NEWT’S CASE Ominous dark shadows with light from the case suggesting a portal to a world below. DP

NEWT’S CASE Early prop design of the case and wand. MS

NEWT’S CASE How do you make something as everyday as a case have more presence in a scene? Long dark shadows. It’s probably hard to find a spot in New York where the evening sun would make it past the tall buildings. Maybe there were more gaps in the 1920s city. DP

SKETCH IDEAS FOR NEWT’S CASE

1 We explored a lot of ideas as to how Newt could enter the world inside his case. I liked the idea that this would be a mechanical rather than magical process.

 

2 The case needed a way of preventing its contents from escaping. This idea was based on a simple mantrap but in the end it was a bit too like something from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and that would have been sacrilegious.

 

3 Here an old fashioned elevator provides access to the hidden world of the case. I liked the idea that this magical door would be something clattering and mechanical.

 

4 Here the case propels itself using magical clockwork. I liked the contrast between this and the more ethereal magic of wands and spells.

 

5 How would Newt capture large creatures with his case? The idea here was that it would be like a bullfight – only one where the bull disappears into the fighter’s cape. I liked the idea that this would mimic the street magician’s most basic disappearing trick rather than a display of real magic.

 

6 This case can trap creatures larger than itself, but like a snake it takes a while to swallow them. BK

IDEA FOR AN ENTRANCE TO NEWT’S SHED How to get in and out of the shed? This was an early concept making use of the already established idea that paintings in the wizarding world are ‘alive’. The Niffler escapes through a painting of a staircase inspired by Charles Wilson Peale’s ‘staircase group’. DP

IDEA FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE SHED Here, inspired by the Pitt River Museum, Newt’s world is crammed full of artefacts he has picked up on his travels. DP

SHED INTERIOR Newt’s shed is this film’s version of Hagrid’s hut – one of my favourite sets from the Harry Potter movies. It was great to work on a similar Stuart Craig design for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The shed is full of the stuff Newt has picked up on his travels to care for the beasts. DP

A LOCATOR I based this design for the Locator on the brass that I used to polish at home for pocket money when I was about eleven. RB

BILLYWIG EGGS/MS

ASHWINDER EGG The properties of an Ashwinder egg are very specific: laid by the Ashwinder snake the egg is hot to the touch and capable of combusting to create a fire in flammable surroundings. It was scripted as having been frozen by means of a spell, making it a tradable ingredient for love potions. We tried to find a finish that would convey this magical oxymoron. I referenced ice textures, and the final frozen shell was made irregular so it would retain some of the natural look of a soft snake egg. MS

THE LUNASCOPE This is a magical device invented to counter the difficulty of reading lunar charts when predicting the phases of the moon. It is useful for determining dates for lunar sensitive herb harvests, spell casting, and rituals without having to carry around large complicated charts. The design is based on a telescope and a sundial. For those who can operate it, apertures and sliding dials triangulate the current moon position with the north star and constellations, giving calculated predictions of moon phases both past and future. MS

ABANDONED IDEA FOR A ‘NAVIGATOR’ FOR NEWT’S SHED Each environment is represented by a cell on the globe that Newt can examine with his telescope. Eventually this was deemed way too complicated. DP

SKETCH OF NEWT’S SHED/SCR

NEWT’S SHED This was developed from a classic Stuart Craig design: something familiar but with a twist! The design itself was inspired by the weatherbeaten seaside huts you might see in the dunes along the English coast. Stuart insisted that the ‘feet’ be a little too thin for the structure, which gives it a light, nimble feel. DP

NEWT’S SHED We explored the idea that there was no central location for the shed. When Newt selected a creature’s home world (using the navigator or maybe a magical map) then the environment outside the shed became that world. It was important that the shed was embedded in the environment as if it has always been there, meaning it didn’t travel. DP

NEWT’S SHED A frame from an animation that I created to demonstrate how the shed would exist in whatever creature environment Newt wanted to visit. The icicles and snow build up, reinforcing the idea that the shed did not ‘travel’ there. DP

‘AS THE DESIGN OF NEWT’S WORLD EVOLVED IT BECAME SMALLER AND LESS ‘EPIC’. THIS VISUAL WAS EXPLORING THE SIZE RELATIONSHIPS AND ALSO ASKING WHAT WOULD THE SHED’S HOME BASE BE? A VERY DIFFICULT PROBLEM, LATER SOLVED BY STUART’S FANTASTIC WOODEN HILL. THE FLOATING ORB WAS MY PITCH FOR THE OBSCURUS – A DARK MALEVOLENT MOON. I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO AGREED.’

NEWT’S SHED/DP

NEWT’S SHED Newt’s shed rests on an artificial ‘dune’ made of wood. The final set looked like something you would find installed in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London. DP

NEWT IN THE SHED Newt looks out from the shed to the creature environments – his shed is the centre of his world. DP

EARLY IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENTS One of the first images that I did for Newt’s case showed how the environments’ individual weather systems would leak from one habitat into another. Rain-filled clouds drift from a warm environment before falling as snow in a frozen one. This also demonstrates Newt’s use of an artificial ‘sun’ and ‘moon’, which he might use to wake the creatures up or put them to sleep. DP

DRAGON HIDE GLOVES Wearing dragon hide gloves is an essential safety measure for any witch, wizard or No-Maj who is handling sharp-toothed, poisonous or otherwise dangerous plants and creatures. The hide is naturally fire-proof and impervious so is perfect material for a hardwearing protective glove. MS

APPALOOSA PUFFSKEIN/MS (right)

BILLYWIG STINGS Billywig stings are a useful ingredient in potion-making. The tails or stings are valuable and delicate and have been stored carefully in this jar by Newt in order to preserve their potent essence until he needs them. MS

FLOOR PLAN OF THE SHED/SCR

EARLY IDEA FOR NEWT’S SHED What is Newt’s shed on? This early idea imagined it on a floating rock like a child’s self-righting roly-poly toy. It might add an interesting swaying motion but also a lot of aggravation. Stuart and I both voted for Newt’s shed not to be on anything – better to have it exist wherever he needed it to exist. DP

THE ENVIRONMENTS AS SEEN FROM ABOVE Here, all the environments that the actors would physically interact with are laid out as they would be built on the sound stage. Partially built, of course – there isn’t a sound stage in existence that would fit all of it in. DP