visual effects companies, costume and set design, production staff, cast salaries and other costs such as marketing and promotions.
In addition to the budget for the two movies combined, there were several spin-off projects that might not have been initially considered part of this budget but added to the overall costs significantly. These include video games (based on scene from the Harry Potter universe) for PC, console and mobile devices, a theme park based around parts of the Harry Potter universe and more books centered on life after Hogwarts for younger viewers. All in all, it’s estimated that over $500 million was invested in this project.
Box Office Earnings
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows grossed over $960 million United States dollars at the global box office upon its release in 2010, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. This included a domestic gross of over $295 million, making it the third highest grossing Harry Potter movie behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
It was well received by critics worldwide and won multiple awards, including a BAFTA Award for Best Production Design movie and a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film. The film also achieved critical acclaim for its visual effects and art direction. In 2011, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects.
