Movies Every Harry Potter director's favorite scene Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman, and David Yates reveal their most treasured sequences from the eight-film series. By EW Staff Published on October 18, 2018 09:00AM EDT Close 01 of 08 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: Hogwarts students entering the Great Hall "Our special-effects team painstakingly attached hundreds of candles to the ceiling. The very first time we shot it, the kids walked in with the camera craned up. We reset, and the candles started to fall. We only had one crack at it. When we got the dailies...everyone gets chills. I've got tears in my eyes. The crew applauded. We created the magic without CGI." —Chris Columbus 02 of 08 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Warner Bros. The Shot: The first reveal of the Chamber of Secrets "That was a practical set that [production designer] Stuart Craig built. I was just blown away by the scale, again, without any CGI work whatsoever. It was stunning. To see that projected on the big screen for the first time was a moment where we all gasped." —Chris Columbus 03 of 08 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Murray Close/Warner Bros. The Shot: The tense showdown at the Shrieking Shack "I remember fondly shooting the Shrieking Shack scene just because I had the joy to be working with Daniel [Radcliffe] and Rupert [Grint] and Emma [Watson], but also with Gary Oldman and David Thewlis and Timothy Spall and Alan Rickman. All of them in this very crazy scene but with such conviction." —Alfonso Cuarón 04 of 08 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: The underwater challenge during the Triwizard Tournament "Filming in an actual loch would have been too cold and impractical. We looked into doing a process called 'dry for wet,' where you suspend an actor and blow wind on them to give the illusion that they are underwater, but the hair didn't undulate convincingly." —David Heyman, producer (courtesy of Warner Bros., 2005) 05 of 08 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: Harry firing his wand at a Dementor in an urban subway "I wanted to bring the films into the real world, and an urban underpass feels very real and threatening at night — the perfect place to come across a Dementor." —David Yates 06 of 08 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: Everyone standing in darkness after the death of Dumbledore "There was always something stirring and moving about seeing pupils and teachers stand together against the darkness, united." —David Yates 07 of 08 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 (2010) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: Order of the Phoenix members impersonating Harry "This happens at the beginning of the movie when everyone takes Polyjuice Potion to become Harry and act as decoys to wrong-foot Voldemort and his Death Eaters. We filmed multiple versions of Dan being different characters. It was fun." —David Yates 08 of 08 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (2011) Warner Bros. Pictures The Shot: When Harry, Ron, and Hermione convene on the bridge and Hermione lowers her head "This is where they were saying goodbye to their extraordinary journey and their childhood." —David Yates