Oct 25, 2025
How Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was filmed
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JK Rowling’s debut novel about the young wizard Harry Potter was released in 1997, and the first film adaptation took place in 2001. In a short period of time, the story of the Boy Who Lived became an absolute hit, with the best studios and directors fighting for its adaptation. How the actors were cast for the main roles, where the famous scenes were filmed, what kind of participation Rowling herself took in the work on the film, and what Steven Spielberg has to do with it – well, it’s time to figure it out.
In 1996, British producer David Hayman founded the Heyday Films studio, for which Harry Potter became the second film, and the first was the gothic western horror “The Ogre” released in 1999, starring Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle. In 1997, Heyman tasked his subordinates with finding a children’s book suitable for film adaptation. Initially, the choice fell on the fantasy novel “The Ogre Below” by Diana Wynne Jones (about the difficulties of children’s lives with a new father and a magic chemistry set), but it was not possible to obtain the rights. At that time, the phenomenon of “Pottermania” did not yet exist, so Rowling’s fairy tale was placed on the “low priority” bookshelf. Fortunately, Hayman’s assistant accidentally read it and immediately recommended it to her boss. And although he really didn’t like the “tabloid” title of the book, he decided that same evening to read a few pages before going to bed. He read and read and read until he put the book down at 4am. He was captivated by the style of writing a bright and accessible magical world. He himself attended an English boarding school similar to Hogwarts, albeit without magic. David Heyman got it – this is what we need!
The next morning he sent a copy to his childhood friend Lionel Wigram, vice president of Warner Brothers, who immediately jumped on the project. And a few weeks later the studio began negotiating with the author about acquiring the rights to the franchise. However, Rowling was initially hesitant to sign on because she "didn’t want to give them control of the franchise," which would have allowed the company to make sequels to film adaptations of novels not written by the writer. However, in 1999, JK Rowling sold the rights to create films based on the first four parts of the saga for a modest sum of one million pounds sterling (despite the fact that the fourth volume, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, had not yet been completed). What’s much more interesting is that Rowling negotiated her unprecedented authorial role in control of the film adaptation and got herself a percentage from the box office of the following films.
The rights to Harry Potter toys went to Mattel for $35 million, but even more attractive, given the importance of these items in the book, were the rights to candies and other branded confectionery products, which were bought by Hasbro.
Search for a director
The first candidate for the director’s position was the eminent Steven Spielberg, who had been in negotiations with the studio for some time. However, his conditions did not satisfy either the company or JK Rowling. Firstly, Spielberg wanted to completely control the production, and secondly, to make not a film, but a cartoon. At the same time, the voice of Harry was supposed to be Haley Joel Osment, an American boy who had already become famous in the film “The Sixth Sense.”. It’s no wonder that when Spielberg was turned down, he still used Osment in his “Artificial Intelligence”.
By this time, Rowling’s fairy tales had already become a sensation in the book world, so there were more than enough candidates for the role of director. Each up-and-coming director shared their unique vision of Harry Potter with Warner Brothers executives Alan Horne, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and producer David Heyman. As a result, the list was narrowed down to 4 “finalists”: Brad Silberling (Casper), Alan Parker (Evita), Chris Columbus (Home alone) and Terry Gilliam (12 monkeys).
Best known for his work on Monty Python, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Brazil, Terry Gilliam was JK Rowling’s first choice. His imagination and creativity are evident in his work, so it makes sense why she chose Gilliam.
But Gilliam had one serious problem: he had no experience with child actors. Because it was absolutely necessary that the chosen director be able to get the most out of their young talent, Gilliam was ultimately rejected.
As a result, Lorenzo di Bonaventura sent out a press release in which he praised Chris Columbus, who is best known for family comedies with child actors, such as Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, and also has experience in science fiction films, such as Gremlins. Therefore, in March 2000, the studio approved Chris Columbus as the director of the film "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone". According to David Heyman, Columbus has been chasing this project for two years.
From book to script
The honor of writing the script went to Steve Kloves, whose most famous original screenplay is the romantic musical The Famous Baker Brothers. He negotiated and met with Steven Spielberg when he was being considered for the director’s position. According to the screenwriter, he was sent a number of short book synopses for adaptation, of which he immediately singled out Harry Potter for himself. He went outside, bought a book and instantly became a fan of Rowling’s work. At the same time, he committed himself to writing scripts for the next films in the series.
JK Rowling immediately stated that she was aware that cinema and literature are different genres, therefore she demanded that the film adaptation comply not so much with the “letter” but with the spirit of the book. Steve recalled how he was very nervous before meeting Rowling for the first time, because he didn’t want the writer to think that he was going to destroy her brainchild. In turn, Joan admitted that she was “in absentia” ready to “hate this Kloves”. However, fears turned out to be in vain.
Rowling had the right to control the creative side of the film, which had a positive effect on the result. They say that at first the studio actually wanted to make one film based on the first two books. Luckily this didn’t happen. According to Chris Columbus, he heard about it while interviewing for the position of director of the first Potter film. They talked about connecting two books to make it easier to shoot. Choose your favorite episodes and make one movie out of them..
Casting
According to JK Rowling’s strict conditions, all actors in future films must be British. An open casting call was announced for the three main child roles. Susie Figgis was appointed casting director. She auditioned many children for leading roles, but they were all rejected by the director and producers. At the auditions, children were first asked to read aloud a page from a book given to them, then to improvise a scene of the students arriving at Hogwarts, and in the third stage to read aloud several pages from the script.
The press called the main candidate for the role of Harry Jamie Bella, 14-year-old actor who has already conquered Cannes with his performance in the film “Billy Elliot” based on the play of the same name.
Already in July 2000, numerous reports appeared that the main candidate for the role, at the insistence of Chris Columbus, was an American young actor Liam Aiken, who previously worked with this director in the film “Stepmother”. He flew to the UK and even managed to receive an official offer to play the role of Harry, which, however, was withdrawn the next day at the insistence of Rowling, who firmly stood that the role should go to a British actor.
Finally, on August 21, 2000, it was announced that the three main roles had been cast Daniel Radcliffe, previously starred in the project, as well as newcomers Rupert Grint And Emma Watson.
As a result, the search for the perfect Harry took more than 9 months. And they found him by fateful accident. In the evening, producer David Hayman and screenwriter Steve Kloves went to the theater to relax. As they approached their seats, Hayman noticed a boy at the end of the row in the back with big blue eyes. A man sitting next to him called out to him – it was Hayman’s acquaintance – Alan Radcliffe, a literary agent, with his wife Marcia, a casting agent, and their son Dan. Throughout the play, Hayman kept looking over his shoulder, and when the play ended, he rushed to look for Alan Radcliffe, but they had already left. The next morning he called him first thing. It turned out that Columbus also noticed Daniel Radcliffe in the BBC’s "David Copperfield" and expressed interest in inviting him to audition. But Daniel’s parents opposed this idea, they were not enthusiastic about their son’s film career. Daniel said they even stopped him from auditioning for Oliver Twist. Radcliffe’s parents were afraid to let the boy go into the abyss of big show business. And they turned out to be right to some extent. In 2019, Daniel admitted that public attention to his person had become so great that during the filming of “Half-Blood Prince” the guy actively put his hands on his collar.
During filming, Radcliffe had to wear green contacts to match the character, but they made his eyes terribly itch; Rowling ended up accepting blue-eyed Harry instead of rejecting Daniel’s services. After seeing his audition, she said that Chris Columbus could hardly have found a better Harry.
Rupert Grint passed the casting by sending the crew a video in which he performed a rap song about his desire to appear in the film. Grint said he was perfect for the role of Ron Weasley because "he has red hair".
On the other hand, Emma Watson might not have gotten the role of Hermione if it were up to her. The casting team held auditions in primary schools across Britain to find their Hermione, but when they got to Emma’s school, she had no desire to audition (even though everyone else at school did). It was Emma’s teacher who convinced her to audition, and she ended up last that day.
Chris Columbus described the qualities of the trio that determined their choice: “Emma Watson was phenomenal. She had Hermione’s sense of humor, she was bright, witty and loved the camera. As for Rupert Grint, he had a devilish, mischievous quality, he had a great sense of humor, as well as the necessary sensitivity."What the team saw in Daniel Radcliffe was, according to Chris, something unique: Dan’s screen test was amazingly charming, he had notes of melancholy and shyness inherent in the book Harry Potter.
Interestingly, some of the first approved adult actors were those whom Rowling herself wanted. Robbie Coltrane, who received the role of Hagrid, was the very first adult actor to be contracted to participate in the project. He was incredibly happy, since he had long been a fan of the fairy tale. Robin Williams Almost played Hagrid, but the “British only” rule prevented him.
The second person Rowling looked at was Maggie Smith. She played the strict but fair dean and transfiguration professor Minerva McGonagall.
The main contender for the role of 31-year-old Severus Snape has long been Tim Roth, British by origin, but living in America since 1990. Tim Roth turned down the offer, preferring Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, after which the role went to the 54-year-old Alan Rickman, whose invitation was personally approved by JK Rowling. Rickman was the only person in the world who knew all the ins and outs of Snape before the release of the last book. In order for the actor to better understand the behavior and motivation of his character, Rowling told him that Snape was in love with Harry’s mother, but hated his father. Therefore, on the one hand, he protects the boy, and on the other, he transfers to him the hostility that he feels towards his father. And instead of the vile, petty type as he appears in the first books, we immediately see on the screen a charming tragic personality.
Despite Rowling’s demands, the role of Molly Weasley could go to an American actress Rosie O’Donnell. But the role has moved away Julie Walters, who was previously considered as the main contender for the much less important role of the broomstick flying teacher Madame Trick. The role of Professor Quirrell could have gone to David Thewlis, who later got the role of Professor Lupine in the third film. Rik Mayal became the voice of the annoying poltergeist Peeves, but all the scenes with his participation were cut and were not included in the final version of the film.
Richard Harris Turned down the role of Albus Dumbledore three times. He agreed only after his 11-year-old granddaughter threatened that if he refused, she would never speak to him again. Another possible candidate for this role was Ian McKellen.
Rowling’s demands that all significant roles in the film should be given to Britons were fully met, although several non-British actors appear in the film. Richard Harris was Irish and Zoe Wanamaker, although making a name for herself as a British actress, was a US citizen at the time of filming. Also, the role of the goblin in the Gringotts bank, accompanying Harry and Hagrid to the vault, was played by the American Verne Troyer, and one of the Hogwarts students, Susan Bones, was played by Elinor Columbus, the daughter of director Chris Columbus.
Filming
Rowling’s other condition was that the film must be shot in an English studio and in UK settings.
The magical world created by JK Rowling comes to life on the screen at the site of the former Rolls-Royce factory where aircraft were produced during World War II. Studio filming for The Philosopher’s Stone began here and lasted throughout the autumn and winter, ending in March 2001, with several stops at locations throughout rain-drenched Britain. Principal photography began on October 2, 2000, at the railway station in the picturesque village of Goathland in North Yorkshire, which served as the setting for Hogsmeade. Here, both the initial and final scenes with the train at the station were immediately filmed, since using a real steam locomotive twice was troublesome and expensive – so Harry at the final dinner at Hogwarts looks a little older than in the final shots, when he says goodbye to Hagrid and gets on the train – the film was shot for six months and in six months Radcliffe managed to grow up a little. The Quidditch match was filmed separately, mainly due to the fact that the special effects department could not decide how best to do it. The remaining scenes involving Radcliffe, Grint and Watson were filmed in chronological order, as due to the lack of much filming experience, the director wanted to make the filming process as easy as possible for them.
Hogwarts
According to writer JK Rowling, the school of witchcraft and wizardry is located in Scotland. This is a huge medieval castle with battlements and many round towers. Hogwarts does not exist in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it in the film: the building was created using scenery and special effects – fragments. And yet, some scenes were filmed using real locations. Initially, it was planned to use Inverailort Castle and Canterbury Cathedral as locations for Hogwarts, but the staff of the latter refused to allow the team to film due to fears of the “pagan” theme of the film. As a result, most of the scenes taking place in Hogwarts and near the school were filmed in Gloucester Cathedral and the castle Alnwick. The decision to film at Gloucester Cathedral sparked widespread protests from local residents. Many indignant letters were published in the local press and accused the filmmakers of sacrilege, threatening to prevent the film crew from entering the cathedral. True, on the day on which filming was scheduled to begin, only one protesting local resident showed up. Many scenes from the daily life of young wizards were filmed within the walls of one of the oldest Christian churches in England. To achieve this, production designers had to disguise not only electrical wiring and religious symbols on the stained glass windows, but also about a hundred tombstones on the floor of the monastery. The latter were covered with roofing felt, polished and painted to match the stone floor slabs. Local parishioners were against filming, but the cathedral management decided to make a concession.
The medieval gloom of https://21-casino.uk/withdrawal/ Alnwick Castle and its 11th-century architecture, interiors and courtyards have attracted the attention of many historical directors before. It was here that Harry flew on a broom over the perfectly manicured lawns around the castle, taking part in Quidditch competitions, and in the castle courtyard the film’s characters learned to control naughty brooms. The actors were attached to a crane that moved up and down, creating the illusion of flight.
For the Great Hall, where Hogwarts students dined and danced at balls, and Professor Dumbledore made welcoming speeches, a suitable location was also found in the real world. The production designers were inspired by the architecture of the dining hall in Christ Church College. It has not changed its purpose since the 16th century and for a long time remained the largest at Oxford University. Since the building is ancient, there were fears that the ancient York stone that lined the floors of the hall could not withstand the load of hundreds of feet of actors, plus the heavy equipment constantly moving around the hall could cause harm to it. In order to preserve this unique floor, a flooring imitating an ancient stone floor was created and a significant part of the budget allocated for the construction of decorations was spent.
Filming of the corridors, classrooms of Hogwarts and the office of transfiguration professor McGonagall took place in Durham Cathedral 11th century for two weeks. In addition, it was he who became the prototype of the double square towers of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The scene with the visit to the library in the restricted section was filmed in the hall of Duke Humphrey of Lancather in Bodleian Library in Oxford. Throughout the 600 years of the library’s existence, it is strictly forbidden to bring fire into it, even in a lantern. The creators of Harry Potter were the first to be allowed to break this ban.
Filming of the office of Professor Flitwick, the dean of the Ravenclaw faculty, took place in one of the classrooms of the oldest public school for boys. Harrow School (Harrow School) is located a few miles from London and is famous for the fact that many who later became famous cultural, scientific and political figures studied within its walls. Among them is Winston Churchill.
Forbidden Forest
Filming of the dark and scary Forbidden Forest took place in Black Park in Buckinghamshire (Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire), approximately 32 kilometers from London. The territory of the Park is often used when filming films. And it was no coincidence that the choice fell on this place when filming a series of films about Harry Potter. In the Black Park, even on sunny days there is always twilight.
House on Privet Drive
The two-story cottage in which Harry lived with Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley was located on Privet Drive. In reality, this house is located in Martins Heron Berkshire county in southeast England, on a street with endlessly identical houses. Chris Columbus’s idea was to create Harry’s closet in the middle of a huge urban jungle.
All residents of the street used in the film gave permission for filming, but when production went beyond the original schedule, the area asked for too much money to continue filming there. For the filming of the next episodes, it was decided to recreate its exact copy in the film studio pavilions. Two years after the premiere of the first film, the cottage was sold for £250 thousand (pounds sterling). Since then, its owners have changed several times, and the interiors have been remodeled. But from the outside the house still looks the same.
When designing the interiors of the Dursleys’ house, the decorators took into account that Petunia takes pride in her comfort and keeps the house impeccably clean. But the decor and furniture were chosen in such a way that it felt like the owner had no sense of taste. Also, to convey the love the Dursleys had for their child, many photographs of Dudley were made and school certificates that he earned for such things as “swimming 5 meters” and “constantly eating lunch”.
A completely different approach was taken to Harry’s famous closet. The ordinariness of the closet has become its feature. Harry was given one shelf on which he kept several personal treasures. These jewels were a way of expressing Harry’s longing for a different life – one that would begin in the film with the arrival of a flurry of letters.
Diagon Alley
The indoor market became the backdrop for Diagon Alley Leadenhall, located in the historical center of London. It has been in operation since the 14th century. The uniquely designed glass roof and cobbled floors of this market attract many tourists. The store at 42 Bull’s Head Passage is particularly popular. Through its blue front door, the film’s characters entered the Leaky Cauldron bar. And yet most of the scenes were shot at Leavesden studios.
Gringotts Wizarding Bank
The exterior of the Gringotts magical bank was inspired by the Australian embassy in London. This is a monumental room, decorated with crystal chandeliers and 1 thousand tons of Australian marble. In addition, scenes were filmed in the exhibition hall of the building when little Harry first went to the bank, accompanied by Hagrid.
King Cross Station
According to the book, filming also took place in London Zoo and on King Cross station. The role of King’s Cross station in the Harry Potter books is no coincidence: the train on which JK Rowling’s parents met departed from here. That is why King Cross has become the place where young magicians begin their journey to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. They just filmed between platforms number three and four, because the ninth and tenth are actually located on the side of the building, and the architecture there is not so interesting. Now the station has installed a trolley stuck in the wall, with which you can take a photo – for free, while standing in line, or with the help of a professional photographer for £20 (pounds sterling).
Filming of Philosopher’s Stone at the station took place on a Sunday because it was the least busy day at the terminal. As the Hogwarts Express stood on one of the platforms, a huge crowd of onlookers soon gathered and couldn’t believe their eyes. It was a historic day for Harry Potter fans.
The Hogwarts Express is actually a real locomotive called Alton Hall (no. 5972), which was built at the Great Western Railway’s Swindon Works in 1937 and remained in service until 1963. Like hundreds of other vintage locomotives, it ended up in a scrapyard in South Wales. But it was saved in ’97 and rebuilt for the film.
Design and visuals
The visual part of cinema is determined by three figures: the director, the cameraman and the production designer. In the case of the Potter series, the only constant of this trinity was Stuart Craig. Perhaps it was he who became the key to the visual unity of the franchise.
Before Potter, production designer Stuart Craig worked on David Lynch’s The Elephant Man and Superman ’78.
Craig was responsible for the locations for location filming and oversaw the production of sets, props and costumes. He, like Columbus, was sensitive to Rowling’s books, consulted with her and asked her permission if he wanted to make major changes. He tried to show Hogwarts as a place that had evolved and changed over the centuries, rather than as a newly created set. Directors changed, but Craig remained with his approach.
The production designer built the film’s sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, based on most English cathedrals from the Middle Ages. To film scenes in Diagon Alley, Craig came up with his own version of the location, incorporating Georgian, Tudor, and Queen Anne architecture. He started with the idea of London as depicted in the works of the great Victorian writer Charles Dickens and began researching what the city looked like in the early 1800s. So he decided to capitalize on the tendency of buildings to lean in different directions and designed them with a slope that would defy Muggle gravity.
Stuart Craig’s sketches of the exterior of Hogwarts Castle were converted into architectural drawings and then into a one-twenty-fourth scale model. Model built at Shepperton Studios was used for exterior shots of the castle in films one to six. It was thought out to the smallest detail, right down to the miniature owls in the Owlery and the tiny telescope in Dumbledore’s office.
During his first meeting with JK Rowling in 1999, Craig asked about the geography of the castle and its surroundings. Rowling drew a map of Hogwarts in a few minutes, which became a kind of bible for the production designer. Stuart Craig deservedly received an Oscar nomination for the film "Philosopher’s Stone".
While working on the film’s visuals, Columbus focused the special effects team’s attention on the use of both animatronics and computer graphics. Nick Dudman, of Star Wars fame, was tasked with developing special prosthetic makeup for the mechanical models, while Jim Henson’s Creature Shop took on the responsibility of bringing the characters to life. Designer John Coppinger claimed that while working on magical creatures, several options were considered for their creation. For example, the three-headed dog Fluffy was created on the computer, however, the creature effects department made a copy of one of his giant paws so that Harry, Ron and Hermione could move it and open the hatch. Although viewers didn’t notice, to make Fluffy more "realistic", the animators made sure that each of his three heads moved independently and had their own personality – one head was more attentive, another was smart, and the third was sleepier.
To make Quidditch more dynamic and the audience to feel the speed, the authors added tall towers around which they could fly and create a foreground atmosphere. After deciding what the stadium would look like, the filmmakers had to determine how and where to build it. It was supposed to be a large structure of real size, which was supposed to be located in the same Scottish Highlands as Hogwarts. Both factors presented huge problems. It was impossible to build such a huge complex in a mountain valley in Scotland, so computer images had to be used in filming. As a rule, Columbus preferred to do everything hands-on, so this was a significant step. However, they built the base and top of one of the towers in the studio and left the rest of the stadium to the digital imagination. The costume designer tried to create a look that would be familiar to kids who watch football or rugby or whatever, so that they would immediately see Quidditch as a sport.
Of all the scenes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Chris Columbus said he was "the most excited" to film the giant chess scene. A giant chessboard and huge chess pieces 3.5 meters high were built. The statues were radio-controlled, which was far from a simple operation due to their height and weight, and the fact that their bases were relatively small.
The film contains approximately 600 special effects shots. Industrial Light & Magic studio created Voldemort’s face on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head, Rhythm & Hues created the dragon Norbert, and Sony Pictures Imageworks prepared the Quidditch scenes. Computer special effects were also used in the development of the mountain troll. To avoid injury, Daniel Radcliffe was not actually involved in the scene where his character fought the mountain troll. The actor’s image was added using computer graphics.
Gary Gero was responsible for training birds – owls and crows. 80% of the owls in the film were natural. They really learned to fly in the right direction and carry postal cargo. To film the moments where the letters are carried by owls, very thin paper was used so that the tame owls could hold the envelopes. It was not easy, because owls are not particularly smart. No wonder 3-4 birds were used in the role of the white owl Bukli.
Music
The soundtrack to the film was composed by the cult John Williams – creator of soundtracks for the films “Jurassic Park”, “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones” and many others. The composer composed the music in his mansions located in Los Angeles and Tanglewood, and then recorded it in London studios in September 2001. The film features many signature themes, most of which were repeated in the second installment of the franchise, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. One of the themes written for “Harry Potter” – “Hedwig’s Theme” – was liked by everyone so much that it became the theme song for the entire franchise.
Williams was nominated for an Oscar in 2002 for his score for Harry Potter. However, he did not receive another statuette for his collection (the composer already had five Oscars), losing the prize to Howard Shore, who wrote the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings.
Interesting facts
Throughout the world, the film, like the novel, is known as “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”. But in the USA they were released under the title “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” – “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, because in America the word “philosophical” is often not associated in meaning with magic. Rowling herself suggested the word "magical" instead of "philosophical", but later stated that she very much regretted it. Because of this, every scene in the film that mentioned the Philosopher’s Stone had to be filmed twice – once when the actors said "philosophical" and again when they said "magical".
Hogwarts slogan "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus"!" is Latin for "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."!»
The UK Child Labor Act was changed to allow children under 14 to work for the film. Additionally, film studios had to ensure that child actors received proper education while working on set. Therefore, the schoolchildren actors did real homework right on camera.
Emma Watson originally wore fake teeth, just like in the book. But only one scene was filmed with them, the final one at the station. If you look closely you will see an overlay in this scene. Chris Columbus quickly realized that not only was it damaging her mouth, but it was also causing problems with her speech.
JK Rowling was offered to play the role of Lily Potter, but she refused and the role went to Geraldine Somerville.
In long shots, to make Hagrid stand out above the crowd, actor Robbie Coltrane was replaced by a stunt double, former rugby player Martin Bayfield, whose height is 208 centimeters. Because of this, Hagrid’s hut was also made in two scales, which at the same time made it possible to film Harry, Ron and Hermione among the furniture, which is very large for them.
Actor David Bradley, who played the role of Hogwarts caretaker Filch, in order to better get used to the role of a lonely, grumpy old man, rented a separate cottage and settled in it with a cat who “played” the role of Mrs. Norris. They lived there for a month before filming, getting into character.
Crabbe and Goyle do not say a word throughout the entire film, but only nod their heads, glance at each other, or grin. In turn, Harry Potter himself does not pronounce a single working spell out loud in the film. Just pay attention to this the next time you watch.
The text of the letter addressed to Harry on behalf of Professor McGonagall was handwritten by props artist Mirafora Mina.
To show the scope of Ollivander’s activities, decorators placed seventeen thousand boxes in his shop. Each one has been aged and also has a custom label with numbers, runes and different shapes.
The coins in the jar for the first film were made of metal, but since they began to disappear, in subsequent films the coins were made of plastic.
The platform guard at King’s Cross station who asks Harry, "Do you think this is funny??", when Harry asked him where platform 9 and 3/4 was, a real employee of the Great North Eastern Railway.
The Scottish cat who played the role of the cat that Minerva McGonagall transformed into ran away during filming and returned only two days later.
Neville Longbottom received a reminder from his grandmother, but couldn’t remember what he forgot. However, in this scene Neville is the only student without a robe. Most likely, his grandmother wanted to remind him not to forget to put on his robe.
At Hogwarts, only one flight of "flying" steps was real. All the rest were “revitalized” using digital processing.
When the heroes walk along the stairs changing direction, on the wall you can see a portrait of Anne Boleyn – the wife of King Henry VIII Tudor of England. Anne Boleyn was accused of being a witch and was subsequently executed.
The game Ron plays in the giant chess scene is called the Scandinavian Defense. It is considered extremely unpredictable and difficult for any of the parties involved in the fight.
All the food you see in the big hall scenes is 100% real. Director Chris Columbus wanted to perfectly capture the intricate feasts from the books (and he did). The only problem is that food spoils very quickly when exposed to hot production lights and creates a very unpleasant odor. That’s why for future HP films they froze the food and created molds to make the fake food look more realistic.
During his very first potions class, Professor Snape asked Harry what would happen if he mixed crushed goldenflower root with a tincture of wormwood? Few people know that in the language of flowers used in the Victorian era, goldenflower is a lily, meaning eternal regret for someone, and wormwood symbolizes the bitterness of loss. Thus, the professor’s question can be translated as "I bitterly regret Lily’s death.".
Rupert Grint drew an unflattering caricature of Alan Rickman during the filming of his first potions lesson. And while he was drawing it, Rickman stood right behind him, which greatly scared Grint. Luckily for him, Rickman had a sense of humor and really liked the drawing. He made Grint sign it and took it for himself.
In the frame when friends show Harry stands with the names of the best catchers in the history of Hogwarts, next to the name of Harry’s father – James Potter – you can see the name of Minerva McGonagall – the school’s deputy headmaster and transfiguration teacher. She actually played on the school Quidditch team and was very successful at it, but she was injured in a game with Slytherin (therefore, already being a professor, she remained partial to the game and the success of her team).
British actor Warwick Davis played two roles in the film. He first appears as the goblin at Gringotts Bank and then as Professor Flitwick.
According to Buzzfeed, the reaction of young actors to the Great Hall was real. The actors had not seen the Great Hall before filming the hat sorting scene, and the excitement and childlike wonder could be captured on camera in real time.
If you look at old maps of London in the seventeenth century, you can see that Muggle Street was located near the Shakespeare Theater.
Producer and director Chris Columbus stated in an interview that he was disappointed with the visual effects in the film. According to him, they were made hastily and did not correspond to what was planned. This, however, did not stop the film from being nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Visual Effects.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was nominated for an Oscar three times. Only Deathly Hallows Part Two was equal in number of nominations to the first film, the rest had fewer.
The main differences between the film and the book
Missing from the film are Mrs. Figg, with whom Harry was often left, Piers Polkiss – Dudley’s friend, the poltergeist Peeves, Professor Beans, Professor Sprout, Slytherin Pansy Parkinson, and several other less important characters.
In the book, more strange things happened to Harry as a child, then his hair grew back overnight, then the disgusting jumper right before his eyes became smaller and smaller, then Harry accidentally teleported to the roof of the school cafeteria.
Before the Dursleys and Harry stayed in a hut in the middle of the sea, Vernon spent a day chasing them around various places, trying to lose track of.
After visiting Diagon Alley, Harry returned to the Dursleys for another month, and only then went to King Cross Station.
Book Ron understood that this was the same Harry Potter in front of him, so he deliberately sat down next to him, although the train was full of empty seats.
In the book there was another test with flasks with poison, among which there was one flask without it, and it had to be calculated using a riddle.
In the finale, Harry loses consciousness from the surging pain due to touching Quirrell and is saved by Dumbledore, who arrives in time.
Conclusion
On November 4, 2001, the premiere of the film “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” took place. The first-day US box office record set by the first Star Wars episode was broken. $31.6 million vs. $28.5 million.
In February 2002, The Philosopher’s Stone was the most commercially successful film since Titanic.
It’s no secret that directors find it extremely difficult to please fans of the book. After all, when reading, we form our own image of the character, which often does not coincide with the director’s vision, but Chris Columbus coped with his task 100%. We got a ticket to the wonderful world of JK Rowling.
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