This past weekend, Graphic Designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima visited Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter to celebrate the second anniversary of the grand opening.  This is one of many exciting events slated to take place at the Studios this coming year.  The Studio sent over a release with the various events planned so far:

Feathers and Flight (we reported about this here and will have a correspondent at the event)
Friday 4th April – Sunday 27th April
Let your imagination take flight this April at the Studio Tour’s first Feathers and Flight feature. For three weeks, the attraction will host the feathery actors that played Hedwig, Pigwidgeon and Errol, as well as ravens and crows who will demonstrate their flying skills in the backlot. Visitors will be able to pose for pictures with the famous owls and learn some of the training processes involved in bringing their performances to life on screen.

Wand Week
Friday 23rd May – Monday 2nd June
Delve into the world of wandmaking and duel with a Death Eater as Wand Week returns to the Studio Tour by popular demand. Visitors will be able to discover firsthand how duelling scenes were developed and explore the incredibly detailed process behind each wand movement. Original moulds, concept art and wand designs will be showcased in the attraction as well as the iconic duelling table from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Bludgers, Board Games and Broomsticks
Friday 18th July – Monday 1st September
Learn how magical sports and wizarding games came to life on screen at the Studio Tour this summer. Authentic costumes from Quidditch scenes will be on display as well as the rattling ball crate from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Visitors will discover how a combination of special and visual effects were used to make cast members fly and chess pieces move – as well as getting the chance to test green screen technology for themselves!

Dark Arts
Friday 17th October – Monday 3rd November
Secrets behind the Dark Arts will be revealed this October half-term at the Studio Tour. For two weeks only visitors will learn how the Dark Arts were brought to life on screen, get the chance to duel with a Death Eater. Something wicked this way comes.

Hogwarts at Christmas
Friday 14th November – January 2015
The most magical snowfall of the season will take place at the Studio Tour this November as the breathtaking Hogwarts castle model is covered in a blanket of snow. Some of the attraction’s intricately-detailed sets will also be given a festive makeover using the actual decorations and food props seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Eight Christmas trees will line the Great Hall, along with festoons of holly, mistletoe and golden wreaths.

Featherologist, Val Jones, who worked in the creature effects department on the Harry Potter film series, has today been drafted back to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter to refresh Buckbeak the Hippogriff.

Val, who was instrumental in creating the animatronic, was called in to re-feather and preen the delicate winged creature in preparation for the Feathers and Flight event, which is taking place at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter from Friday 4th April to Sunday 27th April.

This is the first make-over Buckbeak has received since the hugely popular Harry Potter film series was made. His intricate coat is created from thousands of individually airbrushed chicken and goose feathers that Val will carefully clean and replenish in time for the start of Feathers and Flight.

After beginning her career as a Textiles Designer, Val made costumes for films before specialising in hair, feathers and animatronics. By painstakingly inserting thousands of feathers, Val worked tirelessly to create the Hippogriff’s intricate feathery coat and was responsible for transforming the model into a believable creature that moved like a real animal.

She said:  “Buckbeak was one of the most challenging creatures I’ve ever worked on. It took almost a year and a team of 20 to build three versions of him. We worked closely with mechanical engineers to replicate the exact wing movement and skeleton of a real bird. Each version required thousands of feathers to be sorted, dyed and then individually glued in place by hand. As the Buckbeak on show at the Studio Tour is more than 12 years old now, it’s important to refresh and replenish his coat as the glue wears and feathers come loose when he bows.”

Feathery facts:

• Buckbeak’s coat consists of thousands of real goose and chicken feathers which were individually airbrushed with dye in order to create an authentic layered effect.
• It took Val and 20 artists one whole year to fully coat the three Hippogriff animatronics, as each feather was individually inserted by hand and then glued into place.
• The Buckbeak model seen in Hagrid’s pumpkin patch in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was an animatronic; his wings, neck, eyes and beak all moved. In other scenes, the Hippogriff was created digitally by the Visual Effects team and the cast were given props – such as a beak on a stick – to interact with on set.
• As well as working with Buckbeak Val also spent her time with some of the other feathered creatures from the Harry Potter films including Fawkes and Hedwig.

This April visitors to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter are invited to discover how filmmakers brought feathered creatures to life on screen and created the illusion of flight on the sets of the most successful film series of all time.  As part of the three-week feature, Featherologist Val Jones will lead an expert team to demonstrate the techniques that made winged wonders such as Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Fawkes the Phoenix a reality on screen.

The Studio Tour’s Feathers and Flight feature will run from Friday 4th April to Sunday 27th April 2014. All extra activities are included in the ticket price.

Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter has released a new television advertisement for the attraction. The description of the video is as follows:

Grab your glasses, robes or wand and watch our brand new TV advert!

Our advert was shot by some of the original production crew from the Harry Potter film series, on the authentic sets housed within the Studio Tour, including Director of Photography and Harry Potter crew alumni Roger Pratt (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Roger was joined by original Camera Operator Peter Taylor (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Gaffer Tommy Finch (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Steadicam Operator Alf Tramontin (the Harry Potter film series).

Tweet us @wbstudiotour to join the conversation using #JustLikeHarry

The second anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is fast approaching and it has been announced that Harry Potter graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima will be there from March 28th – 30th:

to demonstrate the creative processes they used to develop the graphic style of the Harry Potter film series. You’ll be able to take a closer look at some of the iconic graphics they created including issues of the Daily Prophet, the Marauder’s Map, fanciful Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes products and wickedly enchanting books.

Take a trip back in time with your time turner and check out our coverage of the grand opening on March 31st 2012.

This April visitors to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter are invited to discover how filmmakers brought feathered creatures to life on screen and created the illusion of flight on the sets of the most successful film series of all time. From Friday 4^th to Sunday 27^th April, a selection of owls, ravens, special effects equipment and feathered animatronics will fill the attraction as part of its first ever Feathers and Flight feature.

Visitors will get the chance to pose for a photograph with the owl that played Harry Potter’s letter-delivering companion Hedwig as he sits outside 4 Privet Drive. The talented owls that played Ron Weasley’s tiny pet Pigwidgeon and the Weasley family owl Errol will be stationed along the wizarding street of Diagon Alley and crows and ravens that appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will demonstrate their acting skills in the Studio Tour’s backlot. In addition to watching live training demonstrations, visitors will discover how birds learnt to ‘act’ by taking a look at the equipment that was used on set.

Hair and Feather Supervisor Val Jones will lead an expert team to demonstrate the techniques that made winged wonders such as Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Fawkes the Phoenix a reality on screen. By individually inserting thousands of feathers, Val worked to create the Hippogriff’s feathery coat which helped transform it into a believable creature that really moved.

Visitors will be able to see the broomsticks of Fred and George Weasley, used during their escape in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, in Hogwarts’ iconic Great Hall and the set will be decorated as it was for owl post delivery scenes. Specially-made broomsticks and letters, which were designed to be light enough for owls to carry, will be on display as well as a breakfast feast of racks of toast, cereal and jugs of juice.

Feathery facts:

• The Buckbeak that appeared curled up in Hagrid’s pumpkin patch was an animatronic; his wings, neck, eyes and beak all moved. In other scenes, the Hippogriff was created digitally by the Visual Effects team and the cast were given props – such as a beak on a stick – to interact with on set.
• The animatronic Fawkes was so realistic that even some members of the cast believed he was a real bird when they first saw him! It was only when the Creature Effects team moved the Phoenix using their control buttons that they realised he wasn’t.
• Contrary to popular belief, owls aren’t quite as wise as they are thought to be. They can take up to three months to learn what a raven or crow can learn in just one week.

The animal actors have returned to the WB Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, including a recognizable face! Reigh is a Neapolitan Mastiff who has been trained by Head Animal Trainer Julie Tottman to play Fang.

Throughout our Animal Actors feature, visitors can see some of the most iconic animal actors from the Harry Potter film series including one of the snowy owls that played Hedwig and the cats who played Crookshanks and Mrs Norris.

As part of Animal Week, Warner Bros has uploaded a video showing how they trained all the dogs who played Fang in the films. The feature continues through February 24th.