Behind the Scenes of the First Five Episodes

By Cat Taylor

Previously, on Game of Thrones…..

As things kick off in Belfast for the start of work on series 3, we’re also getting a chance to see all of the hard work of last season on our screens. For a lot of the crew, the first time they see the show is when you do, but as you watch it brings back memories of all the things that happened along the way. Here’s just a few:

When Theon Greyjoy arrives home, the harbour shots were filmed at Ballintoy Harbour. When he first gets off the boat you can see a house in the background – it’s actually a fishing shed. When they were filming the close up of the dialogue scenes the director, DOP, half the crew and I were crammed inside next to broken lobster traps and musty furniture so we were never in shot. Later, someone who shall remain nameless (because I like my job) used the opportunity of Alfie being filmed to email Kit Harrington love letters from Alfie’s phone.

You know how Craster’s Keep looks dark and miserable and just a bit desperate? It really was. It rained heavily for days and the ground was so churned up by the crew and cast that your feet sank deep into the mud, all the way past your ankles. It was a cramped set too, so you often had to stand in the muddy bits just to be out of the way. We filmed there for several days, by the end we all had he silkiest ankles in all the land. Little secret: one of those baskets outside had a bag of chocolate bars in it.

Some of you who follow the news will know that we had some bad luck – one of our locations was shut down by a hurricane hitting the north coast. That was the day we first shot Catelyn’s arrival at Renly’s camp, when we meet two of our new, amazing female characters in Brienne and Margery Tyrell. Margery’s outfit didn’t have sleeves to start with – winds strong enough to blow away a marque, and poor Natalie in nothing but her skin. That’s poise.

When we later reshot the entrance it was a much calmer day, Brienne of Tarth still managed some epic ass kicking. First the stunt guys had to fight over and over – there were particular marks to hit and it’s hard to get it right when you are wearing a helmet and are being thrown through the air. All credit to extras – they kept right on cheering for the same fight, from different angles, for hours.

Who read this post about a death? If you guessed Lommy, you get 15 points. I have to say, after all that the blood did look good, but Yoren’s death looked even better. Those of you with keen eyes will also have spotted that a couple of Helen Sloan’s fabulous shots were indeed from the battlefield after Robb’s victory in Ep. 4 and that’s where the “overheard” quotes were from - and yes, we found the director in the end.

The first real shots of North of the Wall after the brothers leave Craster’s were actually the last day of filming. You’d never know, but in the background a massive snowball fight was underway between shots and it was the day after the blizzard when we had to be taken down the convoy. If you’ve seen the excellent behind the scenes video for Iceland, you’ll see how amazing an experience that was for all of us and remains the most fantastic way to end series 2.  

Until next time folks, when I’ll be filling you in on what’s been happening in the last few months while we’ve been away.

On Our Way to Iceland

By Cat Taylor

As I type this, I am on a late-night plane from Heathrow to Reykjavik, and I could not be more excited. For me, the last few days have been endless packing and sorting as I close down the office for the guys until we find out about Season 3, but suddenly I am on the plane and flying over the UK, Scotland and then north.

North of the Wall. Multiple locations, 18 days. The wildlings, the wolves and worse all await us. For Jon and the Watch, it’s a journey of discovery. For me it’s a journey of 4x4s and quad bikes.

There is no doubt that shooting will be a challenge. Remote locations, only four or five hours of light each day and challenging weather, but I cannot wait for the chance to see a country I have always wanted to visit in the way we will. The Icelandic government has given the show access to locations that you could not go as a regular visitor. We are going at the perfect time for snow and possibly the Northern Lights.

What more could you possibly ask for (other than extra gloves)?

The Last Week in Belfast

By Cat Taylor

It’s the last week of filming the second season of Game of Thrones in Belfast. Everyday, someone else from the cast and crew wraps for the year, and “goodbye” is probably one of the most spoken words of each day. For most people the last week is a combination of desperate tiredness and already looking forward to the possibility of Season 3.

The last scene shot of the whole series is one with Bran, Hodor, Rickon and Osha. Of course, the weather in Northern Ireland has chosen to bid us farewell in its usual schizophrenic way. When I arrive in the late afternoon, just in time for the final few shoots, we are at the top of a hill overlooking rolling green fields that could be right off of a postcard. Soon though, the sky darkens and clouds roll in on strong winds, and in minutes we are being battered by pounding, freezing rain.

The final cut is called and everyone claps and cheers. We start to hug when our first AD calls for one more shot and, giddy with the false high, we all stand back to clear the frame. This time it is a wrap and we all have a glass of champagne (or for those of us driving, just a sip). It’s completely surreal – six months have passed in an instant.

The production office is becoming deserted. Desks that were stacked with files and the latest script revisions are now pushed into corners and stacked high with boxes.  For those of us who will be staying on to go North of the Wall, we have a few manic days to close off things in Belfast before packing all the socks in the world and heading to Iceland.

For a super nerd like me, what happened to Jon Snow and his crew is some of the most exciting and intriguing occurrences in the series. That, and the scope for creating new yo’momma jokes is just endless. We’ll be filming in three locations on the island, in some remote locations.

Can anyone say quad bike to work?

Why Working on Set in November Feels Like Going to a Rock Festival

By Cat Taylor

Anyone who has lived through the festival season knows that the key to surviving in style is preparation. And while there is no need for a stash of Valyrian steel in the tents of Glastonbury, there are certainly things that make the rules of surviving festivals the same as surviving filming.

1. The field is full of tents, and positioning is everything. Avoiding horse dung, flooding, high winds and steep slopes is the ideal.
2. Wellingtons or hiking boots are a must to avoid swamp foot. There is high risk that your foot will get stuck in the inches of thick and churned up mud. Socks will be the most important thing about your day.
3. A smart crew member will avoid the portaloos at all costs, using honey wagons at base, or bushes if no lights are shining (and they happen to be male).
4. By the third day, wet wipes become a human rights issue.
5. Phone signal will drop in and out intermittently, usually just before you’re supposed to meet or call someone.
6. Sun on the field will make it all seem worthwhile, even if you are helping push a 4x4 out of the muck.
7. Security will spend a good deal of time explaining what is happening and why, sadly, passers-by aren’t allowed behind the scenes without a pass.
8. The traffic to and from location will be dreadful as everyone tries to arrive at the same time.
9. Finding the coffee hut and biscuits is like finding the Lost Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
10. Occasionally, Snow Patrol swing by. It’s a lovely surprise to reveal that the producer’s guests for the evening are some of Belfast’s finest home grown talent. 

Meet the Guy Who Sees What Isn’t There (Yet)

By Cat Taylor

Naill McEvoyVFX Data Wrangler
Dragon & Wolf units
N. Ireland/Iceland

Job description:
“We gather as much information as we can from a shooting day, be it lighting information, camera information, lens tilt, height…anything that helps us integrate non-existing elements into the final frame. The only way to make these look real is to light them correctly, and shoot them correctly so they fit into the original plate. If you’ve ever seen poor visual effects, I guarantee that it’s because it wasn’t lit right. So we take all the references, categorizing them all, so when we go back at a later date and shoot an element, we can recreate everything accurately.”

Biggest Challenge working on GOT:
“Well, essentially, GOT is a 10-hour-long feature film. It’s a TV show, yes, but HBO demands excellence. To film something of this scale, in our timeframe, everyone has to be on the top of their game, and every detail is important. And the mud. So many of our locations are muddy fields, or muddy quarries. I’ve woken up from dreams where I’m choking on mud. Look at where we are (in a very muddy field at Audley Tower, which is serving as one of Robb’s camps) everything is ridiculous! Every so often you take a step back and think this is crazy, but then it’s amazing. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.”

VFX elements he’s most looking forward to in Season 2:
“I would like to see how the dragons have grown, progressed and improved. They appeared late in Season 1, right at the end of episode10. In the upcoming season, we see a lot more of them, and that’s really exciting. And the direwolves. We’ve been involved in creating them this season, and we’ve shot a lot of elements with them. These things are big, the size of small horses, and I can’t wait to see how they look.”

Favorite Character:
“I like the really evil guys. Viserys was so good. So evil. I think he was underrated in a lot of respects, but I thought he was great. And Joffrey. Joffrey was fantastic. I mean what a little bastard. Jack Gleeson is such an amazing kid in real life, all the kids have been amazing, but Jack in particular, being such a nice guy in real life and such a bastard on screen.”