So far, reports from the set have been non-existent. Looks like HBO is really serious about sealing up the leaks this time around. However, it seems they are filming only at the Paint Hall at the moment. Once they go on location we should start seeing some set reports and photos pop up. Until then, let’s take a look at a few noteworthy items from around the web:
- First up, is this blog article from The Guardian that popped up over the weekend asking if Game of Thrones is the most anticipated TV show ever. They talk about the books and the buzz and even manage to work a link to us in there (thanks Guardian!).
- Next, is this fun blog post from The Well Educated Pony that talks fashion in Game of Thrones. The blog author tries to match up characters to the kind of present day, high-end fashion they might wear. This is the second in a series of posts covering this topic, the first one can be found here. I think educated pony does a great job of capturing the essence of the characters in her fashion choices and reading this makes me even more anxious to see more official costume pics.
- A fan site for the Dothraki language, created for the show by linguist David J. Peterson has just launched. It was created by the same folks behind the very popular LearnNavi.org and hopes to be the number one site to go to for those who wish to learn Dothraki. So far they’ve got a wiki and the “first and only” Dothraki dictionary. Look for the site to continue to expand as more info on the language is released.
- Lastly, got some time on your hands? Then come bake a cake with Old Nan. The much-beloved Margaret John is Old Nan; we can see now exactly why they cast her! One might speculate whether or not she’s ever made lemoncakes… (Special thanks to Westeros.org for pointing this out on Twitter!)
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47 Comments
I loved that Educated Pony blog post. Twas fun reading. x3
LaurenQuote Reply
In some ways, it might be better of things are quiet. Then, when the show finally airs, it will be that much fresher and suprising!
Then again, I’m addicted to GOT news…
LexQuote Reply
D’oh! “better IF things are quiet”. Gotta start using the new preview button.
LexQuote Reply
When do we expect some news on casting the rest of the roles?
Any ideas?
The RabbitQuote Reply
Wow. The Learn Dothraki website, Wiki and Dictionary are some very dedicated stuff! I’m guessing this Lajaki is really interested in Linguistics or else really has a lot of free time on his hands!
Learning Dothraki is beyond the level of fanaticism I’m willing to commit to, put I’m very interested in watching how popular it will become.
And who knows, the dictionary might eventually come in handy.
NymeriaQuote Reply
Nymeria,
I have to agree. I love the dictionary, it’ll be great once it fills up.
I actually have a sudden urge to write Dothraki poetry. That’s not very Dothraki is it?
OzXaroQuote Reply
Can they keep a role like for example Tywins a secret even after they have started shooting his scenes? That would seem very hard to do, and quite pointless to.
I have never followed a show from this early on. On other shows, are the cast always announced before they start shooting? Or do they sometimes keep the names a secret until they do a pressrelease an appropriate amount of time before the show airs. Or even keep it under their wings until the show airs!
It would seem both difficult, strange and pointless to keep the names secret for an extended period after filming. It dawns on me that they might not have finalized those roles yet as someone like Tywin first comes in later.
They are filming in three episode blocks. How long will shooting take? We might then break that time into three blocks and estimate the latest time we can hear about the casting for Tywin and Shae. They will both be introduced just before the battle at the Green fork. Do we have a guestimate on what episode that will be in? If it is for example episode eight then they can wait some time casting him, as I assume the shootingis divided like this. Episode 2-4, 5-7, 8-10. But if it is in episode seven they will need him earlier, before they start shooting that block. Unless they push his scenes to the end of the block, as they won´t shot chronologically. So many possibilities it is really pointless to speculate. oh well. Why did I only come to that conclusion after i rampled on for so many lines.
Peter JørgensenQuote Reply
I’m guessing it might not be for a little while yet. I suspect they are focused on shooting the scenes from the first 3 episodes that they already have the cast in place for (Hand’s tourney, council meetings, Ned investigating, etc.).
Based on the amount of posts over at LearnNavi.org’s forum, I would say it could become VERY popular.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
OzXaro,
Not unless it’s about bloody horse hearts oozing between your fingers and suchlike.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
I agree, but it could be applied for the Tywin & co. from couple of last episodes.
But there are also a couple of roles from the episodes (I guess) they are shooting right now – like Genndry for example.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Grrr. I must use this preview button more.
The RabbitQuote Reply
The Rabbit,
Once you hit the quote or reply button, all you have to do is type. The system automatically adds the necessary spacing and puts the cursor where it needs to be. :)
EDIT: I fixed it for you.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
I study linguistics at university, so yes, very interested. And I do have too much time on my hands. It’s all good fun, though. :D (What’s more sad is that I’m also one of the guys running learnnavi.org. Two conlangs at once might turn out to be a bit ridiculous.)
Nymeria,
LajakiQuote Reply
Lajaki,
oh hi, Lajaki!
glad to see you here with us!
Btw, congrats on you website, wiki and dictionary. Great stuff.
May I ask what’s your level of connection with David J. Peterson on this? Is he cooperative?
NymeriaQuote Reply
I don’t know about doing this in television, but I can think of a few film examples where a big name in the cast wasn’t made public before the movie opened:
Dustin Hoffman in the The Messenger
Kevin Klein in Orange County
Nicholas Cage in Kickass (I think)
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
I’m not sure what the point is, other than creating an “Isn’t that ____?!?” moment for watchers.
Isaac MoyerQuote Reply
Nymeria,
Glad to be here. I’m just as excited about Game of Thrones as you guys (Should be, read the books 5 times :)).
Thanks. Took a bit of work, but not too much. Hoping to make some more youtube videos – maybe one a week, so that the buzz doesn’t fizzle out to much. Otherwise, not much left to do for the language until the whole thing comes out. Can’t wait.
As for David Peterson, I’ve shared a few emails with him, but those were pretty much just checking information that he’s already released. So, for instance, I know that the IPA (International Phonetics Alphabet) is about exactly what he wants it to be, which is nice. But I’m not affiliated with the LCS, nor have I signed a non-disclosure agreement or anything, so I’m pretty much just a die-hard linguistics fan, hoping to do the same thing to Dothraki that I’ve helped do for Na’vi.
Should be awesome!
LajakiQuote Reply
hodor hodor ho
hodor hodor hodor hum
hodor hodor hmm
haiku_hodorQuote Reply
Just added a quick hit up top: Margaret John shows us how to bake a Welsh cake!
That woman does delicious!
Fire And BloodQuote Reply
Old Nan is hot!
Steven ScottQuote Reply
GRRM comments a little further on the renaming of Robert Arryn in his Not a Blog:
“One of the items of conventional wisdom you hear when you’re a little bitty neo-writer is, “Never give two characters in your story a name beginning with the same letter, or the readers will get them confused.”
I followed that for many years, but very early on with GAME OF THRONES, I realized that I wanted to have more than twenty-six characters, so there went the rule.
Actually, ICE & FIRE breaks all sorts of naming conventions for fiction. I took my cue from history instead, where nobles families tended to use the same names over and over. English history is all Edwards and Henrys. (Princes named things like Arthur, Eustace, and Alphonso never seemed to live long enough to inherit the crown). Thus the naming patterns of Westeros… which are more realistic than those seen in most fantasy fiction, I dare say, but perhaps more confusing as well.”
NymeriaQuote Reply
Someone also posted
a song about ASOIAF on the Not a Blog comments. I thought I’d share it with my WiC fellows…. :)
NymeriaQuote Reply
Isaac Moyer,
Kevin Spacey wasn’t mentioned in Seven
Damryn of DorneQuote Reply
It depends. For large roles, generally once they are cast (or soon after) it is announced. That doesn’t always mean that it is prior to the start of filming. For example, Gretchen Mol was cast in Boardwalk Empire after the cameras had already started to roll. It looks like this will be the case for Tywin and, maybe, Shae.
For the smaller roles, many shows may not announce it at all. Thrones is a special case though, since there is already such a large fan base with an intense interest it seems HBO is going to announce the small roles as well. Although it will probably be en masse, like they did a couple weeks ago. Most of the remaining roles probably fall in this category, so we won’t get them until HBO releases an updated fact sheet and/or GRRM decides to give us some clues.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Isaac Moyer,
Nic Cage was never a secret. His name was in the pre-credits and one-sheets, and he participated in the promotional rounds.
But you can add to the list:
Sean Connery as Richard Lionheart on Robin Hood: Prince of thieves,
Geoffry Rush as Captain Barbossa at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man chest, whose appereance, it’s rumoured, was kept a secret for the rest of the cast in order of getting a genuine look of surprise from them when he’s revealed.
And probably the most important, because it was an essential role instead a minor one or cameo:
Kevin Spacey as John Doe in Se7en
DennaiQuote Reply
On a side note;
I just watched The Pillars of the Earth and was positively surprised. Quite good actually. Well the pilot were perhaps a bit messy as they got the plots going but as it cooled down in the second episode I could see a pretty good piece of historical drama enfold. Donald Sutherland is a heavy name and very charismatic. Ian McShane as a bishop does a wonderful “bad guy”. Rufus Sewell seems to be the one everything evolves around and it suits him. As a master builder and a somewhat grayish hero. Best of all are Alison Pill. She blew me away as an actress in “In Treatment” and Im sure she will do it again.
Im glad tPotE opens up a year before GoT. It has somewhat the same audience. It is very “adult” in its content and with the mayor names I wouldnt like to see in compete head to head with GoT as pilot to pilot. Both shows would probarly loose there.
What do you all think?
c0venantQuote Reply
New information:
At Comic-Con HBO reps were talking to folk from Bantam Books.
Whilst it’s not known what was being discussed, my guess is the new TV tie-in edition of the AGoT that is shipping in February. They may have been discussing the new logo or possible cover images.
Adam WhiteheadQuote Reply
Dennai,
Was it known that Bill Murray was going to be in Zombieland? I know I certainly didn’t know going in and that made it all the more awesome.
VohdreQuote Reply
c0venant,
Mostly agree with the critiques I read (Maureen Ryan, Cultural Observations). Better than I expected after reading them, though. Still, too much plot, no building of characters. Events seem rushed, and then there’s the “atemporality”, as they called it – no feeling of passing of time. The epicness is lost … Too bad. Not the best material to start with (though good enough), and too little time to tell it. They should have adapted it better. I like the looks a whole lot, even the CGI mattes are good, better than The Tudors to my taste, and the actors are doing all that they can. Looking forward to next week.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
New story regards film industry doing well in Northern Ireland. Thrones gets a mention.
BBC
Belfast Telegraph
JackieQuote Reply
Hmm … just thought GRRM might have an cameo, too … he would do a perfect Walder Frey for instance … ;)
SinnfreiQuote Reply
Picture of Your Highness set last year in the Paint Hall. Gives a good idea of the scale the Thrones sets could be.
Also is it just me or does that wagon under the blue tarp look familiar? Actually on closer inspection I think the wheels are different sizes. Close though! ;)
JackieQuote Reply
Sinnfrei,
He had a cameo in the Pilot but I don’t know if that will ever be seen now :( He’ll probably get a second shot at it in October when he returns to Belfast :)
JackieQuote Reply
c0venant,
Did anyone else see the guy who is playing Alfred and think to themselves holy shit it’s Ramsay Bolton or was that just me?
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
So Old Nan is the horny (and by that I don’t mean I find her hot or anything) old lady from Gavin & Stacey? Awesome. She is so lovely.
Gavin & Stacey, by the way, is one of the best and most heartwarming comedy dramas I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many.
ulixQuote Reply
Ghost in True Blood last Sunday
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1664/bscap0000zs.jpg
XD
Jose Lozano MorenoQuote Reply
Jose Lozano Moreno,
I thought the same thing when I saw that scene, LOL!!! Needless to say that I have caught the GOT fever
brandonjcreekQuote Reply
Mr Martin elaborates a little bit on his course of action regarding the TV adaptation’s initial outline and his negotiations with Mr Benioff and Mr Weiss:
http://grrm.livejournal.com/167756.html?thread=10753612#t10753612
HerrFickQuote Reply
Hear Me Roar,
I loved the music in the intro to The Pillars of the Earth. It was both epic and powerful.
I would have enjoyed somehing like that as intro to GoT aswell.
I agree very much with your opinion. The pilot was so packed with intrigue that it all got pretty messy. (“who is attacking who now??”)
Luckily in episode 2 it calmed down and got more character-driven.
c0venantQuote Reply
Grimtuesday,
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__7s9GUTM-oY/SlZ7rWbEy7I/AAAAAAAAKW4/t7Es1XIDJtE/s320/liam+garrigan.jpg
c0venantQuote Reply
I didn’t think that discussion would actually slow down after filming started…. we need to find a reliable mole :P
burthQuote Reply
that cooking video makes me wonder what kind of thrones feast i should prepare for the series premiere. i’lll have to re-read what is eaten at the feasts and weddings.
Jonathan LeardQuote Reply
Whatever they eat at the feast of Roberts arrival at Winterfell, ofcourse!
sjweningsQuote Reply
c0venant,
It’s the eyes. They are a rather pale blue color , kind of creepy to say the least.
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
1. I think it’d be terribly amusing if the Dothraki secretly write love sonnets, like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_poetry … but that’s just me-personally being unable to take machismo seriously. :-P
One of these days I’ll actually get David to write those Dothraki love sonnets that Dan wanted…
2. Lajaki is awesome (as is Sebastian). The amount those guys can do with the information available is quite impressive, and frankly sometimes better presented than our own internal documents. Not to mention how well they’ve done w/ organizing the learnnavi.org community, keeping it going and expanding (which’ll be easier yet with a high-profile ongoing series, though Avatar was pretty huge), making a great grammar & lexicon, etc.
So we’re thrilled he’s leading the Dothraki fanbase (… and thrilled that we *have* a fanbase – yes, we reciprocate the squee). They’ll have our full support, to the extent that we can. Yes, we’re in good contact with them, the Westeros guys, & GRRM.
We play different roles of course. On the official side of things we’re constrained in various ways about what we can say, even to our friends in the fan community (… even if he *had* signed an NDA with us). It’s a symbiotic but independent relationship. :-P
If they want webspace (for either project) they can have it free from us like we would do for any conlang community-service / broad-interest project (see http://conlang.org/hosting.php), but that’s purely their choice. Regardless, it’d be their independent site; we don’t want to mess with a good thing.
In any case, I’m pretty sure y’all will be excited about the amount and usage of Dothraki in the series’ first year (… of many, hopefully ;-)). You may need to wait a while (perhaps until it’s actually aired) for more info… after all, it’s not even done with production yet, let alone the real HBO push on publicity etc.
All in good time. ;-)
In the meantime there should be more interviews coming out, each with more tidbits. If you’re press, email dothraki@conlang.org and we’ll help with your story; if you’re a fan, talk to Lajaki about how you can help.
Sai EmrysQuote Reply
Sai Emrys, thanks for dropping by and commenting! Sounds exciting. Looking forward to hearing more and more about Dothraki in the coming months.
Glad to hear the production will be making good use of the conlang. One question, hopefully you can answer, we know they have a dialect coach on set to help with their UK accents, will there be someone on set to help the cast with their Dothraki?
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Sai Emrys, thank you for the comment! All the best.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
WIC: we can’t comment on anything production related, unfortunately. Sorry. :-/
Sai EmrysQuote Reply
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