Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter (with Return Transportation)

Get your hands on some of the most coveted tickets around and experience the truly incredible Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. Explore grandiose sets, get up close to your favourite props and discover the craftsmanship and talent that went in to creating the iconic films.

Your foray in to the Wizarding World begins where Harry’s did, in the cupboard under the stairs then, after an introductory video featuring some of your favourite characters, you are welcomed in to the Great Hall, set up for a feast. Here you can see the actual costumes and wigs worn by prominent members of the cast, before walking through to the first studio where you’ll find sets costumes props and Death Eaters.
 
The Sets 

After you leave the Great Hall you’ll soon find yourself entering the Forbidden Forest through a gate flanked by masked Death Eaters, right in to the lair of Aragog. The Forbidden Forest seen in The Philosophers Stone was a mixture of location and studio shooting, whereas the Chamber of Secrets was all done in the Studio. The creepy set is complete with light and sound effects, as well as some unwelcome guests.

Move on to the iconic Platform 9¾ and walk through the Hogwarts Express, taking a look at well-known props from each film. The Hogwarts Express provided the background for the first ever shot captured for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and then, 10 years later, for the very last shot during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Possibly the most exciting part of the tour is Diagon Alley. We won’t give much away however; the dusty Ollivanders wand shop was home to more than 17,000 individually labelled wand boxes during the film!

The Animatronics

The terrifying Basilisk that lived within The Chamber of Secrets was created with a mix of practical and visual effects, and a full sized mouth was created, measuring 30ft long with jaws 3ft deep. An aquatronic model was also made that could slither up a track and get close to Harry.  

Buckbeak the Hippogriff, one of books most loved creatures (after Hedwig, of course), had three incarnations; one standing, another rearing and a third lying down, all with moving parts and each feather was individually glued on!

The Art Department

On your tour you’ll come across the incredible Hogwarts Castle model. A team of 86 artists and crewmembers built the first version of the castle, which was enhanced with digital effects to create the unforgettably realistic views of the school. With 2,500 fibre optic lights, which flicker to give the illusion of students walking through corridors, real gravel and plants, if you calculated all the man hours that went in to making the model, you’re talking 74 years! 

Potions textbooks, acceptance letters, sweet wrappers, and the Daily Prophet were all hand designed and hand-made! All potions bottles were also all hand illustrated. 

The Props

We’ve covered sets and costumes, so now on to props. There sheer volume of original props in the Studios is impressive in itself and it’s incredibly satisfying when you spot your favourite, whether it’s the Elder Wand or the Golden Snitch. Over 950 potion jars line the walls of Snape’s dungeon, each with unique props inside them and all with hand written labels.

Over 130 plates were made to decorate the startingly pink office of everyone's least favourite teacher, Professor Umbridge, which involved filmmakers having to photograph and film real kittens with crystal balls, witches hats and balls of wool. Sounds like a fun day in the office!

The Special Effects

It may come as a surprise to many fans to learn that their favourite special effects were actually real! For example the slithering door to the Chamber of Secrets is often mistaken for a visual effect but it is actually a fully operational door, as is the incredibly intricate Gringotts bank door.

As you would imagine, green screen played a huge part in creating the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Quidditch, for example would have been a tricky one to film without green screen! Why not hop on to a broom yourself and try your hand at the magical game?

Make sure you re-fuel with a tasty butter beer, just like Harry, Ron and Hermione would have done in the Leaky Cauldron.