Game Of Thrones bosses weren’t mucking about when it came to the final season.
Security is understandably very tight on the hit show, but according to director Davis Nutter it was on another level for season eight.
Paper scripts were banned from the set, everyone used iPads to read the screenplay, and cast and crew were given a ‘limited’ time to watch footage back.
In an AMA session on Reddit, David was asked by a fan about the ‘very elaborate measures’ that were taken to make sure things stayed secret.
David said: ‘Season 8 was a very very tight ship. It was limited viewing on many things.
‘Not a lot of paper on the set, like none. No scripts were printed, we only used iPads and things of that nature. It was much more serious than in the past but the security has always been high.
‘I remember in season 5 we were shooting in Croatia the walk of shame and it was a situation where we had body doubles as well — I kept thinking somebody would get photographs of this cause Dubrovnik is a rather open place — all kinds of angles to get photographs but no one did and they spent all this money on security and we got by off the hair of our chinny chin chin.’
When asked about the hardest part of directing season eight, he revealed that he wanted to get the story ‘just right’.
‘There was not a second chance to get all of these sequences right, and a lot of sequences had many actors in them and some wonderfully intimate scenes as well,’ David said.
‘So really it was about taking these characters from point A to B to C to D to E in the various episodes that I did, and making sure that it all balances out properly.
‘We had a lot of rehearsal time and that was really the thing that saved me more than anything else.
‘I’m very happy with the chance to get in there and rehearse with the actors, and I think they were too, and I think it turned out quite well.’
As to what we can expect from season eight, David said that the remaining key players in the story will be ‘reset’ as Game Of Thrones hurtles towards its final conclusion.
When asked by a fan what it was like to direct the first episode of a season, he said: ‘I’ve never directed an opening episode of GOT before until season 8 but I think it’s really important to make a splash.
‘You have to reset the table, put everyone back in their place, you have to take them to their next position. But you have to entertain that’s what’s most important.’
Game Of Thrones returns in April 2019
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