A new video in The Artisans series has been posted over Making Game of Thrones. This time they interview set decorator Richard Roberts who talks about food props.
Winter Is Coming: Sorry about the delay in getting this up folks. Looking at the comments in the last post, looks like the response to the video has been pretty positive. No, food-gate here. As for myself, GRRM’s food descriptions always sounded so delicious, so it’s cool to see they are bringing those elaborate spreads to life.
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65 Comments
The food isn’t even the most interesting bit about this, but rather the sets. It looks really good, and the mess hall in Castle Black looks exactly like my mental picture from the books.
sjweningsQuote Reply
I wonder if there’s a props master working for D&D who is in charge of all the melty candles…And if so, does he/she get a special melty candle chair? Jacket? Headpiece????
If such a specialist does not exist then they should create one and make a video about it.
Steve Hugh WestenraQuote Reply
Sitting here at work hungry…no fair! Okay, quite fair actually, I found that rather interesting. My favorite bit was the pie with peacock feathers poking out. I haven’t been served one of those before so it struck me as both real and different. Fun!
Larry D CurtisQuote Reply
I’ll repeat what I said in the other thread:
1) Is that the CLEGANE banner in the background behind Richard when he’s speaking? I see what looks like three dogs on yellow. Maybe I’m the only one who cares, but I was excited by that!
2) Great video. Hadn’t thought about the food yet, but it makes sense that they’d put in this much effort when you think about how much detail GRRM puts into describing the feasts and food in the books.
3) Lots of cool random footage like Ned speaking to Cersei, and great shots of Castle Black and Winterfell.
4) Love that stag-themed Baratheon candle holder.
LexQuote Reply
King’s Landing has had me worried.. I feel better now though.. Thought it looked amazing :) And Cercei’s and Ned’s costumes as well!
rtm1981Quote Reply
rtm1981,
Yeah, Cersei looks fabulous in that scene (also shown briefly in the last teaser trailer).
LexQuote Reply
Finally a chance for seeing Queen s dress!
Great dress. Love the Lannister colour of it.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Hello, this is me, Joe Anna, i just switched to my twitter account.
So oh wow, I just love those Artisans videos. Everytime there’s a new one I get more confidence in what they’re doing and that they’re doing it right. I believe this is going to be a very accurate show, at least lookswise they’re going to get across the atmosphere quite well. I can’t wait for the first actual l o n g e r trailer.
HannemarieQuote Reply
Lovely sets shown here, and I was really excited about the flies circling the meat in Winterfell :)
Tar KidhoQuote Reply
Great vid as usual. I really liked the footage of Winterfell and Castle Black but for some reason I never imagined King’s Landing being so exotic… I’m guessing I got this wrong though, as no one else seems to have a problem with it.
This has got me even more worried about how the Reach will look. I always pictured it to be very green with lush vegetation etc. but as it’s further south than King’s Landing it’s probably going to have to look more like Spain/Malta/Morocco… is this how everyone pictured it in the books? I think I pictured all of Westeros to be quite green, other than Dorne, of course.
Nick JenkinsQuote Reply
I have to say, one thing I give to the show is their attention to detail. It’s impressive. For example, the stag candle holders at the King Landing’s table. Such a small, tiny, insignificant thing that nobody is going to notice in the actual film, and yet they went ahead and made it, and it fits like a glove; that attention to detail, in and of itself, is pretty cool. I might not agree with all of their aesthetic choices (from what I’ve seen so far; the thing it’s still up in the air until I watch an actual episode), but I have to admire their focus and dedication to visual detail.
RinsoQuote Reply
Lex
A light grey banner with some black animal on it?
The RabbitQuote Reply
This is my favorite footage yet. I love the foods in the books and hope they show some kitchen scenes where we see the workers preparing meals, like for Joff’s wedding, and when Arya is running around catching cats. Sansa and Jeyne also slip out to the kitchens for some lemon cakes. Kids usually do have a good one on one relationship with the cooks!
OldGranQuote Reply
The interesting fact is that one of the vases (or however you wish to call it) on a feast-set table is the very same we’ve seen in the Inside The Red Keep promo pic.
Dominik PlewaQuote Reply
Very possible that is the Clegane banner. I’m going to guess that is the location for The Hands Tournament. The Mountain was present for it.
BurgosQuote Reply
:) reposting my thoughts from the other post.
LOVING the fiberglass and real pigs featured… And agree, quite interesting thought about the Starks being poor. Think it will be nice, though I frowned a bit at first. Will add a new dimension – as will those pigs and details – that I think even GRRRM might not have thought of/shown us. Lookng forward to seing it.
And about the sets, I found the room where Ned and Cersei was talking a bit LOTR inspired – anyone agree?
Anywho – my thinking is that Dorne will be more tareg-like reminding us of the deserts of marocko, tunisia and egypt.
Brings some interesting ideas into the picture as well I think…. Dorne and Egypt?…. Pyramids next?
Or who knows… they might be going for swahili-rastafari layed back like the islands outside Kenya.
LivveHultQuote Reply
Don’t know, hmmm. Can’t say I’m thrilled if King’s Landing ends up looking more like what I imagined Dorne would be like, but these are snippets, and until I see a more deeply detailed piece I won’t say I’m for or against the changes. Oh, well, I do like the tasty look of it all, even those crude pieces of pigs :) Thank god I’ve just eaten else I’d be drooling :P
TusuriQuote Reply
I seriously don’t have any issues with the look of king’s landing. Sure, medieval great britain is the main historical period GRRM mostly draws from but it would be quite difficult to find a western or nordic medieval equivalent to King’s Landing. I really like the idea to make King’s Landing more like Constantinople and have all the visual references to byzantine style intriguing. I think that fits very well.
When it comes to all the other areas of Westeros; I always imagined Dorne to be like southern spain and the Reach like the Toscana in Italy. The north would be like the celts (also with reference to being the first men). Vikings is pretty obvious.
marzmanQuote Reply
No, I totally agree with you. They are definitely sexying-up KL by making it more exotic, more… sensual, and the contrast to Winterfell & Castle Black, more stark. (pardon the pun). However, I think it’ll look great onscreen. I already wish I was there, just from seeing these brief previews!
I see a lot of HBO’s ‘Rome’ influence in this series -but that’s a great thing to me.
reedgirlQuote Reply
Well, I really love the look of everything so far.
And I wouldn’t worry too much about the look of the Reach, you know, primarily because they very likely won’t include a single scene that takes place there, and all. Unless they decide to do a Samwell flashback or something, which is doubtful. But, even so, I don’t imagine that the look the designers went for with King’s Landing will have any influence on what they decide for other cities in the realm. There’s no need to make Highgarden (IF they even ever show it, which they won’t, at least, in the first three seasons) look like Spain simply because they made Winterfell look like England and Winterfell is north of Highgarden just as England is north of Spain. They realize (as all of us should) that this is a fantasy and that each location needs to have a very unique visual style so that viewers can more easily keep up with the many changes in setting throughout the show.
Secondly, I think he maybe just mis-spoke, but…”Winterfell hasn’t got the money?” Um…what? Compared to what? Ned Stark is only lord over half the land in the entire realm, granted, it’s not the wealthier half, but still, that’s all relative. I think WInterfell is probably doing just fine financially. Not that it affects the show since I agree that the Starks’ feasts would look much more earthy, basic and hearty, less extravagant than Roberts. One could only ever conceivably consider Winterfell “poor” if one is comparing it to Casterly Rock or Highgarden. How many of you would rather live in Flea Bottom than in Winterfell’s winter town?
Cutter Allen KilgoreQuote Reply
Keep quiet, keep quiet ! ;)
The RabbitQuote Reply
He may have been going for ‘poor’ as a look for Winterfell, but I think (hope) it will just come across as more reserved and practical than the bankrupt-the-realm kind of opulence displayed at KL
MoshQuote Reply
Winterfell is not “poor”, just not as ostentatious as Kings Landing. Wasn’t Ned shocked to find that the realm 6 million in debt.
OldGranQuote Reply
lol, the first scene where Ned meets Pycelle, they drink sweetened milk with honey. after reading that, i IMMEDIATELY went to the kitchen to make myself one, and it was soooooo goood! There’s so much in these books that my taste buds are begging to get a crack at mmm mmm lol
NP: Gaul – Create The Infinite
Dave BrownellQuote Reply
The Rabbit,
Great Find!!!!!!!!! the best so far
Now there is a good rabbit!!
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
Compared to King’s Landing, Winterfell probably was fairly “poor”. Ned may have been lord over the entire North, but I think King Robert even joked about the fact that he didn’t see any people on his trip north. It’s a large, sparsely populated area with brutal weather conditions and living conditions. There also wasn’t much in the way of trade and travel because Sansa would get so excited when a singer or someone from the South would come up there. On top of that, large parts of Winterfell are falling apart and I’m sure if there was a huge abundance of money it would’ve been fixed at some point.
Even if the Starks were loaded, and Ned was really into the extravagant lifestyle of the south, it’d still be very hard to get all that food to Winterfell. I guess my point being is that whether Winterfell is technically “poor”, I think what he was talking about in the video is spot on in terms of what you would see at Winterfell.
Also, this was definitely my favorite video of the series so far. I love how they are going with such a real, “lived in” look for everything… it kind of makes me think of Rome and how much effort that show put into bringing the cities to life.
ChrisQuote Reply
Is that our first look at Drogo??
ChrisQuote Reply
Light grey? No, I see a bright yellow banner with three black things on it (I’m guessing they’re dogs, and it’s House Clegane). It’s in the distance, on the left side of the screen, whenever Richard Roberts is speaking.
LexQuote Reply
Chris,
I think it is :)
There is also two pics on the same blog in other blogpost.
You can see Visery and (I think) Illyrio among the crowd.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Chris,
Yup! I believe it is!
Man.. how the rabbit keep doing this is beyond me…
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
These two?
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Lex,
Hmm.. I spotted on the same left side a light grey banner with some black on it.
Could it be Stark direwolf, in fact.
Can you indicate the exact time?
The RabbitQuote Reply
Hear Me Roar,
Ja. ;)
The RabbitQuote Reply
Chris,
If it is, then I am very, very impressed. I don’t even like this character particularly, but he looks spectacular, and it does look like they were drawing from a combination of Mongolian+Native American stuff after all. *sigh of relief*
Steve Hugh WestenraQuote Reply
Hear Me Roar,
Correct me if I’m wrong… but isn’t a group of the unsullied stand just there???
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
Steve Hugh Westenra,
Yea, I think he looks awesome, though I guess I wasn’t expecting the full beard. I wonder if he is in full costume or if they are going to cover up the tattoo and add some scars and such.
ChrisQuote Reply
It’s very bright yellow, and visible the entire time we see Richard’s face. It’s a little further left of that grey one, and behind/above what looks like a small ladder…
BTW great find! Drogo! Adding him to my cast gallery now…
LexQuote Reply
ChrisQuote Reply
King’s Landing, exotic food? NO. no. Just no. Please mend it, artisan guy. :(
ablaaaQuote Reply
Chris
Woah, that comment didn’t go well… I said…
There’s definitely some spiked helmets on the far left of the last photo on that blog… good eyes.
,
ChrisQuote Reply
ablaaa,
Why wouldn’t King’s Landing have exotic food? It makes sense to me…
ChrisQuote Reply
The Unsullied ( I guess) are right in the center of this photo.
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
Okay, maybe I’m crazy but here is the banner I’m talking about. Doesn’t that look like the banner for House Clegane?
LexQuote Reply
ooops!…dont work
Just copy and paste
http://davidcrowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/F2AD18A8-FF1C-4607-B737-FBF7122FA1F8100_0749.jpg
Quiet WolfQuote Reply
Quiet Wolf,
Yea! That definitely looks like them. Also can see Viserys on the far left and Dany’s horse in the back it looks like. It feels like looking at a Where’s Waldo book.
I know there have been some doubts, but I’m actually really surprised with how CLOSELY they are sticking to the books. The Unsullied really have no relevance to the story until the third book, so it’s pretty cool that they went out of their way to include them in this scene.
ChrisQuote Reply
Rabbit, thank you so much! I don’t know how you find these things, you have my eternal admiration :)
These pictures are incredible! I wasn’t expecting the beard, but Drogo looks awesome! Is that Illyrio in the white robes and black hat type thing, just left and slightly below the Unsullied?
KangaQuote Reply
@Lex
Thanks, now I am seeing it! (I can spot every little thing during the internet digging, but I can be completely blind while looking at production image :) )
Agreed. It could be Clegane banner.
Unsullied – I spotted some spiked helmets, who looks like those “wine-fillers” (apologize do not know exact term in english) and I did not want to start wine-filler-gate.
Which would fine fall in place with the certain comment that Gregor Clegane s helmet looks like a bottle of beer. :D
The RabbitQuote Reply
Kanga,
Thank you, but I do not think it is so hard to find those things.
You just have to be patient and use the imagination while typing the combination of various words in Google search.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Is that large body of water supposed to be the Womb of the World? Seems kinda large and sea looking then I imagined.
TheReaderQuote Reply
Well even so, I’m grateful for all the pictures and things you dig up for us. Nothing starts the day off better than some new GoT pictures to look at :]
KangaQuote Reply
Lex,
Lex…your f-ing amazing…nice catch…and your guess is very good one…what other house could it possibly be ?
coltaine777Quote Reply
The Rabbit,
Amazing photos !…He looks great…I was worried he might look too much like his ‘Conan’ character…
coltaine777Quote Reply
wow, great catches guys! Drogo looks great. I think that tatoo is real on his arm, correct? I kind of like the blue paint and beard. Don’t see a ton of bells in his hair or don’t think his braid is particularly longer than the rest of extras but you know that’s just nitpicky nerd stuff.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
coltaine777,
Heheh, thanks.
And I totally agree, Drogo looks great (and much more intimidating than his clean-shaven Conan look).
LexQuote Reply
I must admit that Drogo is very, very pleasant surprise.
I worried a bit that he would going to look kind a too hot.
But he is not. He looks intimidiating enough, and I can totally see Dany dying of fear only by seeing him.
With every pic we find or the production site post, it looks better and better.
I am very, very pleased.
The RabbitQuote Reply
I think HBO is being wise and clever in softening up the ravening horde of fandom with their take on the series. I get that they are doing things differently than what I imagined from the books. I get that they feel they need to create a distinctly different look and feel for each major location in the series so that the audience can quickly adjust to the scene changes. Imagine the storm on airing the first episode if there had been no opportunity for those who feel that if it’s not exactly how they’d pictured the series in their heads then it’s-awful-just-awful-the-worst-ever-how-can-they-possibly-have-done-this-the-horror-the-horror. I for one look forward to being surprised by the differences and the new scenes. It’s the story that matters to me. As long as the backdrop makes internal sense and doesn’t look like it’s about to fall down then I’m happy. From what I’ve seen of the detail they’re putting into it, I’m going to be ecstatic.
FlayedandDisplayedQuote Reply
FlayedandDisplayed,
I think you’re absolutely right! I never thought about it before but it’s a perfect way to “soften up” the fan response and making the inevitable outraged fandom type reactions as few and far between as possible. As long as they do the story right of course.
Katja IsaksenQuote Reply
Some more details on the pics from Gozo, I wanna discuss.
Anyone spotted some guys in long red robes?
I admit I totally forgot all the guests at Pentos wedding of Dany and Drogo.
Could we expect there some red priests to be present?
The RabbitQuote Reply
The Rabbit,
We know there are Red Priests in the Free Cities, but aren’t they just one religion among many? Thoros is from Myr, right? And in Braavos there are plenty other religions. I always got the impression that the religion originated in Asshai, where Melisandre comes from, and spread out from there.
So I’d think that there may be some Red Priests in the background at Dany and Drogo’s wedding, but the ceremonies would all be Dothraki so they wouldn’t play any official part.
KatjaQuote Reply
Katja,
Yes, this is exactly what I had in mind.
Just the guests, not someone would lead the ceremonie.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Rabbit! Way to go! The wedding set looks killer and Mamoa looks grea as Drogo. I’ll have to look more for the red priests. Where were the possible Unsullied? I looked over th epics but couldn’t find anythng Unsullied looking.
Lex. Three black rectangular looking shapes on a yellow field? Its pretty far off, but I’d say the Clegane Banner is probably right.
King’s Landing. I think they got it dead-on with the look of the food for the tourney. KL is the center of a mighty nation. Even if alot of the stuff had to be brought in, there should be plenty of variety at a feast held by the king. If you ever look at a list of offerings at an event held by say Henry VII, you’ll e amazed by what they provided. Also, think of a wedding held in KL later in the series. The list of food offered there is prety exotic don’t you think?
The Reach. I picture it to have a similar climate to KL, just more lush and a bit more cultivated-looking so to speak. Trees and fields prominent as opposed to buildings, walls, hills and rocks.
Winterfell. I’m thinking perhaps Mr. Roberts either slightly mispoke, or possibly we are misinterpreting what he meant about Winterfell being poor. As mentioned above, the Starks are one of the poorest Major Houses, but they still have great wealth compared to most other nobles. By poor, I take Mr. Robert’s comments to mean less of a variety. Its one thing to cart some fruit to KL from Highgarden. Its another to traverse the entire King’s Road.Perhaps Again, the foods here look just right.
The Night’s Watch. Again, looks great!
Lord Ned’s HeadQuote Reply
I just caught something.
In the quick shot of Eddard and Cersei, you can see the same or a similar mural of the birds from the previous production post. I seem to remember someone finding the pacture labeled the Hand’s room. If so, its interesting that the Queen would make a visit there, I don’t believe any such encoutner takes place in the book. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I thought the confrontation scene between te two took place in the Godswood. New scene? Old scene with a different location? Am I just not remembering it right?
Lord Ned’s HeadQuote Reply
Lord Ned’s Head,
I was just in middle of the writing the post when site went down.
so, rewrite:
On the same blog, there is another blogpost, posted right before the one with Drogo.
@Hear me roar posted a link above to these two pics.
One of them showing a big crowd of the set is the one with possible Unsullied (the guys with spiked helmets).
And they are in middle of the crowd.
At the same pic you can spot Hary Lloyd in full costume and Targ wig, and also a guy with long white (or baige) colour robe and with the cap, also having odd bear – I am pretty sure it is Magister Illyrio.
For your another question about Ned and Cersei – it could well be the scene Bryan Cogman wrote about in his first blogspot on production site – it could be the scene they shooted first, way back in July.
Highly peculating, but it could be it.
The RabbitQuote Reply
Lord Ned’s Head,
The Cersei and Ned scene appears to tie in with the previous trailer where we see Cersei walk past what I at the time identified as a Stark house hold man, enters a room and turns and smiles to her right. At the time I speculated as to whether that was Cersei meeting Caitlin at Winterfell or Ned at Kingslanding. Looks like it was Ned :)
Jackie MacPhersonQuote Reply
His comment saying someone is poor, is referring to the Night’s Watch, not Winterfell.
OhDanyBoyQuote Reply
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