Harry Potter (film Series) - Production - Cinematography

Cinematography

There have been six different directors of photography in the franchise: John Seale worked on the first film; Roger Pratt on the second and fourth; Michael Seresin on the third; Sławomir Idziak on the fifth; Bruno Delbonnel on the sixth; and Eduardo Serra on the seventh and eighth. Delbonnel was considered to return for both parts of Deathly Hallows, however he declined and stated that he was "scared of repeating" himself. Delbonnel's cinematography in Half-Blood Prince gained the series its only Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. As the series progressed, each cinematographer faced the challenge of shooting and lighting older sets (which had been around since the first few films) in unique and different ways. Chris Columbus said the series' vivid colouring decreased as each film was made, reflecting a more real world.

Michael Seresin commented on the change of visual style from the first two films in Prisoner of Azkaban: "The lighting is moodier, with more shadowing and cross-lighting." Seresin and Alfonso Cuarón moved away from the strongly coloured and brightly lit cinematography of the first two films and set the stage for the succeeding five films, with the lighting becoming dimmer and the colour palette more muted with Roger Pratt's work on the fourth film. Sławomir Idziak provided the fifth film with a cold, blue tint which mirrored the bleakness of the story and, after comparing a range of digital cameras with 35 mm film, Bruno Delbonnel decided to shoot the sixth movie, Half-Blood Prince, on film rather than the increasingly popular digital format; this decision was kept for the two-part Deathly Hallows with Eduardo Serra, who said that he preferred to work with film because it was "more technically accurate and dependable".

Because the majority of Deathly Hallows takes place in various settings away from Hogwarts, David Yates wanted to "shake things up" by using different photographic techniques such as using hand-held cameras and very wide camera lenses. Eduardo Serra said, "Sometimes we are combining elements shot by the main unit, a second unit, and the visual effects unit. You have to know what is being captured – colours, contrast, et cetera – with mathematical precision." He noted that with Stuart Craig's "amazing sets and the story", the filmmakers could not "stray too far from the look of the previous Harry Potter films."