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I should've known that you would be here, Professor McGonagall.
Good evening, Professor Dumbledore.
Are the rumors true, Albus?
I'm afraid so, professor. The good and the bad.
-And the boy? -Hagrid is bringing him.
Is it wise to trust Hagrid with something so important?
Professor, I would trust Hagrid with my life.
COMMENTARY: Hi, I'm Chris Columbus.
I'm here to walk you through some of the more exciting scenes...
...from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Or if you're in England, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
A lot of these scenes bring back some amazing memories for me...
...and I hope they bring back some good memories for you...
...from when you first saw the film.
I think we're gonna first start in the scene where Harry is delivered...
...onto the Dursleys' front porch by Dumbledore.
And this is an interesting scene...
...because we actually had to film the scene with a real baby.
And we found some triplets...
...who were able to work in 20-minute increments.
And I just remember--
The one distinct thing I remember about shooting this scene...
...is that the baby was such a very jumpy sort of nervous sleeper...
...that we had to walk around on our tiptoes and whisper.
So you had a film crew of 1 50 people whispering throughout this entire scene.
It's probably the most quiet scene I've ever filmed.
And then there was the problem of actually applying Harry's scar--
Which was fresh at this point in the story. It had just happened.
Applying Harry's scar onto the forehead of the baby...
...which was something that was impossible to do.
We just couldn't apply prosthetics to the baby.
So the scar was actually digitally created.
And I remember doing that close-up of the baby...
...we needed to just be extraordinarily quiet.
And it took us several takes because the baby was always waking up and crying.
It was actually one of the most calm nights I've ever had on a film shoot...
...because everyone was pleasant and whispering.
And we came up with this idea when we were shooting the film...
...that it would be great to use the scar as a transition between baby Harry...
...and when we first introduced Daniel Radcliffe into the film.
WOMAN: Up. Get up!
Now!
DUDLEY: Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!
PETUNIA: Here comes the birthday boy. VERNON: Happy birthday, son.
Cook breakfast. And try not to burn anything.
-Yes, Aunt Petunia. -I want everything to be perfect...
...for my Dudley's special day!
-Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy. -Yes, Uncle Vernon.
PETUNIA: Aren't they wonderful, darling?
-How many are there? -36. Counted them myself.
36?! But last year I had 37!
-But some are bigger than last year's. -I don't care!
This is what we're going to do.
We're going to buy you two new presents. How's that, pumpkin?
PETUNIA: lt should be a lovely day at the zoo. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm warning you now, boy.
Any funny business, any at all...
...and you won't have any meals for a week.
Get in.
DUDLEY: Make it move.
Move!
-Move! -He's asleep!
He's boring.
Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there...
...watching people press their ugly faces in on you.
Can you hear me?
It's just, I've never talked to a snake before.
Do you...?
Do you talk to people often?
You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there?
Do you miss your family?
I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents either.
Mummy, Dad, you won't believe what this snake is doing!
Thanks.
Anytime.
MAN: Snake!
Mum! Mummy! Help me!
My darling boy! How did you get in there?
Who did this? How did you get in there? ls there a snake?
It's all right, sweetheart. We'll get you out of these cold clothes.
-What happened? -I swear, I don't know!
The glass was there and then it was gone, like magic.
There's no such thing as magic.
VERNON: Marge is ill. Ate a funny whelk.
-Dad, look! Harry's got a letter! -It's mine!
Yours? Who'd be writing to you?
VERNON: No more mail through this letterbox.
PETUNIA: Have a lovely day at the office, dear.
Shoo! Go on.
Fine day, Sunday.
In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Dudley?
-Because there's no post on Sundays? -Right you are, Harry!
No post on Sunday.
COMMENTARY: Now we have the mail-delivery scene here...
...which is one of my favorite sequences in the film.
Why? Because we didn't resort to digital effects.
We did when the owls arrive at Privet Drive.
There were-- We probably had four or five real owls...
...and we supplemented the scene by adding all of these digital owls.
But every shot of the letters that arrive through the fireplace...
...was done practically.
Now, today, even six, seven, eight years later...
...we would have done this by creating CGI letters...
...and having the actors react to nothing.
But I thought it would be great if they had something tangible to react to.
So we had our crack special-effects supervisor, John Richardson...
...come up with this method of using an air shaft...
...to blow hundreds of letters through the fireplace, and it worked beautifully.
I even was fortunate enough to operate one of the three cameras...
...in this sequence, so it's something I'm proud of.
Even though I direct films, I would love to someday be a camera operator.
So for me it was fantastic.
Every shot you see here is--
These are all filled with real, practical letters.
And I love this sequence because you see--
For the first time in the movie...
...there's a sense of joy and happiness in Harry Potter's face.
And that's sort of the first time he feels any sort of happiness in his life.
So that's one of the other reasons I really love this scene.
DUDLEY: Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?
Make a wish, Harry.
COMMENTARY: This is Hagrid's arrival to basically free Harry...
...and tell Harry for the first time that he's a wizard.
This was quite a difficult scene to shoot...
...because we actually had to build two of these huts.
One of the huts was practical size...
...for all of the actors to work in with the exception of Robbie Coltrane...
...who is playing the giant, Hagrid.
All of Robbie's material was shot on a smaller hut.
So when Robbie himself, dressed as Hagrid, walked through the door...
...he appeared to be 9 feet tall.
And we shot all of the reverses with the Dursleys and Harry...
...using a giant double that we created for a former rugby player...
...who has played Hagrid's double in almost every film, I think.
And we created this wonderful prosthetic mask.
So in long shots and wide shots...
...if you're really interested in seeing exactly how we put this together...
...you can actually see Harry walking...
...sometimes walking through the streets of London with this double...
...and if you look close enough you can see the mask.
We only used it very sparingly.
And when Hagrid walks through the door, for instance...
...we actually shot all of Robbie's things on the smaller set.
So this was an interesting moment of directing for me...
...because I actually had to get a performance out of Daniel Radcliffe...
...who should have been emotionally moved at this point...
...yet at the same time...
...he couldn't connect with the other actor in the room, Robbie Coltrane.
And that was a little difficult...
...because he was reacting to a guy, basically, in a Hagrid mask.
So it was a complex sort of a puzzle piece to put together.
But in the end, I thought it all worked out well.
And this is just a wonderful moment.
This is what happens when you work with actors who don't have experience.
It's a wonderful moment with Daniel Radcliffe there...
...when he finds out that he's a wizard for the first time.
And it's just this-- Again, this sort of joy in his face, it's just fantastic.
It comes from the fact he had no acting lessons.
He was really experiencing that feeling in a real way.
HAGRID: Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.
-Of course, you know about Hogwarts. -Sorry, no.
Didn't you ever wonder where your mum and dad learned it all?
Learned what?
You're a wizard, Harry.
-I'm a what? -A wizard.
A good one, I'd wager, once you're trained up.
No, you've made a mistake. I mean...
...I can't be a wizard.
I mean, I'm just Harry. Just Harry.
Well, Just Harry, did you ever make anything happen?
Anything you couldn't explain, when you were angry or scared?
Hm.
HARRY: "Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to accept you...
...at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
He will not be going! We swore we'd put a stop to all this rubbish.
You knew? You knew all along and you never told me?
Of course we knew. How could you not be?
My perfect sister being who she was.
My mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter.
"We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful?"
I was the only one to see her for what she was.
A freak!
Then she met that Potter, and then she had you...
...and I knew you would be the same. Just as strange, just as abnormal.
And then she got herself blown up, and we got landed with you.
Blown up? You told me my parents died in a car crash.
A car crash? A car crash killed Lily and James Potter?
PETUNIA: We had to say something. -It's an outrage! A scandal!
He'll not be going.
A great Muggle like you is going to stop him?
Muggle?
Non-magic folk. This boy's had his name down since he were born.
He's going to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry.
He'll be under the finest headmaster Hogwarts has seen, Albus Dumbledore.
I will not pay to have a crackpot old fool teach him magic tricks.
Never insult Albus Dumbledore...
...in front of me.
I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about that.
-I'm not allowed to do magic. -Okay.
We're a bit behind schedule. Best be off.
Unless you'd rather stay, of course.
HARRY: "All students must be equipped with...
...one standard size 2 pewter cauldron...
...and may bring, if they desire, either an owl, a cat or a toad."
Can we find all this in London?
If you know where to go.
Ah, Hagrid! The usual, I presume?
No, thanks, Tom. I'm on official Hogwarts business.
Just helping Harry buy his school supplies.
Bless my soul. It's Harry Potter!
Welcome back, Mr. Potter. Welcome back.
Doris Crockford. I can't believe I'm meeting you at last.
Harry Potter. Can't tell you how pleased I am to meet you.
Hello, professor. I didn't see you.
Professor Quirrell will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Oh, nice to meet you.
Fearfully fascinating subject.
Not that you need it, eh, Potter?
Yes, well, must be going now. Lots to buy.
HARRY: Goodbye.
-See, Harry? You're famous. -But why am I famous?
All those people, how is it they know who I am?
I'm not sure I'm the right person to tell you that.
COMMENTARY: Here we've got the Diagon Alley sequence...
...which is one of my favorite sequences in the film.
It's fantastic because we actually created this entire Diagon Alley set...
...on a sound stage in Leavesden...
...although calling it a sound stage is really not appropriate since there were leaks.
We would always hear rain coming through.
We could always hear planes flying overhead...
...but it worked for us in terms of the amount of space to build the set.
But this Diagon Alley set was really a wonderful thing...
...when we bring visitors to the set...
...because it was part of our Harry Potter world, you know.
It sort of-- When we brought school kids to visit...
...you could actually walk down these cobblestone streets.
I really wanted Diagon Alley to have this sort of warped Dickensian feel...
...and to feel as if it existed for hundreds and hundreds of years.
So this is really a major, major achievement from our production designer, Stuart Craig...
...who I think did a brilliant job in his attention to detail...
...in terms of all of these wizard shops that exist in Diagon Alley.
It had to feel like a place that you'd never been to before.
And we see it through Harry's eyes, which was my feeling about the whole film.
It just had to happen through Harry's point of view.
BOY 1 : It's a world-class racing broom.
COMMENTARY: In this particular moment, there's my son.
My son, who is much older now, looking at the Nimbus 2000 in the window.
So it's sort of like having very expensive home movies for me to look at.
HARRY: But how am I to pay for all this? I haven't any money.
There's your money. Gringotts, the wizard bank.
Ain't no safer place, not one. Except perhaps Hogwarts.
Hagrid, what exactly are these things?
They're goblins. Clever as they come, but not the most friendly of beasts.
Best stay close.
Mr. Harry Potter wishes to make a withdrawal.
And does Mr. Harry Potter have his key?
Wait a minute. Got it here somewhere.
Ha! There's the little devil.
And there's something else as well.
Professor Dumbledore gave me this.
It's about You-Know-What in vault you-know-which.
Very well.
Vault 687.
Lamp, please.
Key, please.
Did you think your parents would leave you with nothing?
GOBLIN: Vault 71 3. HARRY: What's in there, Hagrid?
HAGRID: Can't tell you. Hogwarts business. Very secret.
GOBLIN: Stand back.
Best not to mention this to anyone.
I still need a wand.
You want Ollivanders. There ain't no place better.
Run along there and wait. I got one more thing to do.
Hello?
I wondered when I'd be seeing you, Mr. Potter.
COMMENTARY: Here we have a scene that was a real joy to shoot...
...Ollivanders wand shop.
And a great thing about this particular scene...
...it was the first time and the only time...
...that J.K. Rowling showed up at the set to visit.
It was her only day there so I was a little nervous.
I walked her through Diagon Alley and she loved it.
She loved the attention-- Again, the attention to detail...
...that our production designer, Stuart Craig, paid to every single shop.
Even if we weren't going inside of these particular shops...
...there was an attention to detail to the shelves...
...to all of the things that existed on the shelves.
All of these boxes were individually made...
...hand-printed, stamped with the Ollivander wand shop logo.
It was just unbelievable.
Another great thing about the Harry Potter films...
...is you get an opportunity to work with actors...
...who would never consider coming in to do one or two days' work.
In this particular situation, John Hurt, who was a fan of the books...
...agreed to play Ollivander for just a couple of days.
And you don't see that in films a lot and so it was wonderful...
...getting a chance to work with one of my favorite British actors.
And also, again, in this Potter film, this early Potter film...
...one of the things I love about it is its sort of old-fashioned charm.
A lot of these visual effects in this particular sequence were done--
Again, done practically.
We didn't just resort to saying, "Okay, let's do them by digital effects.
Let's use CGI." We didn't do it here.
When Harry first gets the wand...
...we wanted to create this magical moment and feeling of power with the wand.
Well, that was created by slowing the frame rate--
Film usually runs at 24 frames per second.
We slowed the frame rate down to 120 frames per second...
...created a sense of smoke...
...blew some wind through Harry's hair and thought, if this works, we'll use it.
If not, we may need to enhance it with digital effects.
It worked beautifully. lt created a sense of actually as if you were being there.
And I love creating tangible effects in films...
...because it really hearkens back to the old days of film making.
And for me, this scene is--
You know, we could have filled it with visual effects...
...but it's all about the performances of the two actors.
OLLIVANDER: Just one other.
It is curious that you should be destined for this wand...
...when its brother gave you that scar.
And who owned that wand?
We do not speak his name.
The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter.
It's not always clear why.
But I think it is clear...
...that we can expect great things from you.
After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named...
...did great things.
Terrible...
...yes, but great.
HAGRID: Harry! Harry!
Happy birthday.
HARRY: Wow.
You all right, Harry? You seem very quiet.
He killed my parents, didn't he? The one who gave me this.
You know, Hagrid. I know you do.
First, and understand this because it's very important:
Not all wizards are good.
Some of them go bad. A few years ago...
...there was a wizard who went as bad as you can go. His name was V--
-His name was V-- -Maybe if you wrote it down?
No, I can't spell it.
-All right, Voldemort. -Voldemort?
Shh.
It was dark times, Harry.
Voldemort started to gather some followers.
Brought them over to the Dark Side.
Anyone that stood up to him ended up dead.
Your parents fought against him.
But nobody lived once he decided to kill them.
Nobody, not one.
Except you.
Me? Voldemort tried to kill me?
Yes. That ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry.
A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, an evil curse.
What happened to V--? To You-Know-Who?
Well, some say he died.
Codswallop, in my opinion.
Nope, I reckon he's out there still...
...too tired to carry on.
But one thing's certain. Something about you stumped him that night.
That's why you're famous. That's why everybody knows your name.
You're the boy who lived.
What are you looking at?
Blimey, is that the time?
I'm gonna have to leave you. Dumbledore will be wanting his--
Well, he'll be wanting to see me. Your train leaves in 1 0 minutes.
Here's your ticket. Stick to your ticket, that's very important.
"Platform 9 3/4"?
But, Hagrid, there must be a mistake. This says platform 9 3/4.
There's no such thing, is there?
COMMENTARY: Here we have Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Interesting scene because we were--
We were sort of forced into shooting this at King's Cross Station on a Sunday.
Obviously the least busiest day of the week for a train station.
So we all got there early on a Sunday morning...
...and in this particular sequence...
...again, my assistant and my driver and my daughter--
That is my-- The fellow, Harry...
...who drove me throughout the first three Potter films.
So we became very good friends and I put him in my film...
...in this Harry Potter film, and he has since been--
He was put into the second Harry Potter film...
...and then Tim Burton fell in love with Harry.
Now Harry is in every Tim Burton movie.
So he's started-- He's still driving, but he still gets a cameo in every British film.
This presented quite a bit of a problem for us...
...because, again, this was--
My desire to do visual effects here practically...
...obviously are not gonna work...
...when someone has to pass through an existing brick wall.
So we decided to actually do this with digital effects...
...and it works very well.
It's a very early, sort of crude version of someone disappearing into the wall.
But it was sort of the best we could do at the time.
HARRY: Excuse me.
COMMENTARY: Interestingly enough, I love seeing the Weasleys for the first time here...
...because the Weasleys are one of my favorite families...
...and groups of characters from the first books...
...because they were poor, they were always wearing hand-me-down clothes...
...they were all redheaded.
I have a redheaded wife and four redheaded children...
...so I'm partial to redheads anyway.
And this is the first time that Harry and Ginny Weasley meet.
We know, obviously, if you've read the books, you know what happens to them.
So I think that's a very sweet, sort of nostalgic moment there.
And I love Dan's performance as he actually--
Now here, he actually-- When he ran through the wall there...
...we actually built a hollow brick wall to have him run through...
...and then used a baggage carrier to pass by in front of the wall...
...and create the sense that the brick was back--
Sort of in front of the wall there.
So that was partially a practical effect as well.
And we only put the sign up for the Hogwarts Express...
...and actually put the real Hogwarts Express into King's Cross Station.
We had a tremendous amount of visitors that day...
...who couldn't believe they were actually seeing this train at King's Cross Station.
So it's a bit of a historic day for Harry Potter fans.
So here we are--
Again, this movie has a lot of touching memories for me. This is a his--
Again, if you're fan of the books or the films, a historical moment.
First time that the three kids have actually-- Actually meet.
First time Rupert and Dan see each other and meet.
And the first time I think Rupert says the work "wicked"...
...which he-- Which was part of his personality...
...and something he always said and I think still says to this day.
HARRY: Oh, yeah.
Wicked!
COMMENTARY: The look of the interior of the train was inspired by A Hard Day's Night.
Beatles film from 1 964, Richard Lester.
And I wanted the feeling of the inside of the train...
...to feel exactly like the train...
...that John, Paul, George and Ringo were riding in...
...in the first 20 minutes.
So Stuart Craig re-created the look of that train.
And unfortunately we couldn't shoot on a real train traveling through Scotland...
...so we utilized some helicopter shots that you see here...
...and then we shot in front of a green screen...
...and were able to shoot with the kids on a stage...
...as I worked very, very hard to get their performances...
...to a point that I could cut them together on the film.
Because they were kids, they had not acted before.
It was one of the first times they had done a film...
...and they were-- Particularly Rupert, he truly was falling in love...
...with all of the candy he was able to eat on-screen.
He thought this was, like, the greatest day of his acting career...
...because we were just letting him eat chocolate and all of this candy.
And here we have our chocolate frog effect...
...which was, again, a moment where we had to utilize a digital effect...
...because there was no way we could create a mechanical chocolate frog.
Although I was tempted to figure out how we could do that.
HARRY: I've got Dumbledore! -I got about six of him.
Hey, he's gone!
You can't expect him to hang around all day, can you?
This is Scabbers. Pathetic, isn't he?
A little.
Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow. Want to see?
Yeah.
Has anyone seen a toad?
-A boy named Neville's lost one. -No.
COMMENTARY: And when Hermione arrives, it was the first time we saw Emma...
...and we really-- And her look has changed considerably.
We were so concerned about being faithful...
...to the look of what Jo Rowling had created.
And Hermione was written as someone who had this incredible bushy hair...
...so we gave Emma this hairstyle that I think, along with each film...
...started to get more and more glamorized a little bit...
...so she looked a little hipper and cooler as we got to the later films.
But in this particular moment...
...we wanted her to be as much like the Hermione of the books as possible.
And there was even a point where we thought about giving her fake teeth.
Hermione is written as someone who has an overbite with buck teeth.
And there's a scene later in the film where she is actually--
It was the first day of shooting, she's wearing those teeth for a moment.
And then we realized when we saw dailies, we had to get rid of them...
...because they would hamper her speech.
But anyway, I love this scene because we really get a sense...
...of what happens throughout the next seven movies...
...because these kids, their personality is defined in this particular scene.
HERMIONE: Just there.
Right, then. First years, this way, please!
Come on, first years, don't be shy. Come on now, hurry up.
COMMENTARY: So here we have another historic moment in the world of Hogwarts.
This is Harry's first arrival at the train station and at Hogwarts.
We start to meet the characters. We start to see them in the background.
It's our first-- The first time all of the characters from the books...
...actually get together, in this particular sequence.
And we shot the boats on an enormous water tank...
...which faced a gigantic green-screen stage.
So we were able to shoot over these boats...
...and re-create Hogwarts from a completely digital model.
Now, in this particular shot, Hogwarts is all digital.
Everything about it is a digitized version of what we eventually built as a model.
And the model of Hogwarts that we built was on an enormous stage...
...and it was probably 20 feet high and about 50 feet wide.
And it was built on a model of a mountain.
And the attention to detail to that Hogwarts model was stunning.
I'm sure it still exists at the Leavesden sound stages.
And so we were really careful about making absolutely certain...
...that the first time we saw Hogwarts, it was extremely magical.
McGONAGALL: Welcome to Hogwarts.
Shortly, you'll pass through these doors and join your classmates.
But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses.
They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff...
...Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
While you're here, your house will be like your family.
Your triumphs will earn you points.
Any rule-breaking and you will lose points.
At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup.
Trevor!
Sorry.
The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily.
It's true then, what they're saying on the train.
Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts.
Harry Potter?
This is Crabbe and Goyle.
And I'm Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy.
Think my name's funny, do you? I've no need to ask yours.
Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley.
You'll find out some wizarding families are better than others.
You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort.
I can help you there.
I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.
We're ready for you now. Follow me.
COMMENTARY: Another really wonderful day of shooting.
This, I remember, was the first time we see the Great Hall.
And the Great Hall continues to this day to exist at Leavesden Studios in London.
And we built the entire Great Hall.
And even those candles that you see...
...some of those candles are supplemented by digital candles...
...and this particular shot of the sky with the candles floating is a digital shot...
...but most of those candles were actually lit candles hanging on strings...
...on a complicated sort of pulley system that lifted them up and down.
And when we first saw that shot in dailies...
...everyone applauded because they had never seen anything like it.
And we created it all in-camera so we felt really good about that.
Again, it had that practical feeling...
...and it didn't have that artificial quality of visual effects...
...and you actually felt as if this place really existed.
It brought you into the world.
And, you know, I learned all of that from watching all those old pictures...
...like Beauty and the Beast and really seeing what Jean Cocteau did at the time...
...by creating this magic out of these tangible things and these sets.
That's the first time we see Filch and his cat...
...and we digitally altered those cat's eyes...
...so they would be a little red as they were in the books.
And this is the first introduction of Richard Harris as Dumbledore...
...who actually delivers his first speech in this scene.
McGONAGALL: When I call your name, you will come forth.
I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head...
...and you will be sorted into your houses.
Hermione Granger.
Oh, no. Okay, relax.
Mental, that one, I'm telling you.
Ah, right, then. Mm, right.
Okay. Gryffindor!
Draco Malfoy.
Slytherin!
Every wizard who went bad was in Slytherin.
Susan Bones.
COMMENTARY: Here is the Sorting Hat sequence...
...and our first close-up, I think, of Snape in the film.
First time we actually see Snape, played by Alan Rickman beautifully.
One of-- One of my favorite performances in the film.
That young lady being sorted is my daughter, Eleanor...
...who played Susan Bones in the films.
And for a kid who's 1 1 years old who got me into the books...
...the ability to, you know--
To be able to come to the Harry Potter set every day...
...was really a wonderful thing for her childhood.
And here we have Ron Weasley being sorted with the Sorting Hat.
And we created a digital Sorting Hat.
There was no way, obviously, to do this practically.
And in shots where the Sorting Hat is not speaking, it is a real Sorting Hat.
We had about three or four of them. I've still got one in my office in San Francisco.
But this Sorting Hat, the one that Harry wears...
...and the one that Ron wears in this sequence...
...was just a brim with all of these wires and green little balls and things on top of it.
So that's-- That particular Sorting Hat was created in a digital environment.
And we really wanted to--
I wanted the audience to actually get a chance...
...to see the Sorting Hat as he's sorting Harry...
...so we came up with this wonderful 360-degree-angle shot...
...where we could pan around Harry's expression...
...as he's listening to the Sorting Hat.
I find that when you do this on-screen...
...as opposed to just sitting there and holding a shot...
...when you actually pan around a digital effect and see it moving...
...it creates a better sense of reality for the audience.
So that's really what we did here.
And the Sorting Hat has this extremely wonderful personality...
...that I was very pleased with. It reminded me of the illustration...
...from the first Harry Potter book that I had seen.
The Sorting Hat looked very much like this...
...so I was very proud of this visual effect.
And when Harry finds out he's in Gryffindor...
...I think it's a wonderful moment for Harry. Again, this sense for joy from this kid...
...who's led 1 1 years of this horrific life at the Dursleys'.
It's just such a wonderful sense of belonging.
He's really finding his family for the first time...
...and I just find it wonderfully touching.
McGONAGALL: Your attention, please.
Let the feast begin.
Wow.
I'm half and half.
Me dad's a Muggle. Mum's a witch.
Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out.
Percy, who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?
PERCY: Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house.
-What's he teach? -Potions.
But he fancies the Dark Arts. He's been after Quirrell's job for years.
Hello! How are you?
Welcome to Gryffindor.
GIRL: It's the Bloody Baron!
Hello, Sir Nicholas. Have a nice summer?
Dismal. Once again, my request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied.
I know you. You're Nearly Headless Nick.
I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind.
"Nearly" headless? How can you be nearly headless?
Like this.
COMMENTARY: Here's Nearly Headless Nick, which was a sequence--
Everyone was worried that we were gonna end up getting a PG-1 3...
...because Nick removes his head in the sequence.
Working with John Cleese, again...
...having been a fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers...
...it was just a wonderful opportunity for me...
...to work with one of my comedic heroes.
This is the first time we see the moving staircase...
...which, to me, is really, again, a marvel of a combination...
...of building something practically, and also creating a CG world.
When we first look up and see all of the moving staircases...
...obviously, we could have never built that.
But we were able to create it digitally.
And it created this wonderful sense of real magic.
But when the staircase moves in other moments...
...when the kids are on the staircase...
...we built a mechanical staircase that moves from wall to wall.
And there's my daughter, Violet.
I'm-- I won't point out any more home movies...
...but Violet curtsies in that scene and waves.
It's nice to see that my kids were a part of this movie.
It was real family affair for me.
WOMAN: Password?
Caput Draconis.
Wow.
PERCY: Follow me, everyone. Keep up. Quickly, come on.
Gather around here.
Welcome to the Gryffindor common room.
Boys' dormitory is upstairs to the left. Girls, the same on your right.
Your belongings have already been brought up.
Made it!
Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?
-That was bloody brilliant! -Thank you for that assessment.
It'd be better if I transfigured Mr. Potter and you into a watch.
-Then one of you might be on time. -We got lost.
Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats.
There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class.
As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate...
...the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making.
However, for those select few...
...who possess the predisposition...
...I can teach you how to bewitch the mind...
...and ensnare the senses.
I can tell you how to bottle fame...
...brew glory and even put a stopper in death.
Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts with abilities...
...so formidable that you feel confident enough...
...to not pay attention.
Mr. Potter.
Our new celebrity.
What would I get if I added root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?
You don't know? Let's try again.
Where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?
I don't know, sir.
SNAPE: What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?
I don't know, sir.
Pity.
Clearly, fame isn't everything...
...is it, Mr. Potter?
Eye of rabbit, harp string hum Turn this water into rum
Eye of rabbit....
What's Seamus trying to do to the water?
Turn it to rum. Actually managed a weak tea yesterday, before--
Mail's here.
Can I borrow this? Thanks.
Look, Neville's got a Remembrall.
I've read about those. The smoke turns red when you've forgotten something.
The problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten.
Somebody broke into Gringotts. Listen.
"Believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches...
...Gringotts goblins acknowledge the breach but insist nothing was taken.
The vault in question, number 71 3, had been emptied earlier that same day."
That's odd. That's the vault Hagrid and I went to.
-Good afternoon, class. -Good afternoon, Madam Hooch.
Good afternoon, Amanda. Good afternoon.
Welcome to your first flying lesson.
What are you waiting for? Step up to your broomstick.
Come on now, hurry up. Stick your hand over the broom and say, "Up."
Up!
-Up. -Up.
Up. Up!
With feeling.
ALL: Up!
-Up. Up. -Up. Up.
Up! Oh!
Shut up, Harry.
Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it.
Grip it tight. You don't wanna be sliding off the end.
When I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hard.
Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment...
...then lean forward slightly and touch back down.
On my whistle. Three, two....
Mr. Longbottom.
-Mr. Longbottom! -Down, down!
Neville!
Come back down this instant!
Mr. Longbo--
NEVILLE: Whoa!
Ow!
MADAM HOOCH: Everyone out of the way!
Is he all right?
Oh, dear, it's a broken wrist. Poor boy. Come on now, up you get.
Keep your feet on the ground while I take him to the hospital wing.
Understand? If I see a single broom in the air...
...the one riding it will be expelled before they can say Quidditch.
Did you see his face?
If he had squeezed this, he'd have remembered to fall on his arse.
Give it here, Malfoy.
No. I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find.
How about on the roof?
What's the matter, Potter? Bit beyond your reach?
Harry, no way! You heard what Madam Hooch said.
Besides, you don't know how to fly.
What an idiot.
Give it here or I'll knock you off your broom!
Is that so?
Have it your way, then.
BOY 1 : Nice going, Harry. BOY 2: That was wicked, Harry!
Harry Potter!
Follow me.
You wait here.
Professor Quirrell, excuse me. Could I borrow Wood for a moment?
Yes, of course.
Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood, I have found you a Seeker.
Have you heard? Harry Potter's the new Gryffindor Seeker.
I always knew he'd do well.
Seeker? But first years never make the house teams.
-You must be the youngest player in-- -A century, McGonagall says.
Well done, Harry. Wood's just told us.
Fred and George are on the team. Beaters.
Our job is to make sure you don't get bloodied up too bad.
Can't make any promises. Rough game, Quidditch.
But no one's died in years. Someone vanishes occasionally.
But they'll turn up in a month or two.
Go on. Quidditch is great. Best game there is, and you'll be great too.
I've never played. What if I make a fool of myself?
You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood.
Whoa.
You never told me your father was a Seeker too.
I didn't know.
I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you than you do.
HARRY: Who doesn't?
What's happening?
The staircases change, remember?
-Let's go this way. RON: Before the staircase moves again.
Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be here?
HERMIONE: We're not supposed to be here.
This is the third floor. It's forbidden.
Let's go.
HERMIONE: It's Filch's cat! HARRY: Run!
Quick, let's hide through that door!
-It's locked! -We're done for!
Move over!
Alohomora.
Get in.
Alohomora?
Standard Book of Spells, chapter seven.
FILCH: Anyone here, my sweet?
Come on.
HERMIONE: Filch is gone. -He thinks this door's locked.
-lt was locked. -And for good reason.
What are they doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?
Didn't you see what it was standing on?
I wasn't looking at its feet! I was preoccupied with its heads.
Or maybe you didn't notice. There were three!
HERMIONE: lt was standing on a trap door. It wasn't there by accident.
-It's guarding something. -Guarding something?
That's right. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed...
...before you come up with another idea to get us killed.
Or worse, expelled.
She needs to sort out her priorities.
Quidditch is easy to understand. Each team has seven players.
Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and a Seeker. That's you.
There are three kinds of balls. This one's called the Quaffle.
The Chasers handle the Quaffle and try to put it through one of those hoops.
The Keeper, that's me, defends the hoops. With me so far?
I think so. What are those?
You better take this.
Careful now, it's coming back.
Not bad, Potter. You'd make a fair Beater.
Uh-oh.
What was that?
Bludger. Nasty little buggers.
But you are a Seeker.
The only thing I want you to worry about is this.
The Golden Snitch.
-I like this ball. -You like it now.
Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see.
What do I do with it?
You catch it. Before the other team's Seeker.
You catch this, the game's over.
You catch this, Potter, and we win.
Whoa.
One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation...
...or the ability to make objects fly.
Do you have your feathers? Good.
Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing.
The swish and flick. Everyone.
The swish and flick. Good. Oh, and enunciate.
Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go, then.
Wingardium Leviosa.
No, stop, stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out.
Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Leviosa, not Leviosar.
You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on, go on.
Wingardium Leviosa.
Well done! See here, everyone, Miss Granger's done it!
Splendid!
Well done, dear.
I think we're going to need another feather over here.
"It's Leviosa, not Leviosar."
She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends.
I think she heard you.
Where's Hermione?
Parvati said she wouldn't come out of the bathroom.
She said that she'd been in there all afternoon, crying.
Troll in the dungeon!
Thought you ought to know.
Silence!
Everyone will please not panic!
Now...
...prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories.
Teachers will follow me to the dungeons.
Gryffindors, keep up, please, and stay alert.
COMMENTARY: So here we have the beginning...
...of the mountain-troll bathroom scene.
And this is an interesting scene because I was always a little--
Not really a hundred percent pleased...
...with the visual effects in this particular sequence.
It's one of those sequences that I think the first film suffered from slightly...
...because we shot the sequence later in the schedule.
We had to build the set for the bathroom.
And as a result, the troll, I think, could have probably been a little better based on--
In terms of a CGI character.
However, I think that the sequence...
...has a tremendous amount of energy and excitement because we--
Because when Hermione is hiding from the troll and the bathroom is smashing...
...we shot all of that practically.
There are moments of the troll that I find tremendously fun.
I love the disgusting quality of the design of the troll.
I think the troll was designed beautifully.
I just think in moments it could have inhabited the environment a little better.
But that being said, kids seem to love this sequence...
...and they love the sort of-- As all kids do.
--the disgusting aspect of it, the fact that Harry jumps on the troll's shoulders...
...and shoves his wand up in the troll's nose.
And I remember seeing it with audiences...
...and the "troll boogies" line got a tremendous laugh...
...from all those 5-year-olds in the audience.
And I did like the troll's personality from a CGI point of view.
I just felt that, in the environment, the troll could have blended in a little, little better.
But again, a lot of this stuff was done practically.
The sinks exploding, that's the real Hermione there doing that.
HERMIONE: Help!
COMMENTARY: When Harry is sent up onto the troll's shoulders...
...that's actually Dan being lifted up there.
That is actually a CGI version of Harry riding on the troll's shoulders.
In other words, it's an animated Harry Potter.
So if you freeze-frame some of these things where he's being whipped back and forth...
...you'll see that we, in a computer, created a realistic version of Daniel Radcliffe.
And this was one of the more funny sequences to shoot...
...because Dan was being whisked out of frame and we're focusing back on Ron.
It's a very funny sequence and, as I said, kids seem to really respond to it and love it.
And I do love the character of the troll...
...when the troll is hit in the head. It's very funny.
RON: Cool.
Is it dead?
I don't think so. Just knocked out.
Ugh. Troll boogers.
Oh, my goodness! Explain yourselves, both of you!
-Well, what it is-- -It's my fault, Professor McGonagall.
Miss Granger?
I went looking for the troll. I thought I could handle it.
But I was wrong.
If Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me, I'd probably be dead.
RON: Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on.
Ron's right. You'll need your strength today.
I'm not hungry.
Good luck today, Potter. You've proven yourself against a troll.
A game of Quidditch should be easy work.
Even if it is against Slytherin.
-That explains the blood. -Blood?
Last night, I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as a diversion...
...so he could get past that dog.
But he got bit, that's why he's limping.
But why would anyone go near that dog?
At Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of the vault.
Said it was Hogwarts business, very secret.
HERMIONE: You're saying--
That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants.
-Bit early for mail, isn't it? -But I never get mail.
Let's open it.
HARRY: It's a broomstick.
That's not just a broomstick, it's a Nimbus 2000!
But who--?
-Scared, Harry? -A little.
It's all right. I felt the same way before my first game.
-What happened? -I don't really remember.
I took a Bludger to the head two minutes in.
Woke up in hospital a week later.
COMMENTARY: And here it is. The biggest--
The biggest challenge of this particular film...
...the question that more people were asking about as we were making the film:
"How in God's name are you gonna do Quidditch?"
Well, we worked on it-- We worked on it a long time.
And I think part of our--
Part of the concern we had was creating the stadium as written in the books.
It was sort of a-- Your typical stadium seating.
And we wanted to create an environment with towers.
Stuart Craig and I came up with this idea of towers...
...so Harry and the other Quidditch players could fly around something...
...and we would have something in the foreground to create a sense of speed.
You don't have a sense of speed when you just have the background moving.
We actually needed those towers in this sequence...
...to create that sense of speed.
My dream is to see this sequence in 3-D.
I think someday, I would love to take--
Get the picture back and actually restore it in a 3-D version...
...to see it in an IMAX theater in 3-D.
I think this would benefit in a big way by seeing it in a 3-D environment.
It was important for me to also teach the audience...
...those who are unfamiliar with the book, the rules of Quidditch...
...which I had to learn myself.
Reading the book six or seven times, I never really understood all of the rules.
So J.K. Rowling came up with a chart for me, she gave--
She basically gave me the rules of Quidditch, which I still have.
So I was able to incorporate those into the film.
A lot of this were shot practically, a lot of this is obviously CGI work.
The only way to really get these kids flying on broomsticks...
...is to do it in a CGI environment.
So we would shoot Harry and all the individual Quidditch players...
...on a separate green-screen stage...
...and using motion-control cameras...
...incorporate them into the backgrounds of what you see here.
I think that it was one of the more grueling experiences...
...for most of the actors working in this sequence...
...because riding those brooms was a tremendously difficult thing...
...to create a sense of movement, to create a sense of urgency...
...and also, I think, at the same time...
...to really feel as if these were real athletes playing a game.
And that was-- That was the biggest challenge for me.
I wanted Quidditch to feel like a real sport. I'm a big football fan, a basketball fan...
...and I wanted to feel like it was an exciting spectator sport...
...and one that could really involve the audience.
So I think this particular Quidditch sequence is a lot of fun...
...and again, we hope to see it in 3-D someday.
HARRY: Yes! -Another 1 0 points to Gryffindor!
Give me that!
Take that side!
Whoa. Whoa!
HAGRID: What's going on with Harry's broomstick?
It's Snape. He's jinxing the broom!
-Jinxing the broom? What do we do? -Leave it to me.
Come on, Hermione!
Lacarnum Inflamarae.
MAN: Fire! You're on fire!
Go, go, go, go!
Looks like he's gonna be sick.
LEE: He's got the Snitch!
Harry Potter receives 1 50 points for catching the Snitch!
Gryffindor wins!
Oh, no.
Yes!
Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?
Who knows? Why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog?
-Who told you about Fluffy? -Fluffy?
-That thing has a name? -Of course he has a name. He's mine.
I bought him off an Irishman. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard--
Yes?
Shouldn't have said that. No more questions! That's top-secret.
But whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it.
Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher.
Teacher or not, I know a spell when I see one. I've read all about them.
You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking.
Exactly.
Now, you listen to me, all three of you.
You're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous.
What that dog is guarding is between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel.
Nicholas Flamel?
I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that.
Nicholas Flamel. Who's Nicholas Flamel?
I don't know.
Merry Christmas Merry Christmas
Ring the Hogwart bell
Merry Christmas Merry Christmas
Cast a Christmas spell
Knight to e5.
Queen to e5.
That's totally barbaric!
That's wizard's chess. I see you've packed.
I see you haven't.
Change of plans. My parents went to Romania to visit my brother Charlie.
-He's studying dragons there. -Good. You can help Harry.
He's going to the library to look up Nicholas Flamel.
We've looked a hundred times!
Not in the restricted section. Happy Christmas.
I think we've had a bad influence on her.
RON: Harry, wake up! Come on, Harry, wake up!
-Happy Christmas, Harry. -Happy Christmas, Ron.
What are you wearing?
Oh, my mum made it. Looks like you've got one too.
-I've got presents? -Yeah.
RON: There they are.
"Your father left this in my possession before he died.
It is time it was returned to you. Use it well."
COMMENTARY: So this is a-- This was another challenging sequence.
Harry gets his Invisibility Cloak.
It wasn't really particularly challenging to make Harry disappear.
We just had Daniel put on a green cloak...
...and then we were able to erase part of his body.
But the big challenge here was really how we were gonna depict Harry...
...walking through the library later in the sequence...
...and see the cloak around him.
How does an audience member accept that...
...when we're introducing the concept of invisibility?
So what we did is we actually shot...
...which you will see later, Daniel Radcliffe underneath sort of a gauze...
...sort of lace version of the cloak.
And it seems completely inconsistent stylistically with the concept of invisibility...
...but when you see him walking with this cloak over him...
...you immediately buy that concept.
And this was a very, very tense day of shooting for me...
...because we were allowed into this library, the Bodleian Library...
...and all of these books that you see are hundreds and hundreds of years old...
...one of a kind.
So we really had to be very careful.
This was the first film in a long time...
...that was permitted to shoot in this particular library.
When Harry--
One of the biggest moments for the audience, ironically, in this film...
...which is a small moment, really, in the books...
...is when he opens this first book and this face pops out of the book.
We did that utilizing a digital effect. It works very well.
But the audience jumped out of their seats.
The kids, particularly, weren't expecting that kind of scare at that particular time.
So again, we had to shoot this sequence within five hours, I think, on a Sunday...
...because it was the only time anyone had been permitted into this library.
Oh, we've got our friend Filch coming in here.
And this guy, David Bradley...
...one of the great faces of British actors, I just loved him.
He seemed like he stepped out of an old David Lean picture, you know? He's--
He looks like one of those guys in Great Expectations or Oliver Twist.
And then his voice, with the stringy hair.
I used to read this book as a kid. This comic called Creepy.
And he looked a little like Uncle Creepy, and I-- I love David Bradley.
He's a fantastic actor.
QUIRRELL: Severus, I....
You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell.
-I don't know what you mean. -You know perfectly well what I mean.
We'll have another little chat soon.
When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie.
Professors. I found this in the restricted section.
It's still hot. That means there's a student out of bed.
Mum?
Dad?
HARRY: Ron, you've really gotta see this! Ron, you've gotta see this!
Ron, come on, get out of bed!
-Why? -There's something you've got to see!
Come on! Come! Come look, it's my parents!
I only see us.
Look in properly. Go on, stand there.
-There. You see them, don't you? -That's me! Only I'm head boy.
And I'm holding the Quidditch Cup.
And bloody hell! I'm Quidditch captain too!
I look good.
Harry, do you think this mirror shows the future?
How can it? Both my parents are dead.
Don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no state to entertain.
ALL: We know about the Sorcerer's Stone.
Oh.
-We think Snape's trying to steal it. -Are you still on about him?
We know he's after it. We don't know why.
Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone. He won't steal it.
What?
You heard. Come on, I'm a bit preoccupied today.
HARRY: Wait a minute. "One of the teachers"?
There are other things defending the Stone, aren't there?
-Spells, enchantments. HAGRID: Right.
Waste of bloody time, if you ask me.
Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy.
Ain't a soul knows how, except for me and Dumbledore.
I shouldn't have told you that. I should not have told you that.
-Hagrid, what exactly is that? -That? It's....
I know what that is!
But, Hagrid, how did you get one?
I won it. Off a stranger I met down at the pub.
Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact.
Is that...
...a dragon?
That's not just a dragon. That's a Norwegian Ridgeback.
My brother works with these in Romania.
Isn't he beautiful? Oh, bless him. Look, he knows his mummy.
Hello, Norbert.
-Norbert? -He's gotta have a name, don't he?
Don't you, Norbert?
He'll have to be trained up a bit, of course.
Who's that?
Malfoy.
Oh, dear.
HARRY: Hagrid always wanted a dragon. Told me so the first time I met him.
RON: It's crazy. And worse, Malfoy knows.
HARRY: I don't understand. Is that bad? -It's bad.
Good evening.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing...
...gives a student the right to walk about at night.
Therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken.
-50?! -Each.
To ensure it doesn't happen again...
...all four of you will receive detention.
Excuse me, professor, perhaps I heard you wrong.
I thought you said the four of us.
No, you heard me correctly.
Honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours.
You will join your classmates in detention.
FILCH: A pity they let the old punishments die.
Was a time detention found you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons.
God, I miss the screaming.
You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight.
He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forest.
A sorry lot, this, Hagrid.
Good God, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?
Norbert's gone.
Dumbledore sent him off to Romania to live in a colony.
That's good, isn't it? He's with his own kind.
What if he don't like Romania?
What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby.
For God's sake, pull yourself together. You're going into the Forest.
Got to have your wits about you.
The Forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there.
Students aren't allowed. And there are...
...werewolves.
There's more than werewolves in those trees.
You can be sure of that.
Nighty-night.
Right. Let's go.
Hagrid, what is that?
What we're here for. See that?
That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago.
Now, this one's been hurt bad by something.
So, it's our job to go and find the poor beast.
-Ron, Hermione, come with me. -Okay.
And, Harry, you'll go with Malfoy.
Okay. Then I get Fang.
Fine. Just so you know, he's a bloody coward.
Wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff.
If I didn't know better--
COMMENTARY: All right, here we are in the Forbidden Forest.
Now, this is an interesting sequence because we actually shot...
...the beginning of this sequence in a real forest outside of London...
...and shot at night, filled it with fog...
...and really wanted to create this sense of mystery.
And as we get further into the forest we move onto a set...
...that we built on the Leavesden sound stages.
And it was a fairly big set. It was very impressive, actually.
We brought in all of these real trees...
...all of these roots, and Stuart Craig outdid himself...
...because this feels like a very, very real location.
And this is the first time that Harry encounters Voldemort...
...and, well, who we know is Quirrell later in the picture...
...but drinking unicorn blood-- And this proved to be a challenge...
...because unicorn blood is supposed to be silver.
Obviously we couldn't put mercury in anyone's mouth...
...and that's the only sort of liquid that has that metallic look.
So what we did is that we put green liquid in our actor's mouth...
...and we changed it to that silvery sort of look.
Again, this was done-- As you can probably tell...
...this was done practically, with an actor on wires...
...who stood up and walked close to Harry. At this point...
...we didn't really have a definitive idea of what Voldemort was gonna look like.
It was more frightening for the audience if they didn't see his face at this point.
So this was-- This was a very scary scene that was really--
This first part was really done without the benefit of visual effects...
...and then, of course, the centaur comes into the scene.
And the centaur was an interesting problem for us...
...because we wanted to do a centaur that felt very powerful...
...but also felt otherworldly.
And we knew if we cast an actor and then just put a horse body on them...
...for this particular centaur, it wouldn't really work.
It would have a sort of a phony quality, so we decided to do a centaur...
...that was completely animated in the CG world...
...and it went against a lot of my vision for the movie...
...which was doing things practically...
...and utilizing CGI only when we needed to.
FIRENZE: A monstrous creature.
COMMENTARY: I think the centaur works beautifully here because he's mysterious.
He feels as if he's a real animal, it's not just a human attached to a horse body.
He feels like he's part of this beast and he's towering and threatening.
The unicorn back there was actually built...
...by the person who did most of our prosthetics in the movie, Nick Dudman.
Genius, Nick.
And Nick built a full-size unicorn body and brought it on to the set.
It was actually very sad to see that unicorn lying there.
But again, our centaur here was voiced by a very talented actor...
...from the Royal Shakespeare Company...
...then he was completely animated by a digital company in Los Angeles.
HARRY: The Sorcerer's Stone.
Harry!
Hello there, Firenze. See you've met our young Mr. Potter.
You all right there, Harry?
Harry Potter, this is where I leave you.
You're safe now. Good luck.
HERMIONE: You mean, You-Know-Who is out there right now in the Forest?
But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns.
Don't you see? We had it wrong.
Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants it for Voldemort.
With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again.
He'll come back.
RON: But if he comes back...
...you don't think he'll try to kill you, do you?
If he'd had the chance, he might have tried tonight.
And to think I've been worrying about my Potions final.
HERMIONE: Hang on a minute. We're forgetting one thing.
Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared?
Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore is around, Harry, you're safe.
As long as Dumbledore is around, you can't be touched.
HERMIONE: I'd heard Hogwarts' final exams were frightful, but that was fun.
Speak for yourself. All right there, Harry?
-My scar. It keeps burning. -It's happened before.
-Not like this. RON: You should see the nurse.
HARRY: I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming.
-Of course! -What is it?
Isn't it odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon...
...and a stranger just happens to have one?
How many people wander around with dragon eggs?
Why didn't I see it before?
Who gave you the egg? What did he look like?
I never saw his face. He kept his hood up.
You and this stranger must have talked.
He wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after.
I said, "After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem."
-Was he interested in Fluffy? -Of course he was interested.
How often do you come across a three-headed dog?
But I told him, "The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him."
Take Fluffy, for example. Play him music and he falls straight to sleep.
I shouldn't have told you that.
Where are you going?
We have to see Dumbledore. Immediately!
I'm afraid he's not here.
He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left.
He's gone? But this is important! This is about the Sorcerer's Stone!
-How do you know--? -Someone's going to try and steal it.
I don't know how you know, but I assure you it is well protected.
Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly.
That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape.
Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy.
-And with Dumbledore gone-- -Good afternoon.
What would three young Gryffindors...
...be doing inside on a day like this?
-We were just-- -You ought to be careful.
People will think you're...
...up to something.
Now what do we do?
We go down the trap door. Tonight.
HARRY: Trevor.
Trevor, go! You shouldn't be here!
Neither should you. You're sneaking out again, aren't you?
-Neville, listen. We were-- -No, I won't let you!
You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again. I'll fight you.
Neville, I'm really sorry about this. Petrificus Totalus.
You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?
Brilliant, but scary.
Let's go.
HERMIONE: Sorry. RON: It's for your own good, you know.
-You stood on my foot! -Sorry.
HERMIONE: Alohomora.
HARRY: Wait a minute. He's...
COMMENTARY: Here we have our three-headed dog sequence.
This was interesting because we--
Again, this was a scene we had to create a CGI three-headed animal.
And I thought they did a wonderful job.
The fur here is very realistic and the power of that animal snoring...
...and the kids' hair blowing from that snore is very funny.
When they move the paw-- We created a giant, furry paw for the kids to move...
...but when they lifted it, practically, the paw looked like a giant stuffed animal.
So we had to literally draw over it using our computer animation...
...so when the kids lifted the paw off of the trapdoor...
...there was actually some movement in the fingers...
...and it felt like it was real and it was alive.
HARRY: I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign.
If something bad happens, get yourselves out.
Does it seem a bit quiet to you?
The harp.
It's stopped playing.
Ugh. Yuck!
HARRY: Jump!
Whoa.
Lucky this plant thing's here, really.
Whoa!
HERMIONE: Stop moving, both of you. This is Devil's Snare.
COMMENTARY: So for Devil's Snare, I said, "Okay, you know what I'll do?
Let us build Devil's Snare and I'll shoot it in a way...
...that we don't have to incorporate any digital effects.
I'll shoot it in reverse."
So all of these sequences are done with real, practical puppeteers...
...below the Devil's Snare set...
...actually moving the tentacles in each sequence.
And when the kids are wrapped with the tentacles...
...the kids were actually able to act in reverse.
All of the scenes where the tentacles...
...are wrapping themselves around the kids' bodies...
...were acted in reverse.
And it's better than any CGI version of it we could have ever done...
...because the kids, who needed it at the time...
...as opposed to dealing with just a green-screen situation...
...were actually able to act with real tangible effects...
...and it worked beautifully.
HERMIONE: That's it! It hates sunlight.
COMMENTARY: And Hermione saves the day, which was a huge moment.
The only visual-effects shot is the shot of the wand...
...coming up through the Devil's Snare sequence.
Through the Devil's Snare area.
And I love the fact that Hermione has her moment there.
It's just a-- This is a great, wonderful moment for her.
RON: Lucky we didn't panic.
Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology.
HERMIONE: What is that?
I don't know. Sounds like wings.
HERMIONE: Curious. I've never seen birds like these.
HARRY: They're not birds. They're keys.
And I'll bet one of them fits that door.
-What's this all about? -I don't know.
Strange.
RON: Alohomora!
Well, it was worth a try.
What will we do? There must be a thousand keys.
RON: We want a big, old-fashioned one. Probably rusty.
I see it! The one with the broken wing.
What's wrong?
It's too simple.
Go on! If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick, you can.
You're the youngest Seeker in a century.
This complicates things a bit.
HARRY: Catch the key!
Hurry up!
HERMIONE: I don't like this. I don't like this at all.
Where are we? A graveyard.
This is no graveyard.
It's a chessboard.
COMMENTARY: Here we have wizard's chess...
...one of the 50 sequences I was most excited about doing.
The great thing about these Harry Potter books...
...is every sequence, as a director, is like-- You're like a kid in a candy store.
But for me, this was an exciting sequence...
...because we could have, again, built all of this in a digital environment...
...put the kids in a green-screen world, but we didn't.
Stuart Craig built this entire set and created each one of those chess pieces.
So when you walked onto that set, you saw all of these life-sized chess pieces...
...and this chessboard surrounded by fire.
And it was amazing.
I mean, I was in awe of what Stuart had done here.
I wanted to take several pieces back to America with me...
...and put them up around my house, I was so impressed.
They looked like just these wonderful sculptures.
And we utilized CGI in certain elements...
...when you see the pawns sort of draw their swords, those sort of things...
...we utilized CGI to create a sense of movement among the chess pieces.
But all of these other chess pieces are real and they even moved forward.
When Ron's chess piece moves forward here...
...when he's making his tremendous sacrifice, these were practical...
...and the combined movement of the camera...
...along with the pieces mechanically moving along the floor...
...created a real sense of terror and a real suspenseful sort of moment.
You know, there was talk about making them move more quickly...
...and I just love the fact that this sequence happened at its own pace.
One of my favorite shots in the movie is Ron really deciding to sacrifice himself.
And that, to me, is just an amazing performance by a kid...
...who was starting to feel comfortable with this character at this point.
And when he sees the power of these things...
...and he realizes he's gotta sacrifice himself for his friends...
...I sensed a real moment of fear but also courage from Rupert at that point.
One of his best, probably his best performance in the film.
RON: Castle to e4!
Pawn to c3!
-Wait a minute. RON: You understand right, Harry.
Once I make my move, the queen will take me.
Then you're free to check the king.
-No. Ron, no! -What is it?
-He's going to sacrifice himself. -No, there must be another way!
Do you wanna stop Snape from getting that Stone or not?
Harry, it's you that has to go on. I know it.
Not me. Not Hermione. You.
Knight to h3.
Check.
Ron!
No, don't move! Don't forget, we're still playing.
Checkmate.
Take care of Ron. Then go to the owlery.
Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right.
I have to go on.
You'll be okay, Harry. You're a great wizard. You really are.
Not as good as you.
Me? Books and cleverness. There are more important things.
Friendship and bravery. And, Harry, just be careful.
You?
No, it can't be. Snape, he was the--
QUIRRELL: Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?
Next to him, who would suspect...
...poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell?
But that day, during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill me.
No, dear boy. I tried to kill you!
If Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact...
...I would have succeeded.
Even with Snape muttering his countercurse.
Snape was trying to save me?
I knew you were a danger to me, especially after Halloween.
-Then you let the troll in! -Very good, Potter, yes.
Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled.
While everyone ran about, he went to the third floor to head me off.
He, of course, never trusted me again.
He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand.
I'm never alone. Never.
Now, what does this mirror do?
I see what I desire.
I see myself holding the Stone. But how do I get it?
MAN: Use the boy.
Come here, Potter! Now!
Tell me, what do you see?
What is it? What do you see?
I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup.
MAN: He lies.
Tell the truth! What do you see?
MAN: Let me speak to him. -Master, you are not strong enough.
MAN: I have strength enough for this.
COMMENTARY: Very interesting scene here.
This is our first reveal of Voldemort in any of the films.
This was prior to the casting of Ralph Fiennes...
...so ironically, in a weird way, this Voldemort...
...kind of resembles the Ralph Fiennes you see in the later pictures a little bit.
I always thought I would wanna go back--
And again, as a director, you always wanna go back.
Wanna go back and re-shoot this or re-shoot that particular part of it...
...so that the films have a real consistency.
And I thought it would be great to re-shoot it with Ralph Fiennes' voice...
...and Ralph Fiennes' look now.
This is pretty close...
...but it's not exactly where we are in the later pictures.
But for visual effects at the time, I was very impressed...
...at what our Visual Effects Departments came up with here...
...because it was a concept that was quite odd.
And only Jo Rowling could have come up with the fact...
...that Voldemort appears out of the back of a man's head.
That's a kind of a grotesque and fascinating idea.
How do you do it? Well, we actually-- You know, we had our actor...
...wearing sort of little green dots on the back of his head.
And then Voldemort was added-- Was added much later.
I was just-- I was intrigued by this sequence because I thought it would be horrifying...
...and we wanted to make it fairly horrifying for the little kiddies out there.
I thought it would be so horrifying that the film would get a PG-1 3...
...which is not what we wanted on the first Potter film.
But for some reason, kids weren't running out of the theater.
They were emotionally invested in the film at this point.
Because I think there was an emotional quality here...
...when you combine Harry's parents along with this hideous Voldemort face...
...I think that you-- That you sort of temper it a little bit.
You soften it a little bit for the kids in the audience.
The casting of Harry's parents was difficult...
...because we knew they would be in subsequent pictures.
But at this point, we hadn't read all the books so we didn't know...
...if they would appear in Book 5, 6 or 7. We had no idea.
And Jo really didn't give us that particular information.
So we cast people who have since appeared in subsequent pictures...
...and we didn't know if they would ever speak...
...how much we would get to know them.
This was done with-- Again, we built this set.
We-- That is all real fire in the background...
...again in that effort to give the kids a sense of tangible things...
...that they could hold onto.
QUIRRELL: What is this magic?
COMMENTARY: Ian Hart, our actor here who played Quirrell...
...was there for Dan all the time.
Obviously, when his face is burning and he's disintegrating...
...these are all CGI effects.
To do this practically would probably hurt someone.
So we didn't do that.
But this was a little homage to one of my favorite pictures from the late '50s.
Horror of Dracula, one of the Hammer Films...
...where Christopher Lee disintegrates at the end.
I think I even borrowed a shot from that final sequence...
...where Christopher Lee is defeated by Peter Cushing.
And our Stone, the big, the big....
You know, the big moment in our movie...
...the Sorcerer's Stone, the Philosopher's Stone...
...was really created out of plastic.
We had several of these that were made by our Prop Department.
Sometimes they looked like candy, they weren't shiny enough.
And the only way we could ever get the sense of reflection...
...was to put a reflection of a flame in there.
Voldemort here is obviously created through a CGI effect...
...which I think is very effective because, again, in Jo's world...
...which is so wonderful and imaginative and amazing...
...Voldemort has to pass through Harry...
...which I just thought was something I had never seen before on-screen.
DUMBLEDORE: Good afternoon, Harry.
-Tokens from your admirers? -Admirers?
What happened in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a secret.
So, naturally, the whole school knows.
I see that your friend Ronald has saved you the trouble...
...of opening your Chocolate Frogs.
Ron was here? ls he all right? What about Hermione?
Fine. They're both just fine.
-What happened to the Stone? -Relax, dear boy.
The Stone has been destroyed.
My friend Nicholas and I have had a little chat...
...and agreed it was best all around.
But then, Flamel, he'll die, won't he?
He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order.
But yes, he will die.
How is it I got the Stone, sir?
One minute I was staring in the mirror and--
You see, only a person...
...who wanted to find the Stone, find it...
...but not use it, would be able to get it.
That is one of my more brilliant ideas.
And between you and me, that is saying something.
Does that mean, with the Stone gone, that Voldemort can never come back?
I'm afraid...
...there are ways in which he can return.
Harry, do you know why...
...Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?
It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you.
And that kind of act leaves a mark.
No, this kind of mark cannot be seen.
-lt lives in your very skin. -What is it?
Love, Harry. Love.
Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one.
And since then, I've lost my liking for them.
But I think I could be safe...
...with a nice toffee.
Hm, alas!
Earwax.
-All right there, Ron? -All right. You?
All right. Hermione?
Never better.
Another year gone.
And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding.
And the points stand thus:
In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points.
Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points.
In second place...
...Ravenclaw with 426 points.
And in first place...
...with 472 points, Slytherin house.
Nice one, mate.
Yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done.
However, recent events must be taken into account.
And I have a few last-minute points to award.
To Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of intellect...
...while others were in grave peril...
...50 points.
Good job.
Second, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess...
...that Hogwarts has seen these many years, 50 points.
And third...
...to Mr. Harry Potter...
...for pure nerve and outstanding courage...
...I award Gryffindor house 60 points.
We're tied with Slytherin!
Finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies...
...but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.
I award 1 0 points...
...to Neville Longbottom.
Assuming that my calculations are correct...
...I believe that a change of decoration is in order.
Gryffindor wins the house cup.
Yes!
We won!
HAGRID: Come on, now. Hurry up, you'll be late.
Train's leaving. Go on. Come on, hurry up.
-Come on, Harry. -One minute.
Thought you were leaving without saying goodbye, did you?
This is for you.
Thanks, Hagrid.
Go on. On with you. On with you now. Oh, listen, Harry.
If that dolt of a cousin of yours, Dudley, gives you any grief...
...you could always threaten him...
...with a nice pair of ears to go with his tail.
But we're not allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts. You know that.
I do. But your cousin don't, do he?
COMMENTARY: Dan's first spoken line in a Harry Potter movie...
...comes when he says, "I'm not going home, not really."
HARRY: I'm not going home. Not really.
COMMENTARY: When he says that, I was--
When I saw the dailies to that...
...I was actually very touched, I had tears in my eyes.
I looked over at David Heyman, he's got tears.
And I said, "How is it that this kid came up...
...with such a very unsentimental, real performance?"
And that is just a testament to Dan's ability as an actor...
...even from the very first day on this film.
I hope you guys have had a wonderful time watching this.
I could talk about this forever, so thank you so much.
This has been a real, real pleasure for me...
...to revisit the world of Harry Potter...
...which means so much to me. Thanks.