DIY Harry Potter Broomstick Flying

So we’re finally back with Part 2 of our EveryChusDay Harry Potter video series after a bit of a delay! (We realized we had no space to shoot this back in December last year once Christmas decorations had taken over the room.) Anyway, for those who have visited the Warner Bros Harry Potter studios in London, you’ll know there’s an opportunity to try out the “real” broomsticks and get some footage of yourself soaring over Hogwarts and such – this sort of thing).

As we were unable to go, I wondered…could we DIY this experience to make up for our pandemic-cancelled trip? 

Firstly, there was the issue of the broomstick. Our props department (Lil’ Miss) needed no encouragement to get on with making a replica Nimbus 2000. We followed this great YouTube video and managed to turn a few sheets of cardboard and newspaper into a reasonable, full-sized broomstick prop. Worryingly, perhaps, I had all the necessary supplies for this project to hand. (Note to self: need to destash my craft supplies this year.)

Then it was simply a matter of figuring out how to balance oneself elegantly on the raised cardboard broomstick against a green background. A bit of desktop research revealed that the studio version has a proper seat with green stand and sturdy footrests; our setup had to be quickly improvised from random furniture and was rather less comfortable.

After a few failed attempts, kneeling on a cushioned, green-covered table seemed the best solution. 

Next we had to tackle the issue of looking too motionless and rigid, which was somewhat solved by using a large fan, hairdryer and some green thread to help their Hogwarts robes “flap” in the wind. 

With all these in place, the kids had a lot of fun acting out the broomstick flying with the movie soundtrack playing full blast in our living room. 

The rest is all down to the usual video editing magic and some great free online resources. The girls were absolutely thrilled with the results! It’s not quite the stuff of Industrial Light & Magic, but even compared to the videos you get from the London studio tour, it’s not too shabby. And we certainly learnt quite a lot along the way!

Hope you enjoy the video and here’s to a flying start to 2021! 

(Sadly I’m not sure how much time we’ll have for this sort of random stuff over the coming year; Miss Chu has just started P6 and the dreaded PSLE (primary school leaving exam) looms ominously ahead. So we might have to suspend the fantasy play soon and get on with some serious muggling mugging.)