Extras Don't Have It Easy in Game of Thrones

[Greg Tito]

Extras Don't Have It Easy in Game of Thrones

Forget Robb Stark, the unwashed masses are the heroes in filming season two of Game of Thrones.

It seems that HBO is pulling out all of the budgetary stops for the next season of Game of Thrones. filming in Iceland [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/gameofthrones] for the segments north of the Wall, and there will be a lot more extras in the crowd scenes. Wrangling all those extras is a difficult endeavor, but this little promotional video shows exactly what it takes to put on a leather jerkin and step into Westeros.


These guys and girls have to get up before 5 am each day of filming to get ready. There's all kinds of preparation that goes into making these people look like they are the poor urchins of King's Landing, or the noble ladies in Renly Baratheon's court, or the men of the Night's Watch. The costumes and accessories are labeled with a unique code generated for each extra the day before, so that when he or she shows up there is no doubt as to which costume is who's.

After that, there's the boredom and discomfort of waiting around in costume for the shot they are in to be filmed. I've worked on a film set before, and it's a bit like being in the military. "Hurry up and wait."

The best part of seeing all these extras get ready for being in season two of Game of Thrones is that they suffer through all this because they are fans of the show or the books and they just want to be involved in any way they can.

All the promotional videos popping [http://www.youtube.com/user/GameofThrones] up have really got me excited for when season two premieres on April 1st. Expect to see coverage of each episode here at The Escapist after it airs.

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[Formica Archonis]

All the promotional videos popping [http://www.youtube.com/user/GameofThrones] up have really got me excited for when season two premieres on April 1st.

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EDIT 2: Thanks.

 

[Callate]

I'm glad they're putting the money for this kind of thing into this season. The last season was well done, but after reading the book, I was a little annoyed that they turned "long battle sequence" to "and then the narrative P.O.V. is accidentally knocked senseless."

I mean, what is this, a video game?

 

[jurnag12]

I sure hope there really stretching the budget. Would be somewhat of a letdown if the Battle of the Blackwater ended up involving 2 rafts, a torch, and a very confused Davos.

 

[WWmelb]

Pretty much all of the genre settings HBO have sunk money into have looked and felt incredible. I doubt they'll skimp on any budget.

Carnivale and Deadwood were both amazing visually.. and i've just started on Boardwalk Empire which looks and feels great also.

Much love for HBO, i'll just pretend the Sex and the City and Entourage didn't happen

 

[Terminate421]

I want Season 2 now.......even more....

 

[Zen Toombs]

Want. Game of Thrones is TOO GOOD...

 

[Orange Monkey]

I was an extra in season 1 when they were filming here in malta, the work is really not that tough, you just sit around doing a whole lot of nothing, find somebody to strike up a conversation with and you're golden. I was in episode 4, one of the gardners when Ned Stark and Littlefinger were talking in the garden, and in the biiiiig scene at the end with Sean Bean you know the one but no spoilers.

 

[Baldr]

Game of Thrones have it easy. The Extras working on the Hobbit, that takes some dedication. Peter Jackson is making a vblog series on the production:

 

[Elvaril]

This is not so much difficult as par for the course in regards to difficulty for extras. I had a couple 4 AM call times for Season 2 of The Walking Dead. I know one extra who always showed up an hour early just to make sure that he was there on time and to show his enthusiasm. Anything with heavy make-up and costumes is always going to have early call times.