Game of Thrones season seven production is supposed to wrap in about a month, and all location shooting appears to be over and done with. With their long stay in Spain and brief stint in Croatia concluded before the winter solstice, the only thing that remained was a few weeks of filming in Iceland. But, as of last week, that was over too.
As shooting in open locations has been put to bed, one might expect our regular glimpses into the production to now cease. Yet one would be wrong. We still managed to get a look at what they are shooting for the remainder of this season —not in an open location, but in the show’s Belfast headquarters: Titanic Studios. Expect dragons!
A local fan of the show, Kevin Patterson, passed near the Game of Thrones studios in Belfast a few days ago and then again today, after which he shared what he saw there:
@IrishThrones @WatchersOTWall
Belfast lunch run.
Horses,smoke & dothraki weapons.No actors seen and in public place pic.twitter.com/Bk5f5hwJmQ— Kevin Patterson (@Kipperbt20) January 30, 2017
@IrishThrones @WatchersOTWall
Today’s Titanic studio spot is an enormous green block with climbing holds.Dragon? pic.twitter.com/Cq4Ie9jIhs— Kevin Patterson (@Kipperbt20) February 1, 2017
On January 30th, Mr. Patterson witnessed horses, smoke and Dothraki weapons on the parking lot of the studio. His photo also shows a green screen for chroma keying purposes, as well as some sort of soil to cover the pavement (because asphalt doesn’t look particularly medieval.) Today’s picture is more interesting, as it shows the to-be-green-screened-out torso of a dragon for Emilia Clarke to ride. It may not be as impressive as witnessing the fully realized CG dragon once the season premieres, but it should give us an idea of Drogon’s size in season seven. I thought Dany’s favorite dragon had already grown to a massive size in season six, but this is in another league.
Can we place this in any context? Sure we can. But it involves spoilers, so beware!
Drogon. Dothraki weapons and horses. Semi-arid soil. Green screens. If I was forced to make an educated guess, I’d bet what we’re seeing here is the VFX-focused follow-up to the one month-long shoot at Malpartida. The Spanish location was used for what may be next season’s biggest action setpiece, a battle that pits Daenerys against Jaime. As one would expect for a dragonrider, Emilia Clarke didn’t do much shooting on the ground, so her portions of the battle had to be filmed elsewhere… And I believe that’s what we’re seeing here, perhaps alongside other VFX-heavy stunts involving mounted Dothraki.
Hodor!!!
My first Hodor ?
That head looks almost as big as a car. How big is the actual dragon? I’m very much looking forward to this big battle.
Yes, finally some Emilia news ! I was beginning to suffer from severe queen news deprivation !
And that’s definitely Drogon’s back, resembles the green mechanical “bull” they used in season 6 but that one didn’t seem have any handles or ‘scales’. Looks like they’re using some kind of surface scattering technique. Mommy’s excited !
Thanks for the post, Luka !
Jack Sharpe,
It is not a head. It’s a torso. You can see the “roots” of where the wings would spring out. Dany sits just above, on Drogon’s back. This is just a small part of Drogon, but bigger than just the head.
Luka Nieto,
Ah. Still wonder how big the dragons will be.
I hadn’t seen yesterday’s tweet about the Dothraki and horses, so I assumed today’s filming with the big green-screen dragon was for the battle Beyond the Wall. But putting them together makes sense and, I agree with Luka, this is probably for the ambush scene. By the Gods, though, Drogon is ginormous now. If this is his torso, I assume his neck has gotten bigger too. How is Dany supposed to straddle him? It’s like straddling the top of an SUV – it can’t be comfortable or safe. I wonder if Tyrion will put his saddle-making skills to use again and come up with something for Dany to use while riding Drogon. BTW, I love that it’s now February and we’re still getting bits of filming spoilers!
Hmm interesting, especially since Emilia was spotted at a gym yesterday by a guy who lives in California. No picture though, so we can’t know for sure if it was her or not (or where).
https://twitter.com/RuffinDrew/status/826628732278312960
But there are other people who can be around the dragons, so who knows what they’re filming if Emilia isn’t there..
Ok, but how big are the other two dragons now? Drogon is hogging up all the spotlight as usual. Such a selfish big brother 😛
Wow that’s pretty damn big, I wonder if Emilia has to be lifted onto it as I could see her falling off something that high.
Flayed Potatoes,
Isn’t that the case though with all big brothers? Always hogging the spotlight.
I’m not going to complain about it as, you know, ‘bigger the better,’ but unless we don’t see the dragons until episode 3 (*) a huge growth spurt may feel quicker than even the others between seasons. Knowing what (we think) we know it seems reasonable to expect some shots of them in episode 1, which would be a show time span of just crossing the sea. Maybe we won’t see them though, or they could be flying in the distance. Meh, it won’t bother me though. I’d just think of it for a second and let it go.
*
Clob,
I know they have their reasons, but everytime I see the dragons getting bigger and more well made I feel so sad about that they obviously don’t want to spend the money or time to have the direwolves more present. The finding of the wolves was what drew me into the series and I’m forever going to mourn how they’ve been sidelined, especially since I don’t care all that much for the dragons, other than that they’re going to be useful in hopefully defeating the white walkers.
Sundae,
I don’t think I’ve specifically thought about it before but on the show Daenerys’ hair is the same color as Ghost’s. Not that it matters but it would be an interesting shot to see them together.
While I found the dragons and direwolves of equal interest when reading, I am with you on the disappointment that direwolves have been included so little. Some don’t believe they’re of much importance in the books but my perspective is different. Their elimination of the abilities of Jon (& Arya) has effectively turned them into just big pets. All of that and the bond between each Stark to direwolf added to the magic of the story on the page.
Sundae,
Don’t think Ghost will intimidate Dany considering Jon and Dany I imagine will be friends by that stage and Ghost will sense that, same with Tyrion. Ghost may however intimidate say someone like Jamie or anyone really from Cersei’s side since they know how vicious they can be from experience with Robb’s direwolf GreyWind. I think we will see the direwolves more in the final season when they don’t need to worry about the budget as much.
Clob,
As soon as Greywind was killed it was almost as if the Direwolves were forgotten by D&D. I must confess to not being a big fan of all the Stark children being able to warg but surely their must be even more to them than that. Who knows maybe even GRRM has no idea what to do with them.
And since we’re on the topic of dragons…
I think a lot of people are expecting all three dragons to die by the end of the series. I suppose there are a few reasons to assume the people can’t live on in peace while a ‘monster’ lives among them. Still, Balerion, whom George wrote as the biggest, baddest, most destructive dragon that ever lived in his history was allowed to live until a natural death in old age. With Daenerys’ belief that Drogon is the reincarnation of Balerion it would be nice to see it earn the same or greater reverence and ‘retire’ to eat cattle on a hillside.
Yeah, well, that’s why I want them to meet before they’re friends. And even if Jon and Dany gets along, a wolf as big as a small horse should intimidate anyone especially since they’re wild.
I don’t think budget is a big issue this season either, so for me it’s inexcusable that Ghost isn’t with Jon all the time. Wolves can travel on boats too, it just sounds as an excuse not to spend the time in post-production to put him with Jon.
I hope you’re right that we’ll see more of them in the last season, but even if it doesn’t take away to much of the overall story for me it’s unfortunately too little too late, you know?
Sundae,
Her Han Solo movie has started filming so she’s unlikely to be filming GOT scenes.
When will we have anything good on the direwolves? They have been neglected and mistreated by the showrunners.
They’re still filming at Wolf Hill Quarry or have finished just recently. More than 6 weeks of filming. The biggest one will be what WHQ and Iceland sets are for.
Sundae,
At the end of the day – we have no idea how big the budget is for this season. The showrunners and producers have to budget accordingly. Yes it’s disappointing but that’s life.
Sundae,
The direwolves are much harder to do than dragons, because they are using the real wolves, and they are useless for the plot. They are just metaphors.
They seem to struggle with how best to do/show the direwolves. The issues with consistency have been evident as they’ve changed methods. That shot in S2 (I think) Ghost is huge when Gilly meets him while Sam is watching. Jump to S6 when Jon looks at him after being resurrected he looks average dog size.
The dragons caught, flamed and ate a lot of fish on the way over to Westeros.
(Hopefully) We’ll see what George does with them. I don’t believe he’s using them as ‘just’ metaphors. I’m one of the people that thinks Jon wargs into Ghost during his stabbing at CB. That’s some use for the plot. I have a hard time believing that when he’s resurrected in the books he’s simply going to say, “Nothing. There was nothing,” and then just carries on.
mau,
Not in the books they aren’t. They have a lot of significance and they’ve done a lot as opposed to the show’s total negligence of them. Just think of Nymeria and her massive pack for starters.
it’s a damn shame what the show has done to the direwolves.They’re even smaller than they should be.
They should have had direwolves completely CGIed. Less fuss than with having to film real wolves and work the VFX magic on them.
mau,
I know that they’re using real wolves, that still doesn’t take away my wish for them to be more in the story.
Clob,
Hindsight is everything, but they should’ve just used big dogs who they actually could have had on set. They would of course have been criticized for it, but much less hassle.
What’s done is done and I’m not going to stop watching the show over it, but sometimes it gets a bit frustrating, like Ghost, Jon’s white wolf, not being in the room when Jon’s is proclaimed King, or The White Wolf.
It makes sense that people are disappointed about the Direwolves. I am as well. But we need to face some facts – shows don’t have unlimited money. Things need to be cut and downsized. Plus we don’t know how much it even costs to make CGI animals – it might look good but it would be unfeasible to continue. So while it is disappointing I do understand why the Direwolves have been (for the most part) abandoned.
To those dismissing direwolves because of how the show has handled them. Remember the original title of George’s last ASOIAF book: A Time for Wolves.
Direwolves, wolves and Starks, not dragons and Targaryens, will be the focus and have the most impact.
I see drogon’s been eating. I hope there is a scene with Dany and all three dragons.
That’s my thought as well. It’s a shame Ghost hasn’t been with Jon more through the past couple of seasons.
Whoo, big neon green dragon blob! I want to climb it!
Arya’s rapid progress through Faceless Man training would have made more sense if she had been a warg. Perhaps the FM recruited her intentionally because they know of her family’s skinchanger ancestors.
Wolf are harder to CGI not because of size but because of the furs. They have pay attention to details because wolves are real, not mystical creatures that you can do whatever you want with. It’s also more expensive.
Omg again the discussion about the direwolf,just get over it they are never going to amount to anything in the show and they are nothing special,they are just big dogs,dogs aren’t anything special unlike dragons where they don’t exist in real life,i know direwolves don’t exist either but to me they aren’t anything more special than the wolf you see in the woods .
bluefrost,
Oh yeah,that’s why all the material that he writes outside ASOIAF is about the Targs because he cares that much about the Starks,please !
Gustav Rodriguez,
Some people are simply saying they wish the Direwolves were featured more. It’s not something that anyone here “needs to get over”. Just because you say they are nothing special doesn’t make it a fact.
Gustav Rodriguez,
Direwolves have a deep connection to the Old Gods/COTF/Weirwood. They are magical creatures.
They have had a lot of impact in canon and will have more in the books to come. For starters Jon’s time in Ghost. D&D simply prefer fancy flying reptiles. Although if the spoilers are to be believed
bluefrost,
Not necessarily, one of the actors who is in the Han Solo movie announced he starts filming in March so Emilia could still be filming GOT I see no reason why a dragon would have climbing steps on it and dothraki weapons if Dany wasn’t going to be in the scene.
The thing with Emilia in SW is they haven’t said anything about her character it’s all hush hush, so we have no idea how much filming she’ll do. Is she a friend or Love Interest for Han Solo, is she tied to his mentor, is she a villian?
Gustav Rodriguez,
lol Starks are doing pretty well in the story now, unlike the Targaryens who are almost extinct. And that one pure Targaryen is barren.
Read Martin’s interviews. Starks are the most important part of his story. It started with them (Bran had the first POV chapter) and it will end with them, deal with it.
Again…..A Time for Wolves.
Sundae,
I also think they should have taken big dogs like they did with the pups, some of them really look like wolves. In the end, not many people really know exactly what a direwolf looks like for real. Dogs are a bit smaller, but they can show real emotions when they act together with the actors, for me that’s more important than the size.
Mr Derp,
Exactly, It’s not like we’re asking for something that’s not in the books or something outlandish. It’s stupid to tell anyone to ‘get over yourself’ when it comes to this issue.
Chilli,
Direwolf’s actual size is bigger than the one from the show.
Abbie,
Agree, it’s unfortunate that direwolves aren’t smaller as they could’ve just used Huskies instead but I remember D&D saying making CGI direwolves cost a lot more than CGI Dragons. D&D wanted to put Ghost in the BOTB but they only had enough money for either Ghost or all those horses charging at Jon when he slowly unsheathes his sword, they went with the horses because they saw it as a more powerful scene.
D&D don’t decide the budget, I sure if they did they would increase their budget so they could do more things like have more appearances of Direwolves instead HBO decides the budget. The budget is also split between paying the stars quite a lot, money for the extras, paying 100’s of crew members if not more, money to travel all the stars and put them in hotels, CGI and making the show itself.
Mel,
Sapochnik said it was a choice between Ghost and Wun Wun. In the end they barely did anything with Wun Wun, didn’t even give him armor/weapon. A giant should have been able to break through that Bolton encirclement. With a weapon he’d have been smashing them by the dozens.
To be fair it depends on if one is referring to a fantasy book description or the actual Dire wolf from our world. Our fossils indicate their average weight was about 150 pounds and not all that much different in size than the living gray wolf.
bluefrost,
Starks are important but not the most important part in his story his main characters and their journey’s are, not a actual family itself. He is closest to what he originally considered his main 5: Bran, Daenerys, Jon, Arya and Tyrion. His admitted multiple times his favorite all time character is Tyrion.
Yes the last book was originally called “A Time For Wolves” but we don’t know if that should be considered a good thing as I imagine the last book is gonna be quite depressing with The White Walker War. The Starks I imagine will all be quite active in the war in different ways considering how close it is to Winterfell so it is a time for them to show the world what the wolves are capable of but I expect we will loose a few of them along the way but they’ll always be remembered for their actions in the WW war.
Clob,
yeah I mean actual size in the books.
Sundae,
I agree. You would think that having Ghost by his side would be a great deterrent to protect the KITN.
Jack Sharpe, as a big as a DC-9.
Clob, they’ll be as big as a DC-9 by the end of the season.
Marlana,
HA! They must be catching and flaming orcas by now.
Shit – with the way his writing has been headed I could have sworn the Martells are becoming the most important part. *sigh* 🙁
Sundae,
For direwolves, I’d kick in a few bucks to a crowdfunding campaign, if budget’s their problem. I’m sure lots of other fans would gladly pitch in to see more of Ghost and ANY appearance by Nymeria.
As much as I liked the rousing King in the North scene in S6E10, when Lord Manderly proclaimed “He is the White a Wolf! The King in the North!”, it would’ve been perfect if Ghost had been next to Jon, even for a two-second visual.
Can’t complain about that scene though. Lyanna Mormont’s speech was great. So were the booming voices of Lord Glover and Lord Manderly, and the sound effects of their swords being drawn from their sheaths.
Sundae,
When thumb typing a few minutes ago about the KiTN / White Wolf scene, I hadn’t read your prior comment saying the same thing.
It’s good to see that the overwhelming majority of comments favor more direwolf appearances. I have not read the books so am not familiar with Stark kids-direwolves’ psychic bonds. However, I had thought the S1E1 scene of finding the direwolf pups meant they’d have some significance.
I can’t wait for Obara Sand to take her rightful place as Lady of Winterfell!111 😛
Ten Bears,
Add me to the list of direwolf supporters! Grey Wind was instrumental in helping Robb on the battlefield in the books, Summer protected Bran and saved his life like 20 times, Nymeria saved Arya in season 1 and is up to some crazy things in the books, and Ghost also helped/saved Jon repeatedly (Shaggydog and Summer also did). The wolves were definitely sent to protect the Stark kids, and in my opinion most of them would have been dead or in even bigger trouble if it weren’t for the wolves.
The direwolves are cool and all, but I don’t fuss about their limited appearance. Their importance to the plot seems minimal at best, and I count myself lucky that the showrunners included them at all.
Mel,
Formulating and apportioning budgets for GoT episodes must be a monumental task, especially with multiple filming units in different locations
I thought I remembered reading that a planned Ghost appearance in BotB had to be excused because by Ep9 the remaining budget would permit Wun Wun or Ghost, but not both.
I’m sure in hindsight they might’ve preferred to have Ghost next to Jon and Sansa in the KITN scene, instead of using Ghost in an earlier episode as Sam’s wingman to fend off the two NW thugs so Gilly could raise Sam’s fat pink mast.
But even with budget constraints, what they’ve done is spectacular. I had read about the high costs for the horses, extra’s and practical and special effects for the Winterfell battlefield scene, but had no inkling the episode would open with the naval assault in Mereen. I thought the CGI of the three dragons flame-broiling that ship was the best visual effects scene they’d ever done. That whole scene was an unexpected delight.
So, while a Ghost cameo would’ve been nice, his absence didn’t detract from the spectacle of the two battles shown in E9.
Ultimately, the direwolves are just harder to realize than dragons. The Dragons are CGI(other than the rigs for Emilia to get on or the greenscreen props like when she petted Drogon in S4) so you can control their movements and scenes, do exactly what you want to accomplish.
The Direwolves, on the other hand, are filmed with real wolves(starting with Season 2) and they have to send a unit all the way to Canada, away from the rest of production. And the wolves aren’t necessarily easy to work with, so it’s not easy to get the footage you want. Then you have to digitally augment the footage to make the wolves seem larger, and then you have to add them into the scenes and make it look like they’re actually there. They’re just very time-consuming and expensive characters to realize.
On-topic, I’m happy to see that Drogon has grown even larger. I love seeing the dragons each season.
I just re-read Dragons a few days ago. Jon at one point thought to himself that the lines between he and Ghost were blurring. Sometimes he couldn’t tell the difference. Melissandra was constantly telling Jon to keep his wolf close. I think that this magical connection is one of the most intriguing part of the books. Even if D&D fail to embrace the Stark Direwolves, I can’t wait to see where GRRM goes with them. That’s why when the show has ended, I won’t despair. The books ARE coming (hopefully) and they will be spectacular!
Ten Bears,
I’m with you on the Battle of Meereen. I hadn’t read any spoilers about that if there were any so it was a big surprise… other than personal speculation that she would show up and save the day. It is actually my favorite action sequence in the series so far. BotB is very cool and well done but it’s also lengthy. Drogon showing up and Daenerys climbing on to lay waste and defeat the masters was just glorious! I can’t even guess at the number of times I’ve watched that scene, but it’s a lot. What they’ve done visually on this program is impressive. It’s been mentioned by others recently but watching LotR movies now has one thinking a lot of that looks super fake in comparison.
Great image! Lol. Puts dragon size in perspective.
Catching krakens would involve additional mystical creatures in the armada.
I’d rather see Jon ride the dragon, Dany has done it already so the impact will be less punchy. Let the true king be born!
I look forward to the reveal of the connection between the First Men, Starks, weirwoods, CotF, direwolves, warging, WWs, and the need for a Stark to always be in WF. These connections are so fundamental, so elemental to Westeros, that mayhaps they provide the solution to the WWs.
bluefrost,
And he changed that title wonder why ?? Besides the time for wolves is used to refer the hour of wolf not the actual wolves ..
Starks are primary and main characters and so is dany and tyrion..
The only person here who I see is can’t stomach this is you ..dany targs and dragons are as important to story as starks are ..so as you say deal with it
Its funny you have to mention spoilers ..while reading things like this makes me wish that they had decided to have ghost participate in battle of bastards..
Sundae,
Don’t think dany will get intimidated by ghost …ghost is such a pet for females and she has seen much worse than him..
My pet theory is that dany recognizes ghost from one of her visions
Lots of people keep saying that D&D prefer dragons over wolves but I would say its not a choice of preference but necessity ..
Dragons were necessary for scenes with dany and her story …if they can do away a scene or plot without dragons they will do that and they have done that ..
I would say they haven’t done dragons scenes very well either or dwell much into them and their connection either except when its needed ..it took them 5 seasons to name them ..
Clob,
The only thing I hate about that episode is the starting conversation between dany and tyrion ..
Clob,
That scene with Gilly and Sam was in season 5 not 6 .
Edit:Oops,sorry i meant to reply to Ten Bears
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP_Wq-SBlA_/
Gustav Rodriguez,
Oops sorry. You’re right. The Ghosf as Sam wingman scene wA probably in S5E10 right before Sam leaves CB.
Maybe I should’ve used Ghosf napping beside Jon’s body in 6×2 as an example.
Anyway. the point was that the awesome cgi scenes we do get make any perceived omissions seem inconsequential
This is totally ripped of in WoW, right now, btw. Jon flying the dragon is even Blizzard’s suggestion. I’ll grab a video of it.
EDIT:
Found one here at Free WoW Time … sorry for the less than credible link but it looks like YT has taken down a bunch of videos of it.
Ten Bears,
But that scene WAS necessary because it shows Ghost’s connection with Jon,that he wouldn’t leave him even when he’s dead .
dragonbringer,
They do prefer them beacuse Ghost should’ve been for symbolism or practical purposes at least alongside Jon at KITN scene or Castle Black. So yes, they do prefer them for various reasons which is why theyre going to probably push Jon to one of her dragons and where in her vision did she saw Ghost because don’t think she did saw him. Other than shippers saying that.
Gustav Rodriguez,
I’m not saying Ghost was unnecessary to Jon’s corpse – resurrection scenes. In fact , it was cool the way a napping Ghost opened his eyes and turned his head a split second before Jon opened his eyes and gasped. Showed their psychic bond.
My point was about having to make choices because of budget constraints, and considering the spectacles that they did provide, the non appearance of Ghost was not a big deal. It was just conspicuous because of Lord Manderly’s declaration, “He is the White Wolf! The King in the North!”
Let me also say this: I like watching cool CGI as much as anybody, but the times when GoT is terrific is when the dialogue, the acting, and the music come together to evoke an emotional response.
The KITN scene is so great (to me) because of the writing of Lyanna Mormont’s “You Refused the Call” speech and the way Bella Ramsay* delivered it, the Manderly and Glover “the King in the North!” proclamations, and the music swelling to a crescendo in the background while all this is happening.
* that look she gave Glover when calling him out for having sworn allegiance to House Stark but then abandoning them “in their hour of greatest need” was even better than the glare she gave Ramsay during the pre-battle parlay in E9.
Ten Bears,
I feel compelled to add a point Wimsey made a little while back about the adaptation process and Lyanna Mormont’s speech: Having her deliver “the North Remembers!” line to a packed hall of assembled Northern Lords in Winterfell was in many ways more dramatically effective than the memorable book version of Lord Manderly’s “the North Remembers!” speech to Davos. I think Wimsey observed that a tertiary character delivering the speech to a secondary character with no one else around wouldn’t have the same resonance as the speech delivered to a large audience with several primary and secondary characters present, eg Jon, Sansa, Davos, Tormund, F-ckwitfinger, et al.)
dragonbringer,
Wait. You “wouldn’t say they’ve done dragon scenes very well”?
I’m not bashing you. Forgive me if I misunderstood what you wrote.
I’m just curious where and when there’s ever been a better dragon scene than Dany’s three dragons streaming fire from the sky in unison to flame-broil the Masters’ ship in Mereen.