Watch How HBO Made Game of Thrones' Special Effects

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Watch How HBO Made Game of Thrones' Special Effects

A video from the effects house that did the visual effects for the fantasy series reveals some of its tricks.

The visual aesthetic in HBO's adaptation of Martin's fantasy epic is the kind of effects that I like. Nothing too flashy or overbearing, just a way to recreate Westeros in a believable way. In fact, I didn't even realize that most of the effects shots in the following video were created by a computer. That speaks volumes to effects house BlueBolt's expertise in using chromakey technology to remove parts of the frame or add parapets and castle towers to existing architecture.

Spoiler Warning: The last half of this video contains plot information. If you haven't read the books or seen all the episodes of the show, you have been warned.


Seeing exactly how the effects masters at BlueBolt made Westeros come to life is great and all, but it's just making me itch to see what they are able to do with Season Two. The second book A Clash of Kings has some crazy scenes, including an awesome battle sequence that is fought on land and sea.

I'm not sure how they are going to pull that off, but after watching this video I'm confident that it will look pretty damn good.


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ThaBenMan

Mandalorian Buddha
Mar 6, 2008
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Very cool. They did a great job - like you said, a lot of those, like the shots of castles and towers and stuff, didn't even seem like they were cg.
 

thenumberthirteen

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Dec 19, 2007
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I suppose it's a great compliment, but if they'd shown some of those CGI shots first I couldn't have told you which parts were fake.

I could have sworn those horse statues were actual props. When I watched the episode I remember wondering if an executive was going to end up with them on his driveway.
 

Jake the Snake

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Mar 25, 2009
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I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but damn, all of those scenes were CGI? That's impressive for a TV show, even if it IS on HBO.
 
Feb 11, 2009
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Too bad that HBO has a track record of avoiding battle scenes in their own shows... let's hope that they'll keep the wildfire battle in a scene longer than a minute or two.
 

Valkaris

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Jun 8, 2010
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If they don't do the Battle of the Blackwater in all its glory the show is going to suffer HEAVILY. Its such an importent event that has repercussions throughout the rest of the books, and if they gloss over it its going to go badly for them.
 

MajorDolphin

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Apr 26, 2011
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Wow. I knew environments had to be created but never guessed half of that was digital. Excellent.
 

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
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I wish the Twins were a little bigger though and the Eyrie part of a mountain range(not a single mountain) but other that, I have no complaints
 

jurnag12

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Nov 9, 2009
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Damn, didn't even know half of that stuff was CGI, especially the statues at Vaes Dothrak.
Also, please, put in the battle of the blackwater. I don't care how many other battle sequences you have to cut to get the budget, but that simply has to be in there with all it's burning glory.
 

Daveman

has tits and is on fire
Jan 8, 2009
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I just assumed it was all real because my brain couldn't fathom that effects could be that good.
 

ComicsAreWeird

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Oct 14, 2010
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Greg Tito said:
Seeing exactly how the effects masters at BlueBolt made Westeros come to life is great and all, but it's just making me itch to see what they are able to do with Season Two. The second book A Clash of Kings has some crazy scenes, including an awesome battle sequence that is fought on land and sea.
Sadly, they will not be handling the sfx for season 2. Other effects studios will be doing those.

Link below:

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/06/season-two-going-to-require-more-complex-cgi/

At least HBO seems commited to deliver strong effects for the direwolves for season 2 :)
 

Camaranth

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Feb 4, 2011
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Damn now I'm going to have to re-watch the series with a more technical eye, I was too caught up in the show to really think about the effects. and in no way is that a bad thing. I honestly thought a lot of it had been done with miniatures like the lord of the rings.

thanks for the link I love stuff like this.
 

Davey Woo

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Jan 9, 2009
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That's really cool, I've often wondered how much stuff is actually computered generated in things like this, and now I have an idea!
 

ResonanceGames

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Feb 25, 2011
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Woah, I knew the acting and writing was top notch on this show, but I never even thought about the CGI. I guess that's because it was so well done that the illusion was never broken.