Signed Quidditch robe at Public eBay auction........................
Yes folks, we're auctioning off one of our signed robes from The Prisoner party, through eBay International to raise funds to improve our site, we have a huge - 100% eBay rating so bid with confidence to win this and lots of extras!!!
Ebay is free to join - you must be over 18 to register.
Friday, November 28, 2003
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Prisoner of Azkaban - Party wrap report!!
Im posting the best of our exclusive party report first and very soon ill add more news, pictures and ALL the questions you wanted asking!
If you would like to use this (or any of our other set reports) - your more than welcome, thats why we do it - just ask first eh! - please.
Well what a night! - It was a very cold and (typically UK) wet night, but hey, we were going to The Prisoner of Azkaban party so who cared!. Driving up there was great, the excitement, the talk about who we wanted to meet, who we wanted to see. As we went towards the main entrance it was exactly as the oscar ceremony would be, flood lights all in the sky, waving in the dark night, we had all our heads out of the windows as we drove up the runway!
Warner Bros had without doubt put on a fantastic show, there was a huge bonfire leading up to the main area, the marques were massive with the 2 night buses lit up brilliant with different coloured lights, with a stage in the middle, mainly being used by an absolutely awesome Mexican band, now I could be wrong but for any of you over 18's out there - remember the band in From Dusk till Dawn ? I'm certain it was them, if it wasn't they sounded exactly the same with the same style. All we know is that they were brought over for the one and only Alfonso.
Now I have been one of his biggest critics from the things ive seen and read but I have to say, this is a remarkable guy, he came to make a film and he has done just that, im sure we all feel like we could do better or wish we could do things differently but all the best people have their critics do they not?. The film is being seen by nearly all inside as the best so far, so I think we can all just look forward to it now, honestly, the vibe is great! - definitely darker, moodier and more grown up were the best comments.
One of his favourite scenes was filming the Aunt Marge scenes.
Alfonso Cuaron, with his wife and Daughter, remarking to me that when he started out making this film he was on his own, now he his married to a lovely wife and has a baby girl - what a year he said and very proud he was of his daughter, my children heard that his wife is in the Prisoner of Azkaban? - anybody know?
We couldn't go onto the buses but there were lots of pictures taken by most visitors as the scene was brilliant, we were rubbing shoulders with everyone, no according to class, One of the biggest suprises was the presence of Mr Button, the head and chief of Warner Bros. who was great, remarking to my son as he signed his book and the back of their Quidditch robes how he loved the films and how lovely the book my son had (Prisoner 1st edition) and how he was doing a good job of looking after it. No matter who you were you were treated the same ,even the biggest stars! YES they had to q for their drinks too!
And use the same portable loos too - he,he.
We never saw Robbie Coltrane, dont know even if he was there, no one said, unfortunately there was no Tom Felton, although i read on another site he was, well we didnt see him or Sir Michael Gambon first of all, otherwise we would of got their pictures and signatures.
Ok, now Daniel, what a guy, it doesn't matter how many fans he has around him, he takes time to sign everybodies things, we met him very briefly on location, but this time had a chance to chat, he had a posse of girls around him when we caught up with him, signing away in the pouring rain outside, but as happy as ever. We put up an umberella and chatted for a while, we asked a few things, which ill post asap. This was billed as a end of filming party, but Daniel and a few others are still filming up to Christmas, this doesn't affect the release date of the film, don't worry, but just extra bits I guess.
We were NOT allowed to take any pictures of Daniel because of his contract I belive, but he did sign everything and is just as nice as you all imagine, he seemed to be having a great time.
There must of been at least 2 thousand people there, many didnt get to go because ALL the security bands had long gone and if you didn't have you would not get in! no matter who you were apparently. The fireworks didnt go according to plan at first, after a few minutes i think the dampness of the constant rain for 3 days got to them and a silence grew on the runway, but then with the pounding of firestarter by the prodigy made everyone forget the rain, hundreds and hundreds of fireworks into the night air, not even the rain could dampen the moral of the cast or crew and all that waited, the rain didnt even touch their faces, in a way, that disapeared in thier eyes as the music took over, for over 20 or so minutes the fireworks were constant, and we all stood there, side by side with Emma, Rupert, Daniel and all the others jumping up and down to the music, brilliant show. The force of the music and fireworks went right through the bodies of us all, it kept our faces in the sky, couldnt believe our eye as more and more bursted into the sky, we all applauded when it finally finished, Warner Bros. really pushed the boat out and not a negative ego feeling insight.
Well apart from Daniel, without doubt one of the nicest guys you could ever meet is Jamie Waylett, just so happy to chat and take some time out for you, it was nice for my sons that he remembered them from filming on location and stood for pictures with them, well actually EVERYONE that has anything to do with the films are ALL are like that, I hope you all get a chance to meet these guys at some time. Rupert, Jamie and Devon they were excellent and never let any of their fans down who followed them all night patiently, to get a glimpse a picture or signature, we watched the fans all leaving with big grins happy to have met there idols, they took ages in signing books, scraps of paper etc, to please all and never, never complained once
The same respect must go to all the casts parents who stood very proud as they watched their sons and daughters making all the visitors very welcome knowing they have such a good following of people who admire them
None complained, even when security intervined just to make sure they were ok, Rupert sent them away!! the guards that is! - just commenting that everything was great.
Ha! - Lenny Henry, who tried to come in disguised in a very red and black jump suit, but who could miss a tall guy with those distinguished features walking past you, he took time to talk to a couple of people before joining his friends and his wife (Dawn French) the Fat Lady in the portrait, (didnt see her though) but you can see he likes to keep himself to himself.
At the entrance they gave the children (though the adults were scrambling for them), neon lights to wear around the necks, a blaze of blues yellows, greens shone around peoples necks
There were lots of top magicians displaying their own kind of magic, that kept all hypnotised watching them with their illusions!
One lady, her body was one huge neon light, even her mouth, teeth, were alight in neon red! mmm..., my children took loads of pictures of the magicians, bless them, I guess when your stood next to your idol and they have their arm around you there is no need to take their picture!.
There was a magician who easily danced with very, very heavy crystal balls, that flowed up and down his arms, they really looked like the balls were floating he was so good, there were tumblers, jugglers a truly spectacular show.
I'll end at the moment with Emma Watson & Bonnie Wright, what truly lovely girls, i'd never met them before, they were with all their friends and although not asked they each individually came over, chatted and signed some items, taking the time to make everyone happy before re-joining the party, made the childrens evening.
We'll get some more posted very soon and yes, lots more cool pictures and all the direct questions you sent us to ask !
Im posting the best of our exclusive party report first and very soon ill add more news, pictures and ALL the questions you wanted asking!
If you would like to use this (or any of our other set reports) - your more than welcome, thats why we do it - just ask first eh! - please.
Well what a night! - It was a very cold and (typically UK) wet night, but hey, we were going to The Prisoner of Azkaban party so who cared!. Driving up there was great, the excitement, the talk about who we wanted to meet, who we wanted to see. As we went towards the main entrance it was exactly as the oscar ceremony would be, flood lights all in the sky, waving in the dark night, we had all our heads out of the windows as we drove up the runway!
Warner Bros had without doubt put on a fantastic show, there was a huge bonfire leading up to the main area, the marques were massive with the 2 night buses lit up brilliant with different coloured lights, with a stage in the middle, mainly being used by an absolutely awesome Mexican band, now I could be wrong but for any of you over 18's out there - remember the band in From Dusk till Dawn ? I'm certain it was them, if it wasn't they sounded exactly the same with the same style. All we know is that they were brought over for the one and only Alfonso.
Now I have been one of his biggest critics from the things ive seen and read but I have to say, this is a remarkable guy, he came to make a film and he has done just that, im sure we all feel like we could do better or wish we could do things differently but all the best people have their critics do they not?. The film is being seen by nearly all inside as the best so far, so I think we can all just look forward to it now, honestly, the vibe is great! - definitely darker, moodier and more grown up were the best comments.
One of his favourite scenes was filming the Aunt Marge scenes.
Alfonso Cuaron, with his wife and Daughter, remarking to me that when he started out making this film he was on his own, now he his married to a lovely wife and has a baby girl - what a year he said and very proud he was of his daughter, my children heard that his wife is in the Prisoner of Azkaban? - anybody know?
We couldn't go onto the buses but there were lots of pictures taken by most visitors as the scene was brilliant, we were rubbing shoulders with everyone, no according to class, One of the biggest suprises was the presence of Mr Button, the head and chief of Warner Bros. who was great, remarking to my son as he signed his book and the back of their Quidditch robes how he loved the films and how lovely the book my son had (Prisoner 1st edition) and how he was doing a good job of looking after it. No matter who you were you were treated the same ,even the biggest stars! YES they had to q for their drinks too!
And use the same portable loos too - he,he.
We never saw Robbie Coltrane, dont know even if he was there, no one said, unfortunately there was no Tom Felton, although i read on another site he was, well we didnt see him or Sir Michael Gambon first of all, otherwise we would of got their pictures and signatures.
Ok, now Daniel, what a guy, it doesn't matter how many fans he has around him, he takes time to sign everybodies things, we met him very briefly on location, but this time had a chance to chat, he had a posse of girls around him when we caught up with him, signing away in the pouring rain outside, but as happy as ever. We put up an umberella and chatted for a while, we asked a few things, which ill post asap. This was billed as a end of filming party, but Daniel and a few others are still filming up to Christmas, this doesn't affect the release date of the film, don't worry, but just extra bits I guess.
We were NOT allowed to take any pictures of Daniel because of his contract I belive, but he did sign everything and is just as nice as you all imagine, he seemed to be having a great time.
There must of been at least 2 thousand people there, many didnt get to go because ALL the security bands had long gone and if you didn't have you would not get in! no matter who you were apparently. The fireworks didnt go according to plan at first, after a few minutes i think the dampness of the constant rain for 3 days got to them and a silence grew on the runway, but then with the pounding of firestarter by the prodigy made everyone forget the rain, hundreds and hundreds of fireworks into the night air, not even the rain could dampen the moral of the cast or crew and all that waited, the rain didnt even touch their faces, in a way, that disapeared in thier eyes as the music took over, for over 20 or so minutes the fireworks were constant, and we all stood there, side by side with Emma, Rupert, Daniel and all the others jumping up and down to the music, brilliant show. The force of the music and fireworks went right through the bodies of us all, it kept our faces in the sky, couldnt believe our eye as more and more bursted into the sky, we all applauded when it finally finished, Warner Bros. really pushed the boat out and not a negative ego feeling insight.
Well apart from Daniel, without doubt one of the nicest guys you could ever meet is Jamie Waylett, just so happy to chat and take some time out for you, it was nice for my sons that he remembered them from filming on location and stood for pictures with them, well actually EVERYONE that has anything to do with the films are ALL are like that, I hope you all get a chance to meet these guys at some time. Rupert, Jamie and Devon they were excellent and never let any of their fans down who followed them all night patiently, to get a glimpse a picture or signature, we watched the fans all leaving with big grins happy to have met there idols, they took ages in signing books, scraps of paper etc, to please all and never, never complained once
The same respect must go to all the casts parents who stood very proud as they watched their sons and daughters making all the visitors very welcome knowing they have such a good following of people who admire them
None complained, even when security intervined just to make sure they were ok, Rupert sent them away!! the guards that is! - just commenting that everything was great.
Ha! - Lenny Henry, who tried to come in disguised in a very red and black jump suit, but who could miss a tall guy with those distinguished features walking past you, he took time to talk to a couple of people before joining his friends and his wife (Dawn French) the Fat Lady in the portrait, (didnt see her though) but you can see he likes to keep himself to himself.
At the entrance they gave the children (though the adults were scrambling for them), neon lights to wear around the necks, a blaze of blues yellows, greens shone around peoples necks
There were lots of top magicians displaying their own kind of magic, that kept all hypnotised watching them with their illusions!
One lady, her body was one huge neon light, even her mouth, teeth, were alight in neon red! mmm..., my children took loads of pictures of the magicians, bless them, I guess when your stood next to your idol and they have their arm around you there is no need to take their picture!.
There was a magician who easily danced with very, very heavy crystal balls, that flowed up and down his arms, they really looked like the balls were floating he was so good, there were tumblers, jugglers a truly spectacular show.
I'll end at the moment with Emma Watson & Bonnie Wright, what truly lovely girls, i'd never met them before, they were with all their friends and although not asked they each individually came over, chatted and signed some items, taking the time to make everyone happy before re-joining the party, made the childrens evening.
We'll get some more posted very soon and yes, lots more cool pictures and all the direct questions you sent us to ask !
Sunday, November 23, 2003
WOW! - Well done all of you for the fantastic questions which you sent in to be asked of the cast. Im sorry i couldnt reply to you individually but i promise you they were all read - we never expected so many - absolute hundreds!!!
A big thank you to Geri for the support of HPANA, (still my favourite HP site!).
Ok, well it was awesome, nothing short of amazing, meeting the cast on location was nice, but cannot come close to hanging out at a party and talking properly!, i scribbled down as much as i could and asked what i could, as soon as i can get some time and get everything wrote down ill post a full report of the party & all the news and questions, including pictures taken.
Also, we managed to get lots more goodies for the coming raffles which will start very soon.
A big thank you to Geri for the support of HPANA, (still my favourite HP site!).
Ok, well it was awesome, nothing short of amazing, meeting the cast on location was nice, but cannot come close to hanging out at a party and talking properly!, i scribbled down as much as i could and asked what i could, as soon as i can get some time and get everything wrote down ill post a full report of the party & all the news and questions, including pictures taken.
Also, we managed to get lots more goodies for the coming raffles which will start very soon.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Here is a one in a milliion chance to have any burning questions you may have for Dan,Emma,Rupert - in fact ANY of the cast of The Prisoner of Azkaban.
We are looking for the best 2 or 3 original questions from you all, which we will get answered for you and the full details posted HERE next week.
Sunday the 22nd November is officially the final day of filming for The Prisoner of Azkaban.
To mark the event Warner Bros. are holding a private party for ALL the cast & crew, yes folks, all the guys will be there!
Hopefully we can find out the latest news,rumours and announcements as we are going along for this, barbecue and firework display (if the UK weather holds out!) also very hopefull to get some nice exclusive pictures which we will post asap for you.
You can either send us an owl, or feel free to use our feedback page with your questions.Please keep them as short and straightforward as possible.
Please note, we cannot request dedicated autographed items BUT we are almost ready to start our raffle & competition givaways which WILL include many signed items by lots of the cast + movie props, crew clothing and much,much more, keep us bookmarked for this and lots of other hp4u news.
We are looking for the best 2 or 3 original questions from you all, which we will get answered for you and the full details posted HERE next week.
Sunday the 22nd November is officially the final day of filming for The Prisoner of Azkaban.
To mark the event Warner Bros. are holding a private party for ALL the cast & crew, yes folks, all the guys will be there!
Hopefully we can find out the latest news,rumours and announcements as we are going along for this, barbecue and firework display (if the UK weather holds out!) also very hopefull to get some nice exclusive pictures which we will post asap for you.
You can either send us an owl, or feel free to use our feedback page with your questions.Please keep them as short and straightforward as possible.
Please note, we cannot request dedicated autographed items BUT we are almost ready to start our raffle & competition givaways which WILL include many signed items by lots of the cast + movie props, crew clothing and much,much more, keep us bookmarked for this and lots of other hp4u news.
Friday, November 14, 2003
The UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph takes a look at the new Prisoner trailer.
Thanks Mary for the news.
Thanks Mary for the news.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Thank you all
for the 100's of wonderful e-mails regarding our site and the set report which turned out to be longer than expected!
So, as promised here's more news from the set of Prisoner during our recent visit.
Can I first just explain a few of the common questions?
1- Im sorry, I have NO information to help you visit the film set, we were invited through someone who works there but it is not common place to offer set visits only to family of the cast & crew.
2- YES - the Dobby raffle/Competition is still going ahead, were just dealing with the legal requirements and making sure it runs smoothly and news will be posted asap, also, yes I do have some autographed items which we will be featuring too.
3 - YES - the call sheets are genuine, as a call sheet collector I have lots, so I will post a few more for you all to read as you all enjoy them as much too. PLEASE do not call the studios asking for them, they are not meant to leave the set folks!.
4 NO, we were not accompanied by any other HP website people on our visit, just us, so if you read anything else different anywhere else, it is false.
Film Set. Leavesden, Hertfordshire 2 of 2
First highlight, possibly something for future reference, Sam Neil (Jurassic Park,etc) with Alfonso and some of the other managers walking around the film set, got us wondering, any vacancies for Goblet of Fire ?? - Karkarov maybe? who knows, hes a fine actor, remember you saw it here first.
The day before we visited Elijah Wood was there having a look around the set, I doubt we'll be seeing him in any HP films, but wish we could have said well done for the LOTR work.
Ok, so many requests for info on the Dementors, well, we didnt see any live filming of them, we did however get to see and touch the outfits the actors wore while filming the scenes. As per the books, 7-8 ft tall black hooded figures, the outfits matched exactly the way theve all been described to us, what didnt see were the Dementors themselves, from inside the creatures dept we saw the skeleton figure of one hanging up and it was almost half human on top with what I can only describe as the bottom half of a crocodile, scaled and ending in a curved pointed shape. The prop department had a Dementor hand, which looked fantastically real.What we did watch though was awesome from the finished sequences of the film, what im sure many of you (as we) were shocked at, is that in the film they fly, whos idea was that ?, we were watching the scene of the Quidditch match, when Harry hasnt managed his Patronus spell yet, a good five minutes footage, hovering over the whole stadium, through the clouds, the rain, underneath him (in the book) he looks down, horrified, to see hundreds of Dementors,but in the film he is chased through the clouds by Dozens of them, the action was truly amazing, he is frantically trying to get away from them but they are chasing him through the clouds, high above the stadium. For me, unfortunately being a huge JK fan I dont think the extra ideas should be added (more of them later).
ALL of the Quidditch scenes, for all the movies so far, have been filmed in a huge warehouse type room, completely blue walls,floor,ceiling,etc,brilliant,we saw one of Harries doubles flying through the sky on a wild broomstick, terrifying, about 10ft of the floor that is) on a specially rigged broomstick with around 20 crew around him, looked great, I cannot stress enough, the people that are needed to make just one scene possible is amazing, each unit crew consists of around 200 and there are at least 3 crews. All top professionals.
There is just one 'real' stadium stand, this we see though the first 3 films, although in the films it seems as though there are many, through special effects the various crowds are filmed in there and then put together for the final scenes.
Gary Oldman, Sirius, was heard to remark during his filming with the Dementors,hes ******* strangling me, such was the reality of Alfonsos directing.
We were told, that Gary Oldmans scenes were so intense (simply because of the mans talent) that as many cast and crew, when they were able to, went to watch as many scenes as they could, he gave 200% for everything, I was told and blew them away everytime, so I think we should all congratulate the casting people for this choice.
Daniel Radcliffe was told, by one Actress, Shake the hand of the best actor youll ever meet when introduced to Gary Oldman, whos handshake is meant to be vice like.
The animal dept.
Well I have to say, this was for me brilliant, we met Fang,Scabbers,Crookshanks,Hedwig - all of the animals!, it was superb. At the studios they have a purpose built animal dept, where all of them live with 5* facilities!The guy who looks after them was fantastic too, he knew all of them back to front, with exactly who was who, what they all liked and individual diets. This was some skill as there are around 10 of each of them.
Crookshanks for example, theres the main cat, then theres a lazy one (for petting), an action one (for the energetic work!), another for this and another for that, all to make sure of the right shots for the films.
Fang is just huge, sits there, while lots of other dogs are barking and going nuts without a care in the world and just the odd growl. The owls are just gorgeous, esspecially Errol (Weasleys) who you could stroke all day long and he'd still want more.
The Great Hall.
As you all know now, this was built in the studios exactly the same as the original location that was used for The Philosophers Stone, so it can be used over and over again, the detail is amazing. Some days there are over 200 students, so thats a lot of toilet trips. The walls however all move so the hundreds of students that fill it on filming days can get in and out without too much trouble and to make way for the cameras and crew. The tables are actually new with old wooden tops added for authenticity, it was just so cool to walk through the great hall (sorry to rub it in, just trying to share the experience) up to the teachers table and sit in Dumbledores chair, he, he.
I'd never noticed in the previous two films the big house points counter which sits to the right of the hall as you look at it, with all the different colored stones for each house. In the empty hall it is huge and looks great. The actual floor of the film set has been made with genuine stone, for its authenticity and future usage. The ceiling, although scaffolding while we were there still had the mechanism used for the floating candles attached which was very clever. Just a fantastic room.
The Nightbus.
How cool was this! We all know that its purple, we watched a full five minutes live filming in nearly total darkness. They were filming a lower deck scene which was of these skull things that are hanging down from the rear view mirror ? of Stan & Ernies bus - bit like us Muggles having an air-freshener or something in our car, except the Wizard ones shriek and howl, it was great to watch, beside us was a crew guy with a remote control making it move and talk, while the bus was moved on platforms to simulate driving. All these little extra bits will just add tons to the final film, but again, not in the book (unless I missed it?). What you dont realize when you watch the films is the amount of work it takes and how many people are needed to get what might be a 5 second shot.
Hate to say it but ive been told this, Alfonso is awesome, so intense BUT also Dont mention that guys name to me, I decided I dont think I should elaborate too much on that really apart from I think Prisoner will be much better acted than previous, with Alfonso bringing the best out of everyone,BUT, there will be quite a few scenes which are not in the books, please remember this is just my opinion and if it was up to me id make ALL the films about 5 hours long each!.
The Basilisk and Aragog ARE the same size as you see in the films, they are brilliant, made basically out of a rubber type material, they are huge, just sitting there now in the props dept with no more scenes to film,unless,that is, they are needed in future films?.
Ok, apologies for delay in submitting the rest of this report, hope you enjoyed it.
We will hopefully be there for the Goblet of Fire too
Check back HERE after November 25th, well have some exciting news and pictures for you all.
Check out the first Prisoner of Azkaban trailer!
500 K Windows Media
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56K Windows Media
500K Real Player
300K Real Player
100K Real Player
56K Real Player
500K Quicktime
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for the 100's of wonderful e-mails regarding our site and the set report which turned out to be longer than expected!
So, as promised here's more news from the set of Prisoner during our recent visit.
Can I first just explain a few of the common questions?
1- Im sorry, I have NO information to help you visit the film set, we were invited through someone who works there but it is not common place to offer set visits only to family of the cast & crew.
2- YES - the Dobby raffle/Competition is still going ahead, were just dealing with the legal requirements and making sure it runs smoothly and news will be posted asap, also, yes I do have some autographed items which we will be featuring too.
3 - YES - the call sheets are genuine, as a call sheet collector I have lots, so I will post a few more for you all to read as you all enjoy them as much too. PLEASE do not call the studios asking for them, they are not meant to leave the set folks!.
4 NO, we were not accompanied by any other HP website people on our visit, just us, so if you read anything else different anywhere else, it is false.
Film Set. Leavesden, Hertfordshire 2 of 2
First highlight, possibly something for future reference, Sam Neil (Jurassic Park,etc) with Alfonso and some of the other managers walking around the film set, got us wondering, any vacancies for Goblet of Fire ?? - Karkarov maybe? who knows, hes a fine actor, remember you saw it here first.
The day before we visited Elijah Wood was there having a look around the set, I doubt we'll be seeing him in any HP films, but wish we could have said well done for the LOTR work.
Ok, so many requests for info on the Dementors, well, we didnt see any live filming of them, we did however get to see and touch the outfits the actors wore while filming the scenes. As per the books, 7-8 ft tall black hooded figures, the outfits matched exactly the way theve all been described to us, what didnt see were the Dementors themselves, from inside the creatures dept we saw the skeleton figure of one hanging up and it was almost half human on top with what I can only describe as the bottom half of a crocodile, scaled and ending in a curved pointed shape. The prop department had a Dementor hand, which looked fantastically real.What we did watch though was awesome from the finished sequences of the film, what im sure many of you (as we) were shocked at, is that in the film they fly, whos idea was that ?, we were watching the scene of the Quidditch match, when Harry hasnt managed his Patronus spell yet, a good five minutes footage, hovering over the whole stadium, through the clouds, the rain, underneath him (in the book) he looks down, horrified, to see hundreds of Dementors,but in the film he is chased through the clouds by Dozens of them, the action was truly amazing, he is frantically trying to get away from them but they are chasing him through the clouds, high above the stadium. For me, unfortunately being a huge JK fan I dont think the extra ideas should be added (more of them later).
ALL of the Quidditch scenes, for all the movies so far, have been filmed in a huge warehouse type room, completely blue walls,floor,ceiling,etc,brilliant,we saw one of Harries doubles flying through the sky on a wild broomstick, terrifying, about 10ft of the floor that is) on a specially rigged broomstick with around 20 crew around him, looked great, I cannot stress enough, the people that are needed to make just one scene possible is amazing, each unit crew consists of around 200 and there are at least 3 crews. All top professionals.
There is just one 'real' stadium stand, this we see though the first 3 films, although in the films it seems as though there are many, through special effects the various crowds are filmed in there and then put together for the final scenes.
Gary Oldman, Sirius, was heard to remark during his filming with the Dementors,hes ******* strangling me, such was the reality of Alfonsos directing.
We were told, that Gary Oldmans scenes were so intense (simply because of the mans talent) that as many cast and crew, when they were able to, went to watch as many scenes as they could, he gave 200% for everything, I was told and blew them away everytime, so I think we should all congratulate the casting people for this choice.
Daniel Radcliffe was told, by one Actress, Shake the hand of the best actor youll ever meet when introduced to Gary Oldman, whos handshake is meant to be vice like.
The animal dept.
Well I have to say, this was for me brilliant, we met Fang,Scabbers,Crookshanks,Hedwig - all of the animals!, it was superb. At the studios they have a purpose built animal dept, where all of them live with 5* facilities!The guy who looks after them was fantastic too, he knew all of them back to front, with exactly who was who, what they all liked and individual diets. This was some skill as there are around 10 of each of them.
Crookshanks for example, theres the main cat, then theres a lazy one (for petting), an action one (for the energetic work!), another for this and another for that, all to make sure of the right shots for the films.
Fang is just huge, sits there, while lots of other dogs are barking and going nuts without a care in the world and just the odd growl. The owls are just gorgeous, esspecially Errol (Weasleys) who you could stroke all day long and he'd still want more.
The Great Hall.
As you all know now, this was built in the studios exactly the same as the original location that was used for The Philosophers Stone, so it can be used over and over again, the detail is amazing. Some days there are over 200 students, so thats a lot of toilet trips. The walls however all move so the hundreds of students that fill it on filming days can get in and out without too much trouble and to make way for the cameras and crew. The tables are actually new with old wooden tops added for authenticity, it was just so cool to walk through the great hall (sorry to rub it in, just trying to share the experience) up to the teachers table and sit in Dumbledores chair, he, he.
I'd never noticed in the previous two films the big house points counter which sits to the right of the hall as you look at it, with all the different colored stones for each house. In the empty hall it is huge and looks great. The actual floor of the film set has been made with genuine stone, for its authenticity and future usage. The ceiling, although scaffolding while we were there still had the mechanism used for the floating candles attached which was very clever. Just a fantastic room.
The Nightbus.
How cool was this! We all know that its purple, we watched a full five minutes live filming in nearly total darkness. They were filming a lower deck scene which was of these skull things that are hanging down from the rear view mirror ? of Stan & Ernies bus - bit like us Muggles having an air-freshener or something in our car, except the Wizard ones shriek and howl, it was great to watch, beside us was a crew guy with a remote control making it move and talk, while the bus was moved on platforms to simulate driving. All these little extra bits will just add tons to the final film, but again, not in the book (unless I missed it?). What you dont realize when you watch the films is the amount of work it takes and how many people are needed to get what might be a 5 second shot.
Hate to say it but ive been told this, Alfonso is awesome, so intense BUT also Dont mention that guys name to me, I decided I dont think I should elaborate too much on that really apart from I think Prisoner will be much better acted than previous, with Alfonso bringing the best out of everyone,BUT, there will be quite a few scenes which are not in the books, please remember this is just my opinion and if it was up to me id make ALL the films about 5 hours long each!.
The Basilisk and Aragog ARE the same size as you see in the films, they are brilliant, made basically out of a rubber type material, they are huge, just sitting there now in the props dept with no more scenes to film,unless,that is, they are needed in future films?.
Ok, apologies for delay in submitting the rest of this report, hope you enjoyed it.
We will hopefully be there for the Goblet of Fire too
Check back HERE after November 25th, well have some exciting news and pictures for you all.
Check out the first Prisoner of Azkaban trailer!
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Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Hi all, sorry for the delay in posting news recently, hey, most of it has been published on many other sites anyway and as you know - we like our exclusives!!.
Ok, finally finished the rest of our set report which will be up in the next couple of days.
Were off again for more news to Leavesden studio's very,very soon, cant say too much now, but this time there will be tons of pictures to go with the news, which we will be allowed to post.
The Raffle/Competition WILL be up and running in the next week or so, just sorting out all the legal issues and the fun can start.
Ok, finally finished the rest of our set report which will be up in the next couple of days.
Were off again for more news to Leavesden studio's very,very soon, cant say too much now, but this time there will be tons of pictures to go with the news, which we will be allowed to post.
The Raffle/Competition WILL be up and running in the next week or so, just sorting out all the legal issues and the fun can start.
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