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David Beckham and the rest of the LA Galaxy soccer team have made their way to Sydney, Australia to play a friendly match against the Newcastle Jets this coming weekend. Before the soccer studs take to the field this weekend, they made a beeline to the beach so that they could soak up some rays. […]Summer Glau Sunrise Coigney Tara Reid Taryn Manning

‘Harry Potter’ production designer Stuart Craig talks to MTV News about helping Harry retrieve Sword of Gryffindor from a frozen lake.
By Kara Warner

Daniel Radcliffe in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1”
Photo: Warner Bros.

In the weeks leading up to the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1,” fans were in a frenzy, trying to figure out just how much of the book would make the first film, which scenes would delight and disappoint, and what characters might not return ever again. And trying to get the tight-lipped folks in the Potter camp to discuss those key points was a bit of a struggle. However, now that the film has opened, MTV News has enlisted the expertise of longtime Potter production designer Stuart Craig for a few behind-the-scenes tidbits.

Much has been said of the production moving away from Hogwarts and out on multiple locations, which Craig described as a “movie on the run.”

“We made a very different kind of film, which was shot a great deal on location. We traveled quite far, we built sets, and they spend a lot of time in a forest,” he explained. “We built forest sets and integrated them into the real forests, so there were challenges there, as you might imagine.”

Another one of the production’s major challenges — and accomplishments — was shooting the sequence in which Harry retrieves the Sword of Gryffindor at the bottom of a frozen lake.

“There was a really demanding, complicated special-effects requirement there to do the ice,” Craig said. “I think that all works remarkably quite well, actually. Harry breaking the ice, diving in and then subsequently strangled by the Horcrux around his neck and is struggling and can’t get up quickly because of the ice above him. It’s good stuff.”

Which begs the question: How did Craig and his team pull off that scene, and what do they use to make the ice look so real?

“As always, well, as nearly always, there’s more than one solution. The camera on top, looking from the outside down on it. It’s big, thick sheets of Plexiglass with frosty texture on top of that,” he revealed.

“When we’re underneath, it’s actually an area of wax which floats on top of the water. And wax makes very effective ice. They’re tried and tested movie techniques; there are a lot. You could write a book one day, a guidebook, to the very movie techniques — frost on window panes with some Epsom salts and brown nails.”

One of the great pleasures in chatting with Craig, whose credits outside the world of Harry Potter include “Ghandi,” “The English Patient” and “Notting Hill,” is the fact that he has such an informed perspective on the inner-workings of the industry; specifically, how advanced film-making technology is now.

“The great thing about movies these days is that you can fix everything,” he said. “I have to give a talk at a film festival early next month, and I’ve just been looking at films that I’ve done in the past. In particular, ‘Ghandi,’ years ago in India. The thing then was: If sometimes there was a compromise, it was filmed and it was there, locked. Forever. You look at the movie 20 years later, and there it would be.

“These days, with visual effects able to do so much, you can do face replacement, you can put Dan Radcliffe’s head on somebody else’s body. There’s nothing they can’t do, it seems. I mean, at a cost, it’s not cheap, so terrible things seem to get fixed, which is very reassuring,” he added, chuckling.

What was your favorite scene in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1”? Tell us in the comments below!

Check out everything we’ve got on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.”

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While Xtina squeezed into ‘push-up bras, high heels and fishnet stockings,’ Gigandet wore …a cookie box?
By Brianne Riviello, with reporting by Kara Warner

Cam Gigandet
Photo: MTV News

Fresh off Christina Aguilera’s saucy song-and-dance number at the American Music Awards on Sunday, many are sweating out the release of her new film, “Burlesque,” which hits theaters Wednesday.

“Burlesque” follows a small-town girl (Aguilera) who journeys to the city looking for her big break but instead finds herself in the sensual world of burlesque. Aguilera makes her feature debut alongside the legendary Cher and a beautiful and talented supporting cast that includes Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Julianne Hough and Eric Dane.

We recently caught up with the stars of the film, who giggled as they recalled their unique wardrobe racks for the suggestive-yet-sweet musical.

Gigandet joked that, unlike the women in the film who were clad in elaborate bustiers and stockings, his wardrobe included “cookie boxes and pajamas.” (In one very memorable scene, Gigandet parades around with nothing but a Famous Amos box covering his nether regions.) Aguilera lamented that he got off easy: “You didn’t have to do any push-up bras, any high heels, any fishnet stockings.”

Aguilera did reveal a few makeup secrets, however, and reported that Gigandet donned eyeliner for his part as Jack, the love interest to Aguilera’s Ali. Gigandet took it all in stride. “It was fun to be something different,” he said. “Yes, it was. I gotta say, it made my job easier to kind of, you know, step into a different character, into a different world.”

On a side note, Gigandet also commented on how the legion of fans from his stint in the “Twilight” series has followed him, as compared to other roles — particularly as martial-arts champion Ryan McCarthy in 2008’s “Never Back Down.”

“It varies, where I am,” he said, regarding whether he’s still bombarded by Twilighters wherever he goes. “I mean, you know, when I was in New Orleans and Louisiana a few months ago, it was ‘Never Back Down’ that caught everyone’s attention. I know, I love it. But there’s ‘Twilight’ fans all over the world.”

Aguilera noted that, once “Burlesque” hits theaters, it will be Gigandet’s character Jack who will get all the buzz from fans. “Of course,” Gigandet laughed. “Then I’ll be ‘Famous Amos cookies’ for the rest of my life.”

Check out everything we’ve got on “Burlesque.”

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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