HBO's Harry Potter is seemingly adopting Star Wars' The Volume technology. While many have debated the need for a Harry Potter reboot just 25 years after the eight-movie saga began (and 15 years after it ended), HBO is pushing full steam ahead with its seven-season TV adaptations. Not only will the big-budget show benefit from four times as much time to adapt each book, but it can also utilize modern evolutions in CGI and filmmaking to craft its Wizarding World, alongside the practical effects and sets that make Hogwarts feel so real.
HBO Max released the first trailer for Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic, a new documentary that offers a glimpse into the production of the reboot series. The teaser appears to confirm that HBO will use the Volume (a high-tech digital set created by Industrial Light & Magic for The Mandalorian) in some of its Hogwarts Express scenes, such as one featuring Harry and Ron on the back of the train.
The Volume was developed as part of ILM's StageCraft, a virtual stage that displays high-resolution backdrops on massive screens, allowing actors to perform in front of the environment as it will be seen in the series. This also allows for moving backdrops (as seen in Harry Potter) or evolving lighting.
The Hogwarts newcomers can be clearly seen in front of the digital set, which creates the illusion of the Hogwarts Express speeding through the U.K. countryside, despite standing completely still on the Warner Bros. lot.
The Volume may have been created for Lucasfilm and The Mandalorian, but its design has reverberated across Hollywood. The high-tech set has been used rather poorly under Marvel Studios in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love & Thunder, while Warner Bros. has found more success by using the Volume for gorgeous shots in House of the Dragon and The Batman.
These days, Star Wars is cutting back on its use of The Volume, having abandoned the franchise-wide filming technique for The Mandalorian & Grogu and, at very least, using it more sparingly for Disney+'s Ahsoka Season 2.
HBO may be using the Volume for some major Harry Potter moments, but the series is still expected to be very practical. The Finding Harry trailer also included glimpses of the big-budget series' grander sets, such as the all-new Great Hall.
Those sets extend to the grandeur of Hogwarts' entrance, where Janet McTeer's Professor McGonagall will greet the school's incoming first years.
The sneak peek showed an exterior glimpse at some of the massive buildings that are being assembled on the Warner Bros. lot, seemingly featuring Diagon Alley.
Wizarding World enthusiasts will learn more about HBO's Harry Potter production when Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic hits HBO Max on April 5.
Why HBO's Harry Potter Will Use The Volume Better Than Star Wars
The Hogwarts Express that is being used in HBO's Harry Potter is the Wightwick Hall, a train that was built in 1948 and was set for scrap, according to the BBC, following in the footsteps of the Olton Hall, which was saved from the same South Wales scrapyard for its starring role in the original movies.
Fans already caught a peek at the new Hogwarts Express pulled up at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in videos captured by influencers who were recently invited to visit the Harry Potter production (via Reddit). The shot comes from the magical Platform 9 3/4 set that was purpose-built for the HBO series.
Reddit user Tanzbodeli explained that HBO will face an obstacle with its choice of locomotive, as the Wightwick Hall is "not certified to run on UK main line railways." That may play into the decision to shoot many Hogwarts Express scenes in front of the Volume backdrop on the WB Leavesden lot, allowing the legendary Scottish Highlands backdrop to be added in real-time.
While Harry Potter appears to be using the Volume to some degree, fans shouldn't worry about it looking visually worse as a result. Warner Bros. has so far utilized the Volume much better than its Disney inventors, and HBO is still going big on practical sets for Harry Potter to bring Hogwarts and the Wizarding World to life.
As HBO finally begins to pull back the curtain on Harry Potter's production ahead of its Christmas Day premiere, it has become clear that the Volume will be used as a filming tool, as it should be, not a replacement for practical set design.
