As many of you know, the BAFTA Awards were held today and the Harry Potter series received the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, it was presented by Stephen Fry and there was a montage accompanying them accepting the award. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, JK Rowling, David Yates, David Heyman, Helena Bonham Carter, Bonnie Wright, Jamie Campbell Bower, Miranda Richardson and director Mike Newell were at the awards ceremony. Hopefully there will be a video of the cast and crew accepting the award online soon. Emma Watson also presented the Rising Star Award. A lot of videos are beginning to appear online so here is the first roundup. You can also watch a video of Rupert here that has embedding disabled.
In a new interview with Empire Harry Potter producer David Heyman talks about an early cut of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the BAFTA award and more. Some snippets may be read below.
What about Part Two? Is that rough-cut at this point?
Yeah. I’ve seen a very, very early cut. It’s very exciting. No visual effects, no music, no sound effects, and it’s really exciting. But it’s early days and the film continues to take shape and will continue to take shape over the next many months. I think it will be a great ending to the series. It was a really long shoot; we shot over 260 days on this one.
But you obviously found solutions in the end for the scenes that everyone was worried about, the King’s Cross scene and the flashbacks.
Well, in a way this is an easier structure than Part One because it’s quite defined. In terms of the King’s Cross scene, I think it does work and it’s very moving. We actually did it once, and then re-did it a little bit because we needed to refine something, and I’m pretty glad we did. It’s a very quiet, moving scene, but I think it leaves the series on the right note. The only flashback really that one thinks about is the Snape flashback, when Harry goes into the Pensieve to see Snape’s story, and that’ll be defined, but it’ll be very moving.One of the things I love about David Yates’ work is that he’s very concerned with the life of the characters. Yes, there’s a lot of action as the series comes to an end, yes there’s boom-boom-boom as it comes to an end, but he also takes time for the humanity. That’s what I like about Part One is the luxury of having that time to spend with the characters. Even in this, which is more action-packed, there’s time to cover that, which is great.
In a new video interview with the Telegraph David Heyman discusses his 10 years working on the Harry Potter series. Watch the interview below and read some snippets from it below.
He is proud to receive the outstanding achievement award, named in honour of legendary film-maker Michael Balcon. “It’s really wonderful that it’s the whole franchise being recognised and it’s a collective award. Each film has anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 people working on it and so really the award is for each and every one of us. We are like a family.”
On the wall of Heyman’s Soho office is a poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, signed by its three young stars. If proof were needed that the actors and their characters are not dissimilar, it is here. It is also testament to the fact that, without Heyman, there would be no Potter phenomenon. “You’re a WICKED producer!” writes Grint. “To David, thank you is not a strong enough word for my gratitude,” is Watson’s neatly written message. And from Daniel Radcliffe? “Thank goodness I went to the theatre. Love, Dan.”
Emma Watson is among the nominees for Best Actress in the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Daniel Radcliffe has been nominated for Best Actror and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has also been nominated. The nominations are below:
FAVORITE MOVIE
Alice in Wonderland
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The Karate Kid
FAVORITE MOVIE ACTRESS
Emma Watson
Ashley Judd
Miley Cyrus
Kirsten Stewart
In a new video interview with BBC, Harry Potter producer David Heyman discusses the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award that he and JK Rowling will be accepting on behalf of the Harry Potter series this Sunday at the BAFTA awards.
We’ve been making these films for 10, 11 years now and the whole journey’s been absolutely fantastic. But to get this recognition from BAFTA is something remarkable, unexpected and a treat. We don’t make films for the legacy. We make films to make the best films possible. The most important thing is that the audiences enjoy them. So far they seem to have enjoyed them. The fact that we get awards like the Michael Bokon award is a huge honor and something that every member of the cast and crew will treasure. But that’s really the icing on the cake.
We’ve seen people grow over the 10 years of Harry Potter and learn their craft. It’s been a great training ground for so many. So hopefully those people will continue to work and grow within the industry. I think that films working on films generates new talent and hopefully we’ve been part of that.
I think in some ways we’ve grown as the visual effects have grown. You look at the visual effects in the first film and frankly they’re a bit ropy. You can see as the quality of the visual effects has improved, so they’ve improved in our films. And I think in terms of British visual effects in particular, we’ve been a part of that growth and development.
Harry Potter has been unique. I’m sure I will never be part of anything quite like it again. There’ll be other unique and special experiences in my life and in my career, I’m sure. I hope. But there’ll be nothing quite like Potter. If something were to come along again and I were fortunate enough to be part of it, I’d grab it in a heartbeat. But I think it’s unlikely. For me, I’ve been involved with it since 1997. I’m treasuring these past 14 years. They’ve been amazing.
Andrew Williamson who does concept art for the Harry Potter films has updated his website with some art from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I. You can see the drawings in the gallery!
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