Game Of Thrones Creations

Writing

George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire, is a series co-executive producer and wrote one episode for each of the first four seasons.

Game of Thrones used seven writers over its six seasons. Benioff and Weiss wrote most of each season's episodes.[74] A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin wrote one episode in each of the first four seasons. Martin did not write an episode for the later seasons, since he wanted to focus on completing the sixth novel (The Winds of Winter).[75] Jane Espenson co-wrote one first-season episode as a freelance writer.[76]

Cogman, initially a script coordinator for the series,[76] was promoted to producer for the fifth season. Cogman, who wrote at least one episode for the first five seasons, was the only other writer in the writers' room with Benioff and Weiss.[74] Before Cogman's promotion, Vanessa Taylor—a writer during the second and third seasons—worked closely with Benioff and Weiss. Dave Hill joined the writing staff for the fifth season after working as an assistant to Benioff and Weiss.[77] Although Martin was not in the writers' room, he read the script outlines and made comments.[74]

Benioff and Weiss sometimes assigned characters to particular writers; for example, Cogman was assigned to Arya Stark for the fourth season. The writers spent several weeks writing a character outline, including what material from the novels to use and the overarching themes. After these individual outlines were completed, they spent another two to three weeks discussing each main character's individual arc and arranging them episode by episode.[74] A detailed outline was created, with each of the writers working on part of it to create a script for each episode. Cogman, who wrote two episodes for the fifth season, took a month and a half to complete both scripts. They were then read by Benioff and Weiss, who made notes, and parts of the script were rewritten. All ten episodes were written before filming began since they were shot out of order by two units in different countries.[74] Benioff and Weiss wrote their episodes together; one wrote the first half of the script with the other writing the second half. They then passed the drafts back and forth to make notes and do rewrites.[51]

Adaptation schedule and episodes

Main article: List of Game of Thrones episodes

After Game of Thrones story line began outpacing the published novels in the sixth season, the series was based on a plot outline of the future novels provided by Martin along with original content.[78][79] Before season four, Martin stated there was an issue with the television series being released before the source material could be written.[80] According to Benioff, Martin gave the showrunners an outline on the final two books of the series.[81] In April 2016, the showrunners' plan was to shoot 13 more episodes after the sixth season: seven episodes in the seventh season and six episodes in the eighth.[82] Later that month, the series was renewed for a seventh season with a seven-episode order.[83][84] HBO announced in June 2016 that the eighth season would be the final for the series.[85]

Game of Thrones adaptation and season schedule

Season Ordered Filming First aired Last aired Novel(s) adapted Ref(s)

Season 1 March 2, 2010 Second half of 2010 April 17, 2011 June 19, 2011 A Game of Thrones [86]

Season 2 April 19, 2011 Second half of 2011 April 1, 2012 June 3, 2012 A Clash of Kings [87]

Season 3 April 10, 2012 July–November 2012 March 31, 2013 June 9, 2013 A Storm of Swords [88]

Season 4 April 2, 2013 July–November 2013 April 6, 2014 June 15, 2014 A Storm of Swords [89]

Season 5 April 8, 2014 July–December 2014 April 12, 2015 June 14, 2015 A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons and original content [90]

Season 6 April 8, 2014 July–December 2015 April 24, 2016 June 26, 2016 Outline from The Winds of Winter and original content [91]

Season 7 April 21, 2016 August 2016 – February 2017 July 16, 2017 August 27, 2017 Outline from A Dream of Spring and original content [92]

Season 8 July 30, 2016 October 2017 – July 2018 April 14, 2019 May 19, 2019 Outline from A Dream of Spring and original content [93]

The first two seasons adapted one novel each. For the later seasons, its creators saw Game of Thrones as an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire as a whole rather than the individual novels,[94] enabling them to move events across novels as the screen adaptation required.[95]

Filming

The Azure Window at Ras-id-Dwerja

The Azure Window at Ras-id-Dwerja, on Gozo, was the site of the Dothraki wedding in season one.

Principal photography for the first season was scheduled to begin on July 26, 2010;[96] the primary location was the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[97] Exterior scenes in Northern Ireland were filmed at Sandy Brae in the Mourne Mountains (standing in for Vaes Dothrak); Castle Ward (Winterfell); Saintfield Estates (the Winterfell godswood); Tollymore Forest (outdoor scenes); Cairncastle (the execution site); the Magheramorne quarry (Castle Black); and Shane's Castle (the tourney grounds).[98] Doune Castle in Stirling, Scotland, was also used in the original pilot episode for scenes at Winterfell.[99] The producers initially considered filming the entire series in Scotland, but decided on Northern Ireland because of the availability of studio space and tax credits.[100]

The walled city of Dubrovnik

The walled city of Dubrovnik stood in for King's Landing in season two.

The first season's southern scenes were filmed in Malta, a change in location from the pilot episode's Moroccan sets.[96] The city of Mdina was used for King's Landing.[101] Filming also took place at Fort Manoel (representing the Sept of Baelor); at the Azure Window on the island of Gozo (the Dothraki wedding site); and at San Anton Palace, Fort Ricasoli, Fort St. Angelo and St. Dominic monastery (all used for scenes in the Red Keep).[98] Filming of the second season's southern scenes shifted from Malta to Croatia, where the city of Dubrovnik and nearby locations allowed exterior shots of a walled, coastal medieval city. The Walls of Dubrovnik and Fort Lovrijenac were used for scenes in King's Landing, though, exteriors of some local buildings in the series, for example, the Red Keep and the Sept of Baelor, are computer-generated.[102] The island of Lokrum, the St. Dominic monastery in the coastal town of Trogir, the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik, and the Dubac quarry (a few kilometers east) were used for scenes set in Qarth. Scenes set north of the Wall, in the Frostfangs and at the Fist of the First Men, were filmed in November 2011 in Iceland on the Vatnajökull glacier near Smyrlabjörg; the Svínafellsjökull glacier near Skaftafell; and the Mýrdalsjökull glacier near Vik on Höfðabrekkuheiði.[98][103] Filming also occurred at the harbor in Ballintoy, Northern Ireland.[104]

Ballintoy Harbour

Ballintoy Harbour was Lordsport on the Iron Islands.

Third-season production returned to Dubrovnik, with the Walls of Dubrovnik, Fort Lovrijenac and nearby locations again used for scenes in King's Landing and the Red Keep.[105] Trsteno Arboretum, a new location, is the garden of the Tyrells in King's Landing. The third season also returned to Morocco (including the city of Essaouira) to film Daenerys's scenes in Essos.[106] Dimmuborgir and the Grjótagjá cave in Iceland were used as well.[103] One scene, with a live bear, was filmed in Los Angeles.[107] The production used three units (Dragon, Wolf and Raven) filming in parallel, six directing teams, 257 cast members and 703 crew members.[108] The fourth season returned to Dubrovnik and included new locations, including Diocletian's Palace in Split, Klis Fortress north of Split, Perun quarry east of Split, the Mosor mountain range and Baška Voda farther south.[109] Thingvellir National Park in Iceland was used for the fight between Brienne and the Hound.[103] The fifth season added Seville, Spain, used for scenes of Dorne, and Córdoba.[110]

The sixth season, which began filming in July 2015, returned to Spain and filmed in Navarra, Guadalajara, Seville, Almeria, Girona and Peniscola.[111] Filming also returned to Dubrovnik, Croatia.[112] The filming of the seven episodes of season seven began on August 31, 2016, at Titanic Studios in Belfast, with other filming in Iceland, Northern Ireland and many locations in Spain,[113] including Seville, Cáceres, Almodovar del Rio, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo.[114] Filming continued until the end of February 2017, as necessary, to ensure winter weather in some European locations.[115] Filming for season eight began in October 2017 and concluded in July 2018.[116][117] New filming locations included Moneyglass and Saintfield in Northern Ireland for "The Long Night" battle scenes.[118]

Effect on locations

Northern Ireland Screen, a UK government agency financed by Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund, helped fund Game of Thrones.[119] Tourism Ireland has a Game of Thrones-themed marketing campaign similar to New Zealand's Tolkien-related advertising.[120][121] According to First Minister Arlene Foster, the series has given Northern Ireland the most publicity in its history apart from The Troubles.[122] The production of Game of Thrones and other TV series boosted Northern Ireland's creative industries, contributing to an estimated 12.4 percent growth in arts, entertainment and recreation jobs between 2008 and 2013 (compared with 4.3 percent in the rest of the UK during the same period).[123] In September 2018, after filming had finished, HBO announced plans to convert its filming locations in Northern Ireland into tourist attractions to be opened in 2019.[124] By 2019, 350,000 visitors, or one sixth of all tourists, came to Northern Ireland annually because of Game of Thrones.[125]

Tourism organizations elsewhere reported increases in bookings after their locations appeared in Game of Thrones. Between 2014 and 2016, Hotels.com reported hotel bookings increased by 285 percent in Iceland and 120 percent in Dubrovnik.[126] In 2016, bookings doubled in Ouarzazate, Morocco, the location of Daenerys' season three scenes.[127] Dubrovnik also saw an increase in overnight tourist stays after episodes aired.[128] However, the increase in tourism driven by the series—estimated to be responsible for half of its annual increase over many years—led to concerns about "over-tourism" and its mayor imposing limits on tourist numbers in the city.[112][129] Following the series finale, HBO announced in April 2019 a new exhibition and tourist attraction containing show props and set pieces.[130] The attraction, titled Game of Thrones Studio Tour, will be located at former show filming location Linen Mill Studios outside Belfast.[131] Studies showed that the series had an overall positive economic impacts for both Northern Ireland and Dubrovnik.[132][133] Despite the positive economic results, the impact from Game of Thrones–related tourist activities could damage historical sites and other locations of cultural value.[134]

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