Harry and Hagrid flee on Sirius Black's motorcycle.

'In the wee early hours of Thursday morning a loud rumbling could be heard in the Kent area of England. At a glance this might have been just a typical motorcycle amidst the rest of the traffic, but if the noise of the engine didnt give it away, the sight of the Giant riding the bike and his spectacled passenger in a sidecar almost certainly would have done - Harry Potter and Hagrid were in town!'

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows exclusive HP4U location report and images.
Dartford Tunnel crossing, Kent, England.
23rd/24th July 2009.

Some serious stunt action, shot remarkably at a good pace was in action recently with Harry and Hagrid escaping Privet Drive on Sirius Blacks old, trustee motorcycle. Scenes were of course from the '7 Potters' chapter, which im sure your all familiar with. With the second filming unit in charge using mobile and static camera's, filming was underway using the Dartford - Thurrock River Crossing tunnel/bridge (Kent - Essex) which is one of Europe's most heavily used crossings. Spanning the Thames between Dartford and Thurrock, the Crossing forms a vital link in the M25, Britain's most important orbital road and is over 2800 metres long.As traffic was temporarily held back (to the annoyance of some truck drivers who as they passed liked to make their feelings heard) the camera's rolled and we managed to get shots of the stunt cars, camera trucks and more importantly the BIKE! with Hagrid and Harry leaving and entering the tunnel. The bulk of the shoot was centered on obtaining wide shots of the pair being chased into the tunnel, Harry, wearing a grey hoodie with stripe down the arm and wand at the ready, Hagrid, in his familiar huge coat and sporting his goggles sped at around 30 mph in real time speed, weaving in and out of traffic with great effect.
Of course all the (which we assume there will be!) flying shots would be taken care of with green screen SFX filming, lets hope so.
For Friday morning action centered on further perspective shots from different camera's, including low level shots from the back of a quad-bike racing through the tunnels just feet away from the pair and further angles to show the oncoming traffic, weaving in and out of trucks and vans, with Hagrid seemingly kicking out at any vehicles which came too close and Harry casting spells to his rear. These were all stunt vehicles as you would expect, as surely the sight of a Giant racing towards Muggle cars would have been enough to scare those already not shocked at the £4.00 it costs to cross the bridge/tunnel in each direction ;-)
Both the stunt doubles sported Harry and Hagrid masks on occasions and looked remarkably like the 'real' Actors, complete with burning scar on Harry!

Close up shots and of course MORE exclusives to come ONLY from HP4U. For now, enjoy the pics!