Harry Potter: 10 Behind The Scenes Secrets That Will Blow Your Mind
6. What The House-Elves Actually Looked Like
Speaking of lovable characters, it was the neurotic mess we came to know as Dobby the house-elf that took the cake for the most heart-breaking death scene in the Harry Potter franchise.
Watching Harry hold his limp body still makes me grab a box of tissues to this day, which is an incredible accomplishment considering how the character had been digitally rendered from empty space.
The actors saw a different side to Dobby though, who on set took the form of nothing more than a tennis ball securely fastened to a lengthy stick. Although a bit simple for a Hollywood prop, the producers had to make a plan when they realized the actors were having trouble connecting with someone who wasn't truly there.
Having even the simplest of placeholders for all house-elves allowed actors to both maintain eye contact with the CGI creatures, and form a connection of sorts, which is essentially all that was needed.
When it became obvious that Dobby and the other house-elves would be playing a larger role in the franchise, actors were finally brought on board to play them, often wearing grey motion capture suits to make their replacement post-production a lot easier.