Preview–Harry Potter Film Vault looks behind the fantasy films in 12-volume series

For Harry Potter fans and especially those who want to see every view of the film behind the scenes, your next find is probably going to require clearing off an entire shelf. Beginning this month is a new series of books about the Harry Potter films, and it’s sporting the “film vault” legend. We’ve seen “vaults” published for Star Wars, Terminator, Batman, Spider-Man, and all things DC and Marvel, but for Harry Potter the franchise needed 12 volumes to tell its story. It’s Titan Books and Insight Editions’ Harry Potter: Film Vault and we have an extensive preview for borg readers below. If you decide to collect the entire series, the spines will line your shelf to reveal the Hogwarts coat-of-arms, reminiscent of the Time-Life encyclopedic book series from the 1970s and 1980s.

With a franchise spanning eight films, you’d expect them to have collected tens of thousands of images of concept artwork and photographs of every scene, set, costume, and prop, and that becomes even clearer inside the pages of this series. Beginning with Forest, Lake, and Sky Creatures, readers can dive into several areas of the story mythos, on to Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts Express, and the Ministry, to Horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows, and Hogwarts Students. Later volumes feature Creature Companions, Plants, and Shapeshifters, Hogwarts Castle, Quidditch and the Triwizard Tournament, the Order of the Phoenix and Dark Forces, and more.

Each volume has illustrations, design sketches, and behind-the-scenes photography, plus a look at the creative process that brought to the screen Harry and his friends with the help of costumes, makeup, and props.

Take a look at 26 pages from the first four volumes below, and a peak at the first eight covers: