The first two Harry Potter films, which laid the foundation stone under the direction of Chris Columbus, were not only watched by many fans at that time but also today. (We talked about behind the scenes of those two before.) But not only in both that films, has to be named as the one film that has been put the entire series on a separate track. Prisoner of Azkaban.
The main style of the series changed after this film, which gave a more in-depth formal image of the world of magic into the viewer’s head. On the one hand, this film is an introduction to the remaining film sets to come forward.
How can you forget this film which has got a formal start as it has been improved with a lot of things including cameras, lighting handling and sound effects? So let’s have a little talk about BEHIND THE SCENES of HARRY POTTER &THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. And if you went until the end, I have add a video of most of these facts.
If you remember my first two articles (links at the end) , you will remember that Chris Columbus directed the first two films. Chris Columbus has signed on to direct all of the Harry Potter films, but realizes that doing so will prevent him from seeing his children grow up. He stayed for this third film as a producer, but eventually left the Harry Potter film world after filming was over.
Therefore, Alfonso Cuarón of Mexican origin joins to direct this film.
(This article is long. (But interesting.) Along with this, I will link to a number of other articles related to the world of magic. So I invite you to share this article to your social medias, thus another fan can read and also you can save these important links to yourself.)
Although the first two episodes received a great response, I apologize for the delay in bringing this episode. Now I will add from here the interesting events that took place behind this movie.
In order to get to know his three main actors and actresses, director Alfonso Cuarón asked Emma, Daniel and Rupert to write an essay on each of their film characters. Emma Watson wrote a 16-page essay on the real Hermione. Like Harry, Daniel Radcliffe wrote a simple one-page summary, and like Ron, Rupert Grind wrote nothing.
The latest addition to the story is the Knight Bus and its two crew members. There are so many behind the scene facts about this night bus. First of all, how did they create that high speed? Not all things in those days were computer effects. What they did to make it look like the night bus was going too fast was for the bus to run at normal speeds and the rest of the traffic to be very slow. When the scene finally returns to normal speed, the other vehicles appear to be moving at the same speed as the bus is moving fast. (PS: Stan and Ern are the names of Rowling’s grandparents).
Sir Ian McKellen, the one of greatest actors in the world, declined the role of Dumbledore. He who appeared as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings said, “I’m worried about becoming one legend. I can not imagine two.” He has said. But many people think that Dumbledore and Gandalf both have the same actor. This problem became known as the Dumbledore’s Problem. (Gandalf, and two in the movie series)
Director Alfonso Quaran’s contract clause forbade him to curse in front of children.
Alfonso Cuarón’s idea was that the rain would turn to ice when the Dementors approached the Hogwarts Express. However, due to his Mexican accent, the visual effects team(CGI) misunderstood “Ice” as “Eyes”. They went so far as to draft a storyboard depicting eyeballs falling from the sky. Seeing this, Alfonso became haunted and immediately corrected the mistake.
Director Alfonso Cuarón never read Harry Potter novels or saw the first two films when he received this film. Guillermo del Toro urges him not to be stupid; read them immediately.
According to director Alfonso Cuarón, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) can be seen wearing more casual wear than their Hogwarts uniform throughout the film. It was meant to show more of the personality of the characters he intended. To make the design more successful, he allows students other than the main characters to wear the uniform as they wish. So you can see for yourself that some students dress very well and some students’ shirts as well as even their ties are messy.
Alfonso Cuarón’s first choice for the role of Professor Lupine is David Thewlis. He takes on the role on the advice of Ian Hart, who plays Professor Quirrell in the first film, which Professor Lupine says is “the best part of the book.”
Azkaban prison is mentioned but it is never shown in this movie. Even so, Andrew Williamson and Stuart Craig are planning an Azkaban prison. Azkaban, a giant waterfall in their plans It depicts itself as a triangular stone fort built on the edge. Filmmakers use these designs to present Azkaban for the first time in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix (2007). Although they decided to keep the triangular design intact, they made a change to the Azkaban prison on an island in the middle of the ocean. (As close as described in the book).
Do you remember Hogwarts outdoor stone pillar circle (Stone Circle). This is something the designers did based on the Stone Circles found all over Britain. These stones were created in Leavesden and transported by helicopter to Glencoe, Scotland. Then the pits are dug and the poles are planted. These look like a real picture. As soon as I saw these poles, the youngest actors asked Alfonso if they chose a place in Scotland so far because of these poles !!! Art Director Alan Gilmore says, “He always enjoys being deceived into believing his creations are real.”
This film takes it one step further than previous films. You who have read the book series know the Hogwarts plan. But it was this film that brought it to the cinema and brought Hogwarts House to the hearts of the fans. Alfonso Cuarón had the idea to better establish the design of Hogwarts and make it look like a real place. He did not want to show the mansion as a set as in previous films.
“We began to connect spaces,” I would describe it in Cuarón’s own words. “You will see that there is a great hall, another hall outside the great hall, a great staircase on one side of it, and as you walk along that staircase you will be taken to the common room by Gryffindor, from where you can go to their bedroom. . “
“Otherwise if you walk across the wooden bridge to the garden with the monolith flowers. You will come to Hagrid’s hut when you go down the path that continues past it.”
“We began to connect spaces, You will see that there is a great hall, another hall outside the great hall, a great staircase on one side of it, and as you walk along that staircase you will be taken to the common room by Gryffindor, from where you can go to their bedroom. . “
“Otherwise if you walk across the wooden bridge to the garden with the monolith flowers. You will come to Hagrid’s hut when you go down the path that continues past it.”
The castle in this third film can be seen more or less throughout the series.
You remember Sirius was trying to enter the common room and after that all the students sleeping in sleeping bags in the great hall. During the filming, directors Alfonso Cuarón , Sir Michael Gambon and Alan Rickman make a good joke on Daniel (Daniel asks him to put his sleeping bag on a girl he liked in those days). They hide a remote control Whoopee Cushion inside Harry’s sleeping bag. According to Quaran, Daniel, who does not know what happens when everyone else laughs, tries his best to stay in the character.
The tattoos on the body and arms of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) are said to have been obtained from Russian prison gangs. They are tatoos. who identify them as a man to be feared and respected.
Dudley Dursley’s role will have to be revisited as Harry Melin’s weight has dropped drastically during this time. Somehow, in the end, for the next few movies, Melin chooses to continue playing Dudley, but decides to wear a fat dress to look like a bigger fat man.
The bats that fly in Hagrid’s hut are real bats. Coaching them was especially challenging. According to Daniel Radcliffe, they used to urinate everywhere. Animal trainers controlled bats using food rewards. They especially enjoyed the bananas.
Graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima decide to move away from the traditional treasure map while designing the marauders map. They create a fordable map with several layers. Each layer represents one of the floors of Hogwarts Palace. The occupants of the palace show their footprints and their names next to where they are. The map printed on white paper uses a good coffee blend to give the look of old parchment paper. (You can use this map yourself if you play the Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix video game. )
During the filming, all the pockets of Tom Felton’s (Draco Malfoy’s) coat were put on the floor. That he should stop raising races in sets.
During each scene, Emma Watson wanted to play with director Alfonso’s long hair. She even put pigtails in his hair. “I’m his unofficial hairdresser,” she says.
Filming has had to be stopped once due to a train fault with the Hogwarts Express.
Alfonso had the idea to create a scene where the little people who inhabited Hogwarts would jump from the keys to the piano one by one and give the music. But J.K. Rowling has strongly opposed this. Little people are so foreign to her world.
J.K.Rowling Allows Alfonso to make minor changes to the book. That is, on the promise that he will continue in the main story of the book. She even allowed him to make a solar plexus on the school grounds, but the grave permission was not granted. (You know why. In the sixth story, she knew that the first tomb tower would have to be built on Hogwarts land. For Dumbledore …. Sadly)
Do you remember Hermione’s pet, intelligent cat Crookshanks. Two Persian cats are used for him. Crackerjack Pumpkin is their names. The cats’ coils were rolled into cat fur coats, which were then clipped to the pet’s body to make them look like Crookshanks’s weird cutie.
Goyle is rarely seen in this film. For a long time it was because Josh Herdman injured his hand. Therefore, according to the script, Bronson Web fills the gap left by Goyle as a sliding student called Pike.
You may seen Professor Lupin addresses students by their first name. Like friends. (Of all the teachers, only Dumbledore and Hagrid do so)
The set used for Honeydukes (background) was previously used for Olivonder’s magic wand shop. In that first film (2001). The same set is used for Flourish and Blotts in the second film (2002).
The set where Professor Lupin teaches Harry the Patronos charm is the same place where Dumbledore’s office was used in the previous movie. Alfonso loves this place so much that he is eager to use these backgrounds. There is no mention of Dumbledore’s office in the script, so they modified it as needed and used it for this purpose. (According to the script, this new room is called the Astronomy Room.) Again, from the next movie until the end, it becomes Dumbledore’s office.
This is the only film in the series that does not have Voldemort (or Riddle) in any way. (But Voldemort is the same as he is in the next movie in a hanging portrait.) Half Blood prince and Voldemort have Riddle on the way back from memory.
Warner Brothers gave the guards goggles with Night Vision. To prevent that from being secretly recorded and pirate.
Did you know those interesting incidents happened in the set. For them, they may be very happy memories. You came so far of this article. That means you are a true Potterhead. Thank you very much for reading this. Read until the end. As I promised, here is the video I mentioned in the first.
The following events are mentioned along with the time of the scene. You will remember these things as you read. But knowing behind the scenes of HARRY POTTER &THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, the events will make you more fun.
Twenty-fourth minute
According to the script of this film, Professor Flitwick is nowhere mentioned. But Alfonso Quaran, who wanted to contact Warwick Davis somehow, suggested that he act as the singing director. Everyone liked the singing director’s look, so I wanted to keep using him. So, you may remember that the singing director becomes Flitwick, and his new look has been used for all subsequent films. (compare the look and feel of the first two films.)
Fifty-fourth minute – Behind the Scenes of Quidditch Match
This time there is a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Huffelpf House. People who enjoy books know about this incident even when it is screened, but viewers of movies alone do not know this. The Seeker who plays for Huffloff is Cedric Diggory. You know how important a character he is in the next story. (Next up for the 2005 film Goblet of Fire, the character will be replaced by world-renowned actor Robbet Pattinson)
An hour – Behind the Scenes of Newt Scamander???
Scene showing the Marauders Map for the first time. The first time you see the map when Fred and George give Harry the map and open it, you see the name Newt Scamander. He authored a book, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, a textbook for Hogwarts students at the Harry Potter universe. He can’t even stay in school because he’s not a Hogwarts teacher. Somehow Scamander gets his own movie in 2016. According to him, he was a friend of Dumbledore. So he may have come and gone (Buckbeek ?????)
One hour and twenty-three minutes – Behind the Scenes
You may remember the scene where Hermione gives Malfoy a good slap this time. During a rehearsal for the show, Tom Felton (Draco) tells Emma Watson to slap him, but he does not think she’s really hitting him, and Draco is surprised when Emma hits him in the face as hard as she can. Emma said that she was very upset about it later and that she could not imagine what had happened.
One hour and fifty minutes – Behind the Scenes
It seemed to me that Professor Dumbledore was deliberately taking too much time of the executioner who had come to behead Buckbeek. Somehow this time he says that he too should sign the decree and that he has a very long name. But this extension is fully quoted in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix (2007). Accordingly his full name will be Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
This is the end of the first part of behind the screen facts of the third movie, behind the scenes of HARRY POTTER &THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Please add a comment so we can improve. If you think this is worthy to share among your friends we are very glad and thankful. I will keep bring you harry potter stuff. See you soon with the Goblet of Fire.
Update: Another star of our story pass today (October 14, 2022). Robbie Coltrane(Hagrid). The following photo is for you.
Read also
: Harry Potter & the Sorceress Stone – Behind the Scenes
: Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secret – Behind the Scenes
Sasindu Jayasri is an Engineering student from Sri Lanka and he studies mechanical engineering at the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Moratuwa. He is passionate about writing and giving inspiration to the world. Follow him in LinkedIn for updates and you can contact him directly.
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