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Filming in Scotland


Black Wizard

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I imagine a lot of that will be done on set in Belfast. Can't imagine NCW and Headey will be wanting to writhe around naked in an actual castle tower on a November day in Scotland.

Admidst all the excitement of filming starting down at Stirling, I totally forgot that much of the filming would be done in Belfast.

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I think it's up to the individual who took the photo whether they want to post it or not. I was contacted by an individual who was willing to share what they had.

I don't think it is a huge deal as you can't see much anyway.

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Of course, I never suggested they would push a child out of a real window of a real tower. grrrrr..... Just wondered if the scene would be filmed today while all the relevant cast is assembled at 'Winterfell.'

That Bran scene sounds like the most challenging thing in the pilot. Not the fall itself but showing Bran doing all this climbing first (and have it look real).

But I imagine it will be filmed in Belfast anyhow. They wouldn't be shooting somebody climbing a real tower, so a studio works.

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That Bran scene sounds like the most challenging thing in the pilot. Not the fall itself but showing Bran doing all this climbing first (and have it look real).

I'd do it by building a section of false wall on an incline of like 45 or more degrees. Then you tilt the camera and let the kid climb all over it. Because of the incline you still get the sense of gravity dragging him down, but if he slips he just slides down a bit and isn't hurt.

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I think it's up to the individual who took the photo whether they want to post it or not. I was contacted by an individual who was willing to share what they had.

I don't think it is a huge deal as you can't see much anyway.

So supposing - hypothetically - someone had a picture of the great hall they weren't supposed to have?

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Just to reiterate some of the comments, when it comes to colors, what your eyes see and what the camera sees are not always going to agree. My guess - and this is just a guess, of course - is that the expectations of filming outdoor scenes in Scotland (as well as indoors in an actual castle hall that must be murder to light properly) drove the costume colors, and that there is a good chance that what appears drab to look at may seem quite vibrant on the screen, and that what appears grayish may film white as snow. Failure to pop the colors as such might make the scenery, which is supposed to be lush and sumptuous, seem drab.

Or not. It's entirely possible that I don't know what I'm talking about. But I do know enough to know that you shouldn't always trust your eyes when envisioning what's going to be on the screen.

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I wouldn't link it, myself, but that's me. As a fan I'd love to see it, but ... eh, don't want to get anyone in trouble. The courtyard shot is borderline, as it doesn't really _show_ anything -- a muddy courtyard with some wood and equipment isn't exactly going to shatter the world, can't really see how anyone would get in trouble. But I recall someone or other saying stuff like the Great Hall was very explicitly said to be forbidden for photography.

Of course, if someone (hypothetically) snuck a picture as a memento, no harm, no foul. I don't think I could have resisted, in that hypothetical person's shoes.

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I'd be on the fence about it. Part of me is intensely curious, of course, and wants to see everything NOW.

The other part would rather not tangle with licensing issues and the protective sort of folks that wrangle with those ... though I myself have never understood the exact reasons behind how protective these companies can be. I mean, I get that it's a "property" (that's all these things are to a lot of people) but it seems to me when you protect things from being leaked it's coming from a place of fear; like anything could be perceived as a negative, which these companies DON'T want. I've never understood it, personally. The "OH NO THE STARKS ARE WEARING BLUE" people get shot down by the leveler heads pretty quickly.

And if something IS bad (the Arwen-Fighting-At-Helm's Deep thing, for instance), maybe a general fan consensus, or at least their input, can be a positive. Maybe someone can explain how holding back buzz is a good thing. I mean, do most production companies think we need to believe everything is 100% smooth and hunky-dory every day of the week? Characters can be re-cast, scenes may have to be re-shot... Sometimes I think these people view us as Chicken Little.

Of course, my worst fear would be they shoot this stuff - HBO (for whatever reason) decides to pass - and then because of all the protectiveness we never see it.

That would really suck.

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Maybe someone can explain how holding back buzz is a good thing.

If a production turns out to be leaky as a sieve and reveals stuff before the studio is good and ready to have it revealed -- such as things that don't in fact work, as you'd guess -- that could call into question the ability of the production company to run things. If there are already other problems (the sort of problems that get photoed by fans who leak them to the internet and cause a firestorm of criticism), that could break the camel's back.

This is a big business. A lot of money is being invested in this. They're not going to mess around. So ... yeah, for my part, if staff and crew told people explicitly something was not to be photographed, I'd rather not see it leaked.

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I'd do it by building a section of false wall on an incline of like 45 or more degrees. Then you tilt the camera and let the kid climb all over it. Because of the incline you still get the sense of gravity dragging him down, but if he slips he just slides down a bit and isn't hurt.

Heh. Right. Makes a lot of sense. Didn't think of that. :)

As for the secrecy thing. If HBO think its important to keep things secret. That's good enough for me. I can be very amenable. :)

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To be honest, I'm surprised that more photos haven't surfaced. Most film sets are completely closed off. The fact that this one has such open access is pretty unusual. Add to that the amount of buzz this pilot has already generated, the fact that there are many fans that live close to the location who knew that the filming would be occurring these past few days and you have a recipe for TONS of leaked photos.

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To be honest, I'm surprised that more photos haven't surfaced. Most film sets are completely closed off. The fact that this one has such open access is pretty unusual. Add to that the amount of buzz this pilot has already generated, the fact that there are many fans that live close to the location who knew that the filming would be occurring these past few days and you have a recipe for TONS of leaked photos.

The set isn't completely closed off because of a law in Scotland that keeps public places (like castles) open to visitors. They wont close to visitors for shooting, so the production has to work around this and hope that the visitors will respect the privacy of the set.

Some visitors obviously don't respect this honor system...

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like anything could be perceived as a negative, which these companies DON'T want. I've never understood it, personally. The "OH NO THE STARKS ARE WEARING BLUE" people get shot down by the leveler heads pretty quickly.

And if something IS bad (the Arwen-Fighting-At-Helm's Deep thing, for instance), maybe a general fan consensus, or at least their input, can be a positive. Maybe someone can explain how holding back buzz is a good thing. I mean, do most production companies think we need to believe everything is 100% smooth and hunky-dory every day of the week? Characters can be re-cast, scenes may have to be re-shot... Sometimes I think these people view us as Chicken Little.

It's ok they can shoot me down all they want. It's what a few fans with "leveler heads" "shooting down" on what, one fanboy amongst thousands who is a stickler for this kind of stuff, who is passionate about seeing something not deviating to far from the novels.

Because you know, their opinion is really going to hurt my delicate sensibilities...

Doesn't mean I won't watch it. But it wont stop me from rolling my eyes and sighing at the production design team from really deviating. Hell, i know different fans that have certain parts of the books and characters, scenes, etc. Parts they really want to see be in it correctly or at least in it. Just look at the "sweat the small stuff" thread.

Excuse me while I go cry all over my in great condition first edition silver foil AGOT HC >:D

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Some visitors obviously don't respect this honor system...

Well, like I was saying, the honor system seemed to work pretty well considering we only had one blurry photo of a non-descript set leak, despite there being numerous tourists walking the castle grounds over the course of the last few days.

Also, I'm not sure HBO is totally against photos from the set. If you look at their official twitter account you'll see it has tweeted photos from the set of How to Make it in America before. So I think in certain instances, they are ok with a set photo. Obviously they are going to try to keep the photos getting out to a minimum, but if something leaks and the reaction is overly positive and it helps build buzz, well, I can't see how that is a bad thing.

All of this is moot now anyway since they are apparently done shooting at Doune Castle and will be moving to the Paint Hall which I'm sure will be locked down like Fort Knox.

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I was up there on Monday and it was impossible to get photos of anywhere that they were actually filming (not that I was attempting or intending to take photos) because a large part of the castle was inaccessible.

I saw the courtyard and a room full of props for the feast and lots of lovely men dressed in their gear - that was enough for me. It was great to just to get a glimpse of it actually happening, I even managed to find a 'princess' for my two young daughters who found the whole thing very exciting :)

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HBO could have very different concerns about a pilot shoot vs. a show in production that's running up towards airing, though. I can understand it if they'd rather keep a show that they're considering much more under wraps.

Another, somewhat concerning, consideration that crossed my mind... if HBO ends up feeling that sites like Doune aren't going to provide the level of security they prefer, and they were factoring in shooting at other such castle sites as a mean of reducing budget in various ways (I don't know that this is true, of course; maybe shooting at Doune is much more expensive than building sets and shooting it at the Paint Hall), this could negatively impact the projected budget if they decide that they'll have to can that idea and stick to sets or the few private castles remaining in the U.K. where they can completely close things down. If this means a bigger-than-projected budget, well, that could be bad for the prospects of a greenlight.

So yeah, Halfhand is right, shooting is winding down there by all accounts. But if (hypothetically) people do have shots of the productionon on their computers, I hope they keep them there.

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