Le Ministére Des Affaires Magiques De La France
The French ministry of magic 'underneath' Paris.
Production designer Stuart Craig wanted to have the French Ministry full of air and light, contrasting the dark underground amphitheatre of Grindelwald's rally. The celestial chart added some magic and avoided us having to show a sky outside.
Art director Sam Leake, with Stuart's guidance, designed and built the architecture/3d including the interlacing strap-work of the balustrades and offices (as well as supervising the real world set). The statues were scans of full size sculpts by Julian Murray.
My job was to make it look cool and illustrate the dome. The 'zodiac' is based on creatures and objects from the Potter universe (as per JKR's request)
Elevator forms from tree roots...
Elevator arrives in the ministry
Typing pool
Intersecting grand shapes create beautiful corridor
Records carousel
Shelves shuffle to deliver requested document
Mail room clerks pass too and from the records room
Sam Leake's Art Nouveau shelving create a city of records
French Ministry created by Interconnecting domes
Early Stuart idea showing obliviated 'muggles' returned
Obliviated muggle returned to surface. Closed Metro entrance might have been entrance to Ministry of Magic
Le Strange Family record box
French Ministry 'location orb' based on an idea by Prop HOD Pierre Bohanna
Internal workings of Location Orb
I tried a few different styles for the Celestial Dome before opting for a technique based on Albrecht Durer's woodcuts. Painfully slow to draw digitally - can't imagine what it was like in the 16th Century working with a chisel on wood.
Thunderbird
Graphorn in the style of Albrecht Durer's rhinoceros
Demiguise
Niffler
Dome 'leg' from sea floor to clouds
Streeler
Newt's basement hospital
Classic Stuart Craig design; combining familiar elements in a surreal way. The shed from Newt's case returns.
Alcoves are entrances to magical creature habitats - this shot done over clip from edit
Kelpie lives behind wall of water
Mooncalves arrive for food
Mooncalf planet crash-landed in magical lake
Augury's alcove
Pere Lachaise cemetery with scan of Julian Murray's Le Strange family monument.
Animations
Shot matching edited sequence showing the French Ministry of Magic's central dome.
Location Orb - very difficult to get the competing elements to work - transparent and reflective glass with glowing icons and anmiated mechanical interior. Not that we saw any of it in the nano-second it was on screen.
Records department shelves come to life
Simple animation showing how the shelving system might work
Obliviation centre - didn't make the final cut which is a pity as it was a funny mad idea from Stuart
Vr360 of Dome - best viewed zoomed in to avoid distortion.
