The finale of the walking tour at the London Harry Potter Experience is a magnificent walk around the special gigantic model they built of Hogwarts and the surrounding structures.
Before seeing the big model that was used for production for all the films, you see a smaller study model that helped filmmakers and special effects folks determine a variety of filming angles.
This huge gigantic model is under special lighting now, and it was not fully detailed as many of the small details were added in post production via computer graphics. But it was felt it would be better to use the model to shoot all the shots to give the CGI artists a good base to work with, and to get the shots down for editing the film.
Details on the castle, such as the rockwork, were put into the model, then enhanced as needed in post production.
Model builders built up some trees, though some were added for the benefit of visitors to the Harry Potter Experience.
Areas described in the books were all created as the films progressed so that filmmakers knew what they had to work with.
The entire bridge was built in model form, though a small section was built for filming the actors, then the background of Hogwarts or the surrounding area was added in post.
If you look carefully, you can see visitors to the experience in the right hand side of the photo, which gives you an idea of the size of this massive model.
The stairs that lead down to the water and other areas were built. I’d hate to climb those.
The rockwork was also highly detailed, making the CGI easier to do in post production.
The location of some major plot actions.
In the visitors’ cafeteria, they put up a mock up of the floating candles, so you can eat your food or drink your beverage and imagine yourself in the Harry Potter universe.
A giant version of the Marauder’s Map is on display in the huge lobby.
With that we conclude our six-part tour of the London Harry Potter Experience. Here are links to the other five parts.
The London Harry Potter Experience – Part One
The London Harry Potter Experience – Part Two
The London Harry Potter Experience – Part Three
The London Harry Potter Experience – Part Four