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Making of Visual Effects – The Harry Potter Movies

Part of the magic of the Harry Potter movies is the special effects; spells, flying on broomsticks, a flying car, disappearing in a fireplace, it all happens when Harry Potter is around, but how do the film makers create these special effects?  Actually there are several visual effects companies which collaborate, depending on their specific area of expertise.  This is how just some of the effects are created.

Playing Quidditch on a broomstick.  A blue screen is used as the “sky” background and the flyer is seated on a broomstick on a hydraulic rig.  The rig is computer controlled to create the swooping and sweeping of a game of Quidditch and the resultant film is then transferred into the computer graphics environment to be edited into the finished film.

Dumbledore’s memories being stored in the Pensieve.  The memories are seen dropping into a liquid in the Pensieve (bowl) and this was created by taking painted pictures (the memories) and amalgamating them into specially created software which produced the look of the liquid and the pictures floating down into it.

The sphere of water produced by Dumbledore’s spell to trap Voldemort.  The broomstick rig came into its own again which together with Plexiglass spheres with water squired over the top and inside created the effect of Voldement floating and spinning in a sphere of water.

The ice covering the frozen lake from which Harry gets back the sword of Gryffindor.  When the camera is filming from above the lake, the ice is created by thick sheets of Plexiglass covered in a frosty texturing.  When filming beneath the “ice”, wax is used floating on the water.  Apparently this is a well known technique in the movies.

The Gringotts dragon. The rather emaciated Gringotts dragon was actually modelled on some photographs provided by the RCPCA of mistreated dogs.  The idea was to capture a “hangdog” look such that viewers would feel sorry for it rather than repulsed but it still had to be frightening.  Once the concept was agreed, the dragon was sculpted and painted using a 3D computer program.  A skeleton of the dragon was built and muscle geometry created which animated the skin to simulate movement.

For filming the kids sitting on the dragon, a full scale section of its back was sculpted and covered with a silicon hide.  For movement a motion control base and a rig allowed for movement of the different aspects of the dragon including parts of its spine, loose skin under its neck.

Find the Right Animation Studio for Your Animation Movies

Animation based industry is one of the fastest growing sector in the market. More and more organizations from advertising, television, and movie and entertainment industry are turning in large numbers to animation studios. To cater this huge growth and demand many kinds of animation studios offering varied kinds of services have started their operations. So what makas this animation studio so popular and demanding?

In today’s world animation based technology are used everywhere. Whether be it TV programs, advertisements, commercials or computer games. In everyplace where the creator wants to flaunt his imagination more and is not able to do it using live people and places, they turn to animation studios.

How to find best animation studios

In last few years, many animation movies have been made. Many Flash Animation production companies even take the help of animation studios to enhance their movie graphics. We are giving below some tips to select the best animation studios:-

1. Make a list of your exact animation movies needs and requirements: – Before the animation studio selection, it’s better to make an estimate of the animation movies budget. For that the project needs and requirement should be estimated.

2. It’s better to stick with older, larger and most experienced animation studio: – There are large numbers of animation studios present in the market. They are broadly divided into 3 types, such as large, medium and small animation studios.

· Large 3d Animation thrive on only large animation projects. Their have big staff, highly advanced and sophisticated animation hardware and software. These large animation studios will do justice with animation movies in best possible manner. But their charges are too much high and many times out of normal movie production’s budget.

· Most of the medium sized animation studios have been started by professionals of the large animation studios. Most of their clients include production houses and organization that are not happy with the services of their larger contemporaries. They mostly entertain big production houses and large projects. But they are even open to small budget projects too. They provide high end product and services at a very competitive price.

· Small sized Cartoon Animation are generally operated by very small group of animation enthusiasts. Their animation knowledge and expertise is good. But they lack presence of sophisticated and highly advanced animation hardware and software. If you are lured by their prices, it’s better to check their previous work before finalizing them.

3.Collect details and information related to animation studio’s prior experience and project:- Before finalizing any animation studios, collect all the relevant information about company’s prior experience and their previous projects. If satisfied with their credentials then only proceed with them.