<P> Warner Bros. split the seventh and final novel in the series, Deathly Hallows, into two cinematic parts . The two parts were filmed back - to - back from early 2009 to summer 2010, with the completion of reshoots taking place on 21 December 2010; this marked the end of filming Harry Potter . Heyman stated that Deathly Hallows was "shot as one film" but released in two feature - length parts . </P> <P> Tim Burke, the visual effects supervisor of the series, said of the production on Harry Potter, "It was this huge family; I think there were over 700 people working at Leavesden, an industry in itself ." David Heyman said, "When the first film opened, no way did I think we'd make eight films . That didn't seem feasible until after we'd done the fourth ." Nisha Parti, the production consultant on the first film, said that Heyman "made the first film very much the way he felt the studio Warner Bros. wanted to make it ." After the film's success, Heyman was given "more freedom". </P> <P> One of the aims of the filmmakers from the beginning of production was to develop the maturity of the films . Chris Columbus stated, "We realised that these movies would get progressively darker . Again, we didn't know how dark but we realised that as the kids get older, the movies get a little edgier and darker ." This transpired with the succeeding three directors who would work on the series in the following years, with the films beginning to deal with issues such as death, betrayal, prejudice, and political corruption as the series developed narratively and thematically . </P> <P> After Chris Columbus had finished working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he was hired to direct the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . The production started within a week after the release of the first film . Columbus was set to direct all entries in the series, but he did not want to return for the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, claiming he was "burned out". He moved to the position of producer, while Alfonso Cuarón was approached for the role of director . He was initially nervous about directing the instalment since he had not read any of the books or seen the films . After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct since he had immediately connected to the story . </P>

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