Deathly Hallows: Part 2 makes it into top 10 Oscar Visual Effects nominees

Just today,  Oscar organizers announced 10 finalists
which will be competing for the visual-effects award.

We had heard just last month that Deathly Hallows: Part 2
had made it into the top 15 contenders for the award.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is now competing with:
“Captain America: The First Avenger”;
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”;
“X-Men: First Class.” “Hugo”;
“Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol”;
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”;
“Real Steel”; “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”;
and “The Tree of Life.”

The academy’s visual-effects branch will be watching excerpts from each film
and will next select five nominees, which will be announced along with the
other Oscar nominations Jan. 24. The Oscar ceremony itself is set for Feb. 26.

Will Deathly Hallows: Part 2 make it into the top 5 candidates on January 24th?
We'll find out then.

New Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Oscar Consideration Videos now online!

Two new Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Oscar Consideration videos have been
officially released online by Warner Bros.

This is in an attempt to have the final HP film
 nominated in at least one category at the
 Oscar Awards, which take place in February.

You can watch both of the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 "Oscar Consideration" ads below.





Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is being considered for multiple Oscar Awards,
including Best Film, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound.

We'll see in February what awards, if any, that Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will win.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion plans leaked online! (Part 3)

 As was discussed in the two previous posts,
 details of the expansion planned for the
 Wizarding World of Harry Potter
 was leaked online unofficially,
and most of the information was about
a new ride that fans will get to go on,
which will be located in Gringotts bank,
one of the most iconic Harry Potter locations.


(Continued)
"...After the load platform, the two load channels merge to the south,
then bearing to the left and entering Scene 1: "Turntable."

In this scene, you'll face a brick wall, with two tunnel entrances,
to the left and right. But before you proceed, the track below the first
of the twin cars will drop from underneath that car.

The track will come to rest at a 40-degree angle.
Then, the track under the trailing car will begin to rise,
matching the 40-degree angle of the leading car.

At that point, the two cars will drop in tandem into a third tunnel,
below the tunnel on the right.

Basically, we've just ridden a teeter-totter-like vertical track switch,
attaching to the roller coaster track for our initial drop.

From there, we drop into Scene 2: "Dark Tunnel,"
a kinetic ride section with a small bunny hop and a hard right turn
before we hit a block brake in preparation for Scene 3: "Ledge."

The Gringotts ride won't be a traditional roller coaster.
There are 3D projection screens throughout the ride,
embedded in the rockwork of the tunnel walls, creating an illusion of open space,
within which we'll watch battles taking place.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion plans leaked online! (Part 2)

As was discussed in the last news post,
Details of the expansion of Universal's
"Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park
have been leaked online for everyone to see.

"For pedestrians in Universal Studios Florida,
there appears to be a single point of entry into
the new part of theHarry Potter park, one that
requires walking around a center obstacle
inside what appears to be an enclosed space."

"This would fit with being a "secret entrance" to Diagon Alley, from the Harry Potter books
and films. There also is what appears to be labeled an 8,900-square-foot restaurant building located immediately to the left of the entrance to the land. Could this be the Leaky Cauldron?"
 

"From the entry, there is a street that proceeds straight back
to the rounded entrance facade of the Gringotts building."


A lot of new details on a new Gringotts-based theme park ride was revealed:
"It looks like we can expect another elaborately themed walk-through queue tour,
...the queue appears to leave the building into shaded, then covered, areas before
re-entering into the large "Bankers Hall."

We get some information on the rooms inside Gringotts.
"The next room in the queue is "Vault Display," then the "Reading Room."
From there it's into what's labelled "Office Hallway" before we reach "Bill Weasley's Office."
The next feature is labelled "Elevators," which take us up a level in order to cross over
the ride tracks to access the center load island."

We also get a sneak peek at the vehicles in which ride-goers will ride in:
"There are two load channels for the ride, with loading on the center island,
and unloading off to the outsides. The ride vehicles are twin, 12-person, open-air cars, arranged in three rows of four. Each row is placed slightly higher than the row in front of it,
in a "stadium seating" effect. The look of the cars is very Victorian, with individual lap bars
and six Dolby speakers per seat for on-ride audio."

Very high-tech equiptment, all in all.
If even half of this information is true, then all Harry Potter fans
are in for a treat when they go to the theme park after its expansion.

Because of all this information, and not wanting to leave any of it out,
the rest of the expansion plans will be posted in another post later tonight.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion plans leaked online! (Part 1)

Finally, after someone "leaked" it online,
we have parts of the long-awaited plans for the
Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion.

 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
 was originally built in Universal Orlando,
 and was immensely successful,
both in financial terms and visitor reviews.

 The announcement of its expansion was
very well received by both press and fans.

According to the article:
"The plans occupy the space between the Fear Factor Live theater and the Disaster! show building on the northwest corner of Universal Orlando- basically all the land now occupied
by the Jaws attraction and surrounding Amity carnival games and shops."

"The northernmost section of the plot - almost half the land within it -
is planned for a massive show building, which will house the Gringotts ride."

This article also confirms the rumor of a Hogwarts Express train ride,
which would connecting the two parts of the HP theme park.
"On the southeastern portion of the plot, a second attraction is designated.
I can't tell from the plans what this attraction will be, but its position is consistent
with the rumor of a Hogwarts Express ride connecting the two Harry Potter land,
as this attraction points into the back-of-house access road that runs straight into
the rear of Sindbad theater where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is expanding
into in Islands of Adventure."

There are a ton of more new details,
which will be explored at length in our next post.

Thanks to themeparkinsider.com for this exciting news.