1st HBO Preview, 12 Sept 2010

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

BTW, for the violet eyes I think Emilia at least does actually have violet contacts in. It's just really hard to tell, because 1) it's a relatively subtle violet and 2) her face (and especially her eyes) are somewhat shaded. Obviously any desaturation of what's released also affects the overall look, but even portrait photos of arguably the most famous pair of violet eyes, especially on film make them look not quite as violet, not without help.

[invertebrae]

@Parris

Respectfully, the eyebrow issue (at least the one I raised) was never intended to overshadow the "YAY!" about what has been released. In fact, it's merely a quibble in the scheme of everything else. But in the effort of appreciating observations and opinions, when everything is so damn inspirational, the occasional quibble can be constructive. Especially when certain people read this commentary.

I still stand behind the cheesiness about having a platinum blonde with black eyebrows. It's silly, and hopefully it gets fixed. I watched Lord of the Rings, and I watched legend of the Seeker. I've seen Gandalf, and I've seen Zedd, both of them adapted for the screen. One ruined the series, the other made it.

I wouldn't underestimate hair and make-up at all, and I'm a commercial film director, who has to deal with such things on a regular basis. Every single detail exists only to thwart you into mediocrity. HBO are masters of conquering this tendency, of course, so let it be known! Dany ought not have black effing eyebrows dammitall!

:)

JK of course, she can have whatever eyebrows she wants. The whitecloaks can have whatever cloaks they want. What do we care? We're only paying to watch the show.

...ryan

[Sekhmet]

I don't think anyone said that, nor did anyone say these 'minor gripes', or 'nitpicks' as you call them, will be what makes the show great or not. On the other hand, sub-par costume design can be an issue, and sub-par makeup or hair do can allso hurt a show. Im not saying its a game-changer, but its hardly something to ignore, and I would not call it a nitpick. Again, Im not saying this is how it will be, but its fair to question the footage we got to see. Really hope Im wrong, though.

Oh tell me that Mark Addy doesn't exude Robert in this costume and crown? A court tailor trying to make his King look less hefty. Was not a fan of the costume myself until I saw it with the crown. Thanks Ran for all your hard work, I'm really enjoying the captioned screen caps!

Personally, I think you're all down on the costumes because they're not the Tudors. But in essence, I think the costume designer has caught the spirit of the books and GRRM's made up time period well. We'll see how the colors really turn out in the final production.

[invertebrae]

I'm inclined to agree after closer examination. And that hair could still be blonde, bearing in mind that it is all sweaty and wet. Mine (which is blonde) goes dark like that when wet.

No way is that boy from the screencap Jack Gleeson. Nor is it Jack Gleeson. And it's not Jack Gleeson, either.

:)

He resembles nobody on my casting page, actually.

...ryan

[Ran]

If people don't agree with a premise, that this or that looks sub-par, then saying that they're "ignoring" the issue by not discussing it seems pretty silly. Maybe they just ... don't agree with the premise?

In the end, we'll all watch it on TV, and we'll each get to decide what we like or dislike.

ETA:

Invertebrate,

Uhm, he totally does look like Jack Gleeson. Heh.

[koudoulis]

oooooooooh i think we have white cloaks after all gentlemen (and ladies of course)

i m so happy :cheers:

[invertebrae]

Caveat 1... Dany DOES NOT have BLACK eyebrows.

Caveat 2... Tommen is BLONDER than some have worried.

Caveat 3... At least Jaime has WHITE PANTS!

Caveat 4... The whole thing is epic and amazing. I remember back to how LotR put out that behind the scenes piece very early on in the marketing of the films. How amazing it looked then. A bit of nostalgia. My true belief is that fantasy on HBO is going to be a BIG hit, and they've picked the perfect source material to adapt to the small screen.

...ryan

[Ran]

Based on the point I noted, koudoulis, or has Rimshot or someone else who's seen the Kingsguard said something?

[adamsputnik]

Has anyone looked at this part yet?

It's a montage for various shows, but you'll see two different bits of Ned and Theon at the execution. Looks pretty bloody good. Uh, no pun...

HBO Teasers

[Ran]

I have. Plan to screeencap it as well. I'm curious to compare it to the same scene shown in the first teaser, and see how different it is. The actor playing Gared changed between the pilot and present filming, and it sure looks like they have the new Gared in that clip.

[Bronn Stone]

Hi Kat, I agree with you that you can't simply dye eyebrows to the color of one's hair (especially not if the hair is platinum blond or white), because that would look absurd. The issue is that the eyebrows were... black, and when you are talking about a character with whiter than platinum blond hair, it looks just as absurd. Risking sounding nitpicky, they could have done a better job at it. It looks a bit cheap in that still. It might be changed, so I can't comment on the end result (naturally).

Nope. It's an idiotic nitpick. The more you repeat it, the dumber you sound. Read Parris' comment over and over until you truly believe it. Because she hit the nail on the head.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Not to mention that Dany's eyebrows don't actually look black in the colour shots anyway. Darker than some would like? Sure. But black? No.

[invertebrae]

@Ran and @adamsputnik

I've screencapped the shots if you're interested.

Ned, Theon and Gared 01

Ned, Theon and Gared 02

Ned, Theon and Gared 03

When we see things through the DP's lens, and not a documentarian's lens (ie. making of), it just looks bananas!

...ryan

[Juba]

Personally, I think you're all down on the costumes because they're not the Tudors. But in essence, I think the costume designer has caught the spirit of the books and GRRM's made up time period well.

Like samurai Lannisters and Oblivion-helmed Kingsguard?

In reality, the art direction of the clothing and armor is nothing at all like the books--where are the knightly surcoats, heraldry, house colors, doublets, cloaks, silk and samite gowns, etc?

The fact that they decided to ignore the novels' simple method of house colors and heraldry for easily distinguishing characters and factions is kind of baffling. Makes me wonder if the costume designer bothered to read the books at all.

Luckily, they didn't take the same road with The Wire . . .

Behind the scenes production meeting, The Wire--

HBO Exec 1-"I'm having a difficult time telling the Stanfield crew from the Barksdales--so here's my idea--let's dress the Stanfields up as ninjas . . .

HBO Exec 2-*nods thoughtfully* "Ninjas . . . Like a Wu-Tang kind of thing?"

HBO Exec 1-"Yeah, but dressed in cool black assassin suits for easy audience recognition. Maybe they could chuck throwing stars instead of use guns. Everybody loves ninjas right?"

HBO Exec 2-*huge grin* "Get Simon on the phone, right away! He's gonna love this!"

[Lady Cheesevillage]

Not to mention that Dany's eyebrows don't actually look black in the colour shots anyway. Darker than some would like? Sure. But black? No.

I think there are definitely some color monitor issues because in the links in invertebrae's post I definitely see dark charcoal (or possibly classic kohl) colored eyebrows in the more washed out picture and black ones in the screencap in the forest.

And Bronn Stone, with no offense to Parris, but I talking about makeup choices is just as valid as discussing costuming choices, weapons choices, carpentry choices etc. We all have different interests. I happen to be more interested in makeup and costumes than in how actors sit a horse or hold a sword -- things which I find irrelevant to my suspension of disbelief since I know nothing about them. I don't think talking about any of those things makes a poster sound idiotic. Now, if anyone had said, "Those eyebrows suck! I refuse to watch the show because I hate how Dany looks and think HBO has ruined everything!" that would be idiotic.

[Jack Sparrow]

Invertebrate,

Uhm, he totally does look like Jack Gleeson. Heh.

Yeah, I agree with Ran; I'd be very surprised if that wasn't Jack Gleeson. With those comparison shots, I'm now certain it's him.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Well, not that TVs don't suffer from the same inconsistencies, or people can't have different visual thresholds, but they did not look black to me on the original (HD) broadcast, either.

Of course, ultimately I can't work up too much to care either way, except that it's a point that does keep getting used as "OMG the show's not right!" (Not by you personally, I admit.) It's nothing compared to the super-fake eyelashes that the makeup artist for True Blood started using this latest season, for example.

[Jack Sparrow]

The fact that they decided to ignore the novels' simple method of house colors and heraldry for easily distinguishing characters and factions is kind of baffling. Makes me wonder if the costume designer bothered to read the books at all.

I'm not sure what you're basing this conclusion on: one of the first things we heard out of the production was that they liked the idea of the various houses having their own colors, to help identify them to the audience. That doesn't mean that every time you see every character they are going to be wearing the same colors, but in the footage released this weekend you can see riders with blue house Arryn shields, you see swordsmen in red (Ran speculated they were affiliated with Lannister), and you see Catelyn in Tully blue.

[Lady Cheesevillage]

It's nothing compared to the super-fake eyelashes that the makeup artist for True Blood started using this latest season, for example.

Oh Lord, don't get me started on that show. I loathe so much about the makeup on that show I could actually foam at the mouth if I started talking about it! (And yet, I love the show and watch it regularly!)

[Ran]

They are using heraldry. There's a knight with a white bantam rooster on red (completely random arms, BTW, not from the books) in one shot, the Arryn guards carry the Arryn arms, as does Ser Hugh. It's true they seem to have dropped the surcoats, and I am a little surprised just because of cost effectiveness of being able to toss some cheap plastic kit on someone, put a surcoat over it, and voila, they look like they're in full plate. But hey, whatever floats their boat.