Bringing Dobby to Life

      Dobby, for most people, seems to be a weird name for an elf. Well, some people don’t really believe that elves do exist but because of the great existence of the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, many were amazed and got in love with the character of Dobby, a house-elf.

      As wild as the adventures filmed for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are, director Chris Columbus says that the creation of the elf Dobby represented one of the film's greatest challenges. Not , he points out, just in terms of creating him via computer, but in having actor Daniel Radcliffe act by himself without someone else to play off him.

      "Dan basically had to focus on a green ball at the end of a stick. The first day was difficult, and then he got into it. Even in dailies, where you saw him interacting with this green ball, you realized, 'God, it feels like there,' even though Dobby wasn't in the frame yet. The animators said they'd never seen any actor do it as well as Dan. They said they've had actors twice his age who haven't been able to focus. But he makes those scenes work really well." - Columbus

      The search for someone to bring Dobby and the film's other effects to life eventually led to Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and visual effects supervisors Jim Mitchell and Nick Davis (whose collective credits include Jurassic Park III, Sleepy Hollow, Mighty Joe Young, Pluto Nash and the original Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).

The computer generated Dobby is not nearly as annoying as Jar Jar Binks from the  Star Wars film.

      "With Jim and Nick, we found a team that really understands what I call the reality of visual effects. They understand our desire to transport people to a place they have never been before, but at the same time, make certain that they absolutely believe what they are seeing." - Columbus

      Davis explains, "From the very beginning, Chris was quite keen not to use a puppet and to create Dobby through CGI." Mitchell adds, "Dobby is a major character in this story, and Chris wanted to be able to direct him just like any other actor in a scene, which is more thoroughly achieved through GCI."

In the second book, Harry asks Dobby to promise to not save his life again, but 5 books later Dobby does because he is the last hope of getting out of Malfoy Manor. He loses his life by doing so because of Bellatrix Lestrange throwing a knife into his chest. According to Harry, Dobby also saved his life with the Gillyweed.

      "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a little moodier and the action adventure set pieces are bigger, scarier and more exciting than the first film." Columbus sums up. "It's funnier, the kids' performances are even more compelling and, quite simply, if you loved the first film, you are going to absolutely adore this one."

      I do believe that Columbus together with his staff members did great for they have touched the imagination of children of all ages around the world. Well done guys! :)