This month we had the premier of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on Sky (well the normal movie channel's where we dont have to pay for it) and there was an article in the Sky Watch Tv Guide thing that i thought you all might like to read.
Harry Potter may be an orphan living with his mean relatives, the Dursley's, but he is anything but ordinary. Although unaware of it, his parents were a powerful witch and wizard murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was sill only a baby. Harry inherrited magical skills as well. He is a bit overwhelemed to learn all this on his eleventh birthday but he is more then willing to escape his life with the Dursley's (and who could blame him
) when he is invited to join Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Once there he embarks on the aventure of a lifetime and finds that the strange scar on his forehead makes him the biggest star at school, although it can land him in big trouble....
With over 100 million copies sold in more than 40 diffrent languages. From Albanian to Zulu, JK Rowling's best-selling books is truely phenomenon. Children and adults alike are enchanted by the adventures of the boy wizard Harry Potter and it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came a-calling. But how do you bring J.K Rowling's magical world to the big screen? Well essentially you need a multi-million dollar budget, six months of hard work and plenty of real-life special effects wizards.
A large part of the budget was spent on the hundreds of special effects sequences featured in
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. While some special effects experts worked on magical creature's like Norbert the baby dragon (Poster's Notė: I thought i would just like to say here that, that baby dragon might of been CGI but he was totaly and utterly adorable
), others concintrated on creating Harry's invisability cloak or the sorting hat. And who could forget the the electrifying Quidditch match? The eleven minute sequence took months in the computer studio to perfect.
Creating the stunning special effects certainly wasnt easy. But that was nothing compared to the daunting task of finding the perfect Harry. Even though sixteen thousand young hopefuls auditioned for the role of Harry Potter, not one seemed right.
Finally Chris Columbus saw a BBC production of David Copperfield, Staring Daniel Radcliffe, and he knew he had found his Harry Potter. Even J.K Rowling was impressed when she saw the Radcliffe's audition tape - it was almost like a reunion with a long lost son.
Donning in the famillar pair of glasses, waving a magical wand and riding one mean broomstick, Radcliffe seems perfectly at home fighting evil. But what the team didnt count on was the young star's michevious sense of humor. Radcliffe would offten convince the make-up team to give him a black eye, on one occasion a bleeding hand. But thats not all. He also managed to change the language settings on Robbie Coltrane's mobile to Turkish.
But Radcliffe wasnt the only practical joker. Rupert Grint who play's Harry Potter's best friend , Ron Weasley, was just as cheeky. One day he was caught doing an unflattering drawing of Alan Rickman (Poster's Note: Ok now i have posted about it but i will say it right here, right now....I LOVE ALAN!....*ahem* thank you
),perhaps better known as Severus Snape the potions master at Hogwarts, only to find Rickman standing right behind. Luckily Rickman was a good sport and kept the drawing (After the last poster's note i think this one shouldnt be said but it has to: It just goes to show how Rickman is a majorly sweet guy and not some meanie some people make him out to be. He ISNT Snape people
).
It was this sense of fun that won Grint the role of Ron in the first place . When he heard about the auditions he sent in a tape of a rap about how much he wanted to be in the film. It's a little wonder to why Rupert can relate to Ron - they both have red hair, both love candy and are both totaly and utterly afraid of spiders. And as the ginger-haired actor admits they are both band with a wand.
Want troubles isnt something Hermione Granger, Harry's other close friend, has to worry about. But Emma Watson, hermione's alter ego. Admit's that she is not as obsessed with school as her character is. While she enjoys school herself she would rather spend her free time hanging out with friends or playing sport. Watson decided to audition when the casting team visited her school and after 6 months of auditions she finally landed the part of HermioneWhile the film's young stars recive a great deal of attention, the cast of
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Ston also incudes some of Britain's most accomplished actors.
There was little question as to who should play Hagrid the gentle half giant. JK Rowling herself thought Robbie would be perfect for the part. The burly actor, who was the star of British TV detective serries "Cracker", didnt even have to think about it, he was already a fan of the books, having read them to his son.
Maggie Smith had also read
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and was charmed by the story. The two-time oscar winner practicaly jumped at the chance to play Professor McGonagall as she was curious to see how the team would bring Harry Potter to the big screen.
Richar Harris, who plays kind-hearted headmaster Albus Dumbledore, was a litte harder to convince. He gave in when his granddaughter threatned to never speak to him again if he turned down the role. Harris who passed away late last year, was well known for his larger-then-life roles in "The Sporting Life" and "Gladiator". However, he often said Dumbledor was one of the easiest characters he had ever played because it was so well written.
The moveie's young stars noticed Harris' admiration for the role as soon as he was reading a few passages from the script with them. After the reading Rupert Grint turned to Harris and told him that he would be quite good in this part. The producers certainly didnt disagree.
This article brought tears to my eye's when I read the part about Harris. He was the greatest Albus Dumbledor ever. No matter who they try and replace him with, Richard will forever be my Albus Dumbledor.
RIP Richard. I love you.
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