From a simple rig for Harry’s first flying lesson to the complicated visual effects of a Quidditch World Cup match, the art of broomstick flying evolved throughout the film series. To choreograph a busy Quidditch scene, every move was carefully plotted in a storyboard followed by weeks of the actors filming on broomstick rigs in front of a blue or green screen that was later replaced by the background of the Quidditch stadium.
Featured in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Knight Bus appears whenever a witch or wizard in is need of urgent transportation. Special Effects Supervisor, John Richardson, and his team cut the top off a real bus, added an additional level and then put the top back on before it was painted in its iconic purple hue.
Residing in Dumbledore’s office, the Pensieve is used by the Hogwarts Headmaster to review memories. First seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry and Professor Dumbledore use the Pensieve to view the trial of Barty Crouch Jr. It is later used to view memories from Professor Snape that show Snape’s relationship with Harry’s mother. The look of the Pensieve changed over time, originally found on a stone platform in the fourth instalment of the Harry Potter film series before it’s seen floating in mid-air during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
