Special Honors for ‘Harry Potter’s’ Stuart Craig and Roger Pratt!

Two Harry Potter alums have been selected to receive special honors during this year’s award season!

According to Deadline, production designer Stuart Craig has been tapped to receive the Lifetime Achievement award at the British Film Designers Guild awards on Feb. 9 after a prolific career including three Oscar wins and three BAFTA nods. Craig worked on all eight film adaptations of the Harry Potter series and has carried his contributions over to the extension of the wizarding world through the new Fantastic Beasts series from J.K. Rowling.

Stuart was nominated for Best Production Design for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011), taking home the win for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

He also received a BAFTA nomination–and won!–for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and he has been nominated again this year for his contributions to production design for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

As for Oscar recognition, his track record is equally magical. Craig was nominated for Best Achievement in Art Direction for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

While set design for the Fantastic Beasts series has certainly presented its challenges–from recreating the streets of 1920s New York to the sprawling landscape of late 1920s Paris–it has undoubtedly been the perfect vehicle to highlight Craig’s genius. And the crux of this genius, where it comes to the wizarding world, is Craig’s intuitive understanding of what works for the audiences and the films.

In 2016, Leaky reported that Craig observed:

“We learned on the Potter films that the magic works really well when it’s born out of something that seems completely real; something you accept and believe.”

This Lifetime Achievement award is well deserved, and we look forward to design magic he’ll work when the Fantastic Beasts story heads to Rio!

Roger Pratt, cinematographer for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, has also been recognized with a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematography. According to Screen Daily, the honor was awarded at a pre-ceremony BAFTA event held Sunday, Jan. 20.

Pratt previously earned BAFTA nominations for The End of the Affair (1999) and Chocolat (2000), and both Harry Potter films provided ample opportunity to show off Pratt’s expertise.

Chamber of Secrets expanded on Sorcerer’s Stone with a magical ride from London to Scotland in the Weasley’s enchanted Ford Anglia, a creepy excursion into the heart of the Forbidden Forest to Aragog’s lair and a descent into the hidden chamber of Salazar Slytherin deep beneath the school. Likewise, Goblet of Fire extended beyond the castle and grounds to the Quidditch World Cup, the Tri-Wizard Tournament’s Dragon Challenge, Black Lake and maze and to the graveyard of Tom Riddle Sr.

Both films needed to produce the proper atmosphere and suspense while also keeping audiences invested in the story as it moved in and out of Hogwarts. Pratt’s contributions to both films were certainly outstanding, and his award is both aptly named and timely.

Congratulations to Stuart Craig and Roger Pratt, and thank you for being a part of the wizarding world!