The Suffolk Free press has a new article online about filming that took place there in January.
Scenes from the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been filmed in Lavenham. Although none of the cast was present for the filming, the characters of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger will be added through computer wizardry – meaning film fans will actually see the Warner Bros blockbuster’s main protagonists appearing in Lavenham’s streets.
Jane Gosling, manager of the National Trust-run Lavenham Guildhall, spoke to the Free Press about the film crew’s visit in January. She said: “It was all very exciting. What the film-makers are going to do is turn parts of Lavenham into Godric’s Hollow (a village featured in the book and film series) and the Guildhall will be Harry Potter’s parents’ house. It is all very clever. They filmed parts of Lavenham and will edit out any modern houses and bits they don’t want digitally.”
In a new interview with movieline Ciaran Hinds talks about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
[SPOILER ALERT] How did you wind up in a Harry Potter film (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) playing a member of the Dumbledore clan?
Dumbledore’s kid brother! Dumbledore was about 123, so that makes me 115. Dumbledore’s passed away in the story, but there’s some link back to his earlier childhood that needs to be revealed to the… well, they’re not so much kids anymore. They’re young adults. I was asked, “The director wants to meet you, because he knows your work and thinks you might suit this role.” We just met, and he was very lovely. It was just, “I’d like you to do this; I think it’s going to work out.” It was only like four days’, five days’ work. But it did involve a lot of prosthetics. What’s great is that I won’t be hassled by anybody in the street because they won’t know who was in there.
In an interview with The Tatler, which I posted about last week, Clemence Posey confirms that Emma Thompson returned to reprise her role as Professor Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! You can see scans of the interview by going here!
She doesn’t know, she says, how her co-stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, are coping with their stellar existences – ‘We’ve never discussed it.’ But in Paris, she adds, ‘the French are too snob’ to admit to recognizing anyone. ‘And I’m proud of that!’ So proud that when Emma Thompson – a heroine of hers – was in make up for Harry Potter the other day and she felt a goosepimply ‘Aaah!’, she ‘didn’t say anything. Because I’m French! I’m not going to admit it.’
Thanks Clémence-Poesy.org! All I have to say is YES! I was hoping she could squeeze in a few days of filming!
This is Local London is reporting that a fire broke out on the set of Deathly Hallows last night, luckily no one was injured.
Watford firefighters were called to an outdoor film set at about 9pm to deal with a blaze in a mocked up castle.
Watch commander Tony Smith said: “I think they are filming some stunts for the last scene. There is a big battle scene involving a lot of pyrotechnics and explosions. There is a mocked up castle made of timber, steel and plastic – somehow it caught alight. By the time we got there the on-site fire crew had it pretty well under control – they did a good job. We just helped damp it down and inspected the area. I didn’t see any cast – but there were about 100 crew, who were all evacuated to a marshalling are. They didn’t seem too concerned. It’s hard to say how much damage was caused, because some of it may have been planned as part of the filming. Perhaps they got much better footage than they expected.”
ComingSoon has added some more information about the Deathly Hallows preview that was shown at ShoWest; read more here & here. Spoilers:
The footage opened with Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort in a clearing followed closely by his Death Eaters. Being unfinished footage, Fiennes still had dots on his face and there were placement dots for later FX, but soon, they meet up with Harry Potter and Voldemort snarls, “Harry Potter… Come to die.”
That sets up the footage which makes it clear that the last two movies are going to be about the final showdown between the two long-time nemeses, and much of what we saw involved Voldemort plotting with his Death Eaters how he was going to capture Harry Potter and how he wants to be the one to kill him when they do.
The Ministry of Magic is clearly falling apart and they seem to be after our heroes as well, but as someone who hasn’t read the book, it wasn’t clear whether the Ministry were working with Voldemort to catch Harry or whether they had their own agenda. One scene shows multiple Harry Potters, and we see a bit of Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour, looking very fierce, as well as quite a lot of Helena Bonham Carter’s Bellatrix Lestrange acting suitably crazy as she interacts with the kids after they’ve been captured and are being brought to the Death Eaters safe house.
There was some footage of the trio running through the Forbidden Forest being chased by something, a quick anamatic of the giants smashing up some building (Hogwarts?) with their clubs, and footage of the kids being chased by a dragon. Another unfinished scene showed Hagrid on a flying motorbike that was rocketing through the side alongside what looked like Hermione and other Hogwarts denizens on broomsticks, as well as others riding Thestrals (those flying horses), seemingly being chased by a flying Voldemort or another Death Eater. With all of this happening, the friendship is also having trouble withstanding all of the strain, and in one scene, we see Harry and Ron really going at it, even more than we’ve seen them arguing in the past.
The footage ended with what might be the final confrontation with Voldemort as he asks Harry, “Why do you still live?” to which he gets the response, “Because I have something to live for.”
Cinemablend has posted more information about the Deathly Hallows preview I posted about earlier, HUGE spoilers ahead:
It was pretty bold of Warner Bros. to show off as much of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as they did, given that much of the effects work was unfinished and a major character– Ralph Fiennes’ noseless Voldemort– had dots on his face marking the future digital alteration that really makes him who he is. But they weren’t just bold in what they showed us, but how they did it– the first scene of the extended trailer was Harry and Voldemort’s confrontation in the woods outside Hogwarts. Harry, bloodied and visibly terrified, approaches a cold Voldemort (flanked by Bellatrix Lestrange); Voldemort taunts Harry, “The boy who lived, come to die.”
The footage shown came from all sections of The Deathly Hallows, so it’s impossible to tell where they will split up the two movies. We saw little bits of everything, from the seven Harry Potters escaping from the Dursleys house (totally surreal) to the attack at Bill and Fleur’s wedding to the escape from Gringotts on the pale dragon and even Hogwarts on fire. With unfinished effects it’s hard to really say how it all looks, though some of the most effective moments were the simplest– Ron and Harry’s fight in the tent, Harry visiting his parents’ graves, running away from the Snatchers in the woods, Harry defiantly telling Voldemort that he stays alive “because I have something worth fighting for.”
Basically, it’s hugely exciting for anyone who’s a fan of the book– but that’s been the case for every Harry Potter trailer and sneak peek thus far, so why should we have expected anything different. The cool, smoky cinematography that really marked Half-Blood Prince seems to be continuing in this one, and the newfound acting skills we saw in many of the young actors will likely be coming in handy. There was no sign of some of the key characters, like Draco Malfoy and Professor McGonagall, but I expect just as much good stuff from them too.
One odd moment– one of the final shots was of Hermione riding a broom, by herself, escaping from a fireball that’s likely the curse that Crabbe and Goyle set off in the Room of Requirement near the end. Did Hermione ever ride a broom by herself in the books? Is this a change that will mean something bigger, or just something convenient so the movie doesn’t have to bother explaining that Hermione isn’t good on a broom? It’s the kind of nitpick that only the geekiest Harry Potter fans will ever care about– but that’s what you have me for, isn’t it?
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