Reviews- Harry Potter Page To Screen and Warner Bros. Studio Tour

I briefly mentioned in my first post about my love for the Harry Potter series. This post is just for fellow Potter lovers I'm afraid. My boyfriend, (who knows my love for all things Potter) treated me to tickets to the Warner Bros. Studio tour for christmas and the Harry Potter Page to Screen book for my birthday (excellent choices). I'm going to share my experiences with you now. If you've been on the tour or have read this book, please share your thoughts too! 

Harry Potter Page To Screen 

This is a big heavy book, full of fantastic drawings and pictures. It offers a fantastic behind-the-scenes-guide to the Harry Potter films. I would definitely say that this is one for the real Potter nerds; I'm talking the fans that know their Hippogriffs from their Thestrals. What I love about this book is the exploration of the detail in the films: the props, the costumes, the makeup - in short all things creative. In my opinion, it's the incredible attention to detail that makes the films such a success. The actors playing Harry, Ron and Hermione, for me, did not live up to Rowling's portrayals, but the creative producers of the films did a fantastic job creating Hogwarts, The Burrow, Hogsmeade, dragons, Gringotts, The Great Forest, The Chamber of Secrets, The Ministry of Magic- everything just as I imagined. And this is what this book is about! I love flicking through this book at my leisure, admiring the trouble that was gone to in making the films look as magical as they do- no expense spared.

Fascinating information about the 'Marauders Map' and beautiful sketches of Hermione's Time Turner.

Crucial Information about Wizarding News

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape in the Great Hall. 

I can not recommend the Harry Potter Studio Tour highly enough. What Potter fan could not love seeing, first hand, the actual props used in the films or to stand in the great hall which they dreamed of countless times? 

Luna Lovegood's fantastic costumes. 

For me, it was fascinating to see the enormous trouble that went into creating the films. I gained an understanding of the thought processes and reasoning behind the creative choices in the films which, when I watch them back now, makes me appreciate them all the more. The attention to detail is incredible; costumes that reflect the character's mood, power and personality, props worn with age, models of the Hogwarts castle. Maybe I'm a geek, but I was rather overcome by it all! 

A cardboard model of the Hogwarts Owlery

I know that there are hundreds of pictures of the tour online (I have chosen to put only a few of the hundreds I took) but if you haven't been, I would really go and see for yourself; the pictures really do not do the hard work that went into the making the films justice. One bad thing I would say about the tour is that the souvenir shop (which sells fantastic replicas of props and costumes from the film) is horrendously overpriced. I'm talking £8 for a small chocolate frog- really. 

Attractive, but overpriced Potter goods. 

Any Potter fans that can recommend any other Harry Potter books or days out to keep the magic going (cheesey, I know) please let me know, I am very interested. Back to muggle books soon.