This year’s Big Screen programme at IBC2019 included the screening of one of Game of Thrones most talked about season 8 episodes, The Long Night.
In a packed Big Screen, HBO SVP studio and production services Steve Beres and Game of Thrones executive producer Greg Spence talked about making the episode, which involved a 55-night long shoot in the dark.
Beres said that Game of Thrones, during its lauded eight season run, used cutting edge technology, from cable camera work to drones and motion control in order to craft the world envisaged by author GRR Martin. “We couldn’t make season 3 in season 1 because the technology hadn’t been invented yet” said Beres. “We’ve made the Lord of the Rings trilogy about five times over, so we had to be a lot smarter about the tools the show used.”
Pre-visualisation became ”incredibly important” in getting major scenes mapped out, he added.
Explaining how the team created dragons for the show, Spence said they had the idea to use spider cams. To create the effect they put a flamethrower on the front of a motion controlled rig and put a camera on another rig.
”Some of us were a little apprehensive but they proved it was safe and could be done well, so we said yes, and I think the rewards are there on screen,” said Spence. “It’s been an amazing ride and a lot of fun to be involved with that whole team and to see the technologies that have been developed and brought to their playground.
The Big Screen showing was the first time an episode of the final season of the popular fantasy epic has been shown using both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. ”The scene takes place mainly at night so the ability to see all that detail and to get a sense of invisible force coming at you was very cool,” added Beres.
