Commenter Alexander has alerted us to a Norweigan news story on four wolves (starts at 15:30) that are being trained for an upcoming film/TV project . The news story does not mention exactly what project they are being trained for, only that they are being shipped to the UK upon completion of their training and they have the chance to become “big stars.” Which has led to the speculation that these may be the direwolves.
The video is in mostly Norweigan, but you can get an idea of the kind of look they might be going for. You may also notice that there are only 4 wolves and none of them are black or white. All of them are a greyish brown. This doesn’t necessarily rule them out as it would be easy to make the 4 wolves turn into 6 for the show. The only time we see all the direwolves together is when they are first found and obviously they will be using weeks old pups for that scene. As far as fixing the color issue, it is as simple as using dye to color the wolves’ fur. It is apparently quite common to dye animal’s fur in film and television production.
Even if these wolves aren’t being trained specifically for Game of Thrones, this video at least shows that using real wolves for the show is not out of the question. Earlier it was suspected that they would not use real wolves because they are harder to work with, but it seems more likely now that that might not be the case.
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99 Comments
FIRST!
StuQuote Reply
Ok explain something to me why would someone care if they are the first poster in a thread???? And if your post only says FIRST! hey guess what its not a post…
zaccurQuote Reply
around 15:30, so you don't have to watch 15 minutes of chinese just to see them
DavidQuote Reply
So the albino wolf is most likely going to be resused shots of the other 4 wolves and CG'd or something else…right?
AnerswordQuote Reply
zaccur: I bet you really badly wanted to post first, that's why you're whining about the fact that you only got second. And whining isn't really a post either, or ?
StuQuote Reply
I'm more doubtful about this now. After hearing from friends in Norway and Sweden, they seemed to indicate that the wolves were just being trained in general for future TV/movie productions and their training had only just begun, whilst if GoT is shooting in just 5 weeks, they'll want fully-trained animals already (and a month of training is absolutely nowhere near what they'd need for working in TV). In addition, the animals have been shipped to Heythrop in Oxfordshire rather than to Belfast.
The only way this would make sense is if there's a special training facility in Heythrop and the wolves had been sent over months ago, but this would not appear to be the case.
However, WiC's report indicates that the wolves had already been trained for some time in Norway. But if that's the case, why send them to Oxfordshire, why not just straight to Belfast for the filming?
Curious.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Adam – Filming does start shooting in about 5 weeks, but most likely not any filming that the wolves will be used in. The full grown wolves won't be needed until well into the first season if indeed these are the wolves that are being used.
Mr. MisterQuote Reply
Considering that fully-grown wolves don't appear in the pilot, could it be that these are being trained with a view to the series getting the green light from HBO? Surely production for the series itself won't begin until the new year – would that be enough time to prepare them?
TorrellanQuote Reply
Adam: I was going off of Alexander's interpretation of the report. He mentioned that they were recently sent to Britain. I guess it is possible that it is for more training, I dunno.
I don't think they would need these wolves for the pilot, in any case. I imagine they will be using relatively young pups for the pilot episode. Does it mention in the script or book how big Ghost has gotten during the feast scene? I always pictured him as still a small pup, only a few months old.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Nice wolf. Niiiice wolf.
These wolves may be ready for filming at about the right time if the series goes ahead. I presume they have some wolf/dog pups (or puppets) ready for the pilot already.
I can believe that well trained wolves would sit still while their fur is dyed, but I can't see canine contact lenses going down too well, so Ghost might need some CGI on his eyes.
A decision would need to be made around now about the future appearance of the direwolves, since the props department will use this as a basis for the dead female seen in the pilot.
SPOILER
Depending on the size of the wolves when Lady is killed and Nymeria driven off, they may only need full grown animals to portray the four males, possibly with one of them (maybe the wolf playing Grey Wind with a new dye job, after the Red Wedding) doubling for Nymeria in Arya's dream sequences.
shinyteapotQuote Reply
Hi, first time poster, but long time reader. :)
I actually met these wolves about a month ago as the zoo they were at is only a three hours drive by car from here. You can read more about their wolf projects here. Their keeper said that they were going to England to be in a movie based on a book.
I translated the Norwegian parts of the news story if anyone's interested:
Now you'll get to meet they who will become Norway's new movie stars, if everything goes as planned. They are from inner Troms (a county), and will probably be seen as quite frightening.
"It's fantastic"
"I've never seen a real wolf before, and then to sit down here and be smothered by wolf kisses, it was really special, almost so that I get goose bumps."
They haven't gotten further than to Oslo in their long journey to England, before they charm customs officers and transporters, the four wolves.
Rotchak, Beowulf, Aurora and Mitcha (not sure about the spelling) are trained to accept people here in Polar zoo in Troms. Now they're going to Heythrop Zoological Gardens, here waits a future as movie stars if everything goes well.
"We have worked quite long to make it happen, both with papers and training of the wolves with transport and cages and car driving. It has actually gone very well."
A tiresome journey, for both people and animals. And arrived at last, long into the night, the wolves get a sniff of their new home.
The new wolf yard isn't as the one in Polar zoo, but it is that much time to think about that, for they quickly have to show what their good for, if they're going to have any future in the world of movies.
It can look violently, but the wolves are supposed to endure it. At least the animals' nearest are satisfied this far.
"It looks real good, everyone thinks as we do and they are engaged in the animals' welfare, and to keep them active and train and work with them. So we are really satisfied."
@Winter: I've got some nice pics of the wolves if you want some to use in the post. :)
gwakkQuote Reply
Movie based on a book…obviously GoT is not a movie, but I can see some details getting lost in translation, sounds promising
Mr. MisterQuote Reply
Yupp, and their keeper is from Denmark, I think she said something more about the project but I've always had a little trouble understanding danes when they speak fast. And, at the time I was busy cuddling a wolf, so I didn't pay attention before I heard something about filming.
gwakkQuote Reply
gwakk: Awesome. Thanks for the info. Movie based on a book huh? Well, like Mr. Mister says, it is possible that some details have been lost in translation. It is quite plausible that "movie" in this sense means "big budget TV show." The based on a book part certainly makes it sound promising. Are there any major movies that are based on a book and slated to film in the UK soon that may require 4 wolves? Unless someone can come up with something, I am feeling pretty confident these might be our direwolves.
And yeah, I'd love to get pics of the actual wolves for the post. You can email them to me. Thanks again!
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
These animals can't be for the pilot.
While they could be imported the Heythrop Zoological Gardens they would then need to be qurantined there or up to 6 months.
However, with the wolves coming from Norway, which is a certified rabies free place, there may be a way round it. The UK is notorious for being extremel strict on animal import regulations though.
legion_quest666Quote Reply
Thank you gwakk, very helpful.
Just curious, when that trainer said these wolves for a production in the UK based on a book, did you guess then maybe they'd be used for Game of Thrones? That would have gotten me pretty excited to learn that. :)
BrudeQuote Reply
I love wolves.
I must admit, I picture direwolves as being way more bulky than regular wolves; almost a crossbreed between a wolf and a mastiff (well, having the former's distinctive look and the latter's size and bulk, only moreso).
I think they could use regular pups and adolescent wolves for the young direwolves, but I'd definitely expect something more jaw-dropping for the grown beasts (CGI I suppose).
JamesQuote Reply
legion, are you saying they can't be for the pilot because of the special qurantine needs or because of their size?
Regarding the quarantine laws, I would say that they are already being handled by their English trainers in the facility there (which already has a green screen with an infinity wall, which I find a pretty huge clue that they will be used for special effects shots). These animals don't need to be taken from their studio for much of what they will be used for, indeed maybe they don't want to take them from there at all – or as little as possible. Composting them into as many shots as possible might be the most desirable thing, including shots with the children and such. I wouldn't want to risk putting the actors playing Bran or Arya in the same room with wolves, no matter how friendly and well acclimated to humans they might be.
If it's size, think they can easily be for the later scenes in the pilot because those wolves are already supposed to be quite large – some months pass between their being found and the scene when Ghost is taking food under the table during the banquet in Winterfell. (One thing I remember about the script was it didn't properly explain that the wolves were already a bit grown by that point in the script and one thing I suggested in my review that Winter posted way back when was that they needed to address this minor detail.)
BrudeQuote Reply
I was saying because of the qurantine laws.
If they are going to be completely greenscreened and added later, then fine, obviously that can all be done from Heythrop
legion_quest666Quote Reply
Seems this is the company that trains and houses these animals at the Heythrop Zoological Gardens for the express purpose of being used in TV and film productions. They have quite an extensive list of credits, including working on a number of BBC productions as well as a few of the Harry Potter films.
Even if these exact wolves aren't the ones that will be used for Game of Thrones, it seems likely that this Amazing Animals may have a good shot at providing the wolves anyway.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Animals can in some cases travel to the UK without needing quarantine, through the Pets Travel Scheme.
This certainly applies to dogs, so it's possible arrangements have been made to bring the wolves in under a similar system.
shinyteapotQuote Reply
The PETS scheme doesn't cover animals listed on the Danger Animals Act list; wolves are listed on said list.
legion_quest666Quote Reply
Should say Dangerous, not just danger, D'oh!
legion_quest666Quote Reply
They could get round it if they are registered as follows:
"The Act does not apply to animals kept in zoos; circuses; pet shops; or registered scientific establishments"
legion_quest666Quote Reply
one could speculate that the series would imply the fast growth rate of the direwolves more than once. this would allow then to show pups in the pilot, and be training these juveniles for a month or two while the are doing post on the pilot.
this greenscreen may imply they are getting the juveniles ready for the throat ripping scene leading to ladys demise, which would be episode 2 or 3 right?
the growth rate would be rather sudden, but perhaps they could make it work editorially.
movie based on a book. any other candidates for this? the third twilight film? what is on the docket for English adaptations involving wolves? might help in sorting out whether it was a translation problem or if there are other potential productions coming up.
would have to be going into production in the next few months though, as I don't see them training animals for a particular project much sooner than that.
right now my money is on GoT. maybe these 4 are meeting up with the albino in England?
…ryan
invertebraeQuote Reply
@Brude: Yeah, I immediately thought about GoT when I heard that, and I've been thinking a lot about it afterwards. It would be cool if wolves I've actually met were to be used in GoT. :D
But, I just remembered, one of the local newspapers had an article about the wolves a couple of weeks ago. It says that they'll probably be trained for use in feature films, and it's possible they'll get to appear in many movies. But that doesn't rule out GoT I think.
Also, I agree that they'll probably mostly green screen the wolf scenes, and definitely when the children are supposed to be in the same shot. Even though they're quite small still, they can be really rough. One of them accidentally scratched my nose while licking my face. It bled for half an hour and I got an inch long scar from it. :p
gwakkQuote Reply
I'm on the "wolfs will be stars for numerous films and tv adaptation" side.
Just my tinsytiny 2 cents, to try out my new google account… ;)
i.e not excluding our beloved GOT
Livvey… previously heard from as "Livvey"…
LivveyQuote Reply
If they have some well trained wolves on hand and other productions need them, they will get used. Such a thing is a valuable commodity if there is demand.
The few apes who have been trained for film get work all the time, and since apes live so long (they can live about as long as people really, if healthy) they will work for many, many years.
BrudeQuote Reply
Am I the only one who really doesn't care that much about the direwolves, or think of them as being a huge part of the story?
shadallionQuote Reply
@shadallion
being as the stark children are wargs now, it is important to me. more than once the stark children have used their direwolves to hunt/kill.
and nymeria is obviously massing an army of her own.
i think this is going to be a bigger factor than you might think, if you think they are marginal to the story.
so yeah, i disagree there a little bit.
…ryan
invertebraeQuote Reply
This is really cool, my guess is that they´ll use them for later in season 1 and the other seasons.
This wolf business is awesome, seeing as i live in Norway, that part of the books is most close to me, wild wolfs have often been seen in the valleys were I live.
JohnQuote Reply
Was Ghost described as an albino? I forget.
Been reading just now about wolves and arctic wolves are naturally white, not albinos. Even if Ghost is albino in the book, they could just go for an arctic wolf and either color its eyes digitally or just leave it be and not bother with describing him as albino. I don't think that detail matters too much.
BrudeQuote Reply
Brude: Yup. From AGoT:
His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey. His eyes were as red as the blood of the ragged man who had died that morning. Bran thought it curious that this pup alone would have opened his eyes while the others were still blind.
“An albino,” Theon Greyjoy said with wry amusement. “This one will die even faster than the others.”
I think they will have to get a white wolf for Ghost as I can't imagine dyeing would look good. They can add the red eyes in post.
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
I can't imagine that each of these trained wolves is going to play exactly one of the direwolves. Each direwolf "character" will be played by any of the trained wolves, depending on which one happens to be available during that particular shooting day. When you see a movie with a dog in it, they normally use several dogs, in case one gets hurt or grows up too big or is having a bad doggy day or whatever.
spikebrennanQuote Reply
OT, but I found another pic of Maisie Williams. Check it out here (I assume she is the one on the left).
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
nice find, winter. ^_^ cute little girl – she's gonna be a great Arya.
LaurenQuote Reply
OT, I am glad they are taking so long to cast Bran. Considering the fact that there have been a number of hints that the series is likely to be shot, this latest advent being another piece in a long list of circumstantial evidence, it seems like D&D et al are making preparations beyond the pilot. That said, they seem to be taking a good amount of time and consideration into Bran's casting. I, for one, think it is great because it shows how serious they are taking the quality of the child actors, which is so imperative to the quality of the show as a whole. Maisie Williams looks great from that picture anyway. Perfect Arya, although the poor childs confidence might take a knock.
MozartQuote Reply
@gwakk: How cool you actually met the wolves :) and the keeper saying they'll be used for a specific project based on a book makes this much more believable (as I've commented before and as seen from your translation, they never say on tv they will be used in a specific production).
As for pups growing so much by the time of the feast: this should be addressed together with some info on how long the journey from King's Landing takes. True that there's the line of The North being as big as the rest of the Kingdoms, but still. As Brude suggested a long way back, Catelyn and Eddard should mention sth when discussing the news of their arrival (e.g. they have this many weeks / 2 months / whatever to prepare everything needed).
MarkoQuote Reply
I'm from Sweden and can understand largely what they where saying.
As I understand they had their basic training in Norway and where then shipped to the UK to be evaluated if they where good enough and then receive "acting training".
It also seemed -as others where saying- that they where training for films in general.
And also as people have said, that does not rule out GoT.
HjonarnQuote Reply
Using real animals for the show may be a surplus value for emotional reasons, for viewers would be an easy matter to root for them.
But one month of training is way too short of a time, let alone that direwolves must appear much bigger than normal wolves
DenisQuote Reply
@Marko: I know, it was really cool, and well worth the money. :D To actually sit on the ground and patting a wolf's belly is one of the greates experiences I've ever had. And to top it all off, hopefully I'll soon be able to turn on my tv and say "look, there's the wolf that made this scar on my nose!"
Some more info on the wolfs I remembered; I think they're about 8 months old, and when I went to see them in late August they weighed about 20 kg (is that about 3 stone maybe? I never really understood the converting of weight from metrics). They are also the second sosialized litter from the zoo, and the main reason they're moving to England is that the zoo hasn't got enough room for them once they're fully grown. According to the article in the newspaper the agreement that Heytroph were getting the wolves were made not long after the wolves were born.
And also, how many sosialized, trained wolfs could there be?
gwakkQuote Reply
But, how will they make the wolves look bigger onscreen? It's my understanding that direwolves were a lot bigger than regular wolves, and they are described as being huge in the books. CGI, maybe?
JulieQuote Reply
Jeg skulle ønske jeg kunne forstå hva TV-rapporten ble sagt. Dessverre AltaVista ikke har en stemme oversetter. Glad de bruker ekte ulver. De kan få dem til å se større ved hjelp av samme teknikk som ble brukt i Ringenes Herre å gjøre hobbitene ser mindre.
AnachroniteQuote Reply
@Julie
Probably the same way they made the actor that played Gimley small. I wouldn't say it will become an issue, especially because if the show gets far enough in the series that it does become an issue I'd say HBO will fork out more cash for better sets and CGI.
MozartQuote Reply
I still think there's no good reason yet to believe these are going to be the direwolves. Not saying they can't be, but there's nothing that really sets them off as being really likely. How many productions use wolves in a given year? My guess would be a lot. Wolves are a very powerful image, and they're in a lot of stories. It's sounding like these wolves may not even be slated for a specific production yet, and I would hope AGoT already has their wolves lined up. Possibly not real ones, as they could just use CG for the young wolves in the pilot, but if that's the case they probably wouldn't be sending for ones from Norway already any more than they'd be casting Littlefinger.
Don't get me wrong. I'd love it if these did turn out to be our direwolves (Well, 5 of 6, anyway, since I think they could dye all but Ghost), but it seems a bit like hearing "(Actor name) has been cast in a pilot!" and jumping to "(Actor name) will be in AGoT!" That said, since these wolves will be in the area, it does seem likely they could at least be Nymeria's pack down the road. Not sure what the most likely way to do that is, but it seems like real wolves would probably be involved, if only as a basis for getting the wolves' movements right in CG.
DemokritosQuote Reply
Well, I'm more excited about the fact that this increases the likelihood of GoT using real wolves or at least half-breeds in the production – whether or not these are THE wolves. I really hope they don't go with the CG route. It's come along way and they can do somewhat realistic animals with it, but I just think it would look out of place in GoT.
Also, I expect a lot of the interactions with the dogs to be done on a green screen. That will make it much easier to film with them in a controlled environment, plus it will make it much easier to make them larger in post production.
I hope they do it well, they aren't necessarily critical to the success of the show, but could be one of those extra details that viewers gravitate towards.
ChrisQuote Reply
They may want the wolves to still be juvenile sized for the scenes that appear in the pilot and soon after, they are only supposed to be about 2 months old at the point when Robert comes to Winterfell, so some more growth and bulk will look more appropriate for later in the season and future seasons, I think.
Again, it's all just speculation (we still don't even know that they aren't using CGI wolves instead).
BrudeQuote Reply
Just as an aside, the earlier direwolf debate post should also be tagged.
MarkoQuote Reply
regarding size of direwolves. here is one area where they can probably sacrifice biblical adherence to the original text, and instead opt for having a mystique about the direwolves instead of them being the size of sabretooth tigers.
with forced perspective they can often cheat the size of an animal, but not when ghost is at jon's side, and he's petting him. and using CG to constantly upsize the wolves will be more difficult for shots like that than you may think.
my guess: they try stick to wolves, give them some look that makes them unique, and play up their "connection" to the starks. after that, if there are scenes where they are running with non-direwolves, just regular wolves, there's a place where some CG or forced perspective could work.
other than being really vicious, the actual stature of the direwolves isn't mission critical to their emotional connection to the children.
whereas ser gregor on the other hand HAS to be a monster, because that is how he is constatnly described, and why he is feared.
just my opinion.
…ryan
invertebraeQuote Reply
I agree with invertebrae. And I go as far as to say I would much rather have normal sized real wolves than sabretooth size CG wolves. As he said, its not mission critical and would add so much cost and trouble to the production that it is probably better that they focus that energy on making more important things better.
We have to remember that this is an ongoing series with each season being approximately 12 hours of content. I'm sure its much different doing animal CG for a 2 hour movie than it is for something that could potentially be 84 hours long.
ChrisQuote Reply
@Chris
Does that mean we can count on seeing REAL dragons as well?
(I kid.)
gofalconsQuote Reply
Direwolves are real creatures, went extinct about 10,000 years ago. They were roughly 1.5M in length, compaired to fully grown grey wolves like these which average about 0.9m. That's a size increase of around 50%.
I would say that that was significant enough of a size increase that it would need to be done eventually.
As for the argument about it not mattering, I would say it matters just as much as Gregor. The Direwolves are consistantly described to be seperate from and different to, normal forest wolves.
My money is on using normal size wolves for most of the time and then when they 'grow up' just increase their size on the computer – which becomes even easier if they are doing the wolf scenes on a green screen and then adding the people in anyway.
legion_quest666Quote Reply
@gofalcons
Hah, touche. All joking aside, my vote is for komodo dragons. All they would have to do is spray paint one black and one green and CG in a little smoke coming from their nostrils. Done.
ChrisQuote Reply
Another thing to consider, is they will probably use to first season to guage how successful the show ends up being. They can get by for the first season with smaller wolves and no dragons(until the end), but the show is just going to keep getting more and more demanding with each season. So if the show is a huge success and proves to be a money-maker, they may decide to go all out with the effects. If it is only a mediocre success, they may either cut corners, make changes, or stop the series altogether.
ChrisQuote Reply
Don't forget to glue little wings on the komodos.
gofalconsQuote Reply
I think a lot of effect can be had from just a few shots of the wolves up-sized via CGI with humans in the same scenes (once they actually get that big), but mostly once you establish their relative sizes, you can fudge it with individual shots of the wolves then cut back to the humans in the scene with them. This was done a lot more in LotR than people realize, I think…and forced perspective was used a lot, too. A few good composites can go a long way to establishing an effect that can be then filled out with clever standard shooting.
Direwolves are real creatures, went extinct about 10,000 years ago. They were roughly 1.5M in length, compaired to fully grown grey wolves like these which average about 0.9m. That's a size increase of around 50%.
Actually, those measurements you describe are how big they are at the shoulder (.95m is the largest ever recorded for a modern wolf). Big modern wolves are about 2m long, 1/4 of that being the tail length (sorry to be pedantic, but I was just reading all these stats this morning).
BrudeQuote Reply
Direwolf I
Direwolf II
The rabbitQuote Reply
I think I found Shaggy lol
Shaggy dog
The rabbitQuote Reply
I seriously hope they do the "hobbit trick" with these wolves and avoid full CGI. I really don't want it to end up like the CG creatures from Merlin and other fantasy/scifi shows…. That might make me die a little inside. :(
LaurenQuote Reply
@ Brude
Yeah, I was reading that wrong from Wiki, opps. Good catch.
legion_quest666Quote Reply
The video isn't loading for me at all. Frustrating.
Maria StahlQuote Reply
@the rabbit
You did, you did find Shaggy dog.
gorangligovicQuote Reply
yay shaggy dog! :D
LaurenQuote Reply
And by the way, isn't Shaggydog the cutest name you ever heard?
gorangligovicQuote Reply
@Goran
Yeah, probably, but when I red the series for the fisrt time, his name was Kudrov. lol
The rabbitQuote Reply
That means you're Slavic. In my language he wac Chupavko.
gorangligovicQuote Reply
@Goran
Bingo! lol
I think, in fact, that we are neighbours…and I like Chupavko like a translation much better then Kudrov. And do not ask me about Ostrozimlje (you probably heard about that).
The rabbitQuote Reply
Our translation was nothing sort of genius. Honestly. How in the seven hells did that man come up with some of those things I will never know. Nikola Pajvancic, I toast to you man!
gorangligovicQuote Reply
*SHORT of genius
gorangligovicQuote Reply
For exemple, I really like to know…
When I found the Westeros forum, and I herad for the first time for the places like Casterly Rock or Kings landing…It was like: What a hell they are talking about!!!???
I was completely lost.
If I was a translator I would never translate the name of the places, pets and people (Maloprsti).lol
The rabbitQuote Reply
Ah, you should read our editions. Not only are the place names translated, but they have a medieval feel to them. Casterly Rock is Livachka Stena, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is Istochna Morobdija, Deepwood Motte is Chardak shumski…those are some, but really there are so many good ones.
gorangligovicQuote Reply
@Goran
I think I will continue to read in english.
Nothing is better than original.
Btw = Deepwood Motte = Chardak shumski = Dubokogajski jarak.
Let's back on topic, to our direwolves.
The rabbitQuote Reply
@rabbit
'Twould be better I think, yes :)
Shaggydog, he has yellow eyes and black fur, right? So this Alexander Archipelago Wolf species you found is spot on. Not saying they could easily find some of them for the show, just appearance-wise.
gorangligovicQuote Reply
I imagined him just like that.
To be realistic the normal wolves like the norvegian ones will be just fine to me, with the few effects they cam make them bigger, and perhaps dye their fur.
I think it would be to expensive to search for the perfect wolves.
The rabbitQuote Reply
No doubt. As for the size, they don't have to be bigger for the pilot anyway.
gorangligovicQuote Reply
later seasons are going to be production challenged for sure. dragonstone, the iron islands, the dragons, battles, etc.
i know this isn't LotR, but it will become more like that. LotrR shot all three films, 11 hours of screen footage if you count the director's cuts (there will be 9.4hrs per season of GoT) over 274 days.
the hobbit will shoot for 10-12 months, for two films, let's say 7 hours of screen footage, involving little hobbits, dragons dwarves and elves and such. there will then be about 9-10 months of post-production on each of the films.
just sayin'
WATCH it D&D. this isn't in treatment, when you're on location for the whole shoot with 2 cameras and two actors in couches.
…ryan
invertebraeQuote Reply
There are white wolves that are a cross-breed of wolves & huskies that are bred regularly around Britain, Ireland and the US. A friend of my sister breeds them here in Ireland and they fetch a decent price. I'd say it could be just as easy to get a hold of one of these as the other wolves. If these are our wolves, and I like our chances , I reckon they will pick up a seperate white wolf off a dealer around Britain or Northern Ireland. Finding a trained one is obviously an issue, but they are common enough so I wouldn't think that would be an issue. So maybe we might have 5 seperate wolves ear-marked, while Lady gets the chop so she doesn't need counting.
For the dragons I like CGI. BBC have experience in this with 'Walking with Dinosaurs'. Granted the CGI in Merlin was crummy but I wouldn't hold that up as representative of our prospects, as it was low budget and crummy all-round.
MozartQuote Reply
@WiC: Did you get the wolf pictures? I sent them about 6-7 hours ago I think. :)
gwakkQuote Reply
I found our wolves.
Insensitive?
MozartQuote Reply
@Mozart
Cersei approves……
legion_quest666Quote Reply
If the wolves are going to be filmed on a green screen at their own studio and then inserted into the shots with the humans, making them big shouldn't be a problem; the hard part will be the human actors' job of pretending to interact with wolves that aren't actually in the scene with them, but that's not an insurmountable obstacle.
entomologistQuote Reply
@mozart
necessary?
@gorangligovic & the rabbit
how cool to be bilingual! i am always so interested in what other countries do with names and book covers to give it an authentic appeal and draw in readers. very cool!
in general, i am just thrilled if this means they are going to go real wolf and not so much CGI, i really cringe at the whole CGI factor.
educatedponyQuote Reply
I like the idea of using these wolves and one point lots of people appear to be missing is that bringing in other wolves (i.e a black one and a white one) would not work. The wolves have been used to working with people. Introduce another wolf and they are more likely to fight or at least sit there hackles raised whereas these 4 family members have been together all their life and are part of the same pack.
MatrimQuote Reply
But Ghost spends little or no time on screen with his brothers and sisters.
MozartQuote Reply
@gwakk, thanks for giving me another reason to visit Norway next year! I'm definitely gonna go to this zoo to visit the wolves.
Ron DerksenQuote Reply
@gorangligovic & the rabbit I also read (for the first time) the books in Croatian. Lets put aside the inconsistencies in places (Bacačeva Hrid for Casterly Rock; Whiteport is Whiteport but Maidenspool is Djevicino Jezerce…) what got me most confused was the translation of ''prekinuli su post'' for breaking the feast. I had some strange religious ritual in mind when I was reading it for the first time, something like Muslims do during Ramadan when they don't eat during day but opposite…
gabalQuote Reply
@Ron Derksen: No problem, it's always good to get more people to visit here. :D But, be warned, we're pretty near the north pole at about 69' north. Look for Tromsø (my town) in a map, then you'll see what I'm talking about. ;) Tromsø is on the coast, and the zoo is a bit south east of that, in Salangen.
gwakkQuote Reply
@gabal
Yes, Gabal that confused me, too.
But is simply "to break the fast", or "to have a breakfast".
@educatedpony
well, I do not consider myself – bilingual.
For me a bilingual person is someone who speak both languages as mother tongue.
I have learnt english in school, as foreign language.
The rabbitQuote Reply
Huh. In English, bilingual just means someone who can speak two languages, regardless of when they were learned. Which reminds me of a joke:
What do you call someone who speaks three languages?
Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
Bilingual.
What do you call someone who only speaks one language?
…American.
Unfortunately, I resemble that remark, but I'm working on learning Spanish.
entomologistQuote Reply
@entomologist: speaking as a linguist, bilingual is more often used in the technical sense of speaking two languages with mother tongue proficiency (strictly speaking, they would need to be acquired in the same early critical period for language, not learned as such). It's true that the term (same for trilingualism, multilingualism) is sometimes used for speaking two (or more) languages at any level. This discrepancy in terminology is not a property of English, it's more general.
MarkoQuote Reply
Let me be trilingual a little bit…
@entomologist: hola!
@Marko: Zhivijo in lep pozdrav!
The rabbitQuote Reply
Hehe … hvala, zajčica!
MarkoQuote Reply
@gabal
Actually, my translation was Serbian. Not that there's a big difference but there you go :)
gorangligovicQuote Reply
gwakk: I got 'em. Some great pics here. Edited the post to include one of them. If you don't mind I think I'll put the rest up on my Flickr later so everyone can take a look. Thanks so much!
WinterIsComingQuote Reply
Yay, that's my pic! :D Thanks. Put them on your Flickr if you want, I don't mind. Glad to contribute. :)
gwakkQuote Reply
The new wolf is beautiful!
The rabbitQuote Reply
@ the rabbit I know, I did get it eventually. The translation was just too literal.
@ gorangligovic I glanced through it at a friend. I think it is better then Croatian one, I especially liked Zimovrel for Winterfell, it feels better and shows that whoever translated it had analyzed the books.
I heard that Croatian translation is a bit inferior because the translator was rushed to finish the job fast as they wanted to publish the books in time for Martin's visit to Croatia. The quality suffered because of it unfortunately. If the translator read all books before starting the job they wouldn't translate Casterly Rock as ''Bacačeva Hrid'', that is for sure.
gabalQuote Reply
@gabal
Thanks, I didn't know the whole story, but I am pretty sure that if they had leaved the names like the way they were in english it would had been much better.
I had have a lot of trouble when I first came on english forums, I was lost in time and space
I recognaized only Winterfell and White Harbour…lol
The rabbitQuote Reply
GRRM saying that these aren't the wolves HBO will be using because UK laws prevent it. That's not to suggest that they were ever being considered as the direwolves in the first place, we just assumed.
PierceQuote Reply