Harry Potter: Real Magic? This brilliant trick makes Hagrid appear so tall

ENTERTAINMENT

November 2, 2024 at 9:00 p.m

In “Harry Potter”, half-giant Hagrid logically appears larger than Harry and co. Of course, no real magic was used for this, but an ingenious trick!

The “Harry Potter” films can be seen every week until Christmas: The weekly broadcast of the “Harry Potter” films on free TV begins again in late autumn. We list all the “Harry Potter” broadcast dates for you!

Rubeus Hagrid, usually simply called Hagrid, is a kind-hearted half-giant and teacher from the “Harry Potter” film series and the books by JK Rowling. In the books, he is described as being twice as tall as an average man – a challenge for the Warner Bros. film team, as actor Robbie Coltrane was “only” 1.85 meters tall.

For the films, Hagrid’s height was set at around 2.59 meters, and the VFX team had to find many creative solutions to create this illusion. There was initially talk of digitally enlarging Hagrid, but ultimately the filmmakers relied primarily on cheaper practical effects and optical illusions to portray Hagrid’s imposing half-giant appearance.

An example is film sets in different sizes: Hagrid’s hut was once available with smaller furniture so that Coltrane would appear huge, and once oversized so that the children and other characters appeared particularly small. Additionally, the camera crew used the forced perspective technique by positioning Coltrane closer to the camera, which automatically made him appear taller.

Coltrane was often filmed in front of a green screen so that his figure could be digitally enlarged later when he was in a scene with other characters. For certain shots, the VFX team also used special techniques that made its size even more impressive.

Robbie Coltrane got a body double and a fully animated giant head

Director Chris Columbus hired former rugby player Martin Bayfield, who is an impressive 2.08 meters tall. Bayfield was put into an oversized Hagrid costume including a fatsuit and equipped with a giant Hagrid head that was fully movable thanks to animatronics.

He became a body double for Coltrane in camera shots where Hagrid was only seen from a distance or scenes where Hagrid was only shot from behind.

The Warner Bros. Studio Tour London features several of these Hagrid heads, as well as a regular Coltrane costume in direct comparison to the giant costume worn by Martin Bayfield (pictured above).

Other practical effects were used on animals and Hogwarts Castle

But it wasn’t just Hagrid who used practical effects to make the magical world of Harry Potter seem more realistic. Almost all of the shots where we see the outside of Hogwarts Castle were taken using a huge model of the castle.

Many animals, such as the hippogriff Buckbeak, the giant spiders from the Forbidden Forest and the basilisk, were either partially or completely built as puppets for certain scenes and then digitally animated afterwards.

Similar tricks were used in The Lord of the Rings to make Gandalf look taller

The “Harry Potter” series is not the only major fantasy series that relies on practical tricks and optical illusions. Peter Jackson also decided to use optical illusions in his “Lord of the Rings” films to make Gandalf actor Ian McKellen look significantly taller than the hobbit or dwarf actors.

The “Harry Potter” films are currently broadcast weekly on free TV on Sat.1. We provide you with all the broadcast dates of the “Harry Potter” series! You can also watch the films streamed on RTL+ with a subscription.

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