Due to the resounding success of the book series about the young wizard Harry Potter, the studio wanted to launch a sequel as soon as possible. Preparation for the film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" began during the editing stage of "The Philosopher’s Stone". Principal photography began on November 19, 2001, just three days after the premiere of the first film. The producers did not want to wait another year, because child actors grow up very quickly. After the one-hundred-and-fifty-day shoot of the first film, the cast and crew were already united as one family, so for the most part the work crew hasn’t changed much since Philosopher’s Stone.
Scenario
Stephen Clovis took up the script again and the most difficult thing, according to him, was that it was necessary to write a story, the end of which he did not know. At the time of writing the script for The Chamber of Secrets, only the fourth book, The Goblet of Fire, had been published. It was important for him to consult JK Rowling and be sure that he was on the right path. Of course, Rowling couldn’t tell him all the secrets, but she would let him know if he was going in the wrong direction. For example, Steve didn’t originally have as many scenes with Dobby, but Rowling insisted that more of the house elf be included since he would become important in later stories.
The book "The Philosopher’s Stone" is episodic, it contains separate adventures. The plot is often cut off and changed. And “Chamber of Secrets” has a more linear structure and was easier to transfer to the screen.
Steve’s first drafts were filled with details that, if they had been based on them, the film would have been four hours long. It took him a lot of effort to bring the material into the correct ratio. And although the authors tried to fit all the important lines into the film, Rowling was still dissatisfied with something. The line of Mudbloods, which first appears in this work, according to Rowling, is expressed and presented in the film much weaker than how it is written in the book.
Another thing Steve and Joan were afraid of was how the film would introduce the talking spider Aragog. It should be a scary episode, but on paper, when Aragog first says "Who goes?"Steve couldn’t help but smile. According to Joan, when you see spiders in old sci-fi movies, they’re always hysterically funny and never scary. But, to their great relief, director Chris Columbus and his team tried their best and filmed a truly scary episode.
Casting
The main core of the cast migrated from The Philosopher’s Stone to The Chamber of Secrets. However, there was a scandal. Zoe Wanamaker, who played coach Madame Trick, refused to star in the second part because the fee was too small. Her lines were written between McGonagall and Hagrid. Rowling’s "British only" rule still applied to recruiting new actors.
Hugh Grant was in contention for the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Zlatopust Lokons, but due to a contract conflict for participation in Sandra Bullock’s project “Love with Notice,” Grant had to refuse to star in “Chamber of Secrets.”. Subsequently, the actor openly regretted his decision more than once. After his refusal, the role could also go to Alan Cumming. Jude Law also auditioned for the role, but he was considered too young to play Goldenswallow Lockhart. And yet, Jude Law will appear in a film based on the Harry Potter franchise, he will play young Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts film series.
After many interviews, the team set its sights on actor Kenneth Branagh. He immediately caught the narcissism, ambition and brightness of Lokons. Producer David Heyman was amazed by the transformation, because Branagh is one of the most generous and humble people he has met.
Kenneth Branagh (Goldenlocks Locks)
Kenneth Branagh himself describes his on-screen character as a “great showman”. He looks at the audience with one eye and with the other at himself in the mirror. He can’t be in the room and be second. He constantly presents himself as a hero, and in this sense he is a surprisingly outspoken, vain and handsome idiot!
According to JK Rowling, Lockhart was the only character in the Potter books that she deliberately based on a real person. But according to her, the real prototype was worse and constantly lied about the impressive actions it allegedly performed.
The scene where Goldenlocks signed copies of his autobiography, The Magical Me, at Flourish and Blotts bookstore was an opportunity to introduce another significant character – Draco Malfoy’s father, Lucius, played by Jason Isaacs.
It is noteworthy that Isaacs came to audition for the role of Lockhart, but when it became clear that he was not suitable for this role, director Chris Columbus, in order not to offend the actor with a refusal, purely formally invited him to audition for the role of Malfoy Sr. He reluctantly agreed and fit perfectly into the image of the arrogant and elegant Lucius, but Isaacs went home deciding that this role was not for him. And only after family council, Jason agreed to the role of Lucius Malfoy.
Jason Isaacs, in order to understand how vile his character should be, watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone several times, watching Tom Felton’s performance. He describes his character as "a very proud, incredibly vain and pompous peacock man".
Richard E. Grant and Bill Nighy were also considered for the role of Lucius Malfoy. The latter later signed on for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010) to play Minister Rufus Scrimgeour.
In addition to Malfoy Sr., Jason Isaacs acted as the voice of the Basilisk. Director Chris Columbus really liked the actor’s voice and thought that he could voice the Basilisk and asked Isaacs to give his voice a hissing note and as much horror as possible.
The role of professor of herbology and dean of the Hufflepuff Faculty Pomona Stem went to actress Miriam Margolyes. In the sequel, she had a decisive role, since it was her infusion, brewed from mandrake root, that saved all the students who suffered from the Basilisk.
In the first film, the healer Madame Pomfrey only appeared in the background for a brief moment, but in Chamber of Secrets the character’s role was greatly expanded. She was played by actress Gemma Jones.
Arthur Weasley, the head of the family, was played by Mark Williams. In the films, Arthur is shown without glasses and without large bald patches, as he is presented in the books.
Mark described Arthur’s type as a "pure and simple man". It was easy for him to play because he knew where his heart was; he loves his wife, he loves his family and he loves the truth. Arthur Weasley also loves Muggle artifacts, and Mark enjoyed the opportunity to have his character constantly interested in gadgets and things from the non-wizarding world – from a flying car to a bicycle basket on the back of his broomstick.
To choose an actor for the role of Tom Riddle, an open casting was organized for boys 15-17 years old. However, Christian Coulson, who was already 23 years old, was chosen. It was because of his age that he was unable to return to the role in later films. Also auditioned for this role were Eddie Redmayne, who would later take on the role of Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts series, and Joseph Morgan, who appeared in small roles in the films Master of the Seas and Alexander.
37-year-old Shirley Henderson was cast as Moaning Myrtle. She became the oldest person to play a Hogwarts student. Shirley fit into the character perfectly and subsequently reprized her role in Goblet of Fire.
The role of young Hagrid was played by the same actor who was used as his stunt double in all the films of the franchise. True, for a more complete match, his voice was dubbed by Robbie Coltrane.
I think it’s worth mentioning those who were cut from the theatrical version of the film. So there are additional scenes where the character of Mr. Gorbin appears, played by Edward Tudor-Pole. In addition, there were scenes with Hogwarts librarian Madame Irma Pince, played by Sally Mortemore. She remained only in small appearances in the background and at the table during dinner.
Filming
Chamber of Secrets was supposed to be released a year after the first film, so pre-production was very tight. According to producer David Heyman, it was a very intense period, especially for director and executive producer Chris Columbus. And yet, Chris never lost his spirit.
For him, one of the pleasures of working in Chamber of Secrets was that the young actors began to grow as professionals. The problem that all the kids faced during the filming of the previous film was that they were so unfamiliar with filming that they couldn’t stop smiling even if it was a serious scene. At first, filming was more about acting lessons. But on the set of the sequel, the children began to feel more comfortable and confident in their roles. The process went faster.
Chris Columbus brought in cinematographer Roger Pratt to give the film a darker look, reflecting the darker tone of the story. Lighting is a very important thing because it can make a scene calm or scary. Consequently, the sets were lit with more subdued lighting and the color palette was less saturated. These changes will continue throughout the franchise, with each film becoming darker and less intense.
For the filming of the second film, the operator used a wearable camera stabilization system – Steadicam, which gave more freedom of movement. This is much more convenient for the director, because he could literally take the operator by the shoulders and direct him in the right direction. For example, Columbus wanted the camera movement to be snake-like, reflecting the movement of the basilisk through the castle. Consequently, some scenes were filmed using hand-held cameras, allowing for smoother movement.
The American Humane Association’s Film and Television Division monitored scenes involving animals. This association has the exclusive authority, under contract with the Screen Actors Guild, to protect animals used in film and television. Inspectors reviewed the script and scenes before and during filming to ensure that no animals were harmed or mistreated and that precautions for the safe use of animals in film production were followed. They also monitor the conditions in which the animals were kept during production.
Several different bird species have helped bring the magical mail carriers and companions to life, including Snowy Owls, Eagles, Great Gray Owls and Barn Owls. The coveted role of Hedgehog went to the snowy owls Sprout, Casper, Gizmo and Elmo. Owls flew from place to place under the supervision of trainers. Each owl was accompanied by at least one trainer at all times, while a fan and air conditioner kept the owls cool while working on set. For shots where the background was blurred and no action was required from the owl, a realistic stuffed Boucli was placed in the cage.
In the flying Ford Anglia scenes, trainers carefully placed a caged owl in the back seat of a stationary car for filming. A stuffed owl was also used to film this scene, while computer effects enhanced the owl’s reactions and movements inside the vehicle. Of course, in the scene when the old Ford mercilessly spat out Hedwig and Scabbers, no real animals were used.
Errol, Weasley’s disoriented and accident-prone owl, mistakenly flies into the Burrow’s kitchen window while delivering mail. In general, a stuffed Errol falls into the window, and a real owl was used for landing. The trainer skillfully placed the owl on the windowsill and gently stroked it so that it sat quietly for a few seconds. Much the same approach was used for the scene in the Great Hall when Ron receives the mail. The trainer had to work a little to teach the owl to lie on its back.
Maine Coon cats Alanis and Maximus share the coveted role of Mrs. Norris. Trainers applied several well-placed faux fur balls to the cats’ usually beautiful coat to bring life to mangy Mrs. Norris. And for the scene with the petrified cat, of course, they used a realistic stuffed animal.
In Professor McGonagall’s class, all the students are sitting at desks with various animals. This scene shows many different types of animals, including various lizards, snakes, birds and other mammals. The trainers placed each animal on a table in front of the student and stood nearby off-screen to observe what was happening. The transformation of the bowl was courtesy of the special effects artists.
Neapolitan Mastiffs, Vito, Hugo, Bella and newcomer Luigi contributed significant roles as Hagrid’s beloved pup Fang. The trainers ordered the dogs to bark and look where they should.
Hagrid holds a dead chicken in one scene. Although Hagrid’s chicken was actually made of rubber, several live chickens were brought in and filmed for a scene that ultimately did not make it into the final film.
In one picturesque scene, several horses pull a sleigh full of students through the snow-white winter courtyard of Hogwarts. Trainers attached the horses to light sleds and drove them a short distance on artificial snow. The magic of cinema helped fill the yard with many horses, although in reality there were only a few of them.
Although they are easy to miss, there are several rats scurrying around inside the dark tunnel inside the Chamber of Secrets. Trainers released brown rats to munch on peanut butter that had been smeared in various places on the tunnel set and took them in between takes.
Locations
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was filmed at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire and in historic buildings throughout the United Kingdom, as well as on the Isle of Man.
King’s Cross Station was still used for filming as the location for Platform 9 and Three Quarters, but the exterior was taken from nearby St Packras Station as its architecture is much more visually appealing.
Scotland’s Glenfinnan Viaduct features in the iconic scene in which Harry and Ron follow the Hogwarts Express in a flying car.
As we already know, Gloucester Cathedral (corridors), Durham Cathedral (McGonagall’s courtyard and office), Alnwick Castle, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, and Lacock Abbey were used as settings for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Lacock Abbey was founded in the 13th century as a nunnery, although in the 16th century it was transferred to private ownership and became a residence. The Potions classroom was filmed here, and the indoor gallery helped capture the scene where Harry hears the Basilisk’s voice as he leaves Professor Lockhart’s office.
The corridor with the bloody inscription on the wall was filmed in Gloucester Cathedral. In order not to harm the interior of the 500-year-old building, a false wall was erected, imitating the original original wall of the cathedral, on which the inscription was made.
Scenery
Production designer Stuart Craig returned for the sequel to design new sets we haven’t seen before. Working with the director, Craig miraculously conjured up the visual side of the story and, together with many masters, created the world of Harry Potter.
Although a lot of sets were built for the first film, the set designers had to try and create no less for the sequel. It was very important to Chris Columbus that the scenery look real. The problem was that Hogwarts is not only magical, but also a very old castle. To recreate the ancient school, Stuart Craig and his team built the set from scratch and created many of the props from plastic. Beams, walls and even furniture were made this way. As Craig said: the main material from which the sets for this film were made was plastic. First they make molds, casts of real things, and then from these molds they cast everything you need: solid sheets of brickwork, sculptures, oak beams and much more.
When creating the Weasley family’s home, The Burrow, the team wanted to create something whimsical, filled with magical things, but also a warm, cozy place with its own unique atmosphere. A place where Harry could feel very comfortable. According to Rowling, “The Burrow” looked as if the building had once been a small brick pigsty, but then new rooms were added to it from time to time on top and on the sides.
This was the starting point for production designer Stuart Craig. The reference was a small Tudor building with a pigsty on the side. And then they added rooms on top, as if Arthur Weasley, the head of the family, selected parts for the house from wherever he could, and they did not fit together.
The dilapidated appearance of the outside determined how everything should have looked inside. In “Nora” everything is crooked and awkward, nothing is perfect. The windows are a patchwork of pieces of glass from other buildings, the flagstone floors are worn, and every few steps on the stairs are covered with a different rug. According to the decorator, they wanted everything – from the furniture to the dishes on the kitchen table – to look like it was bought at a second-hand store or found at a flea market. In fact, this is how many of the things used in “The Burrow” were found, including an antique kitchen stove rescued from the house of a certain pop star. For all the chaos created, there is one element that unifies the setting – color, most of the details are in orange and red tones, inspired by the red-haired Weasley family.
While Mr. Weasley’s workshop is filled with Muggle inventions that he studies, the house itself contains various magical items created by the special effects department, such as self-cleaning frying pans and a fancy clock that shows where everyone in the family is at any given time.
And in order to believably depict knitting needles in the air by themselves, one of the members of the film crew convinced his mother to let him watch and film her knitting for several hours.
Among the many items specially created for the set was Ron’s crocheted blanket in the colors of his favorite Quidditch team, the Peddle Cannon, and children’s drawings of witches, wizards and mythical creatures pinned up in the kitchen, which were actually made by family members of the art department.
The Weasley family home was specially built directly opposite the main building of Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire. The result is a great image: this crazy vertical tower in a beautiful completely horizontal landscape.
Diagon Alley
Creating a whole fantasy world for a film is very difficult. Keeping this world intact for a decade is even more difficult. Building all of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and keeping them suitable for all the films was simply impossible. The fact that you don’t see every location in every film has fortunately given set designers the opportunity to save both space and money.
Ollivander’s Wand Shop from the Philosopher’s Stone is located in the same building as Flourish and Blotts Bookstore in Chamber of Secrets. They just painted it and replaced the sticks with books.
Another paint job and https://21-casino.uk/bonus/ more candy installation, and the same space becomes the Candy Kingdom in Prisoner of Azkaban. Since we never see all three locations in one film, it wouldn’t even occur to audiences that they were looking at the same renovated space.
The greenhouse was a chance to show a different side of Hogwarts, it needed to feel like it had been around for hundreds of years. Everything had to feel very earthy and natural.
Due to cost considerations, the studio decided to film in a real greenhouse in Kew Gardens, southwest London. As soon as the film crew arrived there for inspection, they realized that nothing would work because planes were constantly flying over the greenhouses and it was impossible to record sound.
Therefore, in the end, the greenhouse had to be built from scratch in the studio. It was recreated in several sizes: full size, in perspective and a flat version in the painting.
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor’s Office
For Philosopher’s Stone, Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Quirrell’s classroom was filmed on location at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, a building dating back to the thirteenth century. Filming took place in the only room in the abbey where the nuns were allowed to light a fire.
It’s always easier to film on a studio set than to take actors and crew on location, so for Chamber of Secrets the team designed and built the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which was used by Zlatopust Lokons and all subsequent teachers.
Stuart Craig began designing his office by thinking of the room as a sculpture: a shape with which he could do something interesting. Since the Defense Against the Dark Arts class is an attic with a curved wall that is on top of one of the towers, it can only have windows on one side. At the far end he placed a staircase leading to the teacher’s office, taking inspiration from the pulpit of a Gothic church. This design helped create a theatrical stage perfect for the dramatic entrances and exits of Chrysostom Lokons.
Dumbledore’s office
Executive producer and director Chris Columbus and production designer Stuart Craig agreed that Dumbledore, as headmaster, should have the most elaborate office possible. Dumbledore must have the best office in the tower. However, he was informed that the proposed design, with its enormous details and eccentricities, would be too expensive. Ultimately, the producers were able to obtain the funds necessary to create a film set. On the busiest day, about 250 construction workers of various types worked on the site: carpenters, riggers, plasterers, painters. Carpenters literally build the skeleton of a film set. Then the plasterers come and put skin on it (plaster chalk finish). And then the painters create a color image. The various bookcases and shelving in Dumbledore’s office actually concealed removable walls (called "wild walls"), which allowed the cameras to have plenty of room to shoot from different angles, since the office, despite its grand appearance, was quite cramped.
The decorations consist of furniture such as paintings, desks, bookcases and even a telescope, which is located in Dumbledore’s office, because he is interested in astronomy and scientific instruments. Hundreds of telephone directories with aged covers were used to make the office more majestic.
Most of the office was covered with many portraits of sleeping former school principals. Portraits like these can’t just be found in a store, so they were painted from scratch by a team of five artists.
Secret room
The Chamber of Secrets, the central location at the end of the film where Harry Potter faces the monstrous Basilisk, required Herculean work from Stuart Craig. Measuring over 76 meters long and 36.5 meters wide, this gigantic hall is the most ambitious location in the entire saga. The famous Great Hall of Hogwarts is almost half the size.
The director saw drawings and models, but when Columbus first entered the Chamber of Secrets, he was stunned. This approach not only added believability to what was happening on the screen, but also helped children better feel the scene around them.
The Basilisk’s use of water pipes to move around Hogwarts Castle inspired Craig to make the entrances and exits to the Room a series of tunnels. To get inspired, the team climbed down a manhole in central London and took a tour of the city’s Victorian sewer system. According to Stewart, the Chamber of Secrets was not only a secret place in Hogwarts, but also Slytherin territory, so the team decided that, like their common room, it was deep below – under the black lake. Because Hogwarts in the film is set among the hills and lakes of Scotland, the stone surfaces around the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets were made from molds taken from Scottish cliffs.
Stuart Craig describes the main hall, with Andrew Holder’s monumental carved head of Salazar Slytherin and an avenue of open-jawed snakes, as “almost a Slytherin temple.”.
The round door to the Room, with its complex arrangement of moving locking devices in the shape of a snake, is a triumph of both design and the ability to turn unusual visual concepts into working reality. The original designs for the door were given to special effects supervisor John Richardson, who then developed a method for constructing and operating it. Finally, the model was designed by special effects engineer Mark Bullimore, the titanic door and its mechanics are examples of filmmaking, which is often replaced by computer visual effects these days.
Design
The costume designer draws design inspiration from history, never forgetting that the wardrobe complements the set. Hair and makeup are then developed to visually best express the individuality of each character.
The production team went to great lengths to help create the super-dapper look of Goldenlocks, paying attention to every detail, from his elegant yet sophisticated costumes to his makeup, which featured a set of perfect, shiny false teeth. Lokons also wore wigs that were deliberately designed to look like wigs, because that’s exactly what they are, as we’ll find out later. According to the book, Lokons dressed mainly in robes of bright colors, most often blue and blue shades. But these colors don’t match the movie’s color scheme. He would have looked vulgar, completely out of character, so the richness of the color of Zlatopust’s clothes had to be muted.
Set designer Stephanie McMillan and her colleagues created a self-congratulatory atmosphere in Lockons’ classroom with touching photographs of him as a Quidditch champion and fearless explorer of the world, as well as a portrait of Goldwhisker Lockons as an accomplished artist, painting, of course, his own self-portrait.
Lindy Hemming, costume designer, improved Lucius Malfoy’s costume. According to the original idea, he was supposed to wear a pinstriped robe, but then the artist opted for a fur lining, and also complemented the image of the wizard with a snake-headed cane to emphasize his aristocratic qualities and pay tribute to the “old fashion”.
But in this case, Jason Isaacs himself, who played the role of Malfoy Sr., worked closely on his image. For example, Lucius Malfoy was supposed to have short hair, but Jason insisted on wearing long hair to distinguish him from Draco. To prevent the strands from falling on his face, the actor was forced to keep his head slightly tilted back, which gave his character an even more arrogant look and fit well into the image. Initially, Jason Isaacs had his eyebrows bleached, but at the same time any hint of strength of character in his face disappeared. Then he got dark eyebrows and blond hair.
The magic wand hidden in the cane was suggested by Jason himself, arguing that it would be nice to point and gesture with it. The actor liked this cane so much that he decided to steal it and once tried to take it off the set. But the theft was unsuccessful: security stopped him and politely asked him to return the props.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley’s costumes were meant to convey the homely comfort that the Burrow possesses. Costume designer Janie Temim assumed that Mrs. Weasley recycled a lot of things. She had to do this because they don’t have much money. But she has an amazing imagination, and she could sew a new coat from an old bedspread. They decided to complement the image of Mr. Weasley with a bow tie, although there was no such clarification in the book.
Special effects
The visual effects took nine months to complete until October 9, 2002. Industrial Light & Magic, Mill Film, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Cinesite and Framestore handled approximately 950 visual effects shots in the film. Jim Mitchell and Nick Davis were the heads of CG direction. They were responsible for the creation of characters rendered entirely on the computer, notably Dobby the House Elf, the Basilisk and the Cornish Pixies.
The visual effects team worked alongside creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, who designed Fawkes’s phoenix, mandrakes, Aragog’s acromantula and Basilisk’s head.
Disappointed with some of the effects used in the earlier film, especially the harshness of the famous Quidditch scene, Columbus focused on special effects. Dobby the House Elf is completely computer generated and much more realistic than similar digitally animated characters of the period, perhaps with the exception of Gollum.
Although Dobby plays a larger role in the novels than in the films, he is nonetheless memorable due to voice actor Toby Jones and a team of talented animators. The house elf creation phase begins with a video of Toby’s performance to use his movements and emotions for the computer character. You have to believe that he has a soul. To aid the process, Nick Dudman’s Creature Studio created a full-size articulated silicone character model with a fully functioning skeleton inside. The house elf doll was painted exactly as it would appear in the movies – down to the smallest details, such as the veins in the eyes. Everything you need for a lighting operator to navigate any scene.
Dobby’s ears were based on an art department dog named Max who used to sit under the designers’ desks.
And so that the actors could understand where Dobby was standing in a particular scene, they looked and talked to a tennis ball attached to the end of a long rod.
Ford England
How to make a car fly? If you are Arthur Weasley, then you enchant a Muggle vehicle. However, the filmmakers had to look for another way.
The blue car (license number 7990 TD) featured in the second film was an authentic 1962 Ford Anglia 105E built at Ford’s UK plant. Special effects supervisor John Richardson took out the engine and gutted the car to make it lighter, then mounted it on a rotating crane with a special joint called a tripod head. The tripod head allowed the filmmakers to rotate, tilt, and roll the machine back and forth. They then mounted a tripod head to the back of an American pickup truck (with specially adapted suspension and outriggers) so they could create all sorts of flying effects while driving.
The team had sixteen different models, all of them adapted in their own way. Some Fords were cut in half to allow interior filming, others had racing engines for high-speed driving, and others were in various stages of "breakdown" for the scene where the car crashes into the Whomping Willow. Miniature versions of Ford England were also used. According to John Richardson, the special effects team also built "feral" cars that "wandered through the Forbidden Forest for a year.".
Whomping willow
The temperamental tree started out as a sketch from the art department that then had to be turned into a real Whomping Willow that Ron could crash into with his dad’s car. The scenes with Willow required a combination of practical and visual effects.
Special effects supervisor John Richardson and his team created mechanically controlled branches to attack the flying car. A 1:3 scale model was built at Shepperton Studios, depicting the full-size top third of the tree with forced perspective to appear over 30 meters tall. The courtyard and tree were created in 3D. Some footage was completely digital.
As England swayed and tossed back and forth, mechanically controlled branches covered in molded rubber tree bark "pushed" her mercilessly. John Richardson notes that "it was all very realistic. Because Rupert and Daniel were sitting in the car at the time, it gave them a lot of emotion.".
The hordes of running, scurrying spiders were created using computer generated imagery, but their leader was a giant animatronic figure. Although Aragog was initially planned to be made entirely on a computer, at the meeting Nick Dudman timidly stated that his department would be able to build a reliable and large spider doll. Nick later regretted his words, because the huge animatronic doll posed a serious creative problem for the creature department.
The model of Aragog was built by 20 people over the course of 6 months. The giant spider was 3 meters tall with a leg span of 5 meters, each of which had to be controlled by a different team member. The whole creature weighed 750 kilograms. It took more than 15 people to operate the animatronic Aragog on set. Of course, the final result amazed Nick, he stood on the set and thought that this giant spider was really crawling out of the hole and talking right in front of him.
An animatronic puppet of Aragog can now be seen during the studio tour in Leavesden.
Phoenix Fawkes
Phoenix Fawkes began life as a bunch of bright red feathers chosen by key animatronic model designer Val Jones. This combination of natural feathers taken from pheasants and other wild birds, with feathers specially colored by Val, provided the art department with initial reference material they could use as they began developing the appearance of Professor Dumbledore’s magical bird.
Conceptual artist Adam Brockbank worked on three stages of Fawkes’ appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: an old, decrepit bird who eventually burns to death; a phoenix chick reborn from the ashes; and a magnificent fiery creature that helps Harry in his battle with the Basilisk. Adam drew inspiration from images of classical mythology, as well as from observations of real birds. For a glorious, triumphant Fawkes, at the end of the film he mentioned the sea eagle – a magnificent bird of prey considered one of the oldest surviving bird species in the world. However, the version Harry first encounters is at the end of his permanent life cycle and, as Adam explains, is more vulture-like in appearance: "His neck is elongated, many feathers have fallen out, and he is the color of a burnt match, but there are still the last embers in his eye.".
Adam’s designs were used by the visual effects department to create the complex animatronic Fawkes. The audio-animatronic bird, which first appeared on a perch in Dumbledore’s office, was a highly complex mechanism with about ten controllers. Creature effects designer Nick Dudman describes the incredible amount of control he had over the phoenix model: "It could shift its weight the same way birds do when they walk, could spread its wings and raise its crest, could blink and had a variety of small facial expressions.". When he heals Harry with tears, water actually flows from his eyes. In fact, Fawkes was so lifelike that at one point actor Richard Harris thought it was a real bird!
The Framestore team worked on the computer phoenix Fawkes. Feather modeling became a hot topic in computer animation at the time. The surface geometry of feathers is more complex, and their interaction with each other is more subtle than that of hair. The team first tackled the plumage problem, treating them like hair, but nothing came of it. Fawkes’s bright red and gold plumage meant that the interaction of individual feathers could not be distorted, as hair could be.
Going back to basics, the team brought several live birds to study, including a blue macaw and a turkey vulture. The birds were filmed and the footage was carefully reviewed before work began.
For the comedy scene with the pixie, Framestore studio artists “cleaned up” the picture from extra cables and other devices indicating the position of the pixie in the frame. The layout designed for production was scanned and the results were used to create a polygonal model. Subsurface scattering helped give the pixie’s skin the appropriate texture. Some shots show more than twenty little blue pests fluttering across the screen at the same time.
Before filming scenes with Basilisk, director Chris Columbus asked Steven Spielberg, who had Jurassic Park behind him, for advice. Columbus wondered whether the basilisk scenes would be best filmed using CGI or a real mechanical beast. Spielberg said the best results came from a combination of the two, so they used both digital animation and an animatronic model of the head and part of the neck for close-up shots.
The Creature Effects Department built an 8-meter-long, one-and-a-half-ton body section of the Basilisk, with foam rubber skin and a skeleton made from aluminum stepladders. Yes, you heard right. As creature effects designer Nick Dudman explained, since this huge head was required for the fight scene with the child, it was necessary to make it as light as possible. To do this, they had to drill many holes in aluminum. This would take a long time until one of the employees suggested using stepladders for this purpose. What they did was cut them up and use the side pieces that already had holes in them where the steps were attached.
When creating a computer model of the basilisk, the main problem that the Framestore team faced was the interaction of the creature with water. No matter how convincing the creature itself is, it had to look good in the water. But in the end, the combination of computer water and real water surface turned out to be very harmonious.
When the Chamber of Secrets reopens, the Basilisk begins a reign of terror at Hogwarts, claiming a number of victims – Mrs Norris, Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Nearly Headless Nick and Hermione Granger. The petrified people (and the ghost) we see on screen are not actors lying still, but amazingly realistic mannequins. Each mannequin has different colored eyes and hair, and each strand and eyelash is hand woven into faux leather.
These actors’ lines began in a prosthetic makeup studio through a process known as lifecasting. According to creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, livecasts of actors are used to create mannequins like those needed for the petrified characters in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as to create CG doubles for visual effects.
The process of creating the look begins with the actor putting on a plastic cap that protects his or her hair, which is then coated with a substance called dental alginate (which, as the name suggests, dentists use to make impressions of patients’ teeth). Dental alginate is applied to the head and shoulders or, if necessary, to the entire body, and becomes elastic within a few minutes.
Plaster bandages are then applied to the outer surface of the elastic substance to keep everything in shape. When the plaster cast dries, it is cut, removed from the person, and then put back together to form a mold into which more plaster can be poured to create the actor’s perfect image. The lifecasting can then be used to model prosthetic makeup, make masks for stunt doubles, or as a guide for digital animators who scan it with a laser to create the original 3D image.
According to Nick, this is a very old-fashioned method, but still the best because it gives a complete picture of the skin’s texture – every freckle, pore and line.
Sound and music
Due to the events taking place in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the film’s sound effects were much more impressive than the previous installment. Sound designer Randy Thom returned for the sequel, using professional tools to complete the job, which included initial concepts done at Skywalker Sound in California and major work done at Shepperton Studios in England.
Tom wanted to give Whomping Willow a deep growl, for which he used his own voice, slowed down, balanced and enhanced by bass. For the mandrahorn combined a baby’s cry with a woman’s screams to make it quite exotic, something you’ve never heard before.
The basilisk is not just a giant snake, but it also looks like a dragon – not many snakes have teeth like that. According to Tom, he should have hissed and growled. He mixed his own voice, the roar of a tiger and the characteristic sounds of horses and elephants.
John Williams, who composed the previous film’s score, returned for the sequel. According to the composer, creating the soundtrack turned out to be a difficult task, since he had barely finished the score for “Attack of the Clones” and had to start working on the musical accompaniment for the film “Catch Me If You Can.”. For this reason, William Ross was invited to the ball, he was involved in arranging tracks from “The Philosopher’s Stone” into new material that Williams composed in those moments when he had free time. William Ross subsequently also conducted the London Symphony Orchestra during the recording. The soundtrack was released on November 12, 2002 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2003.
Interesting facts
Emma Watson was eleven years old during the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and she often brought her pet hamster Millie to the set. She recalls sitting in for hair and makeup while Millie lounged on her lap, noting that the hair and makeup artists were "very patient" with her. Sadly Millie passed away shortly after filming began and Emma was understandably devastated. News of the tragedy quickly spread throughout the crew, and Emma fondly remembers that the crew created a special hamster-sized coffin for her pet. The coffin had a velvet lining and the word Millie engraved on top. Emma still thinks the hamster had the best send-off.
Good foreshadowing occurs immediately after Uncle Vernon checks Harry’s room during the dinner scene. As Uncle Vernon leaves, the hidden house elf emerges from the closet and casually tosses away one of Harry’s socks, which accidentally got stuck on his shoulder. This foreshadows that Harry will eventually use the sock to free Dobby from slavery.
An opal necklace, which will play an important role in the part called "Half-Blood Prince", is visible in the window of the Gorbin and Burkes shop.
In the scene in the bookstore, you can see that during a heartfelt conversation with Arthur Weasley, Malfoy Sr. takes one book from Ginny’s cauldron, and a minute later puts two back. The second book was Tom Riddle’s diary. That’s how he ended up with Ginny Weasley.
Mr. Weasley’s Ford England is the same color and model that JK Rowling and her school best friend drove in all those years ago. Thanks to the memories of how the writer drove it, the car ended up on the pages of the book, and then in the film.
The guard who confronts Harry and Ron when they fail to reach platform 9 3/4 was the same guard from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001).
The salute that Snape, Lockhart, Harry and Draco exchange before their duel is a slightly modified version of the fencing salute.
The Arania Exumey spell is used against the spiders when Harry and Ron escape from the Acromantula colony. This spell is not mentioned in the book. According to the film, Harry found out about this when he saw Tom Riddle use it in his diary sixty years ago. It’s funny that we didn’t voice this scene.
Rupert Greene, who played the arachnophobic Ron Weasley in the franchise, is very afraid of spiders himself in real life, so when scenes with spiders were played, he didn’t even have to pretend to be disgusted and terrified. Besides, he still hasn’t watched the whole scene where Ron and Harry are in Aragog’s Hollow.
During the filming of this film, there was an outbreak of head lice among the child actors and a medical team had to be urgently called to the set, but everything turned out well.
Jamie Waylett and Josh Herdman (Crabbe and Goyle) suffered lacerations to their lips from the hooks used to attach the sedative cupcakes to the fishing line from which they were suspended.
Another embarrassment occurred with Daniel Radcliffe himself; during filming, his voice began to break; this defect had to be corrected with the help of dubbing and editing.
Among the many portraits hung throughout the school are those of executive producer Mark Radcliffe and set designer Stuart Craig.
The film’s "phony" title, which was used to confuse fans and locals, was "Incident on 57th Street.". This was the name of one of Bruce Springsteen’s popular songs, written in 1973.
All four of director Chris Columbus’ children appear in cameo roles in the film. Elinor Columbus, as in the first film, played the role of Susan Bones, Brendan Columbus the boy in the homework class, Violet Columbus the little girl with flowers and Isabella Columbus the little girl in the bookstore.
The film’s trailer appeared on cinema screens along with the film "Scooby-Doo" (2002). Many fans of the adventures of Harry Potter bought tickets to this film just to see the trailer on the big screen.
The film was the last role of Richard Harris, who died on October 25, 2002, three weeks before the film’s release.
Initially, the leading actor Daniel Radcliffe was offered a very modest sum of 125 thousand pounds sterling ($181,500) as a fee. This injustice prompted the British actors’ union to intervene, and after negotiations with its participation, the actor’s salary was raised to 2 million pounds (about $3 million).
The tapestries hanging in the Gryffindor common room are copies of a set of six Flemish "Lady with a Unicorn" tapestries dating from the late fifteenth century. Their originals are currently in the Cluny Museum in Paris.
Feeling that his final scene lacked poignancy, Isaacs uttered the angry line: "I’m sure Mr. Potter will always be there to save us.". Without missing a beat, 12-year-old Radcliffe came up with an appropriate answer: "I will, no doubt about it.". The scene was so graphic that it was included in the film’s first trailer.
When Lucius Malfoy tries to curse Harry at the end, he mutters "Avada . "As mentioned in the fourth book, this is the beginning of an unforgivable killing curse called Avada Kedavra.". It rather gives the impression that Malfoy Sr. is stupid enough to actually try to kill a child in the middle of a school full of students and teachers, with no way to escape. But as Jason Isaacs explained in several interviews, the script didn’t mention any specific spell he could use, and since he had just read the fourth book, it was the only curse he could remember. It turns out Dobby saved Harry’s life in this scene.
While writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling seriously considered returning the Ford Anglia to protect Ron from a pair of Death Eaters who had cornered him on the castle grounds. But she decided against it because she thought that the Ford Anglia would most likely be broken due to living in the forest for too long, and the idea itself seemed childish to her.
The script originally stated that Hermione would hug Harry and Ron in the final scene. Because eleven-year-old Emma Watson was embarrassed to hug boys in front of the entire cast, Chris Columbus allowed her to change the scene so that Hermione simply hugs Harry and then starts hugging Ron, but both are embarrassed and shake each other’s hands. Her hesitation with Ron is also seen by fans as a harbinger of the relationship that would develop between the two characters.
Although this film is based on the second shortest book, it is the longest film. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), based on the longest book, is the second shortest of the films.
Lockhart states that he "didn’t get rid of Banshee by smiling at him". Banshees are Irish spirits that can only be female. The book uses the feminine gender correctly. Since the actor who portrayed Lockhart, Kenneth Branagh, is of Irish cultural heritage, he probably did this on purpose to make Lockhart look even more stupid.
One of two Harry Potter films not nominated for an Academy Award, the other being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
Although Crabbe and Goyle have more screen time in this film than in any other they appear in, they have virtually no dialogue, as their voices were provided by Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for the episode "Potion of Polyjuice".
Salazar Slytherin’s name comes from the name of the former Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar. Rowling wrote part of the first Harry Potter book while in Porto, Portugal.
Colin Creevy used the Argus C3 Matchmatic, a cheap and very popular 35mm rangefinder camera produced in the USA from 1939 to 1966.
When Lucius Malfoy taps Draco on the shoulder with his cane, Jason Isaacs didn’t know there were small fangs on the handle, so Tom Felton was in real pain.
Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore’s Phoenix, named after Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes was arrested in 1605 for attempting to blow up the House of Lords in London. Now his effigy is burned annually on Guy Fawkes Night, November 5th.
When The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010, most of the guest cast arrived on the Night Knight bus, but Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe arrived in a flying Ford Anglia. This car was Rupert Grint’s favorite prop in the franchise.
Bonnie Wright has revealed that she filmed a scene in which a possessed Ginny strangles the roosters outside Hagrid’s hut because the roosters’ crow is fatal to the basilisk. This episode was completely omitted from the film.
Draco’s best line was improvised. In the scene where Malfoy surprises Harry and Ron as Crabbe and Goyle, Tom Felton simply forgot his line, so he filled the silence with "I didn’t know you could read.". Goyle is supposed to be pretty stupid, but for his own best friend to doubt his intelligence so much is typical Draco behavior. What makes it even better is the look on Draco’s face in the last scene where he looks quite impressed by this new revelation.
The scene where Lucius kicks Dobby and then pushes him with his cane as he prepares to leave was improvised by Isaacs, which initially led director Chris Columbus to think that he had simply tripped, until Isaacs explained that his actions were intentional.
Although much of the plot about Percy Weasley’s girlfriend Penelope Crystal was cut, Nearly Headless Nick, heading to the Great Hall, says "Hello Percy, Miss Crystal" to the couple as they exit.
Chris Columbus filmed the scene in which Harry climbs onto the head of Salazar Slytherin as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s film North by Northwest, in which the main characters climb one of the heads of the famous Mount Rushmore.
In the scene where the rest of Gryffindor applauds Harry and Hagrid, Crabbe is seen standing up and clapping his hands, but Malfoy drags him down without looking up. It was actually an oversight by the actor, Jamie Waylett, who forgot that he was supposed to avoid clapping, and Tom Felton subtly reminded him that he shouldn’t do it without breaking character.
The only Harry Potter film to have a post-credits scene. In it we see what happened to Professor Zlatopust Lokons, suffering from amnesia. He wrote a book called Who Am I?", and in the photo he is sitting in a straitjacket.
This is the last film in which all Hogwarts students wear the classic uniform, then change into ties and jumpers in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Differences between the movie and the book
In the book, the Mason family runs out of the house after an owl flies into the dining room with a letter. The letter says that Harry used a levitation spell, violating the status of secrecy, and next time he will be expelled from school for such an offense.
There is no visit to Gringotts Bank in Diagon Alley and no fight between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy.
There is no anniversary of Nearly Headless Nick’s death in the film; accordingly, the attack on Mrs. Norris occurs earlier (during Potter’s detention with Lockhart), and Moaning Myrtle appears later.
In the book, the story about the Chamber of Secrets is told by the history of magic professor Cuthbert Beans, the only ghost teacher in the castle, but since he was considered unnecessary for the overall plot, this line in the film was given to Professor McGonagall.
In the film, the book that describes the preparation of Polyjuice Potion is freely taken by Hermione without Lockhart’s accompanying letter. There is no episode with the theft of ingredients from Snape’s office. In addition, according to the novel, Harry as Goyle did not need glasses, since the Slytherin has good eyesight, and he immediately spoke in Goyle’s low, creaky voice.
In the book, Harry revealed the diary’s secret by accident during Valentine’s Day. The bottle of ink broke while Harry was fighting off the gnome with the Valentine, but the diary turned out to be clean, having absorbed all the ink. Then Ginny noticed this diary in Harry’s possession. It’s unclear in the film how Ginny found out who got the diary.
In the novel, Aragog is blind, as his eyes were milky white. In the movie his eyes are black which means he can see.
There is a discrepancy in the description of the size of the basilisk between the novel and film versions. The book indicates the size of the monster is about twenty feet – that’s 6 meters, that is, according to the book canon, a basilisk is about the same size as a python released from a zoo cage. But to make Harry’s fight with the basilisk more exciting and dangerous, for the film the size of the basilisk was increased to 20 meters. What’s funny is that in Rosman’s translation, the translators decided not to convert feet to meters, but simply replaced the word, leaving the numbers intact, that is, it turned out to be 20 meters. Therefore, the Russian viewer who read the book was not at all surprised by the size of the basilisk.
After the huge success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the film adaptation of JK Rowling’s second book had a lot to live up to. Released in November 2002, Chamber of Secrets fulfills director Chris Columbus’s promise to make a "darker, scarier" film – just like the book itself.
The film earned over $88 million in the United States in its opening weekend, making it the third-biggest opening ever at the time, behind Spider-Man (2002) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001).
Thanks to the work of many talented people, the magic eventually came to life on the screen. Improved special effects and a shift to an action-adventure based story were warmly received by audiences and critics. New characters such as Goldenlocks Lockhart and Lucius Malfoy were also praised. However, some critics felt that the second film lacked magic. What do you think??