Framestore who helped to create the Tale of the Three Brother’s sequence for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have a page on their website dedicated to the scene where they have a short clip from the scene as well as some technical information about it (some of which may be read below).
Led for Framestore by Dale Newton, the animation is created in sepia tones and its mysterious characters are conveyed through silhouettes and shadows, inspired by traditional eastern puppet theatre. The clip is so beautifully detailed and intricate that it required over six months of work by a team that peaked at 32 Framestore VFX artists. Framestore’s creative energy was put to good use in pre-production by designing all the characters and lighting concepts that would establish the all-important look and feel for the piece. One of the distinctive elements to come out of the design phase was a papery, grainy background which bound the images together well and added to the overall ethereal feel.
“The sequence was a compositors dream job,” says Russell Dodgson, “technical, challenging and with an ever-evolving creative process that required a lot of ‘out of the box’ thinking.” Nuke’s faster workflow and tight integration with 3D applications aided artists and clients by being able to respond to director feedback and get more creative iterations before the deadline.
Due to the relatively long shot durations, cloth simulation on death’s cloak and the bride’s dress proved challenging. The brief in the case of Death was to create an ethereal otherworldly movement that felt natural in this stylised world. The team decided that the wizard characters’ cloth would have a stiff puppet look to further distinguish them from Death.
Dale Newton, said: “The film itself gave Framestore a great opportunity to create more cutting edge visual effects. But this storybook sequence posed a different set of challenges: namely how do you create a delicate, papery animated sequence in CGI? How to create compelling poetic characters in a dramatic narrative when only using shadows and silhouettes? So rather than being the visual effects task that we’ve all become so accustomed to, this was more a creative voyage of discovery.”
In a new interview, Andrew Ackland-Snow, the art director for the Harry Potter series, revealed that the death of Severus Snape has changed. Do not read further in this post if you don’t want to be spoiled.
“We wanted to change a bit where Snape dies. In the book, he dies on the Shrieking Shack, and we wanted to get him out from, not a conventional interior, but from that kind of box, to do it in a more dramatic atmosphere. We asked J.K. if she agreed for that to happen in there, because we hadn’t really seen it before. We made a crystal house, and you can see what happens in the boat house from there – Are you listening Harry? -, but also the school is in flames…and she loved it. Besides, it’s a very romantic place to die. Snape dies in a extremely good way, I gotta say.”
Alexis Liddell, the concept artist for The Tale of the Three Brothers animation in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, released a bunch of stills from that scene. There is also a short seven second clip that you can watch below. View all the photos in the gallery!
In a new interview with SoccerAM James and Oliver Phelps talked about football (soccer for us American’s) their futures in acting as well as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.
In a new interview with MTV, Tom Felton talks about the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows reshoots, his upcoming films, co-stars and more!
What about the “Deathly Hallows – Part 2” reshoots for that heavily hyped epilogue?
Felton: Believe it or not, I got left off the hook. Apparently, the shot setup didn’t require my presence, so I was let off the hook at the last minute. I got all excited about going back, but I heard everything went swimmingly and everything is looking fantastic.
MTV: What’s the latest with your music? Felton: It’s all going very well. We’re currently in development with a few artists that we’re hoping to get out next year and just promote this idea that low-key music can be some of the best. I’m hoping to do some other recording later on in the year. It’s a massive passion project of mine, and the fans’ response has been fantastic, and MTV has been good to me there as well. I thoroughly appreciate that.
Today Matt has posted a photo of himself in costume for his role as Lester Cole in Agatha Christie’s Verdict, which opened in Windsor on January 11th. View the photo below and larger in over at the Matthew-Lewis.com gallery. You can purchase tickets for the play by heading over to this page and finding where you want to see the play.
