Another day, another fascinating look at the visual effects of “Game of Thrones“. Hot off the heels of a focus on the effects of the battle at Hardhome, a new visual interview with VFX Supervisor Joe Bauer has hit the web.
Thanks to io9 for interviewing Bauer and putting this video together. Bauer makes the case for going digital over practical in certain situations and in the television environment, his point makes some sense. Digital allows the directors and artists to completely alter sequences that would be prohibitively expensive to reshoot if done practically or the production simply wouldn’t have time to do over. Practical effects will almost always produce the better end product, but on the television budget and timeline, the way in which digital effects open up the storytelling possibilities is inarguable.
Seeing the evolution of the dragons as they have continued to grow over five seasons of the show really demonstrates how far their process has come. The integration of Drogon into the Pit of Daznak wasn’t the highest point of the VFX in season five of the show, but the dragon itself was incredibly detailed compared to what had come before.
The other, and most important, aspect this video highlights are the scene extensions the team creates. These extensions, ranging from creating the Red Keep to adding the Wall, are what create the illusion of Westeros as a real place. The fact the extensions are barely noticeable is the biggest testament to the hard work put in regularly by Joe Bauer and his team.
Do you enjoy these behind the scenes videos? Do you think Game of Thrones has the best VFX on TV?
