A2- Case study of Pre-Production documentation.

Liam Coote

Pre-production process of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

I have decided to pick the blockbuster film Harry Potter, and the Philosopher’s Stone Which was released in
2001. The overall film is based on a series of books which was written by the author J.K.Rowling. The overall
story line of this blockbuster film is based on how a young boy who was born into a family of wizards but due
to his parents' death, he quickly becomes an orphan. The newborn Baby “Harry Potter” grew up and become
the world’s strongest and most powerful wizard at Hogwarts school of Wizardry. The pre-production of this
film took around 14 months to be completed which had allowed them to find prime locations, outstanding
crew and cast but most of a detailed and understandable storyline which will help the overall film succeed. The
overall pre-production has seen to have cost around $125,000,000 from the producers of the film, Warner
Bros. The Production of the film started in February 2000 which caused them to have a 14-month window
where the film then was released on the 16th November 2001.
The Pre-production is seen to consist of many categories and below I will be speaking about each one-

Budget- Firstly, the use of a Budget has seen to be a huge aspect for designing Harry Potter and the reason for
this is because if anything occurred wrong it would cause them to have to spend thousands of pounds to sort
the situation which will cause them to waste money and also cause more time for the film to be done. For this
to not occur, they were needed to make sure that everything was planned in detail with what they are doing at
specific times and what problems could occur if anything happens. This then links to the use of a risk
Assessment. Warner Brothers are seen to be the producers of all of Harry Potters films and this is due to them
being able to fund money for the film. The Main reason for this is because Harry Potter first started out as just
booked and was seen to be a huge success and they took this opportunity to put this success into films. With
the storyline being a very long storyline, it caused a huge budget to be put into place and warner brothers
didn’t think twice decided to give as much as they needed to allow the film to be as successful as the original
films. As we know, I have been able to find out the overall budget which was given to help and design the
overall film which has caused it to be a great success. The original budget of the film was $150,000,000 which
was given to them by their production's companies such as Warner bros and Heyday Films. With having such a
high budget, it has allowed them to use their budget on important aspects such as the use of equipment which
has allowed the film to be a great success which helps increase the views of the film. From this it had caused
them to make £16,335,627 within the opening, which was located within England on the 18 November 2002,
but had then gained an estimate of $90,294,621 on the opening weekend in the USA on the same date.
Overall, the film had made an estimate of $970 million from the date 6th November 2011 which had caused it
to become one of the most successful blockbuster films of all time.
For The overall film, we can see that they have been able to spend their budget very successfully which has
allowed them to gain a great amount of profit causing the film to become a great blockbuster. The budgeting
and finance of a film is seen to be crucial and covers many categories such as- story rights, screenplay,
producers, director, casting, production costs, visual effects, music, costume, set production and props. All
these will be taken into consideration by the team and will allow them to understand what to spend which will
cause the overall film to be a great success. The overall film was a success as this was due to there being a
presold audience due to how successful the books were before the film. This is why Warner brothers decided
to take over and they could see how successful the films can be due to the books. In addition to this, the films
and books was highly aconite to London which allowed them to gain a wider audience due to people who
haven’t been to London wanting to know what it could be like.

Location- With the film seen to have very key and large construction, it has caused a large amount of money to
come out of their budget and be placed into the locations of the Film. This is because it allows the overall film
to have a great setting which will fit with the overall storyline which then makes the film an overall successful
blockbuster. I have been able to find out that Harry Potter has used a range of Locations but the main location
was Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, England which is where most of filming was filmed and
the reason for this is because there was around five warehouses which had allowed them to place their props
in such as Animal department, creature department and many more. This allowed them to store and design
their props for the films. Warner Bros are also seen to have filmed many blockbuster films within the past
such as All the Harry Potters, A star is born (2018), Candy Shack (1980) and many more. The success of
using the Warner Bros, Studios is it has allowed them to cut their cost down which has caused them to not
have to spend huge amount of budget on locations which allowed them to spend it on better things
such as costumes to allow the film to look as realistic as possible. Also, using Warner Bros. as their
producers has allowed the film to become a great success due to them being a very popular
A2- Case study of Pre-Production documentation.
Liam Coote

company who are also seen to have a great number of followers which has then cause the film to become
popular. They are also seen to have used a range of other locations such as Kings cross Station, Kings cross,
London, England, UK/ Australia House, Strand, London, UK and Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland,
England, UK. CONCLOMORATE From above we can see that They have used a high number of locations which
are all seen to be located within the UK which is seen to be a great advantage for them because it means they
will not have to travel cross countries which will cause them to have to spend any more of their budget. With
there being a high amount of locations used within this film, this has then been done by the use of location
scouts. The use of location scouts as allowed them to find out if this specific location is suitable for the film and
will then pay to use the location for a certain period which will then allow all the filming to be completed
within that location. With the main locations be located within Warner Bros. Studios, we can see that this is
where most of the film was filmed such as the Hogwarts School and the common room. these two locations
are very popular within the film which causes them to be huge project. As we know the warner brothers
studios is based in England where the film is also located in England, this then allowed there budget to reduce
which helped cause them to not have to spend a lot of money on transport helping keep costs down.

Equipment- The use of equipment is seen to be the most important factor of wanting to film a film. The reason
for this this is because the use of equipment such as cameras and lighting allow the overall film to have a great
effect and look and also allows the overall film to be filmed which will then be edited by the editor when
filming has been completed. Within Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, they are seen to have used a
range of equipment going from cameras, Greenscreens and many more. For example, I have been able to find
out that the use of a Panavision Panaflex Platinum, Panavision Primo Lenses, Panavision Panaflex
Millennium XL2 and Panavision Panaflex Millennium were used within the film and was seen to be the most
successful use of cameras at the time. With them wanting to make sure that they can get the best angle and
shot, they had used fair amount of camera when filming which allowed them to get the best shot, they could
get. This then allowed them to reduce re-filming to be done which allowed them to stay on track and not fall
back. I have been able to find out that the use of the Panavision Panaflex Millennium is seen to be a camera
priced at £60,000, where then then bought a high amount of the camera which then caused the overall price
to increase. This camera is seen to be very significant due to it being very a very lightweight studio quiet
camera which converts easily into hand held or Steadicam configuration. From this we can see that they have
spent a huge amount of their budget on their equipment because it had allowed their shots to look
perfect and allows any features located within any shot to be a good quality which then overall
attract the audience. Lastly, with the use of equipment being very heavy and having to located in
different locations, the use of a transport captain is put into place. The use of a transport captain is
responsible for the transport of all the equipment, cast directors etc because it will make sure that
they get to the next locations in time and without the equipment being damaged, but if so, they would go to
John Seale who was named the director of cinematography.

Risk Assessment- Within every film production, there is seen to be a risk assessment and the reason for this is
because allows everyone located on set such as the cast to stay safe when filming. For the Harry Potter film, I
have been able to find the risk assessment that they had used and pick out key ricks which could have
happened when on set. With the film seen to have a range of stunts and fallen objects such as bricks etc, the
use of a risk assessment is very important, and everyone must be reassured. there was 34 stuntmen used in
harry potter film to create illusion of this fantasy world. The use of a risk assessment is made to allow the cast
to see the hazard before occurring which then means if the specific incident happens, the user will know what
to do after.
All the risks found within the risk assessment will need to be tested to see if it can damage or hurt any of the
cast and if so, it should be immediately fixed causing the risk to not occur. If a risk occurs, it will result into an
accident to occur which can then potentially cause damage to the cast who has been hurt. This
would then mean that the production/ film time will be increased due to the cast/team
member will need time to recover to full health. This will overall cause more money to have to
be spent from the budget for the time.
The main risk that I was able to find within their risk assessment and within their film is that
they had animals within the film. This is seen to be a major risk, this is because one of the
actors could potential be bit by one of the animals which will cause them to potentially be infected. They will
wanted to make sure that this did not occur because it would have had a he effect onto the production
schedule causing them to potentially fall behind and lose track.
A2- Case study of Pre-Production documentation.
Liam Coote

For the film I have chosen, Harry potter, I have been able to find the risk assessment that they had used within
the real film. This has then allowed me to understand and identify why they have identified these as being
huge risks whilst filming and how it can cause hazards to occur when filming. For example, with their filming
also being located outside, the use of tripping over tree roots and stump's is seen to be a huge risk when
filming outside. This would have a huge impact onto the actors and actresses who will be participating within
the filming. This is seen to have a big impact onto the actors/actresses because if they are running through the
woods, there can easily trip causing an accident to occur. To stop this from occurring, they (Location captain)
will need to find a safe and clear location which will help stop any accidents from occurring.
Overall, the risk assessment is seen to be a very important impact when filming and is seen to be designed by
the risk assessor. This then allows them to understand where risks could occur within the film with the help of
the story board.

Story Board- The use of a story board is seen to be a very important aspect when producing a film. This
is because it will allow the director to see what is occurring within every scene and will allow him to
know if anything needs to be adjusted or not. This is very beneficial as it will help improve the overall
film allowing the film to following the storyline located within J.K Rowling books. The overall storyboard
is seen a quick and easy process which is done by a drawer/designer where they will draw and talk and
what is exactly happening with exact scene which will then help understand what needs to be improved.
I have been able to find an example of Harry Potters storyboard which has then allowed me to see how it has
been designed and used by the director. Within this image, we can see three images which are seen to be
located within a specific scene in the film. We can see that this storyboard has what exactly should be located
within the scene and the body language of the characters, this then allows the cast to know what to do and
what to say with the help of the script. In addition to this we can see that they have located text onto the
right-hand side which states the use of camerawork, duration and description of what is occurring within the
scene. This is seen to be a very important factor to using a storyboard as it will help understand what can be
changed and what the overall scene is about which will then help know if the specific camera shot is suitable
for the scene.
Overall, I have been able to see that the use of a storyboard for harry Potter has been a great success as it has
allowed them to understand and see what will be occurring within the specific seen and how it can be
improved such as different type of shots, script etc.
The overall Harry Potter storyboard was a huge success and was produced and designed by Adam Brockbank.
Adam Brockbank is a very successful special effects individual who has designed and produced many successful
story boards within his past for many successful films. After his successful within Harry potter films, he has
gone and produced storyboards for Captain America: The first Avenger (2011), Star wars episode VIII- the last
Jedi (2017) and Star Wars the rise of sky walker (2019) .

Script- To allow the storyboard to go all to plan, the use of a script will need to be placed and completed
before. The reason for this is because, it will allow the designer of the storyboard to have an understand of
what should be done within every scene and what characters should be located within the scene. If this is not
done, it will cause the storyboard to not link in with the script which means the overall film will not make
scene which can cause a bad review to occur.
For Harry Potter I have been able to find the official script which is seen to be used for the film. Steve Kloves is
seen to be the script writer of this harry potter film and is seen to have huge success within over films. Steve
was able to script films such as The fabulous baker boy (1989) and wonder boys (2000). The script consists of
134 pages of script where we can see what each character had said within the specific scene. This has then
allowed the designer of the storyboard to have an understand of what the duration should be
for the specific scene which will help the overall storyboard go with the script. In addition to
this, the script was produced with the help of the overall Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling.
This then allowed the overall script to follow the book setting causing there to be a lack of
difference. It also allowed the directors to see if anything needed to be removed or added in
which will fit with the scene.
A2- Case study of Pre-Production documentation.
Liam Coote

Cast- Within Harry Potter, they are seen to have a wide range of successful cast members going from Daniel
Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Richard Harris (Dumbledore) and Emma Watson
(Hermione Weasley). Before the film was published, no one knew who the cast was and due to them being at
a very young age it caused them to not have much experience as some cast members. From doing this film, it
has caused them to become a great success with the help of the franchise as well due to the popularity of the
film. WHY DID IT MAKE THE FILM BETTER BY MAKING CASTERS UNKOWN AS THE CHILFERN ADDS TO THE
MAGIC AND FANTSSTY OF THE FILM YET KEEPING IT SOME WHAT REALISTIC. From above, we can see that
these 4 cast members are seen to have a very important role within all Harry potter films and books. They are
also seen to make the overall film have a great success due to them be very popular on the outside world.
because of the film’s success it made the actors highly successful For example, Daniel Radcliffe is a well-known
successful actor who has played within many films such as Swiss Army Man (2016), The women in Black
(2012), what if (2013) and many more. With his huge success as being an actor, he has been successful
enough to be able to win 15 nominations going from the best actor at Bravo Otto Germany
(2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007), Best leading male at Blood Guts UK Horror Award (2013) and many
more.
Overall, he has been able to have 15 wins and a total of 43 nominations. FAMOUS PEOPLE MAGGIE SMITH.
From The producer's side, they was very successful with picking the right cast for the right character role and
due to the characters being very young and with a lack of experience, it has allowed them to adapt and
become stronger individuals which caused a greater success rate for the film. Overall, it has allowed the film
production to run smoothly helping the film become a huge blockbuster film.