It’s not just the movie makers who have benefited from the Potter craze, the franchise alone is worth $24,711,000,000 (Statistic Brain, 2011). The video games franchise alone has brought in $1.5 billion of revenue (LEAW, 2011). Ticket sales exceed $7,216million and toy sales in excess of $7,297 million (Statistic Brain, 2011). Overall the Harry Potter market has been incredibly successful, producing 7 books, 8 films and millions of pounds worth of profit to date.
When filming had finished Warner Bros turned their custom build sound stages in London into every Potter fans dream, a Harry Potter Studio tour. A playground of all things Harry Potter, the Warner Bros Studio Tour is expected to have 5000 visitors pass through its magical gates each day (Sun-Times, 2012). Having been given the opportunity myself to go on the tour, I would recommend it to any Potter or film fan as a fantastic day out. The amount of information on show is perfect for any budding film maker or designer, and there is just too much to take in for a single visit.
Here are just a few of the photos I took whilst on the tour:
For the purposes of this piece of writing, however, I am going to investigate the use of Nature in the world of Harry Potter. When is it used, why is it used, and how is it used so successfully.
Plants have been used as ingredients in medicines and healing remedies for hundreds if not thousands of years. It is widely known that many species of plants contain healing properties, from Aloe’s soothing effects on burns, to Fennels aid to digestion (Linsdomain, 2010a). Many cults, groups and religions have taken the medicinal properties of plants to the next level and have even used them for witchcraft, potions and spells. The following are some examples of plants and herbs that have been used for their magical properties:
Vervain- Placing some next to your bed will prevent nightmares.
Wearing a crown of Vervain gives protection when invoking spirits.
When mixed with water and sprinkled round the home, it can drive out evil forces.
Burying Vervain in the garden will make your plants thrive.
Oak- Known as the ancient tree of the druids and also one of the Fairy Triad (being oak, ash and thorn).
Placing acorns in a window will protect you from lightening.
Planting an acorn at night, in the dark of the moon will bring good fortune.
Hazel- Good for making magic wands.
Dandelion- Tea made from ground and roasted dandelion root will give psychic powers and enable the drinker to call up spirits.
Catnip- Used in love spells.
When used as book marks in spell books, catnip will give the magical words strength.
Almonds -Also good for making magic wands as almond is the plant of air, out of which element magic is formed.
(Linsdomain,
2010b)
At Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry
Potter and his classmates must attend their very own classes on magical plants.
‘Herbology’ is the study of magical plants and fungi, including their care,
magical properties and uses, whether on their own or in potions. (Harry Potter
Lexicon, 2012). JK Rowling at various points in the book talks about specific
books related to Herbology:
Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage
Encyclopaedia of Toadstools
Flesh-Eating Trees of the World
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean
Most Potent Potions
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Toadstool Tales by Beatrix
Bloxam
(Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012)
She obviously thought it significant enough in the Wizarding
world that books would be written about such things, and that young witches and
wizards would be taught about them at school. Magical plants are important to
the Wizarding community, or at least in the fantasy world they are. The
following is a list of specific magical plants that appear in the books:
A
Abyssinian Shrivelfig
Aconite (Monkshood, Wolfsbane)
Alihotsy
Ash
Aspen
Asphodel
B
Beech
BelladonnaBlackthorn
Black Walnut
Bouncing Bulb
Bubotuber
C
Cabbage
Cedar
Cherry
Chestnut
Cypress
D
Daisy
Devil’s Snare
Dirigible Plum
Dittany
Dogwood
E
Ebony
ElderElm
English Oak
F
Fanged Geranium
Fir
Flitterbloom
Flutterby Bush
Fluxweed
G
Gillyweed
Ginger
Gurdyroot
H
Hawthon
Hazel
Hellebore
Holly
Honking Daffodil
Hornbeam
K
Knotgrass
L
Larch
Laurel
Leaping Toadstool
Lovage
M
Mahogany
Mallosweet
Mandragora
Mandrake
Maple
Mimbulus Mimbletonia
Mistletoe Berries
Monkshool
N
Nettle
O
Oak
P
Pear
Peppermint
Pine
Pomegranate
Poplar
Privet
Puffapod
Pumpkin
R
Red Oak
Redwood
Rosewood
Rowan
Rue
S
Sage
Screechsnap
Scurvy-grass
Self-fertilising Shrubs
Silver Lime
Snargaluff Tree
Sneezewort
Sopophorous Bean
Spruce
Sycamore
U
Umbrella-sized Flowers
V
Valerian Roots/Sprigs
Venomous Tentacula
Vine
W
Walnut
Willow
Whomping Willow
Wolfsbane
Wormwood
Y
Yew
(List compiled
from Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012)
This is quite a comprehensive list, which suggests it is of some significance within the world of Harry Potter. But it is not only in potions that the world of Harry Potter talks about magical or enchanted vegetation. On the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds is the Forbidden Forest; described as a thick forest with beech, oak, pine, sycamore and yew. It is also said to contain wild and dangerous creatures like the Acromantulas (giant spiders), Thestrals (not so dangerous but still wild), Fluffy (the three headed dog) and many more (Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012). From its description, it suggests to me that the Forbidden Forest is a place of hiding, filled with mystery and the unknown, a place where animals and creatures dwell in dens, it is their lair and humans are not welcome.
“The forest hides
many secrets” (Rowling JK, 1997, pg280)
I think it is this element of the unknown and the mysterious that makes forests and natural environments so magical. It is away from our urban jungles, unlike it, free and unpredictable, and I think this unpredictability is a key factor in what makes nature somehow magical.
This is a concept drawing of the forbidden forest by Andrew Williamson. You can see here how Williamson took inspiration from tropical mangrove roots but adapted them for trees 12-14 feet around (McCabe, 2011, pg339).
 |
| McCabe, B (2011) Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey. Titan Books, London, Pg 339 |
In McCabe’s book he quotes the Production Designer for Harry Potter, Stuart Craig saying that he wanted the Forbidden Forest to feel like it had grown out of something real, that it was based on something real.
“The forest is
recognisably normal on the outside...but the deeper you penetrate it, the bigger
it gets, the more intimidating, the thicker the mist, and the greater the
mystery”.
Stuart Craig,
Production Designer
(McCabe, 2012,
pg339)
I purchased McCabe’s book Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey whilst at the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour. It is reveals an excellent insight into the world of Harry Potter but also into the workings of the film industry, in particular the involvement of the art department.
When I was reading through the book I was particularly looking out for information, opinions and design decisions related to the nature side of the potter world. Some interesting things came from my reading.
“In order to
create a believable world, all the places the characters inhabited needed to be
credible. To achieve this, the sets needed to feel real, no matter how magical
they might be.” (McCabe, 2012, pg323)
This is a quote from Stuart Craig (Production Designer) and I think it is a very good point that he makes. I had read similar ideas throughout conducting my research this year but Craig sums it up well. It links back to one of my previous blog entries after I spoke to Sean Myatt, a Tutor from NTU, and he said that to create fantasy you first need to create reality, its then the process of breaking it where fantasy is created. If we can relate to something in a fantasy film it makes it more easily believed because that element of reality is familiar to us- it’s then only a small jump to accept the fantasy element of the design.
In the fourth film, The Goblet of Fire, Craig talks about the design for the lake environment where the merpeople live. “...they enter the murky underworld of a lake filled with plant life, rocks, and creatures you imagine could exist for hundreds of years deep in a Scottish loch without being discovered and disturbed” (McCabe, 2012, pg129). It’s his use of the word “could” that I think is the key to designing for fantasy. If you can convince an audience that something fantastic and magical could exist then your job as a designer has been successful. Craig goes on to say later in the book that rather than inventing something new and bizarre, the designs they used in Harry Potter were always exaggerated from something identifiable, “The magic, when it does appear, is all the stronger because it is born out of something that is recognisable. This makes the magic somehow more effective when it finally appears, whether it manifests as ghosts, wand effects, or moving staircases” (McCabe, 2012, pg323). This principal is the same throughout the design, from the exaggerated Gothic architecture of Hogwarts, down to the delicate leaf structures of a Mandrake root. It is all based on the recognisable.
The Mandrake root is a good example of how they have used this principle of starting with a recognisable form and breaking it into the fantasy genre. This concept painting is by Dermot Power and it shows the full body of a baby mandrake:
 |
| McCabe, B (2011) Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey. Titan Books, London, Pg 426 |
It’s clear to see that the plant has a humanoid body shape like a baby with leaves growing out of the top. The identifiable element is the baby shape (with matching cries in the film) then the fantasy twist is that it’s actually a baby plant, so has leaves and is made of roots. Part of making something credible is giving it a purpose and a back story. For the mandrake it is that when it is removed from its pot it cries like a baby (with sometimes deadly consequences) but it has a reason for doing that; self defence. Everything in Harry Potter has a back story, a purpose, a history, a reason for being. Even the great Whopping Willow has a purpose for being at Hogwarts; it is revealed in the third book/film that it was planted the year Remus Lupin started Hogwarts as a student, to protect the entrance of a secret passage where Lupin fled during the periods he was due to turn into a werewolf. To make it credible it is given purpose.
Having taken a brief look into the world of Harry Potter and it use of plants, herbs and nature I have found some useful tips for my own work. The work for my MA is almost over but it will be useful for when I continue my research or for future design projects. I think one of the most important things I have established from this research is that nature already has an air of magic about it. It’s mysterious and in areas where there are some large organic structures, like deep forests, the magic is heightened. You don’t need to do a lot to a tree to make it feel a little bit magical. Hattie Storey, Art Director on Potter had this to say about wands, ““I think the more successful wands are organic looking, maybe whittled out of a bit of root or branch...To me, they are more mysterious and magical” (McCabe, 2012, pg481). She feels that the more successful wands, the most magical, the most enchanting looking wands, are those made from natural, organic, branches or roots. Its the ones that look most natural that feel most magical.
Another useful technique Potter has taught me has been to modify the existing. When designing the merpeople concept designer Adam Brockbank said that “Traditionally, there’s a break between the fish part and the human part...but we wanted to create creatures that followed a principle of naturalism and believability, and so we decided not to have that break.” (McCabe, 2012, pg431). They advanced the preconceptions we had of a mermaid and developed it to something new, something different.
The final and I think most important design tool was to start with something identifiable. It’s no good designing a tree that looks nothing like a tree, because the audience won’t believe it and so it will detract from the story. By basing a design on something the audience can relate to they will already have a connection with that object, then when you enhance it or exaggerate it they are much more likely to believe it. If they believe it “could” be possible then it was successful.
LEAW.com, 2011. Harry Potter statistics [online] Available at http://www.leawo.com/blog/2011/07/the-final-adventure-of-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-received-over-43-6m-box-office-receipts-abroad-since-the-theater-release/ [Accessed on 17/07/2012
Linsdomain.com, 2010a. Herbs and Plants [online] Available at http://www.linsdomain.com/herbs.htm {Accessed on 17/07/2012]
Linsdomain.com, 2010b. The Magical Properties of Herbs and Plants [online] Available at http://www.linsdomain.com/herbs.htm {Accessed on 17/07/2012]
McCabe, B (2011) Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey. Titan Books, London
Money.co.uk, 2011. Twilight vs Harry Potter [online] Available at http://www.money.co.uk/misc/twilight-vs-harry-potter.htm [Accessed on 17/07/2012]
Rowling, J.K (1997) Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Bloomsbury, London
Statistic Brain, 2011. Total Harry Potter Franchise Revenue [online] Available at http://www.statisticbrain.com/total-harry-potter-franchise-revenue/ [Accessed on 17/07/2012]
Sun-Times, 2012. ‘Haryy Potter’ tour opens in London [online] Available at http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/11617134-421/magic-harry-potter-studio-tour-opens-near-london.html [Accessed on 17/07/2012]
The Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012. Books (and one play) by title [online] Available at http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizworld/books.html#flesh-eating_trees_of_the_world [Accessed 17/07/12]
The Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012. Herbology [online] Available at http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts/classes/herbology-class.html [Accessed 17/07/12]
The Harry Potter Lexicon, 2012. The Forbidden Forest [online] Available at http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts/castle/forest.html [Accessed 17/07/12]
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