Since they first stated that the filming would take place in the UK, I wondered how they planned on handling the Dany scenes. There didn’t seem to be a location on any of the UK’s islands that would be a good stand-in for the Dothraki Sea. Well we may have our answer in the form of a remote shoot. You might remember this thread over at the Westeros forums, where in a poster revealed a friend of his/hers was a producer on the series. I made a post about it a while back. Well it seems they have received some more inside info. Check it out.
Hey, your resident series mole checking in.
Good news and bad news. Bad news is my producer friend is no longer working on soiaf, however her business partner has taken over and so she can still get fairly reliable info for me.
So.. i can confirm that the shooting of the pilot will take place in the autumn (octoberish), and they will be shooting in Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland, and Morocco (!!).
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37 Comments
Thanks WinterisComing….any news is greatly appreciated. Sounds like things are moving ahead which is great .
coltaine777Quote Reply
Worried about expensive remote locations … but ok :)
MarkoQuote Reply
I’ve never been to N. Ireland and Scotland – does it snow much up there? I know it’s way north, but my impression has always been that it’s not a very snowy region (much like England). Maybe they are purposefully not showing the north all covered in show as it, well, not Winter yet.
No doubt Morocco is being used for the Daney scenes. Some of the Free Cities always did seem very…well, Moroccan to me. But I’m thinking when they eventually get out to the Dothraki Sea (in later episodes), they’ll have to shoot elsewhere. (Morocco is pretty much a desert, no?) I could see either parts of the Canadian Mid-West or maybe the Ukrainian/Russian Steppes. Eastern Europe is filled with great film crews, as is Canada, so I wouldn’t fear for the look of whatever is shot at all.
BrudeQuote Reply
It snows more in Scotland than Ireland, but still not much unless they film through winter. I think the snow is going to have to be fake for the foreground and CGI for the background.
GalenQuote Reply
You’re forgetting physical geography: Scotland has mountains, Ireland does not.
EricQuote Reply
In that case, Scotland = the Vale?
AnonymousQuote Reply
Good guess, IMO.
MarkoQuote Reply
Ireland does have mountains, although I would say Scottish mountains are probably better suited to the Vale.
GalenQuote Reply
I hope this doesn’t end up being as expensive as Rome, but the Dany scenes would always be a difficult one in terms of location.
AnonymousQuote Reply
So would the Winterfell scenes be filmed in Ireland then?
AnonymousQuote Reply
I can’t think of anything in the Pilot that would take place in the Vale, unless something has been added.
BrudeQuote Reply
I’m sure the film crews know what they are doing. I say cut them some slack and see what kind of scenery they produce. When people found out that LoTR was being shot in New Zealand people freaked, but they ended up with some epic scenery once they went to see the films!
Of course maybe I’m wrong, I had that happen once ;)
RerQuote Reply
Morroco? That’s a horrible place to film the Dothraki place. The only good place would be in the Eurasian steppes. Russia would probably be the best logistics wise.
SteppeMercQuote Reply
For plains, Eastern Europe would indeed be better. Ukraine, even Kazakhstan could be doable depending on filming permits.
Ireland does have mountains, dramatic ones in places, but Scotland’s are much bigger and much more suited to the Vale. But again, there is nothing in the pilot set in the Vale, and the only Dany stuff is in Pentos, which I don’t think you really need to go to Morocco for. In fact, I don’t think you need to go to Morocco at all unless you are filming the red wastes, Qarth (don’t appear until Season 2) or Dorne (doesn’t appear until Season 4).
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Morroco? That’s a horrible place to film the Dothraki place. The only good place would be in the Eurasian steppes. Russia would probably be the best logistics wise.
Except aren’t the Dany scenes in the pilot all going to be in Pentos, not the Dothraki Sea? It’s her wedding, yes? Morocco could make a fine Pentos.
SlyQuote Reply
Oh I just love any news about this…
I think Eurasian forests, pine and leaf, when I see the geography of Westros. Or Scandinavia for North/Middle… But in any case, the whole of Europe is so versatile when it comes to the geographical, I can’t wait to go fan-hiking in the future… Might just be me though. (Doubt it)
Ireland, Scotland and Morocco seem just perfect to me… Looking forward to it.
So hope they won’t screw this up, being swedish I won’t have much of a chance of seeing anything if they don’t pick this up… pilots don’t get released on dvd much. and pirate soiaf?? No Way.
LivveyQuote Reply
“Morocco could make a fine Pentos.”
Pentos is only a few hundred miles east of King’s Landing. It’s not as green an area, I believe, but it’s still not Africa.
Morocco would make a good Dorne, Qarth or the Red Wastes, maybe even Volantis or Slaver’s Bay, but Pentos? I don’t think so.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Except aren’t the Dany scenes in the pilot all going to be in Pentos, not the Dothraki Sea? It’s her wedding, yes? Morocco could make a fine Pentos.
Yes, exactly. If it’s the script I read (or very near to it), then all of the Dany scenes are in Pentos. None of the Dothraki Sea.
BrudeQuote Reply
http://www.vacationsmorocco.com/hotels_files/rabat-morocco-big.jpg
don’t tell anyone, but morocco is a big country. It also has some green, arid-green (like I imagine Pentos) and some real non-sandy desert.
It’s a perfect location for a lot of scenes…♠
DavidQuote Reply
Yes, but it does not have any steppes. Which is what the Dothraki Sea is. Now if there are no scenes there, fine, but the point stands, for it to be done correctly it has to be filmed in the Eurasian steppes. Ukraine, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia all have perfect areas (as well as others, but those are some of the many ones).
SteppeMercQuote Reply
Hold your horses, guys. It’s a series, not a movie … get the production too expensive, and the risk of being cancelled due to not making enough dough rises dramatically. We do not want that, do we?
MarkoQuote Reply
It’s possible they are wanting to shoot in Scotland for the glimpse we get of The Eyrie in the intro.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Shooting in Easter Europe is pretty cheap still, especially the non-EU Eastern Europe places (i.e. Ukraine and probably also Russia). The region is also already filled with very good film crews, so they can hire local for that too. My guess is they will shoot those scenes somewhere in those regions, probably, or (as I said) somewhere in the Canadian mid-West maybe that still looks fairly virgin. Canada is a very big country with a lot of empty space and again, it’s filled got a ton of very good film crews that aren’t as expensive as they are in the U.S. and the U.K.
BrudeQuote Reply
@SteppeMerc
Shoot in any yard with a bit of grass and add the landscape via CG. Simple.
I think it is harder to reproduce some of the quirks of the cities and/or intricate landscapes, than the stepes.
I’ll have a lot more trouble believing THE wall, and what they make of it. Especially the close shots :)
DavidQuote Reply
70 stories of ice.
No, really. 700 feet. 210 meters. Tall. Of ice. Melting ice. With hanging icicles. And exterior stairs. Oh, and a castle in front of it getting dwarfed.
Did I mention 70 stories of Ice?
AnonymousQuote Reply
The wall is so big, that for the most part, it will just be done with green screen, as the backdrop. There will be little need to show constant perspective of the wall/castle black.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Scotland could have all kinds of things to offer as an alternative location to Ireland. it’s entirely possible that there is a castle exterior there that they want to use that just didn’t exist in Ireland. It’s really not that far from Ireland to Scotland. The ancient Scots managed it before anyone had even invented catamarans.
AnonymousQuote Reply
I believe there are more castles in Scotland than in Northern Ireland. Might they’ve come across a Winterfell in the Scottish highlands?
XimoQuote Reply
Morocco, aside from having a variety of physical locations, also has a top notch film industry that’s used to working with Western productions. This likely means things are cheaper than Rome while still providing quality.
world-dancerQuote Reply
I don’t think the wall is even in the pilot script. Maybe the opening credits.
dizzyQuote Reply
Ok. This is HBO we are talking about. Give them some credit to the extent that they know what they are doing when selecting the locations. I understand that not everyone agrees that these are the best places scenery wise, but I am positive that these locations were chosen for a reason. This is just a means to an end, and I think that the end product will look great.
nicoleg666Quote Reply
Very cool news!
-Jon
AnonymousQuote Reply
Kinda have to agree with nicoleg666, I’m assuming HBO knows what the hell they are doing, they’ve been around the block a few times eh?
PhenompbgQuote Reply
Yes, but I do think that talking about “good” or “bad” places is wrong. In the end what matters is the story. Throwing Bran out of the window will have the same impact, blond curls or not. I actually think that the story needs to be told either way and that being nitpicky will only hurt the series production
DavidQuote Reply
Please. HBO has no idea when it comes to locations. In Rome, they had Anatolia (Turkey) shown as pure desert, with Arabian camels. They really are not always on the ball.
SteppeMercQuote Reply
I think Norway or Finland would be a perfect scenery for “The Wall”-scenes.
AnonymousQuote Reply
Drew Fuller – THEON
AnonymousQuote Reply
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