This past week has been a good one for Game of Thrones. Episodes from season 8 won awards at the Costume Designer Guild Awards, the Cinema Audio Society Awards, and the Visual Effects Society Awards.
At the Costume Designer Guild awards on Tuesday, Michele Clapton won for costume design excellence in Sci-Fi-Fantasy Television. This is the fifth time Clapton has won this award (she also won for best Period or Fantasy TV Show back in 2014 before they split the categories). However, unlike previous years, designers submitted and were judged for a single episode that best reflected their body of work. Thus, Clapton received her sixth CDGA for her designs for “The Iron Throne.” The full list of nominees and winners is a available at Deadline.
The Cinema Audio Society Awards were held on January 25 where the Game of Thrones’ sound team won for excellence in a 1 hour television series, specifically for season 8’s penultimate episode “The Bells” (which, now that I think about it really is the perfect title for an episode of television that wins an award for its audio).
Production Mixer – Ronan Hill CAS
Production Mixer –Simon Kerr
Production Mixer – Daniel Crowley
Re-recording Mixer – Onnalee Blank CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Mathew Waters CAS
Foley Mixer – Brett Voss CAS
You can read the full list of nominees and winners here.
Finally, yesterday at the 18th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards, hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt (for the 9th time!) at the Beverly Hilton, Game of Thrones, as expected, lost a few awards to The Mandalorian, but it still went home with two of the six awards it was nominated to.
Carlos Patrick DeLeon, Alonso Bocanegra Martinez, Marcela Silva, and Benjamin Ross’s work on the Red Keep Plaza in “The Iron Throne” won them the “Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project” award, while the dragon ground battle VFX in “The Long Night”, created by Mark Richardson, Darren Christie, Nathan Abbott, and Owen Longstaff, was awarded with “Outstanding Compositing in an Episode.”
If you want to take a look at the other winners, click here.
This is what they deserve.
Very much deserved. The visuals were the only consistency throughout the entire show.
Well-earned visual effects awards for “The Long Night” and “The Iron Throne,”* and the Audio Society award for “The Bells.”
Although “The Bells” didn’t win for its visual effects (and I did not check to see if it was nominated), I thought that the sound and the visual effects in that episode were both phenomenal, as exemplified by the scene linked below:
As Sandor and Arya walked into the crumbling Red Keep, I could almost “feel” the rumbling and experience the sense that the whole place was about to be swallowed up in the cataclysmic firestorm raging above and around them.
When Sandor looked up and said “Go home, girl,” I almost said out loud, “Yeah, get the hell outta there. Now! And you too, Sandor. Gregor’s a brain dead zombie now. Go back to those willing waitresses in Winterfell. Sansa was right.They could make you happy.”
From S8e5 “The Bells”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSenpGeeThk
——-
* Why the f*ck does Auto Correct keep insisting on changing “Long” to “Ming,” and “Throne” to “Theon”? For that matter, why does it always change “king” to “Ming”? Just because I ONCE googled a Chinese restaurant on Long Island, NY named “Sun Ming” (only to learn it had gone out of business several years ago), is Auto Correct going to punish me forever? 🤬
“Auto Correct has made my kingdom bleed. I will see Auto Correct’s head on a spike.”
– Stannis Baratheon, the One True King and Protector of the Lexicon.
They totally deserve those (and the once they didn’t win but they still got rightfully nominated).
Congrats on the wins but wish they had taken all of the awards as the departments put in untold hours. I found the sights and sounds of this series to be stunning and effective to. The attention to even the tiniest detail was impeccable which added to the various journeys being shown.
Got definitely deserved the awards
Did you guys see the new Maisie Audi Super Bowl commercial?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!
👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻👸🏻
❤️❤️❤️❤️💕💕❤️💕
(*Composes self*)
(*Nope. Feels multiple ASNAWPgasm coming on, loses composure, goes to rewatch commercial again*)
Ten Bears,
I was just telling someone the super bowl commercials had gone down hill the last couple of years. Then Maisie appeared!
Northern Princess Elsa. Whoops Arya.
Tron79,
Maisie Williams Audi commercial –
As of January 31, 2020, it had 2.7 million views on YouTube since premiering Jan. 29, 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvEAklsAAts
Initial Comments & Observations:
1. Maisie looked adorable, didn’t she?
2. Our little super ninja warrior princess in a Super Bowl commercial for a major auto maker? That means Maisie Williams must have gotten a boatload of money. 💰💰💰💰And that makes me so very happy.
3. I (we) have been consistently saying how telegenic she is. Am I entitled to feel… vindicated?
4. Lady Crane was right on the money. “Very expressive eyes… Wonderful eyebrows.”
5. Her Q Rating must be through the roof for her to be tapped to do a Super Bowl commercial.
6. I do not need a new car. I may visit my local Audi dealer this weekend anyway.
7. So in the commercial she’s singing “Let It Go” from the movie “Frozen” – which if I recall was about two estranged sisters, and how the heroism of the more down to earth sister broke a spell that had blanketed the realm in eternal winter.
8. Ciaran Hinds (the King Beyond the Wall) voiced The Troll King in “Frozen.”
9. I’m a bit surprised this was kept under wraps. The only MW news I’d been aware of related to the New Mutants recent trailer, and publicity that’s starting to ramp up in advance of the movie’s premiere in 2 months (April 3, 2020).
Ten Bears,
On your number 6 I had the same thought. I never really considered a fully electric car until this commercial and I thought about visiting an Audi store. So it was an awesome commercial for Audi.
I like your parallel in your analysis of your point 7
I agree with your other points too.
The only criticism is that i wish it kept going even longer.
I think this is the best press for going electric I’ve ever seen. Yeah I’m a bit bias about the spokesperson but it was a very effective commercial.
Ten Bears,
Did U notice the movie theater marquee at the beginning. It said That Perfect Girl. I’m guessing u agree.
To be honest, I hadn’t noticed all of the details in the background. I was distracted by Maisie belting out “Let It Go,” and selling me a car I don’t need with just her facial expressions and natural charisma.
I’ll go back and check out what else is going on in that commercial.
Oh. and thanks for the head’s up. I’m not going to watch the Super Bowl. I might have missed the commercial if you had not alerted us.
Tron79,
Audi twitter – Maisie Williams gif
https://mobile.twitter.com/audi/status/1222943632631582720
—-
Ten Bears,
Awesome. I hope this also means Maisie is happy to stay in front of the public and she will accept more acting roles. She is a special talent for all the reasons you listed. I will add she could take on a challenging drama and do something incredible because she gets totally immersed in the role. I think Kit’s best drama was “Testament of Youth”. I’m thinking she needs her own “Testament of Youth” type of drama movie. She would be iconic in a major dramatic role such as if someone decided to remake “Splendor in the Grass”. I could see her taking on Natalie Wood’s character. I think after 10 years on GOT she seemed like she wanted to take a break from acting and focus on her Daisie App company. This commercial is a good sign that she wants to stay in the public eye. And I’m sure the money helped!! I know she is drawn to comedy roles right now from interviews. But with those expressive eye brows and her believability factor she could take on a role that the would become a classic.
Ten Bears,
I will be watching the Super Bowl mostly for the snacks and because my daughter is a 24/7’ sports person and sports is about all she will talk about with me. I will have to explain who Maisie is to the family when the commercial comes on.
Tron79,
Before I forget, here’s a Vanity Fair interview of MW about doing the Audi commercial:
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/01/maisie-williams-frozen-let-it-go-audi-super-bowl-ad
• Yes. it’s reassuring that she apparently doesn’t just want to disappear completely and either take a years-long vacation or devote herself full time to being a daisie app entrepreneur. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
• I honestly think she would be good in a musical. We know dancing is her first love. I could see her as a song-and-dance trouper, like Renee Zellweiger (sp). I’ve got to read that Vanity Fair interview again. I think she made it sound like she enjoyed the challenge of singing the song for the commercial.
• “A Girl has many gifts.” Yup, she’s got those expressive eyes, wonderful eyebrows, and believability factor.
Another quality I noticed from watching that commercial – and this was an incidental detail: The way she modulates her voice and her body language when she sings that line: “Be the good girl you always have to be.”
• Reply to be continued in about twenty minutes. (Damn it! Why do people call me about business questions on a Saturday? How dare they interrupt my ASNAWP fanboying!)
Thanks. Good article. I wonder if one day we will see a musical hit Broadway “A Girl and a Hound”
Maisie talks in the article that she likes being “cheeky”. That’s what I was saying about she’s gravitating more towards comedy. But as a fan I think the cheekiness is a bit of a defense mechanism for her. I want to see her let the cheekiness go and take on a totally serious role. She did it when she had her reunion with Jon. She did it when she was with Beric talking to him about bringing her father back. She’s got the chops. Sometimes the comedy can be there as protection from people getting too close. She is good at it, don’t get me wrong. But I want to see the Jon reunion Maisie more than I want to see her do a buddy comedy with Sophie.
Tron79,
I could see her in a remake of the 1964 movie version of “My Fair Lady.” There was supposed to be a remake about twelve years ago with an updated screenplay by Emma Thompson, and either Keira Knightley or Carey Mulligan as Eliza Dolittle. It never got off the ground.
I really think MW could pull off the role of the flower girl with the cockney (sp?) accent transformed into an articulate lady. (Bonus points: for casting Maisie/Arya “I don’t want to be a lady.” 😋)
Yes, that would be great, and she could definitely get the accent too. Great idea.
Tron79,
“…I want to see her let the cheekiness go and take on a totally serious role. She did it when she had her reunion with Jon. She did it when she was with Beric talking to him about bringing her father back. She’s got the chops. Sometimes the comedy can be there as protection from people getting too close. She is good at it, don’t get me wrong. But I want to see the Jon reunion Maisie more than I want to see her do a buddy comedy with Sophie.”
Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind a Mophie buddy comedy. I thought the wonky Sansa vs. Arya S7 WF storyline was a missed opportunity for the two friends to be goofy and charming together like they are in real life.
I do agree with you though about MW’s ability to take on serious roles.
– Her dramatic scenes in GoT were extraordinary, as the examples you cited demonstrated. (I’d also add her S2 scene with Yoren.)
– I thought there were segments in two of her Dr. Who episodes, “The Woman Who Lived” and “Hell Bent” that required serious acting as opposed to that show’s standard smart-alecky sci-fi action adventure line-reading.
– She was also really good in the stage play “I and You,” especially the second half.
– So, we know serious dramatic acting is in her skill set.
Tron79,
(10:41 am reply, continued…)
• I remember several years ago when cynics, including self-professed showbiz “experts,” were saying MW didn’t have the tall, willowy blonde cookie cutter look necessary to become a real star in Hollywood, and that she’d be relegated to “best friend” supporting roles.
Where are those braying naysayers now? [*crickets*].
Oh for sure. I think she did an American accent in the stage play “I and You.” More impressive was her Scottish accent voicing Cammie MacCloud in the animated “gen:Lock.” I think her New Mutants character Rahne Sinclair/Wolsbane also speaks in a thick Irish or Scottish accent.
I need to go back and watch that video of the time she posed as store clerk “Lorraine” as she sat behind the counter of a GoT memorabilia store and tried to convince customers she wasn’t Maisie Williams. As I recall, she had to assume as American accent there too.
I loved her Lorraine video! I think she had some customers do the Shame walk didn’t she? I’ll have to watch that one again.
She also changed her accent in Early Man, but I don’t recall now what accent she used.
The first time I saw “The Book of Love, ” I wasn’t crazy about her southern drawl, but when I rewatched it a couple of months ago, I thought it was better.
iBoy didn’t get a ton of hoopla, but I thought she had an excellent dramatic role in that one. I’ve re-watched it a few times. It gave her more difficult emotional material to dig into.
I’ll definitely watch it if she makes a buddy comedy with Sophie, but that would be too easy for her. I want her to challenge herself, but it would still be fun.
Tron79,
”I’ll definitely watch it if she makes a buddy comedy with Sophie, but that would be too easy for her. I want her to challenge herself, but it would still be fun.”
Well, I guess Maisie Williams already did a “buddy comedy” during Arya’s S3-S4 road trip with the Hound.
A Sophie Turner – Maisie Williams buddy comedy would really benefit Sophie. I felt she got “shafted” in GoT in the sense that she never got to show off the funny and endearing side of her personality that’s on display when she and Maisie are goofing off together in real life.
Yeah, I feel really bad for Sophie with the bombing of Dark Phoenix. Hopefully that won’t hurt her too much in getting new roles. Sophie does have that Hollywood iconic look, and I think she’s really grown as an actress. I would like to see her have a hit. I’m not sure what kind of movie is right for her though. I’m much more of a student of Maisie’s roles! I did see how much Sophie learned from Lena. She was channeling her inner Lena when she said…”May I ask, how are we meant to feed the greatest army the world has ever seen? While I ensured our stores would last through winter, I didn’t account for Dothraki, Unsullied and two full-grown dragons.
What do dragons eat, anyway?”… Dany could have said.. “less than elephants”…
My point is more that Sophie really grew as an actress and I think Lena was her mentor. She can channel her inner Lena when needed. But she shouldn’t use Lena as an example of what parts to choose. Lena is in some bizarre movies, including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Maisie has many more intangibles than Sophie though. (Sorry Sophie). Maisie’s look is more memorable since it doesn’t fit the Hollywood mold. Another actress I admire with an unusual look is Evanna Lynch of Harry Potter fame. Her movie “My Name is Emily” is a masterpiece. I’ve mentioned before how much I admire that movie (on this site). Evanna Lynch was the perfect person for the unusual role of Emily. I’m hoping Maisie gets the chance to have her perfect movie role one day. A movie like My Name is Emily is hardly noticed by the public though. That’s the sad truth of some of the independent films. I’ve never been a big fan of the Marvel franchise. I did enjoy the original Xmen movie because it focused so much on the characters. Logan and Rogue pulled me in. I didn’t get that same feeling from later movies. I’m not sure if Maisie’s role as the wolf girl will stick. I think it may be somewhat of a minor role, but I will be fascinated to see what she brings to her character. A heavy Irish accent is a tough one for me to understand, but I’ll do my best!
For anyone who’s following along, I’m going to try to post a link to the video of Maisie Williams posing as store clerk “Lorraine.”
MW as “Lorraine”
It’s been awhile since I saw that one. Love the reenactments.
Loved her line, “I get that all the time” when someone said she looked like someone…
Tron79,
Maisie Williams – Commercial for 4G Super Voice from Three Mobile (UK) = spoof of celebrity skin care infomercials
Tron79,
“…Another actress I admire with an unusual look is Evanna Lynch of Harry Potter fame. Her movie “My Name is Emily” is a masterpiece. I’ve mentioned before how much I admire that movie (on this site). Evanna Lynch was the perfect person for the unusual role of Emily. I’m hoping Maisie gets the chance to have her perfect movie role one day. A movie like My Name is Emily is hardly noticed by the public though. That’s the sad truth of some of the independent films….”
Based on your recommendation and impeccable taste (😊), I’ve added “My Name is Emily” to my To-Watch List. I’d never heard of it. I don’t see it listed on my cable TV lineup. I’ll have to see if it’s available on Netflix or another streaming service.
Additional comment re: overlooked, little-seen independent films to follow…
Tron79,
(Continued from above)
About the “sad truth” that many [excellent] independent films are hardly noticed by the public:
• Too often, really good movies fly under the radar and quickly disappear from theaters or are shunted directly to DVD because miserly studios or distributors don’t adequately support them with PR and advertising. (Or, a good independent flick will only have a limited run in a handful of art house type theaters.)
• A related problem (for me, at least) is that there are lots of movies and TV shows made in England, Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe that feature actresses and actors I admire, but they’re not distributed in, or rarely aired in, the U.S.
• Several of my “Top Ten Movies of All Time” are independent films that were “hardly noticed by the public” or were otherwise under-publicized and overlooked. (I used to follow Roger Ebert when he was alive. Every now and then he’d rave about a movie I hadn’t heard of. I’d put those films on my “To-Watch List,” just like I’ve put “My Name is Emily” on it based on your recommendation.)
Three such films on my Top Ten list =
– “Hear My Song” (1991) featuring Tara Fitzgerald (Selyse Baratheon on GoT) in her very first role. I think this movie was made in Ireland. I only knew about it because Ebert reviewed it and loved it. I think its screenplay won a BAFTA, but I’ve never seen it here in the U.S. on cable, and I don’t think it’s available on Netflix or other streaming services. I (reluctantly) bought a DVD just so I’d have it.
– “Zero Effect” (1998) with Bill Pullman, Kim Dickens, Ben Stiller and Ryan O’Neal, and directed by Jake Kasdan. Bill Pullman plays Daryl Zero, a reclusive private detective, and Ben Stiller plays his assistant and representative. The plot of the movie
– “Freeway” (1996) starring a young Reese Witherspoon in what I thought is her best performance ever. “Freeway” is a
• Another thing… [Sorry. To be continued. Again. Keyboard’s starting to freeze on me.]
Tron79,
WOW! I had no idea she could sing, and she was just perfect in that ad!
I didn’t know either, and she really can sing! That song isn’t easy.
I knew she was a dancer, but I didn’t know about the singing.
Ten Bears,
Thanks! I haven’t seen most of the ones you mentioned. I will put them all on my watch list!! I’ve kind of run out of things anyway lately and I’m waiting to binge Picard after all the episodes drop so I only need one month of CBS All Access.
Ten Bears,
Ten Bears,
Ten Bears,
Also my appreciation of My Name is Emily went to another level after I researched the Irish writer – director Simon Fitzmaurice. He worked on the film while suffering from a disease similar to ALS and had to communicate in a way similar to Stephen Hawking. It was beautifully filmed with a number of memorable shots. That being said it’s not for everyone. It was a very unusual movie with an an unusual unique character.
Tron79,
I’ve been trying to post the continuation/conclusion to my reply to you from 10:55 am this morning, but the web page keeps spontaneously “refreshing” and crashing. I don’t think the Lord of Light (i.e., the site’s algorithms) is to blame. I suspect it’s either the new IOS I foolishly downloaded, or the local ad cycle that’s abusing Javascript and eating up the available display space. (There is probably a technical term for this problem but I don’t know what it is. Usually, it resolves itself when a new ad cycle begins.)
The new IOS may also be hampering my ability to edit text without indiscriminately zapping whole paragraphs, so I apologize in advance if I have to paste and post the long-winded, unedited version of the continuation.
I’ll try again later…
8:59 pm EDT
Although I am not watching the Super Bowl, according to the online update there’s 3 minutes left in the third quarter.
Maisie’s Audi commercial is supposed to air sometime during the fourth quarter.
#ASNAWP
#TheColdNeverBotheredHerAnyway
• I have since rewatched the commercial several times and noticed details, including “That Perfect Girl” on the movie theater marquee. Yes, I agree with that!
• I also tried to discern what the bystanders on the side of the road were singing or saying.
Am I the only one who would have loved it if one of the bystanders looked over at the Audi and declared:
”There’s no one behind the wheel!”
Ten Bears,
They just showed it!
I’m sure it had a huge audience at the 2 minute warning. Maisie was awesome. Exciting game too.
Did you see Jason Momoa’s commercial? It was pretty funny. It was on early.
Did they? Well, I didn’t watch the game*, and I’d already watched the commercial on YouTube.
* Since my hometown team has been mired in mediocrity for the last twenty years and will likely continue to suck for the rest of my lifetime, I have given up on football.
I admit it. I am a “fair weather fan” and a “front running phony.” I am not dedicated enough to root for the team when it’s losing, nor would I bother to show up at the stadium with a paper bag over my head.
Besides, it’s too f*cking hot, the beer’s too warm and too expensive, and who the hell knows what’s in the shish kabobs sold in the food carts outside the stadium. 🐀🐁🐿🐈 (Meow)
Tron79,
Nah. I missed Jason Mamoa’s commercial. I’ll look for it on YouTube.
(I saw that the 49ers blew a 20–10 lead after three quarters and lost 31-20. Great to be a KC Chiefs fan. Sucks to be a Niners fan.)
Tron79,
I just googled “My Name is Emily” and noticed a familiar name among the cast members: Barry McGovern (“Dr. Golding.”)
I’m 90% certain Barry McGovern played the dying farmer Arya and Sandor encountered in S4e7 of Game of Thrones.
at 0:28 – 3:35
(Sandor: “That’s where the heart is.”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4RS9NgU6iA
—-
The Vanity Fair interview of Maisie Williams linked in my 2/1/20, 10:15 am comment details her preparation to sing “Let it Go” for the commercial. It’s a quick read.
I’m going to try to embed the link below as well…
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/01/maisie-williams-frozen-let-it-go-audi-super-bowl-ad
Wait. Are you referring to the huge audience watching Maisie being awesome as Arya taking out the Night King with 2:00 left in “The Long Night”?
If there is one thing which I’d like to believe every GOT fan can agree on then it’s that S8 was visually stunning and peerless TV so these awards are richly deserved.
Yes, amazing catch!! “Dying Man” in your favorite episode Mockingbird. I guess it’s OK to talk about My Name is Emily now in connection to Game of Thrones! Seriously though, the character of Emily has similarities to Arya and Alice (from Alice in Wonderland). All of these characters have some things in common:
1) They don’t fit the society standards of what is considered normal (for a girl’s role or other societal views of normal)
2) (somewhat related to point 1). They reject the idea of what is expected of them (in Arya’s case to be a lady, in Alice’s case to be a wife married off to Hamish, and deciding not to wear a corset (how scandalous!). In Emily’s case she repeats her father’s credo quite often that “A Fact is a point of view”.
3) Identity crisis
All of these characters are going through a journey of self discovery. For Arya it’s realizing she’s not really “No One”. In the books, Arya’s identity crisis is even more upfront where she rattles off all of the various names others have given her over the years and the names she’s given herself. She’s trying to figure out who’s the real Arya.
For Alice, everyone in Wonderland keeps saying that she’s not the “real Alice”. For Emily, she’s struggling with the world and her place in it. She’s having a crisis with herself throughout the movie. She is struggling figuring out her place in the world of the living. She struggles with death/life issues, her relationship with her father, and much more.
Yeah, if GOT is on regular commercial TV one day, it would be great to cut away before the big Wolf Jump/ Knife Drop to Maisie singing her LET IT GO commercial.
I was getting nervous though during the Superbowl, because it hadn’t come on yet. I heard it was going to be during the 4th quarter, but I didn’t expect them to wait until almost the very end!
I can’t say I was disappointed with the outcome, since I still have bad memories of the 49’rs beating my hometown team in the Superbowl twice back in the Joe Montana days.
That commercial was awful.
Sorry TB 🙁
I thought the Cheetos commercial (Can’t Touch This) was pretty good.
I also liked the Bill Murray Groundhog Day one.
The Momoa one was ok.
Didn’t really care for the rest of them. Most of them either made no sense at all, tried way too hard to be clever, or were just a bunch of ham-fisted celebrity cameos.
Tron79,
I’m glad Kansas City won! It was a pretty close game up until the last two minutes.
I missed the first quarter because of work, but I caught Jason Momoa’s commercial on YouTube. I agree, it was great!
Well I disagree with you on Maisie’s commercial but I am used to studying GOT promos and trailers frame by frame so I had to do the same thing with Maisie’s commercial. It takes it to another level knowing all the details. I did watch my wife and my daughter when viewing it during the 2 minute warning and I think they both kind of ignored it. I don’t think they had a reaction at all one way or the other. They don’t know who Maisie is and the messaging with the cute gas sign that was out of business went right past them. It also got millions of views on YouTube I think. My guess is more people will appreciate the message when viewing on YouTube. During the game at the 2 minute warning my daughter was tired of the commercials by then and wanted to get back to the game. There were some other commercials that got groans because they were awful. My wife liked the Alexa commercial the best. Next to Maisie’s I loved the Doritos dancing gun fight. The Alexa commercial with the dragon eating the not raven got some laughs.
You gotta go back and study Maisie’s commercial frame by frame. It’s frickn awesome. And it made me think of to visiting my Audi dealer and going green even though i drive a sports car that only takes premium gas.
Jon Snowed,
And the magnificent writing of Mr. Benioff and Mr. Weiss.
Tron79,
I didn’t hate the commercial or anything. I didn’t have that much emotional investment in it. I like Maisie, but I’m not a super fan of hers or anything.
Maisie singing “Let It Go” while selling me a car was a miss, IMO. And yes, I got the rather on the nose “she doesn’t mind the cold” bit and all that. The commercial was just a bunch of double meanings reminding the viewer that she was in Game of Thrones. Like yes, I got it, but I’m not going to buy a car because they used someone from Game of Thrones in the commercial. I really didn’t need to hear “Let It Go” for the millionth time either.
I’m sure fans of Maisie loved the commercial. She could probably do just about anything and her fans would eat it up and ask for seconds.
Don’t forget, Hybrid cars make for better emission levels, but people who drive hybrid cars are the leading cause of smug 😉
I can see that people who didn’t follow Maisie as closely may not have liked it as much as me. So let’s say your favorite GOT actor/actress made a Super Bowl commercial. Who would that be? and what product would you have them represent? What would be your pitch concept for this commercial?
Tron79,
I’ll have to take some time to think about this one. I’m at work, so I don’t have much time to think about this, but here’s a few options to start:
* Davos’ plant-based bowl of brown.
* Varys’ Shipping Crates
* Sansa’s Lemon Cakes
* Tywin’s Toilet Bowel Cleaner
* Tyrion’s Honeycombs cereal
* Cersei’s home pregnancy test kit
* Anything involving Hot Pie
Tron79,
Maybe you could have Melisandre hocking light bulbs or an electrical company called “Lord of Light Electrics” or something. The competition are just usurpers pretending to be the true Lord of Light, but we all know who can be counted on during the Long Night.
Ya know, something cheesy like that.
Got me on Davos’ plant based bowl of brown!!
Love Cersei being the spokesperson for a home pregnancy kit.
That’s okay. No apologies necessary. She will always be my queen.
https://i.redd.it/7izfhx8obmw01.jpg
Tron79,
”… You gotta go back and study Maisie’s commercial frame by frame. It’s frickn awesome. And it made me think of to visiting my Audi dealer and going green even though i drive a sports car that only takes premium gas.”
I just got back from my local Audi dealer! I told the salesman I wasn’t really in the market for a new electric car. I’ve got a hybrid that works just fine. I asked to see the new e-tron Sportback anyway.
Salesman: “You’re here because of the commercial, right?”
Me: “Well yeah.”
Salesman: “You’re not the only one. We’ve been swamped by Arya fans since we opened this morning.”
(P.S. Even if I wanted to be convinced to consider buying a new Audi e-tron, the sticker price was way more than I’d be willing to spend. I can only hope the price includes a markup to pay Maisie Williams a tidy sum for hawking Audi’s electric car.)
Mr Derp,
“I like Maisie, but I’m not a super fan of hers or anything.”
Nobody’s perfect. 😬
Nice 🙂
I can’t believe people make major purchases like a car simply because a celebrity they like was in the commercial. I mean, there are a number of celebrities I like and respect/admire (including her), but jeez.
• Maisie Williams. Ginsu knives.
Pitch: Easy to carve meat and effortlessly slice through bone and sinew.
• Isaac Hempstead-Wright. Trazadone. “Ask your doctor if spacing out is right for you.”
• Rory McCann. St. Pauli Girl beer. ”How can a man not keep ale in his home?”
• Rory McCann. Perdue Chicken. ”It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”
• Daniel Portman. Viagra. Pitch: None. Just s*it eating grin.
• Bald Thenn actor. Soylent Green. “Tastes just like marbled Crow.”
• Rose Leslie. Prada. ”Made of the purest silk from Tralalaeeday.”
these are great!! “How can a man not keep ale in his home!”
Love the Viagra ad idea… Of course the Maisie knives ad of course gets my vote!
They all gave me a good laugh..thanks! I watched My Name is Emily again today. It is a bit artsy and slow at times, so be warned, but I still loved it yet again.
Mr Derp,
” I can’t believe people make major purchases like a car simply because a celebrity they like was in the commercial. I mean, there are a number of celebrities I like and respect/admire (including her), but jeez.”
I’ve made car purchases simply because I liked the pretty cobalt blue color of the dashboard lights.
Tron79,
One more…
• Andy Kellegher. Spokesman for On-and-On-and-On: 12-step program for people who can’t stop talking once they start and don’t know when to shut the f*ck up.
Ten Bears,
Yep, he’s a talker! Either that or he could appear in Sandor’s commercial helping Sandor build up a thirst.
Ten Bears,
I do like Jaime as well, so I have to think of something for NCW…
hmmm….. Ah ha!!
NCW would do an ad for a new reality TV series… “She could be your sister”
It’s kind of a cross between The Bachelor and Jerry Springer.
The ladies meet the new bachelor in the mansion. After finding true love, they have a big reveal at the final rose ceremony. They reveal the results of the DNA test to find out if the bachelor just fell for the sister he never knew he had. Before the show the audience is told that one lady in the house is actually his sister but neither of them know. Can’t be worse than the Masked Singer!
Tron79,
Audi Presents: Behind the Scenes with Maisie Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dFSEItcSfw
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Tron79,
better name for my proposed show… “The Bachelor – Family Ties edition”
Frickn Abbey Road studio! That video was better than the commercial!!!
Our girl is all grown up.
Tron79,
I loved Maisie’s commercial. We’ve been looking for an electric car and as previous Audi owners, it’s made us want to have a look. We didn’t know until this ad that Audi had one.
Maisie is a very talented young lady who is going to do well for herself.
Tron79,
MotherofWolves,
Replies to your comments are pending. I may have to post them in segments later on. (My new IOS is still making it difficult to edit and post text.)
Short version: Yes! 💯✅ to everything you wrote.
Tron79,
MotherofWolves,
Follow up comments and replies about
“Audi Presents: Behind the Scenes with Maisie Williams” (Recording the Audi commercial music and singing at Abbey Road Studio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dFSEItcSfw
———
Responses to Replies to my 2/4/20, 8:44 am comment with above link to “Audi Presents: Behind the Scenes with Maisie Williams,” and my Additional Observations
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Tron79 replied, on 2/4/20 at 8:50 am: “Frickn Abbey Road studio! That video was better than the commercial!!!
Our girl is all grown up.”
• From her comments in the first segment of the video (at 0:06 – 0:18) it sure looked like Maisie Williams was overwhelmed that there she was, at frickn Abbey Road Studios [or as Sandor would call it, “Abbey F*cking Road Studios”].
• I was surprised and impressed that Audi and its ad firm went all out with a full, live orchestra!
If I hadn’t seen this video, I would have assumed they just spliced Maisie’s vocals into a canned background track of electronically reproduced sounds. (After all, these days so many “songs” by pop stars consist of their autotuned voices + synthesized sounds.)
I’m sure most viewers watching the Super Bowl commercial weren’t listening closely enough to discern the difference. Someone like me who’s both musically inept and aurally challenged would never appreciate the effort that went into the production of the music and vocals.
• No doubt about it: “That video was better than the commercial!!!”
I really enjoyed watching and rewatching it. I admit I am not an unbiased, objective observer. Still, can anyone really deny that Maisie Williams just exudes charisma and personality?
• And yes: “Our girl is all grown up.” She’s so composed and well-spoken. In addition, although she’s 5’ 1” or so, and fans got used to seeing her as the “aged-down” little sister on GoT, she sure looks like a self-assured, confident and physically fit young woman (e.g. at 0:19 – 0:25) who does not appear to be “short” or diminutive in stature. Maybe it’s the dancer’s training…
• Her mom must be so proud of her!
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MotherofWolves replied, on 2/4/20 at 12:37 pm: ”I loved Maisie’s commercial. We’ve been looking for an electric car and as previous Audi owners, it’s made us want to have a look. We didn’t know until this ad that Audi had one.
Maisie is a very talented young lady who is going to do well for herself.”
• As I wrote earlier, I am not in the market for a new car and still I felt compelled to visit my local Audi dealer.
• Like you, I would not have known Audi had an electric car if I had not seen this ad. Maisie Williams’s comment in the “Behind the Scenes” video about her support for environmentally conscious causes (and companies) is an additional selling point. Good for her, and good for Audi! (Hopefully, once the retail price for the electric car comes down a bit, the marketing campaign will bear more fruit.)
• Yes! She sure is “a very talented young lady.” I think she’s done well for herself thus far, and will continue to do so.
• While I certainly understood her desire to take some time off to relax after roughly ten years of filming GoT, and to avoid jumping right into new projects that would tie down an actor with long-term, fixed shooting schedules, for selfish reasons I am glad that (it looks like) she hasn’t disappeared indefinitely.
As Tron79 and I have previously commented, nobody could really blame her if she had decided to devote all of her time and energies to entrepreneurship (e.g., the “daisie” company she co-founded to enable talented people to collaborate with each other using an “app”) and the charitable causes she champions (e.g., dolphin rescue, neglected children, displaced refugees, etc. ). If she did take a )well-deserved) post-GoT sabbatical, perhaps she is now re-energized and ready to take on new, challenging roles.
• If her comments in the Audi “Behind the Scenes” video are any indication, might we see her in a song-and-dance musical at some point?
At 0:08 – 0:21, she says: “I had no idea the Abbey Road Studios section of my career was going to come so quickly. But now that we’re here, I just feel like I’m never going to go back.”
• We often read about up and coming young actresses and actors “enjoying” the Hollywood party scene before quickly crashing and burning. It looks like Maisie Williams is down to earth and socially conscious, and isn’t the type to exploit her fame and fortune in an apparently single-minded pursuit of a dissolute lifestyle.
• To my knowledge, her next “big” project is “New Mutants,” due in theaters on April 3, 2020. However, as we know, that movie was filmed two or three years ago, and its release was delayed several times.
It would be nice if she starts landing some more “adult” roles instead of parts in teen romcoms and superhero movies.
• I may be projecting when I agree “she is going to do well for herself” based on the assessment of Audi and its marketing company that her talent and current popularity warranted choosing her for a Super Bowl commercial.
• Arya Stark was an iconic character on GoT; the showrunners and GRRM have often said how fortunate they were to find a naturally gifted child actress like Maisie Williams; and her performance endeared her to many fans (like me).
While there’s never a guarantee that a child prodigy will find success as an adult, I am confident she’s capable of making the transition.* I also sense that she is discerning enough to resist being “pigeonholed” into stock roles, like androgynous kickass tomboy, quirky pixie dream girl, or supportive “best friend” to a lead actress or lead actor. Any decent casting director should be able to appreciate her diverse talents.
* During her four-episode guest-starring arc on Dr. Who a few years ago, I thought she convincingly portrayed her character in various phases of maturity: from
————
• Additional, Miscellaneous Observations:
– At 1:10 of the video, I thought her gen:Lock Cammie McCloud/New Mutants Wolfsbane Scottish accent creeped in for a moment.
(“lettin’ goo of the past.”
– At 1:33 – 1:43: “Do it again!” (“That was me being a diva.”)
And then with feigned self-importance: “Run the track!”
How witty! How adorable!
– At 2:01 – 2:05 [end]. I’m not sure if she was “caught” in the act rehearsing a line from the song to herself in a cute little voice. Whatever she was doing, it was charming. That’s probably why the director and editor chose to use that four-second snippet as the coda to their video.