The Making of Game of Thrones’ Epic Dragon Scene
Summary
In this article, we delve into the making of one of the most loved sequences in HBO’s Game of Thrones – the dragon scene. We explore the challenges faced by the VFX team in creating the dragon, the stadium extension, crowd replication, and digital double work required for the fighting scenes. We also look at the exceptional detail of the dragon’s eye, which played a crucial role in telling the story and delivering the subtext of the relationship.
Table of Contents
- The Arrival of Drogo
- Challenges of the Ground Work
- Exceptional Detail of the Dragon’s Eye
- Unfortunate Attackers
- Conclusion
The Arrival of Drogo
The star of the scene is the arrival of Drogo, the dragon who arrives to save Daenerys. The dragon was designed and built by Pixo Mondo and artist Dan Ketchu, but animated brilliantly by Rhythm and Hughe. The dragon needed to work with flying and attacking, but the real challenges were in the detailed work on the ground. Here, the team led by VFX supervisor Joe Bauer needed to provide extreme close-up, subtle and moving facial animation, and careful integration with live-action with flamethrowers controlled by a motion control rig. The dragon was pre-animated and agreed upon in previz, so the camera department could frame up on what is essentially an empty frame correctly.
Challenges of the Ground Work
The principal photography was in the Plaza del Toros in Osan, Spain, with some 200 feet of green screen 30 foot high built around the real-world bullring. Although a storm blew that down one night and the team had to finish up keying just off the clear Spanish blue skies. What makes the dragon animation so strong is that they built such a detailed skeleton and underlying muscle system to move realistically under the skin.
Exceptional Detail of the Dragon’s Eye
An exceptional detail of the dragon’s eye ended up telling a lot of the story and delivering the subtext of the relationship. The dragon needed to have a soul, and the team worked hard to create that. They built an eye that was so detailed that you could see the reflection of the actors in it, which was crucial in delivering the emotion of the scene.
Unfortunate Attackers
The unfortunate attackers who get killed were a combination of stuntmen on pull rigs and CG digi doubles, though the real flamethrower did, in fact, ignite the stuntmen you see being burned to death. This sequence represented some of the most elaborate and cinematic visual effects in this season of HBO’s Game of Thrones and will no doubt go down as one of the most loved sequences ever in this powerhouse series.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the making of the dragon scene in Game of Thrones was a challenging but rewarding process. The VFX team faced numerous challenges in creating the dragon, the stadium extension, and the crowd replication. However, their hard work paid off, and the dragon scene has become one of the most loved sequences in the series.
