TR-Mission:Exploration of new worlds by Capt’n Wrongway Wendy-Complete

[Aussie Wendy]

I love some of David Goode's pixie sculptures but at 3500 pounds for a very small one, out of my league too. I appreciate the hours and hours of creativity, labour and materials it takes to create and make artwork but sometimes I wish it was more accessible for the average person. So I recently made my own (large) mosaic lizard for the external wall near our entry - just have to seal it and its done.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I love some of David Goode's pixie sculptures but at 3500 pounds for a very small one, out of my league too. I appreciate the hours and hours of creativity, labour and materials it takes to create and make artwork but sometimes I wish it was more accessible for the average person. So I recently made my own (large) mosaic lizard for the external wall near our entry - just have to seal it and its done.

Oooh. Sounds lovely. Can I trouble you for a picture when you're finished?

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sure...hoping to get back onto it next weekend. I am happy with it but just winged it as never tackled something like this before so pro's or arty crafty types would probably notice all the glitches!

 

[Marlea98]

Have finally caught up on your TR. I am very envious of your trip. One day it will be my turn

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Have finally caught up on your TR. I am very envious of your trip. One day it will be my turn

5 months til you're a cruisin' !! sounds pretty good to me!!

 

[Marlea98]

5 months til you're a cruisin' !! sounds pretty good to me!!

Me and the Mouse Oh, and my family

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Aussie Wendy]

England Post 4: Drenched

The day started with teaming rain but we headed into the city anyway. First stop was back to Platform 9 ¾ - the guys from the HP store were there so had to have them take a pic (obligation free and you take your own too) and in the end the professionals was so good I caved and bought it. Decided to reveal my true colours when I chose my scarf… (they presumed I, like everyone would want to be a Gryffindor-nup).

DH wanted to buy DD a wand as a surprise (gotta love dads) but I convinced him she’d have more fun choosing her own even though I could make a pretty good guess at which one she’d choose.






Next was Shakespeare Globe Theatre for the tour – very interesting. Our guide could quote Shakespeare in the bawdy way it would have been delivered back then and was hilarious. I loved looking around the exhibition as well.

The stage-setting up for a final dress rehearsal of a Midsummer’s Night Dream.





Queen Elizabeth 1st costume



Cleopatra



After that we headed back to Borough Markets, having walked past on our way from the tube. It was busy with people huddling under every alcove they could find as the rain drove in, so apart from picking up some goodies for later, we decided reluctantly we wanted somewhere warm and dry to sit for a while. Snapped a few pics en route.

These looked so good.




These less so





Black puddings and the like assortment



All the sit-down places in and around the markets were full but we managed to find a gourmet burger place close by where we enjoyed a nice burger (bit like Grill’d here in Qld) and lingered for quite a while, enjoying being dry and warm again.

Venturing back out, the weather was if possible, even worse. All thoughts of exploring a new part of London or ducking amongst the shops on Oxford St abandoned, I led us to the museums (passing the new Shard en route – visibility 0 = not wasting the money to go up to the lookout floor this trip).



We spent a quiet two hours wandering the galleries of the V&A before it was time to catch the tube out to the airport and meet our DD who flew in around 7pm. A few odd pics of some of the sights.

(Mostly replicas copied to allow art and history students to study them in detail).





Dresses from the 1750’s



A Mantau gown – rather difficult getting through doorways



Dresses from 1950’s



And 1960’s



It was an uneventful trip from Kensington out to the airport. DD landed early having had a great trip over including an overnight in Singapore near the beach. Even better she got an upgrade (why doesn’t that ever happen to us?) In case anyone stays here (Changi Village Hotel), some pics



The beach



The ferry area for trips to offshore islands



View from the rooftop pool



Looking down from the pool area into one of several courtyard areas.



We headed back home to Ware via the tubes and train lines – managing to get on the wrong train at Tottenham Hale (to Cambridge instead of the one that does the branchline offshoot) resulting in a sheepish phone call to our rellies who then had to pick us up from a bit more distant station (20 mins rather than 5 mins) -ah well. As it turned out we got there about 40 mins faster so had time for a cuppa before home to bed. We sneaked DD in with us and she camped on the cushions off the couch with a borrowed sleeping bag-so tired she’d have slept anywhere. Off to HP tomorrow.

Captn’s highlights: Platform 9 ¾ and shop, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, catching up with DD again.
Lows: The rain and cold (under 10 degrees) driving us indoors all day (but thankfully we weren’t at the flower show – we saw many drowned persons wearing one-use Chelsea ponchos on the stations!)

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sat 25th May England Post 5: Harry Potter Studios Tour – yaay! Part 1

This was such an amazing day. We ended up arriving at opening and they let us in with the first booked group (we were meant to be 30 mins later). We were there for over 5 hours and only exhaustion drove us home around 3.30 to make it back in time for a dinner date. We were also lucky to be there during a special fortnight when they had a selection of animal actors that played in the movies with their handlers to answer questions.

This is very picture heavy so be warned but it’s so hard shortlisting and we saw EVERYTHING! Every prop from the movie practically, lots of sets, costumes, animatronics, tons of info and videos of who, how and why. It was totally amazeballs.

Here are some opening shots



Chess pieces



In the foyer





The flying Ford Anglia



Quidditch display in the shop window



The Cupboard Under the Stairs



Once inside we watched a short intro movie hosted by Harry, Ron and Hermione, then as they walk inside the doors of Hogwarts, the screen rolled back to the exact shot but of the REAL Great Hall doors-cue lots of ooh’s and aah’s.



The doors open



And here we are inside…



There was lots to look at inside the Great Hall











Gryffindor



Ravenclaw



Hufflepuff



And Slytherin





Dumbledore



Snape



Mrs McGonagall



Hagrid


Filch and Mrs Norris

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Harry Potter Studios Tour Part 2

Moody, Trelawny and Flitwick



The Easter banquet. Some pieces were made from real chocolate and survived up to 7 years





Entering the first studio, one of the make-up artist desks



The Yule Ball ice sculpture



Yule Ball costumes. You could buy Hermione's ball gown in the shop!)



Ron’s hideous dress outfit



The gates to Hogwarts



An example of the use of forced perspective



Cauldron from the Leaky Cauldron



The Mirror of Erised



Main cast wands (these are the ones you can buy replicas of - well most)



Extra’s wands - all different



Two general views of this studio with the various sets – many insitu where they filmed, and props





Very important objects from the movies



Triwizard cup



Goblet of Fire



I liked this



Gryffindor boy’s dormitory. The stove is the one used in the movie Chocolat. The curtain material was going to be wizard hats and the like but a props buyer discovered the velvet star material in a shopping trip and decided it was perfect.



Ron’s bed. By the middle of the movies the boys were too long for the beds but rather than remake them, they just filmed them in ways you don’t notice.



One of the animal actors that played Mrs Norris in the Gryffindor Common Room



Another shot of the Common Room



One of the owls – the hardest animal to train, especially to carry the letters and packages. They didn’t like the feel of the paper so they had to put a small piece of Sellotape where they held it and it took months and months to train them to carry the lightweight packages. Note Ron and Harry’s Xmas jumpers on the gallery.







Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 3

Another owl



Scabbers



More costumes





The gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmaster’s rooms



Dumbledore’s office. Some walls are moveable to allow filming from different angles



Two shots of the inside –can’t decide which one I prefer.





The books are mostly UK phone books covered in old leather (am I spoiling the magic yet?)



Portraits of the headmasters



Bit blurry pic of Godric Gryffindor’s sword



The pensieve



And memories



More portraits, painted using the production and support crew as models



This was one of the producers or directors, I forget who



The most expensive prop that was never used, the astronomy telescope



Potions Classroom. Used after film 1 (when it was on location) and expanded for the last two movies.



The pots had wands magically stirring them





Horace Slughorn



Snape. The attention to detail was amazing. All the jars have different things in them. Props bought bones from butchers and plastic toys and then mutilated them, covered them with icky stuff, etc then stuffed them into the jars.



One of the animal actors, Crackerjack, who played Crookshanks.



Demonstrating how they encourage them to perform.



Isn’t he gorgeous! To make him look scruffy they combed the cats, collected the hair and made false combs of hair fixed into their coat.



Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 4

A Neopolitan mastiff, one of several who played Fang





The animal actors board – all those who took turns at playing the animals



The door to the Chamber of Secrets – this was actually mechanical (I always thought it was CGI).



Gringott’s vault door



In the Burrow






Close up of the clock



The washing brush washed and the knife chopped “magically”



Hagrid’s Hut


Horcruxes-Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem



Helga Hufflepuff’s cup



Salazar Slytherin’s locket



Tom Riddle’s diary



Lupin’s trunk



Moody’s chest



With the deatheaters



He who must not be named



Malfoy


Bellatrix


Deatheater masks – not one is the same



Ministry of Magic



Prophecy orbs




Two of 14 fireplaces created for the movies. Ceramic tiles ended up being too heavy for such a tall structure so they painted plywood to look like tiles – even close up, you couldn’t tell the difference.



Continued next post

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful, Wendy. You're making me wish I have a trip to the Old Dart planned. That Harry Potter museum is just amazing!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Beautiful, Wendy. You're making me wish I have a trip to the Old Dart planned. That Harry Potter museum is just amazing!

It really was-the Back Lot, Creatures Studio and 1/24th scale model still to be posted - hopefully tomorrow. They are spending a lot of money on turning the studio complex back into a major production studio in England. I guess eventually this will close - I wish more movies did this for a few years after. (We really enjoyed the small Narnia display in WDW in 2008.) I think the fact that many of the sets were the actual working sets where they were filmed made it more special. We now plan to do a big HP marathon and look closely at some of the filming to see if we can pick up some of the things we learnt.

 

[PrincessInOz]

It really was-the Back Lot, Creatures Studio and 1/24th scale model still to be posted - hopefully tomorrow. They are spending a lot of money on turning the studio complex back into a major production studio in England. I guess eventually this will close - I wish more movies did this for a few years after. (We really enjoyed the small Narnia display in WDW in 2008.) I think the fact that many of the sets were the actual working sets where they were filmed made it more special. We now plan to do a big HP marathon and look closely at some of the filming to see if we can pick up some of the things we learnt.

DS and I have been talking about doing a HP marathon. We thought it would be fun to do before we head to Harry Potter world.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Yes as you can see by my ticker, the visit seems to have spurred DH into approving a trip to the US again for us next year (helped by my current 6 month income!) Today as DD was exclaiming over "Autumn-I've always wanted to see the fall colours in New England" (lets forget she may not even be able to come with us) he said "3 weeks inclusive of all flights, no hassles trip, that's what you've got to work with" - so the envelope is stretching By this he means a tour rather than self-drive if we head somewhere else and the trip is to include Universal for HP (the extension might be open by then too!) and KSC which he missed out on due to the shuttle launch last time. All good! Don't you love husbands!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Yes as you can see by my ticker, the visit seems to have spurred DH into approving a trip to the US again for us next year (helped by my current 6 month income!) Today as DD was exclaiming over "Autumn-I've always wanted to see the fall colours in New England" (lets forget she may not even be able to come with us) he said "3 weeks inclusive of all flights, no hassles trip, that's what you've got to work with" - so the envelope is stretching By this he means a tour rather than self-drive if we head somewhere else and the trip is to include Universal for HP (the extension might be open by then too!) and KSC which he missed out on due to the shuttle launch last time. All good! Don't you love husbands!

So you're heading there closer towards October.

Your DD is right - fall colours in New England could be a great trip.

And forgive me for saying this, but I really can't see you and your family on a "tour". You're all much too adventurous and independent to be constrained by someone else's time and schedule. If you do end up on a "tour", it will be interesting to see what you think of it. DH and I do occasionally think it might be nice to be on a "tour" but we like the freedom of our own time.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Yes re tour-I know. Hmm. Our first ever overseas trip as dewy-eyed 20's was a tour-but even then we broke with the mould and did our own thing some days! We shall see what I unearth. We have seriously considered tours though for some parts of the world-when we get there like South America, Egypt, Africa, China.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 5

Magic is Might sculpture installed by the Deatheaters when they took control of the Ministry



Oppressed Muggles



Umbridge’s room



Her outfits. As she gained more power she got steadily pinker, as did her supporter’ s outfits.



Making kitten plates. A props buyer spent a day running around London collecting plates then they filmed all sorts of kittens against a green screen like this demo.



A kitten actor in waiting



The Black family tree tapestry





Every printed item was designed and produced by the props and art departments



Mischief managed



Special effects – the vault cart



Hagrid’s bike




Broomsticks. You could queue up to be filmed against a green screen riding a broom then they produced a film of you from shots within the movie. They really looked good and you could then buy yourself on DVD. We didn’t join the long queues for this.



We then headed outside to the Back Lot. Just beat the crowds but still quite a wait to buy a hotdog (also had sandwiches and cakes and various drinks) and from a different queue, for DD a Butterbeer (she persuaded DH to give her pounds to buy the souvie mug version). Not sure what these taste like in the US but these were totally delicious. English creaming soda (which is totally nothing like Australian) and cream.





The Knight Bus, at three stories high, it was bolted together from vintage buses and has to be weighted down so it doesn’t topple over.







No 4 Privet Drive. The first movie was on location but due to gawkers they built this version on the lot for the rest.





Potter House



Riddle’s grave



More chess pieces



Continued next post

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Part 6

The only section of bridge that was built



I really like this pic



Groups of teen girls especially took it in turns to film themselves running down here.



On Hagrids bike



A Ford Anglia for pics



In the Creatures Studio where all the magical beasts are crafted, from goblins to giant spiders and hippogriffs.


Showing the detail up close







It moved



As did this at the push of a button



Biting books



And Mandrakes


Demonstrating the mechanics



Hagrids animatronic head used by his very large double and so realistic you cant tell in the film where it switched from Robby to him (they showed sections of the film showing the change).



Scary



As is Agragog



And the Basalisk



A Hungarian Horntail dragon



Dementor



Thestral



Buckbeak-mostly CGI but they made a model for some close-up shots.



That could move and bow its head





Fawkes

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! What a fantastic set of pictures you have. It looks amazing and I bet you all had a ball there. I think it is just wonderful how you get to recreate moments out of the movies. Pure Potter bliss.

That butterbeer looks remarkably similar to the ones in Orlando. You'll have to go try it and see.


And yes - I agree with you about the countries for doing tours. But for now, I'm going to leave Egypt off my list.