Harry Potter Film Wizardry

The lovely people at Harper Collins sent me a copy of Harry Potter Film Wizardry to review.  Before even opening the book I knew it was going to be the perfect item for Potter fans EVERYWHERE.  The book is a nice size and the cover has such a nice texture (I realize it is weird to talk about the texture of a book, but I’m a graphic designer, I notice these things) and the overall design is awesome; inside and out.  They even used the stars that are found on the top of the pages in the US editions of the book all over the cover, I loved this little touch.  Moving on to the inside:

There are tons of tiny details all over this book, starting with the opening page where it says “If found, please return this notebook to Mr. Filch, Seventh floor, Room 234-00.”  So you are going to want to look at every INCH of the book to find all the hidden treasures.  The book begins with a forward by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson & Rupert Grint, and then an introduction by David Heyman.  After that the book goes through each of the films with tons of behind the scenes information and photos.

In the sections there are lots of fun props to pull out and examine, such as Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a mini catalog for Borgin and Burkes, Honeydukes packages, an invite to the Yule Ball, the Maurader’s Map, just to name a few!  The pages are full of never before seen behind the scenes photos, concept art, sketches, props (some we have never seen before) and promotional photos.  Even the backgrounds of the pages are full of detail, so make sure you pay attention to those while you read.

The book is set up like a scrapbook so it is a really easy read.  The text contains interviews with the cast and crew, excerpts written by cast and crew, funny anecdotes, descriptions of the sets including how they went about designing certain things, information on the main actors and characters and how they were developed, and so much more!  With this book fans get to see what it was like during the 10+ years of creating the films so we have a sense of what went on behind the scenes while we eagerly awaited the next film.

I don’t have anything bad to say about the book, except that I wish it had gone on forever! Fans of the filming process will really enjoy reading this book as will general fans, there is something in here for everyone to enjoy.  This definitely gets an A+ from me, so make sure you get your copy!

The book comes out one week from today, on October 19th, so head over to Amazon and pre-order it: Harry Potter Film Wizardry!

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