Harry Potter Production Designer Offers Set Spoilers
Academy Award–winning production designer Stuart Craig, who has been behind the fanciful sets for the Harry Potter franchise from the start, sat down with Arch Digest to discuss the out-of-this-world sets from the final film. We've hidden his set design spoilers after the jump to spare Potter perfectionists—who would probably prefer to not know what the site of the final battle between Voldemort and Harry looks like, right? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Here are ten tasty tidbits from the Arch Digest interview:
1. Bill and Fleur Weasley’s beachfront cottage is constructed from shells, and Craig says "You can see how scallop shells can lend themselves to overlapping and shedding water. I was kind of pleased with the logic underlying the structure that we had found there."
2. Gringotts Wizarding Bank, where Harry and his sidekicks go searching for one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, has every exaggerates traditional bank features, to "convey this feeling of reassurance, of stabililty, of solidity." Using diminutive goblins as the bank tellers draws further attention to the grand proportions.
3. In the bank's vault, the script called for piles of treasure that would multiply when touched, so "the special effects supervisor made a floor that was capable of rising on different levels" and the rest was enhanced with visual effects.
4. All that "stability and solidity" fly out the window, or rather, the roof, when Harry and his cohort make their escape astride a dragon that crashes through the bank's marble lobby. The computer-generated dragon was quite a step up from ten years ago, when production designers "would have done most things physically—even some of the creatures were sculpted full size and operated as animatronic creatures."
5. Some of the sets are more quaint than grand, like Honeydukes Sweet Shop, which once housed a secret passage into Hogwarts that is, ominously, "now sealed off."
6. Like any good British prep school, Hogwarts has a spectacular boat house. In the books, it is described "as an underground harbor," but for the films it was rendered as a well-lit Gothic building. Voldemort and Severus Snape meet here in the course of the film.
7.
History Gothic Architecture - News
The whole movie was a great show in the history of Gothic architecture." 8. Some of the sets were modified from previous appearances in the franchise to suit the new script. Harry and Voldemort face off in the Hogwarts entrance hall, during which "the
It was founded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1477 to commemorate their victory over the Portuguese army at the Battle of Toro and is an exquisite example of dainty Isabelline Gothic architecture. Its elaborate two-storey cloisters,
Hogwarts is no longer just a wizarding school but a new and easy reference to Gothic architecture everywhere. Especially for American high school students on college visits. Especially east of the Mississippi. They can be heard outside stony academic
Sir George was one of most successful architects of the British history. He was born on July 13, 1811 in Gawcott, Buckinghamshire. Sir George is indeed known for his special talents in Gothic Revival architecture. He was the man behind several amazing
The two spires of this powerful looking Gothic church (with a Baroque interior) can be seen from all over Prague. Tyn Church is impressive by day, striking by night, and just as aweing on the inside. Typical of Gothic architecture, the two spires
Medieval and Gothic Architecture History and Origins — The News
Architecture is the living voice of the past and a window into history that reveals decades of knowledge and theology. In essence, Gothic Architecture, also known as Medieval architecture, is the product of multiple generations of influence. Characteristics include the pointed arch, ribbed vault and flying buttress. Spanning from the 12th to the 16th century this style of architecture, also termed “French Style” flourished and peaked during the high and late medieval period. The heart of the art evolved from Romanesque architecture, which later developed into Renaissance architecture.
Interestingly, the term “Gothic” used to describe this form of architecture is quite misleading as it implies that this genre of architectural design was heavily influenced by the Goths or Visigoth tribes. In actuality, those tribes were vanquished by the 6th century and thus their influence on architecture design is non-existent. It is by mere convention that the term “Gothic Architecture” is used to describe these distinctive designs.
The influence of Gothic architecture can be seen in castles, palaces, houses, universities and town halls. Its designs are prominent all over the world, especially in European countries. No matter where the designs are found, the powerful beauty is pronounced and distinctive, and it is an element of architectural design that is awesome and mysterious at the same time.
Normandy: Its Gothic Architecture and History: 
The Cathedral of Bourges and Its Place in Gothic Architecture (Architectural History Foundation Book): 
The Cathedral of Bourges and Its Place in Gothic Architecture (Architectural History Foundation Book): 
"a great show in the history of Gothic architecture" beautiful! 
Morality and Architecture: The Development of a Theme in Architectural History and Theory from the Gothic Reviv... History Gothic Architecture - Bookshelf
Gothic architecture
In this edition Paul Crossley has revised the original text to take into account the proliferation of recent literature -- books, reviews, exhibition catalogues ...An history of the origin and establishment of Gothic architecture, comprehending also an account, from his own writings, of Cæsar Cæsarianus, the first professed commentator on Vitruvius, and of his translation of that author; an investigation of the principles and proportions of that style of architecture called the Gothic; and an inquiry into the mode of painting upon and staining glass, as practiced in the ecclesiastical structures of the middle ages
CHAPTER I. Various Opinions on the Origin of Gothic Architecture examined — State of Architecture from its Introduction at Rome to the Reign of Constantine ...Normandy, its Gothic architecture and history, as illustrated by twenty-five photographs from buildings in Rouen, Caen, Mantes, Bayeaux, and Falaise : a sketch
From him descended the Merovingian dynasty, the history of which is of little other importance, says Hallam, than to impress on the mind a thorough notion ...Gothic architecture ...
Neither Gothic nor any other architecture sprang, like Athene, full-grown and perfect from one source. The history of art is not one connected story, ...Gothic architecture
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE INTRODUCTION The term Gothic, as applied to the architectural period dating from the middle of the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth ...Casual Report Directory
Gothic architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An illustrated description of the origins and characteristics of the style and its variants and revival. It includes a list of notable Gothic structures.
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Gothic architecture: Information from Answers.com
Gothic architecture Architectural style in Europe that lasted from the mid 12th century to the 16th century, particularly a style of masonry building
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Gothic architecture in England. Norman, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular Gothic styles. What to see.
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