Harry Potter-Start to Finish

The Idea: A young boy that goes to wizard school

Obviously the source of inspiration for the Harry Potter films came from the J.K Rowling book series. In late 1997, David Heymans (the producer of the Harry Potter films) London offices received a copy of J.Ks first book of the series Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. The book was relegated to the low-priority bookshelf, where it was discovered by a secretary who read it and gave it to Heyman with a positive review, Heyman was highly impressed with J.Ks work, and he began the process which led to one of the most successful cinematic franchises of all time. Heyman along with his team at Heyman Films came up with a treatment and a pitch which they would present to Warner Bros to gain funding and finance for the film idea.

Development & Finance

Heyman's enthusiasm led to Rowling's 1999 sale of the film rights for the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros, for a reported 1million. A demanding Rowling ensured that the cast was kept strictly British. Warner Bros employed Chris Columbus as director, and Steve Kloves was selected as the screenwriter for the films. This lead to Warner Bros being the main funder, and Distribution Company for the Harry Potter Films. Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone had a budget of $125 million.

Script Development& Packaging

Rowling personally requested that the cast be kept British. Susie Figgis was appointed as casting director, working with both Columbus and Rowling in auditioning the lead roles of Harry, Ron

and Hermione. Open casting calls were held for the main three roles, with only British children being considered. The principal auditions took place in three parts, with those auditioning having to read a page from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, then if called back, they had to improvise a scene of the students' arrival at Hogwarts, and they were then given several pages from the script to read in front of Columbus. Scenes from Columbus's script for the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes were also used in auditions. On 11 July 2000 Figgis left the production, complaining that Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned "worthy". On 8 August 2000 the virtually unknown Daniel Radcliffe and newcomers Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively. Steve Kloves Wrote all but the 5th film of the Harry Potter series, he had the direct assistance of J.K Rowling although she allowed him as what he described as tremendous elbow room. One reason the Harry Potter series were so successful is due to the relationship between J.K and Heyman and the whole film crew. 'I know the movies can't be the books... because I know what's coming and it's impossible to fully dramatise on screen what I'm going to write. This understanding between the Author of the books and the film crew was a vital part of the successful cinematic adaptation of J.Ks books to Heymans films.

Pre-Production
Two British film industry officials requested that the film be shot in the UK, offering their assistance in securing filming locations, the use of Leavesden Film Studios, as well as changing the UK's child labour laws (adding a small number of working hours per week and making

the timing of on-set classes more flexible). Warner Bros accepted their proposal. Filming began in September 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and concluded in April 2001. It was stressed by Rowling that the film must be kept strictly British and this is partly the reason for its huge success and worldwide marketability.

The Shoot
The Filming for Harry Potter was precisely planned out so that every specific detail was exactly how the production and filming team wanted it. For example; Filming for Privet Drive took place on Picket Post Close in Bracknell, Berkshire. Filming in the street took two days instead of the planned single day, so payments to the street's residents were correspondingly increased. For all of the subsequent film's scenes set in Privet Drive, filming took place on a constructed set in Leavesden Film Studios, which proved to have been cheaper than filming on location. Australia House in London was selected as the location for Gringotts Wizarding Bank, while Christ Church, Oxford was the location for the Hogwarts trophy room. London Zoo was used as the location for the scene in which Harry accidentally sets a snake on Dudley, with King's Cross Station also being used as the book specifies. Also because the film's American title was different, all scenes that mention the philosopher's stone by name had to be reshot, once with the actors saying "philosophers" and once with "sorcerers". Production designer Stuart Craig built the sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, basing it on many English cathedrals. Although originally asked to use an existing old street to film the Diagon Alley scenes, Craig decided to build his own set, comprising Tudor, Georgian and Queen Anne architecture. The film features nearly 600 special effects shots, involving numerous companies. Columbus used both animatronics and CGI animation to create the magical creatures in the film, including

Fluffy. Industrial Light & Magic created the face of Lord Voldemort on the back of Quirrell, Rhythm & Hues animated Norbert; and Sony Pictures Imageworks produced the film's Quidditch scenes.

Post-Production
This stage of the film is all to do with editing and adding elements such as accompany music, digital effects and titles to the film. Richard Francis-Bruce was the film editor he was in charge of the editing of the Philosophers Stone film. Also John Williams was selected to compose the film's score. Williams composed the film's score at his homes in Los Angeles and Tanglewood before recording it in London in August 2001. One of the main themes is entitled "Hedwig's Theme", Williams retained it for his finished score as everyone seemed to like it.

Sales& Marketing
The first teaser poster was released New Year's Day 2001 also the first teaser trailer was released via satellite on 2 March 2001 and debuted in cinemas with the release of See Spot Run. The soundtrack was released on 30 October 2001 in a CD format and a video game based on the film was released on 15 November 2001 by Electronic Arts for several consoles. This cross marketing helped to increase the target market for the film/game and therefore increased the revenue and profit.

Exhibition& Other Windows

Warner Bros. first released the film on VHS and DVD on 11 May 2002 in the UK and 28 May 2002 in the US. They later released an Ultimate Edition in the US only that included a Blu-ray and DVD. It includes the

existing special features disc, Radcliffe's, Grint's and Watson's first screen tests, an extended version of the film with deleted scenes edited in, a feature-length special creating the World of Harry Potter Part 1: The Magic Begins, and a 48-page hardcover booklet. Harry Potter is the highest grossing film series of all time. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone had a budget of $125million and generated a massive $975million. All 8 films had a combined budget of $1.155 billion and generated and astonishing $7.706 billion.