Visual Effects supervisor Tim Burke on creating the final “Harry Potter”

by · February 21, 2012

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 has three nominations for this weekend’s Oscar Awards ceremony, all in the technical departments. Today a new interview came out with Special Effects Supervisor Tim Burke, who is one of those nominees, on his career with the Harry Potter franchise.

Tim has been the Visual Effects Supervisor at Mill Films for all of the Harry Potter films since Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, receiving an Oscar nomination for Prisoner of Azkaban, Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and now Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Even though he has not captured the coveted Oscar award for Harry Potter – YET! – he has received an Oscar for his work on the film Gladiators back in 2000.

During the interview with Studio Daily, he spoke of using miniatures for Hogwarts in the final film. Tim stated:

“We didn’t use any miniatures for Hogwarts. It was the first time we did away with the 24th-scale model. We used a third-scale viaduct for the sequence with the giants. We scaled the architecture they were running on to make the actors look taller. But we didn’t use miniatures to recreate Hogwarts.”

When asked which scene was his favorite to produce, he stated:

“Funnily enough, I think the sequence of the [Hogwarts] shield forming and the destruction of the shield. Even though they weren’t perhaps the most complicated, they were some of the most beautiful. As Voldemort arrived with his army on the hillside, the teachers went into the areas of the courtyard and created a magical shield that enveloped and protected the school. We art-directed the shots at Double Negative and they are elegant.

It took a long time to create the magical shield. Then Voldemort bombarded the school and destroyed the shield. We wanted to give that an epic scale. We referenced the Hindenburg airship disaster, when it went up in flames, to get the scale of the flames and burning materials. That was the reference for pieces of cloth-like fire that dropped down onto the school. It was magical – not in a Harry Potter sense. It was beautiful and shocking at the same time. Those shots were completely CG and had a big design aspect, which is rewarding.”

We believe Tim Burke’s team will take home the first Oscar for the Potter franchise, what are your thoughts on their chances? Let us know in the comments below.