GRAPHICS
PRODUCTION DESIGNER’S NOTEBOOK
Name: Stuart Craig

ight from the first film, when
number four, Privet Drive is bombard-
ed with letters from Hogwarts, you get
a strong indication of the impact that graphic artists Mira-
phora Mina and Eduardo Lima, together with their assistant
Lauren Wakefield, have had on the Harry Potter films. By
crafting all the graphic and printed materials mentioned in
Jo’s stories, such as books, newspapers, “WANTED” posters,
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signs, cereal boxes, invitations, exam papers, and packaging
for Honeydukes sweets and Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, the
graphic arts department has done a superb job of bringing
these important details to the screen.
There’s no clear-cut way in which we work together; it’s
more trial and error. Miraphora and Eduardo come up with
ideas and treatments, and then it’s a case of “Can you just
try this?” or “Could you make this a bit less important and
increase the impact of that?” Having been on this project for
132 ten years and eight films, we know the territory pretty well,
and have developed some distinct aesthetics.
Cover and illustration from Hermione’s
copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs’s Marauder’s
Map, first created by the graphics team for Prisoner of Azkaban.

7T4'"#7+,

arry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
was, in some ways, the most difficult
of the adaptations. It is hard to drive a
narrative forwards in a story that is constantly looking backwards.
Harry is quite passive as Dumbledore shows him Voldemort’s history,
and although Voldemort’s history is a part of the story, the Dark Lord
himself never appears in the present. Also, the narrative drive was inter-
rupted every time we cut away to Voldemort’s past. When Steve Kloves
delivered his script, however, it was the most complete first draft I have
ever seen. He had reduced the number of “memories” and focused on
the relationships instead of the narrative drive. While we all loved the
memories in the book, they posed a problem for the film, and so Steve
One of the many issues of the Daily Prophet had made a benefit of a potential problem. One of the great pleasures
created by the graphic arts department. of the Harry Potter films is the characters, and for all the magic and
adventure, they are the key to the films’ success. I think the characters
in Half-Blood Prince are richer and deeper than ever before, and David
As graphic designers, Miraphora and Eduardo are Yates finds the humanity in each one, whether they be on the dark side
unbeatable. They’ve designed the Marauder’s Map, the Daily or the light.
Prophet (in its two different styles, before and after the paper I love the humor in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and think
was taken over by the Ministry of Magic), and The Quibbler, as it is the funniest of all the films. I particularly enjoy the romantic in-
well as all the Hogwarts textbooks such as The Monster Book terplay between Ron and Hermione, who cannot acknowledge that they
of Monsters, the Advanced Potion-Making textbook (including are in love and do everything possible to make each other jealous. In
the old copy with Snape’s handwritten notes), the complete Jessie Cave’s final audition for the role of Lavender Brown with Rupert,
works of Gilderoy Lockhart, and Rita Skeeter’s The Life and David Yates told them to abandon the script and to improvise. Jesse
Lies of Albus Dumbledore. perfectly captured Lavender’s annoying obsession, and it was great to
When Jo Rowling was shown copies of their interpretation of see Rupert’s discomfort as she found any excuse to get closer to him.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which they made for Deathly Hallows, When it came time to filming the celebration after the Quidditch match
she was so moved she asked if she could take one home with her. Of where Lavender grabs Ron and they “snog,” Dan made sure to be on set
course, Miraphora and Eduardo happily gifted her one. for every take. And he took every opportunity to make fun of Rupert,
Their work has such a strong impact because it is thoroughly just as Rupert had done with him the year before!
researched. The subject matter may be fantastic, but you see The sixth film is about Dumbledore preparing Harry for his future—
all kinds of influences from art and culture—whether ancient a future that will involve the final confrontation with Voldemort. (It is
runes or Victorian typefaces—that give a sense of history to also a future without Dumbledore, though Harry does not know that.)
their work. This clever pastiche produces mysterious echoes Dumbledore has been an ever-present, guiding force in Harry’s life. It
of things that are strangely familiar or that you might dimly was he who called Harry to Hogwarts—the first real “home” Harry ever
understand—quite like magic. I should note, too, that they knew—rescuing him from the drudgery of life with the Dursleys. And David Yates directs Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Gambon
also designed the book you are now reading! for almost six years, he’s been a father figure to Harry. With Dumb- in the cave scene.
ledore gone, Harry has nobody to turn to for guidance. His educa-
tion is over. He is now a man.
 -+#*2-,1
C
ctor Tom Felton is not recognized in
public as often as some of his Harry Potter

DRACO MALFOY
costars. For his role as Draco Malfoy, his
brown hair is bleached a pale, nearly white blond, changing his
appearance dramatically. While he may joke about the peroxide
going to his head, Tom is serious when talking about some of his co-
stars. Imelda Staunton? “They say ‘roll cameras,’ and she just gets
this psychotic look in her eyes.” Jason Isaacs and Helen McCrory?
“The best evil family anyone could ever ask for.” Alan Rickman?
“Literally, you give him three lines: he’ll take a minute and a half
to say them.”
When he was cast as bullying Draco, Tom was one of the few
children on the set who had had previous professional acting
experience. Tom recalls sitting with a group of seven other boys
at the Sorcerer’s Stone auditions—the rest of whom were diehard
Harry Potter fans trying their luck. They were asked to name their

favorite scene in the book. “Of course I hadn’t read it,” Tom recounts.
“The guy next to me said, ‘Oh, Gringotts, I love the goblins!’ So I
just said the same as him—‘I love the goblins, they’re brilliant.’
Straight away Chris Columbus saw through that,
and I’m pretty sure it gave him a little internal
laugh. That could have helped me.”
A couple of years older than Daniel Radcliffe,
Tom says they were polite to one another but did
not bond as friends until they both got a little older.
Watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
recently, Tom hopes his acting has come a long way
since then: “I was watching the little scene between
Daniel and [me] and just thinking ‘Oh my God,’” he
laughs. “Not Dan or the film—but just looking back
on myself thinking, ‘. . . How did you get away with
that sort of thing?’ I like to think we’re both a bit
better now than we were then!”

om has thoroughly enjoyed playing a
more complex side of Draco in the Half-Blood
Prince and Deathly Hallows films. As Dumble-
dore’s would-be assassin in the sixth film, Tom’s performance received
praise from critics, fans, and his fellow actors. In an interview with
Rebecca Murray, Daniel Radcliffe stressed that Felton was the key to
the film’s story. “I think for Tom to come in . . . and give this perfor-
mance in the sixth film is remarkable,” he said emphatically. “And it’s
a fantastic performance.”
With Lucius Malfoy in jail, Draco takes on his responsibilities as a
Death Eater but, as Dumbledore is able to see clearly at the end, is not
completely sure of what he is doing—or that he is on the right side. His
“posturing” is even reflected in his costumes—very formal and stark
black, the kind of things that his father might have worn. An emotional
fight scene between Draco and Harry in a Hogwarts bathroom was a 141
highlight for both actors to film. “It was great,” Tom told Blast magazine.
“We did our own stunts; it was a week of being rigged up in a bathroom
filled with explosives.”
When asked about the end of the series, Tom is reflective and notes (above) Storyboard
how many happy memories of his childhood he will be leaving inside sketches by Stephen
Leavesden Studios. He is grateful that his character appears in the Forrest-Smith for
epilogue and is sincerely looking forward to filming it. “It’s all beautifully the scene in Half-
Blood Prince
left to interpretation, isn’t it?” he told the Wall Street Journal of the scene
where Harry
and the speculation that Draco has changed for the better at that point: confronts
“One thing I got from that final scene a sobbing
is that there is a recognition moment Draco.
between Harry and Draco as they put
their kids on the train—and it’s a very
real moment, and very touching.”

Tom Felton origi-

nally auditioned
for the roles of
both Harary and
Ron before being
cast as Draco
Malfoy.
(above) Draco’s cartoon of Harry drawn by
Eolan Power, son of concept artist Dermot
Power. The cartoon appears in Prisoner of
Azkaban.
 The LOVEGOOD HOUSE
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M e based it on an American press
from 1889,” says Stuart Craig, “but
we added to the original mechanism,
and, with the help of the special effects department, we had the
D"'2-0EF
-4#%--" newsprint on a conveyor belt system—rollers rushing across the
ceiling, up and down the walls, and into the guillotine. The result
was more dynamic and more fun.” As Evanna Lynch remarks,


n the seventh book by J. K. Rowling, “It’s a perfect sort of place where all those crazy stories would
Ron Weasley describes the Lovegood house as be printed.”
looking like “a giant rook,” the castle-shaped Xenophilius also wears a necklace with a symbol that, as he
piece in a chess game. explains to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, represents the Deathly
That became the inspiration for the Lovegood house in Harry Hallows. Describing the character he portrays in the film, Rhys
Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As Stuart Craig explains, says, “He’s kind of jumpy and busy and eccentric, you know. But
“Jo Rowling says very clearly that it’s a black tower. Nothing not mad.”
ambiguous about that; it was quite a precise instruction. What For Jany Temime, Xenophilius’s character was shown in his
we tried to do was to make it as interesting as possible: not clothes. “He has causes, this man,” she says. “He believes in things.
just a cylindrically shaped building, but a tapering, leaning, I wanted all the layers of his costume to express the layers of his
distorted cylinder.” personality. Because he is so isolated and works at home, I wanted
Care was taken in choosing the scenic backdrops for the sets. to make it feel as if he’s in his pajamas all the time. He wears
“The magical houses that are not visible to the rest of the world,” a beautiful antique handwoven coat and a waistcoat made up of
says Stuart Craig, “work very well in desolate landscapes. An pieces of Luna’s childhood embroidery—a puzzle representing
area of moorland near the Yorkshire village of Grassington his daughter worn close to his heart.”
in northern Britain provides the beautiful vistas around the For Evanna Lynch, the look was perfect. “They brought
Lovegood house.” The garden, however, contains Dirigible plums, Rhys to meet me,” she recalls. “He came in his robes, and he
a fruit not usually found in the Yorkshire countryside. had all these funny things on and, for just a few moments, I
Because the building is shaped like a cylindrical tower, forgot myself and felt, ‘Oh, that’s dad!’”
the rooms had no flat wall surfaces. For the kitchen, the set
designers
design took their cue from the book and built a stove, sink,
and ccupboards that were curved to fit the walls.
The Lovegood house features various painted
decorations by Luna inside and outside that were
156 specially designed by the artist and illustrator
Th
Thomasina Smith , inspired by Evanna Lynch’s drawings
an J. K. Rowling’s companion book to the Harry Potter
and
series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
“The house has been, if you like, lovingly vandalized by Luna,”
says Rhys Ifans, who plays her father, Xenophilius. “She’s got
her drawings right across the house. It just feels like a really
happy place to grow up.”
The main room in the house is Xenophilius’s workspace
where he prints The Quibbler, the eccentric, often controversial,
alternative paper of the wizarding world. This required not only
piles of back issues of The Quibbler, but also a full-sized, working
printing press.

(below left & right) Two views of the Lovegood

house. Sketch by Stuart Craig and illustration
by Adam Brockbank.

The graphic
arts depart-
ment designed
seven differ-
ent covers of
The Quibbler and
printed around five
thousand copies.