Tag Archive | harry potter

in harry potter, movie, Remembering Hogwarts, video
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Remembering Hogwarts

Just a few years ago, the Harry Potter book series was complete and soon followed the film series that was adapted from it.

To commemorate the magical moments of those books and films, I started making an animated tribute series, Remembering Hogwarts. In a very short amount of time I animated scenes from the first three Harry Potter tales, but then took a very long time to create a scene from the fourth, The Goblet of Fire.

Though I had a strong vision of what I wanted to do (I made the background in February of 2012), the thought of how much time it would take to build the additional scenery and props (trees, tents, fires) and ~~make~~ hire all the extras (Death Eaters and Victims) was daunting – and on top of it I had to shoot and edit?? Needless to say, I kept this project in the background (on my dresser) for quite a while.

But I finally did it… After three straight days of set design and hiring the talent (crafting), seven-hours of shooting and two of editing, I finally did it…

made a scene from The Goblet of Fire

February 25, 2012

in harry potter, miniature
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The Forest at Nighttime

made for scenery

I’ve held off on a fourth installment to my Remembering Hogwarts series for quite a while, and with good reason. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire represents a pretty epic turning point in the series as a whole, so I needed to make sure I could think out a scene that could match that kind of grandeur.

It took me three days to make the set, one afternoon to each part (trees, hills, pathways), which fits neatly atop my dresser.

Having the last week off from work made it easy to squeeze in the craft-time for this project, but there’s a lot more making to do before I can actually follow through with the movie-making.

So I think there’s just going to be a forest on my dresser for a while…

August 1, 2011

in harry potter, movie, Remembering Hogwarts, video
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Remembering Hogwarts

made a scene from Prisoner of Azkaban

Can you believe it?
This third scene in my Remembering Hogwarts Series is really more than one!

(Don’t you just love trick endings?)

I spent A LOT of time on set and prop design for this vid, building an entire car of the Hogwarts Express, the end of Platform 9 3/4 AND an unattended snack trolly. The “location” offered tons of opportunity to play up details and background animation. I’m pretty proud of the scenery as it moves with the train out of London, through city and forest, towards Hogwarts Castle. I used receipt paper for the effect… Talk about an obsolete item- I had to buy a 12 pack to get the 3-feet of slim, rolled paper I needed for this project… And that was a success only had after traveling to four different stores.

At least they have teacher discounts at Office Max.

Too bad the same kind of discounts aren’t offered on Harry Potter action figures…

I might have purchased Draco on Amazon just for this scene.

July 30, 2011

in harry potter, miniature
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Coming Soon: remembering hogwarts 3

made a prop

🙂

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I’m really a miniature crafter – most things I end up creating are on a very small scale, though through photographic magics, appear a heck of a lot bigger on the interwebs.

This jacket is no exception.

I’ve been heavily focused on making props for my next animated short (Remembering Hogwarts: A Scene from The Prisoner of Azkaban) and debated on whether or not this specific detail was necessary for production.

As it turns out:

It is…
Mostly because I REVEL in details – the smaller the better.

And this jacket is tiny: It’s vertical length measures a mere 2 1/2 inches, with an armspan of 3 1/2 inches.

The frayed edges are not a product of the thing being so-darn-small, but are there on purpose. This is a werewolf’s blazer after all, and I don’t think “pristine” is a describer for such a creature’s belongings.

July 20, 2011

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Remembering Hogwarts

made a scene from Chamber of Secrets

Expect Remembering Hogwarts to get better and better – I guarantee it to be filled with surprises with each coming scene (in which I set out to do one for each epic Harry Potter tale with epic Harry Potter music).

The set design alone sets this second scene apart from the first . I recreated Moaning Myrtle’s deserted toilet chamber completely with cardboard, a hot glue gun ❤ , and elmer’s paint. Myrtle herself is simply tracing paper.

Keep your brain’s guessing for Prisoner of Azkaban!

Dementor! Dementor!

July 13, 2011

in harry potter, writing
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Lightning Scars and Memories

I don’t have any scars to prove I faced the most deadly dark wizard lord. I’ve never felt the burn of a curse striking my skin or the force of one leaving my own wand.

But I’ve definitely watched…

I’ve watched, re-watched, read and re-read about a boy named Harry Potter and his life, ever interrupted by the prospects of death by magic. You can refer to me as a fan of the series, but I belong in the “dedicated from the beginning” class of fandom.

In 1998 when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (book 1) was published in the United States I was in 7^th grade and a reader. Having frequented Borders Books and Music at least every other week growing up, it still comes as a surprise to me that I didn’t find Harry Potter first. My mother had found The Sorcerer’s Stone hoping its boy adventure elements would strike interest in my younger brother…

To date I’m quite sure he hasn’t finished it.

I, on the other hand, snagged the snitch right away.

After finishing whatever-I-was-reading-at-the-moment I found Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hogwarts. Racing through book one with a lightning-bolt-shaped mark on my heart, I immediately followed the trio through the Chamber of Secrets (book 2: SAVE GINNY!) and the saving of the Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3: SAVE SIRIUS!)

Then all the waiting began…

The Harry Potter series is notorious for the waiting game it has put fans through – ebbing its culture with curiosity and a desire for more.

When Goblet of Fire (book 4) was finally released the summer of the millennium, my mother drove me to four different bookstores on August 1^st to ensure my personal copy. It was clear then, and especially over the past thirteen years of Potter, that I have not been alone in the rapture of getting more from the series. With each release – of films and texts – there’s been both story and experience to gain, with especially obvious dedication on premiere nights.

made for excitement

made since he usually did ;P

My first midnight opening (see above) not only involved homemade iron shirts, but also a 9-hour ritual of line-waiting outside the theatre (complete with Harry Potter Uno [by the way – thanks for going through that, Ryan ;p]). Subsequent years have involved buying-off a cousin for a good line spot, Every-Flavored Beans flavor challenges, tube tops and tattoos (see bottom) and, most recently, forcing wakedness on a school(work) night in the rain with an impending cold.

Anything for Potter.

As for this Thursday: midnight, with this Deathly Hallows finale , it’s hard to know if I’ll be overcome with tears or laughter from this half-a-lifetime journey’s end.

The waiting game may actually be over.

Unless someone wants to help me write Harry Potter: The Musical.