Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be
doing something a little bit different than normal. Today, we’re going to be taking
a look at the Harry Potter concept art from the Chamber of Secrets.
Now, most films, video games, animations and other forms of media use concept art in pre-production
- it’s an integral part of the production process, as it helps to provide a rough idea
of what the final project will resemble. It helps people to visualize what it is that
they’re going to be working on, watching, or investing in- and while some productions
veer away from the concept art altogether when it comes to their final product, others
remain fairly consistent with it. The Harry Potter books were MASSIVELY and I mean MASSIVELY
popular- and the harry potter filmmakers wanted them to become an equally popular film franchise.
The Harry Potter world is vast- there are so many settings, creatures, and other things
that needed to be adapted from the books- and so Warner Bros hired a multitude of concept
artists. The goal was simple: transform these magical words in to an equally magical visual
format. For each film, this concept art was produced, and in today’s video we’re going
to be taking a look at some of artist Adam Brockbank’s work that pertains to the Chamber
of Secrets. He’s a massively talented artist, and I think that he did some amazing work-
but I want to compare his ‘concepts’ to the finished product and see how similar they
actually are.
I’m going to be jumping around a bit from art piece to art piece and providing you all
with some commentary- if you enjoy this style of video then let me know in the comment section
below and I can do something similar for the other films.
First up, we have the Hogwarts carriages departing from the school at Christmas time. It’s
a beautiful snowy setting with white horses pulling red carriages and Hogwarts peaking
through in the background. This is a beautiful piece of concept art, something you could
put on a wall- and it’s remarkably similar to the film. This is what the film ended up
looking like- LOOK how close it is- it’s almost exactly the same. Brockbank did a great
job at sketching it up, and the filmmakers/set+costume designers did an excellent job of replicating
his sketch.
Next up we have some concept art featuring a character that you all know and love, but
might not recognize here. This is young Hagrid- the same Hagrid that is framed by Tom Riddle
in his schoolboy days. He definitely looks like a Hogwarts student, however, the concept
art in this instance, though impressive, definitely does not resemble the final product. Though
he doesn’t appear for long in the film adaptation of the chamber of secrets, we do see a glimpse
of young Hagrid- and though it’s workable, it certainly doesn’t resemble what Brockbank
sketched up.
Next up we have the king of spiders, Aragog himself. This piece of concept art depicts
Harry and Ron walking toward Aragog in his lair. It’s a great piece of art with beautiful
colouring, and the film ends up resembling this quite closely. The Aragog in the art
looks very close to the film adaptation- however he does appear to be a little thinner and
certainly scaled down a little bit.
Next up we have the flying ford anglia in Aragog’s lair. This shows the Weasley’s
blue ford wailing toward a gigantic Aragog. I don’t have a frame that matches this exact
concept art, but the overall tone / mood established by the art is certainly replicated in the
film.
Next up we have a recently petrified Hermione Granger. This piece of concept art depicts
Hermione immediately after a run in with the Basilisk from the chamber of secrets- it’s
a very chilling, dark piece of art that almost feels more fitting for the later films, as
the overall tone of the Chamber of secrets was still quite innocent. If we compare it
to the film version, we can see that the general idea is there- however, Hermione doesn’t
look quite as necrotic. Either one would’ve worked for me I think.
Next up we have the Howler concept. This piece of art depicts a Howler- a magical letter
in a red envelope that no one really wants to receive. Howler’s enchant the senders
written message in to their voice, and are generally quite a lot to cope with. In the
film, we see Ron receive a Howler and it seems to resemble the concept art quite closely.
It’s not QUITE the same, but we get the idea- and I don’t necessarily think that
one is better than the other.
Next up we have the Hogwarts ghosts concept. This particular piece of concept art of course
depicts Nearly-Headless Nick’s deathday party, a congregation of the deceased inside
the walls of Hogwarts. The deathday party is of course omitted from the film, but this
piece of concept art does do a good job at giving us an idea of what the ghosts are supposed
to look like. If we compare it to actual ghosts that appeared in the film, the idea is clearly
there.
Next up we have the Harry / Quidditch concept. This piece of concept art depicts Harry in
a quidditch match reaching for the snitch, with Draco Malfoy close behind. This is a
great piece of concept art, and there is actually a frame from the film that nearly exactly
resembles it. If we look at the real version, there are a few differences, but this is excellent
execution of turning concept art into a reality.
Next up we have the Fawkes Basilisk concept. This piece of concept art depicts Fawkes clawing
out the eyes of the basilisk inside of the chamber of secrets- effectively giving Harry
a fighting chance. It’s an impressive piece of art, and it’s beautifully drawn. If we
look at the film version, there are certainly some differences- but it gives us the right
idea. In the film version, I’m not sure if it’s just perspective or not, but he
appears to be smaller. Additionally, the basilisk looks less like a regular snake and more like
some kind of mythical beast.
And last but not least, we have the Fawkes’ ash concept. This piece of concept art depicts
Fawkes, a Phoenix, being reborn from the ash after bursting in to flames. Phoenixes are
famously immortal, but periodically ‘die’, only to be reborn again. If we look at the
film version, it’s cute, but I think that the concept art looks a lot cooler.
And that’s it for this video! What did you guys think of this concept art? Which versions
did you prefer of each? If you guys want more videos like this then let me know down in
the comment section below.
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY