GRRM on Emmy nominations

[robasp2]

I remember many users claiming GRRM realized GoT was a lost cause and distancing himself from the TV series altogether.

 

I believe GRRM was honest when he said that he was skipping events and not writing episodes since he doesn't have time and not because of some hidden inside fight I remember some imagined.

Anyway GRRM posted a reply on his blog

 

 

How do D & D feel nowadays?
Congrats on all the nominations. I just have a general question I wanted to ask you. It seems that every year, especially this year, people criticize D & D for butchering the show and destroying your work. I am in the category of the book is the book, the show is the show, and I enjoy both of them.

Since you know them, are they feeling good still about what they have done with the adaptation and how they are moving forward? I say that because I want them to know that so many people love the show and applaud all the hard work they have put into it year after year. I just don't want them to allow the negativity to tarnish their motivation and their sense of accomplishment.

They have done great and taking on this project gets exponentially harder every season. I just hope they know how much people are loving what they do, and more importantly, recognizing that it a great challenge to take on. So far so good. I hope they still love doing this as much as we love watching the show.


GRRM:

David and Dan... and everyone else connected to GAME OF THRONES, from the actors to the directors to the producers, crew, post-production guys, editors, SFX team... are all very proud of their accomplishment

Of course, they're all perfectionists. Every season, I'm sure, everyone looks back and finds things they wish they could have done better... if there was more time, or more money, or...

The same is true of me with the books.

 

So time and resources is a factor.
Also D&D may have regrets after the shoot scenes. They cant rewrite and reshoot.

I believe the last two lines said by GRRM could be discussed.

1.Time or money OR?

2.He even admits it happens with the books. So why people blame the show only?
Let's discuss.

 

[The hairy bear]

Saying that they are proud of their work is not the greatest of the endorsements. :P
 

1.Time or money OR?

 

I think he refers to the "unexpected". I remember that the scenes in Renly's camp in S2 had to be filmed in a rush because a storm had destroyed the set some days ago, and that in S1 Sandor was suposed to explain his background to Sansa, but the scene couldn't be shot because of bad weather and later on the actor was unavailable (and the monologue was transfered to Littlefinger).  Some of the questionable decisions by the producers probably have some reasonable justification.

 

2.He even admits it happens with the books. So why people blame the show only?

 

Probably because they like the final result much more. They are all perfectionists, but the difference is that George can spend five years writing a book until he is reasonably satisfied with the result, and D&D have to deliver the scripts in a few months whether they like them or not. Also, George has way more talent.

[lancerman]

This season GRRM has defended D&D after the Sansa rape scene and said they are proud of what he called "their accomplishment" and called them perfectionists.

Yeah there is totally a cold war going on. GRRM has done television. He gets it. Fanboys don't.

[LatrineDiggerBrian]

I think his play on words with "or" just means there are a lot of "ors" and he could go on and on naming them almost like an etc. etc. etc. 

 

And man, I don't think people realize what they're accomplishing with this show. This show is an outlier of outliers as far as the production goes (and I'd say as far as the content and quality as well though I know a lot would disagree). They film in 5 or so countries with two units and churn out a near perfect 10 hour movie every year. An unbelievable cinematic experience with amazing cinematography, acting, writing, directing, costumes, soundtrack and special effects. Think of all the major movie franchises that have about 3 years of development time to produce 2 hours of complete shit. I don't think people realize how fucking hard it is and they are knocking it out of the park.

[LatrineDiggerBrian]

Thanks for posting that BTW, and that was a great question whoever asked it.

[arabian]

Agreed so very much.   I read some of the comments made my people and it's mind-boggling how so many don't get just what D&D have accomplished in bringing these books to the screen.  It's remarkable.

[ShadowKitteh]

I think his play on words with "or" just means there are a lot of "ors" and he could go on and on naming them almost like an etc. etc. etc. 

 

And man, I don't think people realize what they're accomplishing with this show. This show is an outlier of outliers as far as the production goes (and I'd say as far as the content and quality as well though I know a lot would disagree). They film in 5 or so countries with two units and churn out a near perfect 10 hour movie every year. An unbelievable cinematic experience with amazing cinematography, acting, writing, directing, costumes, soundtrack and special effects. Think of all the major movie franchises that have about 3 years of development time to produce 2 hours of complete shit. I don't think people realize how fucking hard it is and they are knocking it out of the park.

:agree:

 

Agreed so very much.   I read some of the comments made my people and it's mind-boggling how so many don't get just what D&D have accomplished in bringing these books to the screen.  It's remarkable.

:agree:

[robasp2]

Yeah there is totally a cold war going on.

Your proof?

[robasp2]

Head over to GRRM's blog. In the original post about the Emmy's he is very happy for the show.
He also gave comments of more depth like : Hardhome was very impressive on TV and wonders why it wasnt nominated.

So he watches the show. He may/ may not like how it is executed. But he believes that we have the liberty to critizise after it has come out. But they took the gamble BEFORE it is even shot.

I bet D&D feel exactly like GRRM stated. " Oh boy..we wrote that to be epic. But that part flopped"
"Oh boy we considered it to be unimportant, but our viewers found it to be important"

Because AFTER writing, shooting .. Anyone can say how it could be better. But before, you cant.

Actually they all (GRRM & DD) play a gamble.
Person A -On Too much story : boring. Damn this show has become shit"
Person B On Less story, more visuals and shock "bad story, Damn this show has become shit.

If I ran a show and majority of my viewers were Person A type. I would write show for them. Because the channel wants viewers & not critics.

Who knows? Maybe D&D are trying better and analyzing what went right and wrong in S5.
One can only see in S6.

I still believe in them because each season they deliver some amazing TV content. Hardhome choice, Tyrion as a critic choice etc..

[bent branch]

Head over to GRRM's blog. In the original post about the Emmy's he is very happy for the show.
He also gave comments of more depth like : Hardhome was very impressive on TV and wonders why it wasnt nominated.

So he watches the show. He may/ may not like how it is executed. But he believes that we have the liberty to critizise after it has come out. But they took the gamble BEFORE it is even shot.

I bet D&D feel exactly like GRRM stated. " Oh boy..we wrote that to be epic. But that part flopped"
"Oh boy we considered it to be unimportant, but our viewers found it to be important"

Because AFTER writing, shooting .. Anyone can say how it could be better. But before, you cant.

Actually they all (GRRM & DD) play a gamble.
Person A -On Too much story : boring. Damn this show has become shit"
Person B On Less story, more visuals and shock "bad story, Damn this show has become shit.

If I ran a show and majority of my viewers were Person A type. I would write show for them. Because the channel wants viewers & not critics.

Who knows? Maybe D&D are trying better and analyzing what went right and wrong in S5.
One can only see in S6.

I still believe in them because each season they deliver some amazing TV content. Hardhome choice, Tyrion as a critic choice etc..

 

The question about who is their audience is a good one. With an audience of 20+ million I doubt that it is easy to tease out just exactly who is viewing and what it is they are looking for. I looked up the demographics of who is watching and 62% are in the 18-49 age range. This means 38% of their audience is outside this age range. Add to this the fact that you really can't tell if a person is type A or type B from their age and it is hard to tell which bet is a better one for D & D. Of the people who I know who watch the show, half are men, half are women, 83% fall in the 18-49 age range and a third are show only watchers. All were disappointed in the season.

 

Speaking only for myself, I thought Hardhome was one of the best hours of television I have ever seen, but the average of my ratings for the season was only slightly over 6. I really need a good storyline to keep me engaged. I originally came into the story through the show, but read all the books after Season 1. I don't have much faith in D & D, because they appear to have a poor sense of narrative. They will insert things from the books is a random fashion as if it doesn't matter at all when they put them in. The series is becoming, Game of Thrones: A Series of Unfortunate Events in my mind.

 

I do hope that season 6 is a strong one. I want to be spoiled. I want to know how the story turns out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Edited because math is hard. lol

[ViniciusMJ]

D&D make several mistakes, no doubt. But overall I think they've been doing a very good job. Last season was more problematic than the others, but some moments made up for it (ie Hardhome). And then again: we don't know where GRRM's story is going, they do. Some choices that appear really bad right now may be seen more favorably when the remaining books finally come out.

[RedShirt47]

Agreed so very much.   I read some of the comments made my people and it's mind-boggling how so many don't get just what D&D have accomplished in bringing these books to the screen.  It's remarkable.

I totally agree.

I saw someone on these forums say that GoT was "The worst adaptation ever" because it has made a few changes. I think they need to look up adapt in a dictionary sometime. My mind was indeed boggled by this comment...

 

The show is not perfect *cough* dorne *cough* but is still an amazing piece of television. We can only hope that its success will lead more television producers to fund large scale shows like this.

[Pyat>Daenerys]

Regardless of what GRRM thinks, such comments are expected. Or do you expect him to criticise the show in public?

 

And I'm not trying to say he hates it or anything like that, because I don't know him.

[A Ghost of Someone]

Regardless of what GRRM thinks, such comments are expected. Or do you expect him to criticise the show in public?

 

And I'm not trying to say he hates it or anything like that, because I don't know him.

Agreed, it is an adaptation of his work so he has to be a team player but everyone who pays attention knows that he is not in agreement with the adaptation by D&D 100%. I have No problem with Grrm's pride in the amount of Emmy nominations.

[TheKitttenGuard]

Agreed, it is an adaptation of his work so he has to be a team player but everyone who pays attention knows that he is not in agreement with the adaptation by D&D 100%. I have No problem with Grrm's pride in the amount of Emmy nominations.

It is not a question of GRRM is 100% pleased. It is this feverish desire among posters that GRRM must be furious and has a feeling of being betrayed that the poster has. That he trapped by circumstance and is trying to give these subtle hints that it is worst show ever done (after S1, afterwards you have various opinions, but the last saason is a crime against humanity).
Martin does have his disagreements, but in the end he gave D&D permission to adapt the whole series. He has his opinions, and does give them, knows that it's his opinion, and has respect for decisions they made in order to adapt the series for TV.

[ViniciusMJ]

It is not a question of GRRM is 100% pleased. It is this feverish desire among posters that GRRM must be furious and has a feeling of being betrayed that the poster has. That he trapped by circumstance and is trying to give these subtle hints that it is worst show ever done (after S1, afterwards you have various opinions, but the last saason is a crime against humanity).
Martin does have his disagreements, but in the end he gave D&D permission to adapt the whole series. He has his opinions, and does give them, knows that it's his opinion, and has respect for decisions they made in order to adapt the series for TV.

:agree:

 

Not even D&D are 100% pleased, be sure. Dorne, for example: I think they planned something more substantial but then some problem made them re-evaluate, and then that monster of a plot was born amidst the confusion.

[LatrineDiggerBrian]

:agree:

 

Not even D&D are 100% pleased, be sure. Dorne, for example: I think they planned something more substantial but then some problem made them re-evaluate, and then that monster of a plot was born amidst the confusion.

 

I really didn't mind Dorne, but I remember reading a quote from Benioff before season 5 aired and he mentioned they had thought about cutting the story line completely.

[Bawn]

This must be fake.  He needs more time and money for the books?  Seriously?

[A Ghost of Someone]

It is not a question of GRRM is 100% pleased. It is this feverish desire among posters that GRRM must be furious and has a feeling of being betrayed that the poster has. That he trapped by circumstance and is trying to give these subtle hints that it is worst show ever done (after S1, afterwards you have various opinions, but the last saason is a crime against humanity).
Martin does have his disagreements, but in the end he gave D&D permission to adapt the whole series. He has his opinions, and does give them, knows that it's his opinion, and has respect for decisions they made in order to adapt the series for TV.

I agree with Season 5, it was disgusting but I do not know if GRRM could really do or would do anything else but say something posetive out of his mouth or type it out.

[Dragon in the North]

I agree with Season 5, it was disgusting but I do not know if GRRM could really do or would do anything else but say something posetive out of his mouth or type it out.

He could say nothing at all.