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Date Posted: 03:00:01 12/25/02 Wed
Chamber of Secrets Trailer!
Jul 10, 2002 GMT
www.harrypotter.co.uk is proud to present the new trailer for HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, the highly anticipated next installment in the HARRY POTTER series. This trailer can be seen in cinemas across the UK from Friday 21st June onwards.
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS finds young wizard Harry Potter (DANIEL RADCLIFFE) and his friends Ron Weasley (RUPERT GRINT) and Hermione Granger (EMMA WATSON) facing new challenges during their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they try to discover a dark force that is terrorizing the school.
Joining the original cast are Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout and Mark Williams as Ron's father Mr Weasley. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE director Chris Columbus and producer David Heyman will reprise their filmmaking roles on HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS.
Interview with Stuart Craig (Art Director)
Jul 31, 2002 GMT
How long did you have to design and build the sets before the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? And how did this compare to the work done prior to the first film?
We had seven months preparation until the start of shooting in November 2001 on The Chamber of Secrets, which compared to six months for the first film, which gave us more time. But, we were preparing for the second film whilst still shooting Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, so in that sense it was more complicated.
How many sets are there for The Chamber of Secrets?
We had 96 sets on the first film and 59 on the second one. Although it seems like more on the second film this is probably due to the fact we shot a lot more sets on location in the first film.
How easy was the transition from the first film to The Chamber of Secrets?
It was an immediate transfer for us in some ways and it was easier in that we weren't creating the entire world as we had already done that for the first film. So, what we got the chance to do was improve on lots of things such as the quality of Quidditch, the quality of the architecture, particularly Dumbledore's office and Lockhart's classroom and office.
How big is the Great Hall?
140 x 40 feet. The Great Hall is based on Christ Church College in Oxford. The hall is used in both the first and second films. The benches and tables were especially made for Harry Potter. The floor itself is made out of genuine Yorkshire Stone. Normally you would make the floor our of plaster as with the walls, but we felt the need to make it out of real stone in order to withstand the hundreds of pairs of childrens' feet continually trampling through!
The Chamber of Secrets set itself is quite spectacular, what was the thinking behind this?
The set is the biggest we have made so far 250 x 120 feet. JK Rowling's book describes the chamber as being very tall with huge snakes towering above. But, as Leavesden is an old aircraft factory and wasn't designed as a film studio, it doesn't have the height of the purpose-built sound stages. One answer was to create the height with visual effects, but I thought that I could solve this by building down or at least creating the illusion of height by giving the set depth. So, by filling the areas surrounding the snake heads and the Salazaar Slytherin head with water, you get the illusion that the snakes and head go down below the surface hundreds of feet. We imported thousands of gallons of water, dyed it black so you would get a further sense of depth.
How many people are in the Art Department?
We have a very large art department and an extended art department. We have 25 art directors and draftsmen, 4 set dressers, 4 sculptors, 5 portrait artists, 2 scenic artists, around 20 prop men and 300 construction workers. All these people helped design the sets, built the sets and dressed the sets. It is certainly the biggest team I have ever worked with.
Interview with Kenneth Branagh (Professor Gilderoy Lockhart)
Aug 1, 2002 GMT
Describe Your Character:
Lockhart is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, an apparently fantastically successful wizard and writer of many famous books, which are now being used as textbooks at Hogwarts School. He is much admired by the female students, which is very irritating to the boys. He is a narcissus, a gadfly, very full of himself and faintly idiotic. But he can be rather touching at times. He amuses and intrigues us. Is he or isn't he a good guy? He is certainly a strange peacock of a man.
Lockhart is a wonderfully flamboyant and humorous character. How difficult was it making him real and not a pantomime character? How did you go about fleshing him out?
Chris Columbus, takes his cue from JK Rowling. She writes with complexity (there is a very deceptive simplicity about the books). They seize on moments when Lockhart is rather vulnerable and we used these to try and show that he is more than a pantomime character. For instance, he falls prey to Snape in a dueling match and it's his chance to show off, but it doesn't come off as Snape is rather better than him and there are a couple of moments in that scene where we see Lockhart's sensitive side. Like many actors, he is a mix of massive ego and deep insecurity. The extremes of his character seem to be an annoying super-confidence (utterly ruthless at times), and then being a weakness and helplessness when challenged. But, there is a beating heart in there that goes hand in hand with arrogance. Chris Columbus was keen to see the fragility in the character. He is idiotic but vulnerable and his vulnerability is a redeeming feature, which helps keep the audience - and the kids at the school - on his side.
Did you have much input into the look of the character and the costumes?
JK Rowling describes Lockhart's appearance in much more impressionistic ways than many of the other characters. She talks of his 'flowing golden locks' which we have tried to match with quite an excessive hair-do. His clothes are not described in detail but she does talk of his dandyish quality that Chris Columbus was very keen to exploit. The first Harry Potter film was quite dark and this one, as with the books, is even darker so Lockhart's character is a chance to splash some colour into the movie. We played with a variety of classical looks from the nineteenth century to the 1930s that we thought Lockhart would be pleased to emulate - from a 1930s country houseguest to the New Romantic poet in his apartments wearing a red gown. There is a flourish to everything he wears - frills, waves, satin. Somehow in there, Chris Columbus was keen that he remained manly while still fulfilling the gadfly expectations. Lindy Hemming, our Costume Designer, is brilliant and she managed to keep Lockhart manly while also offering comic visual flourishes. Given that the book says little about his clothes, we had a lot of license - and we used it.
What was it like joining a very established Cast and Crew?
There is a great family atmosphere, which is quite unusual on a film of such enormous scale. One movement order that I saw was the size of a telephone directory! The atmosphere has been quite amazing and almost entirely down to Christopher Columbus. It's extremely friendly and surprisingly open given the concerns over maintaining a level of secrecy about surprises in the movie. We have a vast number of visitors, which also contributed to a healthy, relaxed atmosphere. There have been lots of children visiting as well as friends of the cast. There has also been a great sense of excitement on set. Chris Columbus carried forward a real relish about the possibilities for this second film, rather than any sense of his having done it before, and a real excitement about exploring the potential that the second story offers. So there were two key things that I noticed - relaxation and paradoxically, excitement.
Were you a fan of the books before?
I was very admiring of the apparent simplicity with which JK Rowling writes about a world of great detail and complexity. Apart from great storytelling she creates characters who fit beautifully into the already complicated patter of a detailed series of books that she has mapped out right to the end of the series. I am in awe of the way she marshals all this material and of the cosmology of magic that she has newly minted. If you read around the subject, every name has an etymology that is completely consistent with the world she has created. It's remarkable work. She takes kids seriously and deals with issues such as race, politics and power struggles that are presented with sophistication but still inside a rollicking good read. Her contemporary themes are lightly done and engage the audience. Her confidence that she is taking the audience with her allows her to be more ambitious so that the tone darkens as the books continue and she is prepared to frighten her readers more. As you read all the books, it's fascinating to see her meet the challenge of taking a young audience through their own adolescence as well as Harry Potter's while still creating books that appeal to a new generation of 10-year olds. When I read the first book, Dickens came to mind. Her construction, the moral tone, the gallery of characters make her a modern parallel to Dickens.
What was it like working with the children? Were they as you imagined?
I didn't know what to imagine. I thought it must be odd for these kids to be that age and to be in one of the most successful films of all time. They might easily have turned into monsters but on of the chief joys has been the company of the three principal kids. They are all remarkably well adjusted which is a tribute to their parents and to Chris Columbus. He allows them to play and they do. All three are very different but they are all very bright, very polite - while still being kids. They are also all very funny. It's a cliché but you end up learning a lot from them. They are incredibly self-possessed even in the middle of the adolescent storm and they have the ability to be totally present in a scene. They worry less than older actors. They are truly delightful and it has been a real pleasure.
What has it been like working with Chris Columbus and David Heyman?
Chris Columbus has the gift of energy, which is an absolute requirement for a director. The atmosphere on a film is always dictated by the director. He is energized, has the gift of staying enthusiastic over a very long period and maintaining his excitement about the material. The kids have to go off to school for long chunks of time and often you get to a certain point in the scene and you want to continue but the kids have to be sent off to their lessons - but I have never once seen him express even the tiniest bit of frustrations. From a technical point of view he has to keep an overview of this massive project and it would be very easy to lose your way but he manages to maintain an admirable vision.
David Heyman has the same capacity for having an enduring excitement about the material and because of this great relationship with JK Rowling is a fantastic resource for all of us for information and background detail. He and Chris make a formidable team.
How do you feel that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Will differ from the first film?
It's darker. The books get darker one by one so it's nice to be Gilderoy Lockhart who brings a strong comic energy to the piece and complicates the audience's idea of who has done what. It's also good to see the kids growing older before your very eyes. It adds a different texture and makes the story grittier, tougher and leaner (as they are!). It makes you feel that you are watching something different and highly unusual in cinema.
What is Lockhart's Relationship with Harry Potter?
Lockhart is ravenous in his appetite for publicity for himself. It's partly born out of insecurity and the knowledge that his achievements are bogus. Harry Potter guarantees Lockhart the front page of the wizard newspaper, The Daily Prophet. Lockhart's policy is to meet truly clever people, copy them and publish their stories under his own name. So Harry Potter is the greatest prize he has ever come across and he takes the teaching post at Hogwarts because he wants to purloin Harry's fame. The pursuit of Harry's genius drives Lockhart's journey through the film. Harry and the other boys are also jealous of Lockhart's success with the female students who are very impressed by him. Lockhart believes the craven pursuit of fame at any price, is a perfectly laudable exercise.
What is Lockhart's relationship with the other professors in the school and their view of him?
Initially they are prepared to give him the full benefit of the doubt. He has published successful books after all. But almost immediately they see that he is very full of himself and they begin to suspect he is a charlatan. Some of them find him touching and amusing (e.g. Dumbledore and McGonagall), but to Snape and Filtch he is very irritating. Lockhart has no time for anyone else but himself so he disregards Snape's disdain, which leads to some comic opportunities. He is a whirlwind of narcissism that blows itself through the school - amusing and irritating in equal measures
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