A new Artisans video has been posted over at Making Game Of Thrones featuring costume armor supervisor Simon Brindle. The video gives us a real good look at some of the intricate armor designed specifically for Thrones.
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89 Comments
Would love a youtube video for Canada ASAP! Thanks in advance :D
RoseQuote Reply
We get a solid look at Jaimes lion head pommel on his sword.
Also it looks like costume design HAD concepted a direction in the costuming to include the house sigils on their jerkins and tunics, much as described in the books. I wish they had kept those in. You can see they had two wolves on a Ned stark costume design. They were to be either embossed or embroidered on a incorrectly titled “doublet”. I would have had two wolves surround the front of the neck. Just like in the image, just flipped so the wolves face down. And in ivory embroidery or even a light grey
I still really wish Loras’s armor was a green enamel. Even a green of muted color would have been nice. Loras’s visor on his helmet is terribly unpractical. It looks like it would catch any face shot in joust and shatter the visors delicate metal work. Giant mistake on armor concept brought to life.
I’m glad they went in a different direction with the hounds helmet. The concepts we saw look to dragonlike.
WolfheartQuote Reply
Rose,
Here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7YOJruMiJg
AbyssQuote Reply
Nice look at lora’s armour, I noticed a different member of the kingsguard at around 2.04 min. I don’t remember him being cast so I assume its just an extra in kingsguard armour? Also we finally get a look at those white cloaks :)
AbstractPlainQuote Reply
Wolfheart,
Green enamel? Are you sure? Renly is described as having green armor. I remember Loras wearing silver plate with jeweled flower designs.
mummerQuote Reply
Whoa, I consider myself really, really good with accents, but this dude’s is crazy. I almost need subtitles :p
RoseQuote Reply
Wow, they did a fantastic job on the armor. As good as, if not better than LOTR.
fake-o name-oQuote Reply
Did anyone else notice the plume on the Lannister armor back next to the KG armor? I’m not sure how I feel about that, a little too centurion.
GrimtuesdayQuote Reply
our first really good look at Loras, the Knight of Flowers
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he looks sort of “delicate”
The Dragon DemandsQuote Reply
I like Loras’s armor except for his helmet.
TastesLikeTheSeaQuote Reply
I like Loras’ armor except for his helmet.
TastesLikeTheSeaQuote Reply
Wolfheart,
Actually it kind of makes sense for Loras’s tourney armor to be showy and impractical, no? He’s supposed to be a talented but VERY overconfident kid. The way his outfit is described, he either never expects to get hit, or he doesn’t mind having to replace a lot of horribly expensive gear after every tournament as long as he looks cool.
Also, the book does mention the problem of a crazy fancy helm getting dented in a joust and becoming impossible to see out of– but it’s Jaime, who really should know better.
mummerQuote Reply
Loras’ armor is breathtaking! I saw the ‘centurion’ plume amongst the Lannister armor too– dramatic, strange, and yet, I’ll bet they’ll make it work. The only human being I could imagine wearing the centurion plume in Lannister crimson would be Tywin. And it would work.
reedgirlQuote Reply
I love the little smirk on Finn’s face. He looks to me like a really great Loras. I can’t wait to see him and all the others in action. April can’t come soon enough…
Cutter Allen KilgoreQuote Reply
Nice. I’ve been waiting for this.
Petter Kristian VikestadQuote Reply
Yay! I love Artisan vids.
LexQuote Reply
I think Finn Jones is going to be a good Loras! Just look at his smirk :D
Another closer look at the Hound – and I’m getting ever more confident that they picked the right look for him :) I’m happy.
Johanna SchauerhoferQuote Reply
Great stuff for the morning :)
Really impressed by the dedication they put into it.
It rocks!
The RabbitQuote Reply
These were my thoughts as well. Loras is portrayed as a flashy guy, with (sorry if this sounds sexist) an almost feminine fashion sense – which, for reasons well-known, was obviously intentional. He’s the kind of guy who would be willing to sacrifice a little protection in order to make a fashion statement.
Jaqen H’GharQuote Reply
Another look at Ser Barristan towards the end there too
SensukiQuote Reply
Am I wrong or is this the first time that we get a good view of the little flower ornamentations on Ser Loras’ armour? At the end of the second teaser, there is a shot of him on horse wearing the tourney plate but without the flowers.
By the way, they make his armour look even better.
Herr FickQuote Reply
It really looks great. All of it. I am really not sure why and how do ppl even consider to compare this with bloody Xena?! As I said great work all around, the only thing missing, and sorry if that makes me sound anal, are the eyes. But that can be fixed in p-production. Right? Right???
Andrija Andrew PQuote Reply
The direction HBO went to with some of the designs is definitely debatable, but my goodness, one can only be in awe of the amount of detail spent to each facet of the production!
Tar KidhoQuote Reply
Loras’ armor looked great. Exactly what I imagined for a knight who’s overly confident to the point where the armor is just an accessory because there’s of course no chance that he’ll ever get hit by anything.
I’m happy overall since they aren’t just going with what we’ve already seen before but instead are trying to make a world that’s different from our history, where other events and ideas have been key to development. They understand the value of making the world stand out from other fictional worlds as it gives the series more identity.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
loved the drawing of the hounds helmet… I really don’t like the greek inspired design on one of the golden ones though, does not fit in with the rest imo
StuQuote Reply
Yay brilliant!
I love Loras’ armour it looks perfect for him. Beautiful, impractical and completely over the top. Don’t why they’ve gone with blue instead of green for the Tyrell colours though.
And did you see Conan there? He’s a head or more taller than the pretty tall guy doing his fitting, and he looks like a bloody tank in that armour, even when he’s lying down! Perfect for Gregor. :D
KatjaQuote Reply
I’ve never understood the fascination with armor that some AsoIaF fans have. As long as it doesn’t look ridiculous, I don’t really care. It’s nice that the producers are paying attention to the fans’ particular obsessions though, and providing us with these videos.
EllenQuote Reply
Ellen,
I think a lot of people are just fascinated with medieval arms and armour in general. Who knows why, but I’d guess that it’s ties in with the whole knights and tournaments and horses and glory and dragonslaying etc etc that we all get fed as kids.
I love all that stuff, but I think it’s great to see how much work they put into the costuming of the show too. Sure they could put everyone in standard steel plate armour, but then certain scenes would lose some of their character and individuality. I think it’s good that they seem to be emphasizing the richness and pageantry of King’s Landing and then (probably) contrasting it with the mud and poverty of the Wall. It works with characters too. From the costuming you can tell straight away who is the most dangerous of Loras and the Mountain, with someone like Jaime or Vardis Egen somewhere in between.
KatjaQuote Reply
This is fascinating. I love how unique the armor looks, especially Loras’. Also, I do like the samurai-style armor. I really think having these unique styles will help determine who is who once the tournaments and battles are shown.
SareetaQuote Reply
Sensuki,
Exactly what I was excited about – Ser Barristan looks great!
TheReaderQuote Reply
Found this great fantrailer about GoT. Just wanted to share it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDrpqvER31A&feature=related
AbyssQuote Reply
Love to see the details, I agree that Loras armor could get a bit more of green but loved all the flower details.
Concept arts are pretty oustanding as well, wish we could get some pictures of them as well ehhe
SA_AvengerQuote Reply
I think this was brought up above, but I went back and watched the 11 minute video we just got, and it looks like Loras doesn’t have any of the gold embellishments on his armor in that video. I wonder if that’s something they changed and if the gold is on the final version or the earlier version, its hard to tell from these videos.
ChrisQuote Reply
Tywin’s Bastard,
Yes! Much as the book had a very strong and unique literary identity (one which some people occasionally are turned away by), the show is going to also have a very strong and unique visual identity. This will lessen the comparisons people might be apt to make to other works. It’s also a great way, as has been discussed, of helping the audience cope with so many different characters.
salukQuote Reply
saluk,
Yes, clear visual identity for every character is a great way of guiding the less familiar viewers through the vast jungle of characters that Martin has created. Even though they have lowered the number of relevant characters I suspect that it will still be quite a lot to deal with for some, given that this is the biggest cast any HBO series has assembled.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
Katja,
Here’s what confounds me. Why are all these people who are so fascinated with knights and medieval arms and armour completely oblivious to the most important part of the equation: the knight’s (or Dothraki warrior’s) horse? I’ve seen comment after comment discussing every detail of the armour and weapons and heraldry and costuming, but no one is discussing the casting of the horses. And from some of the photos I’ve seen, pretty questionable casting it is, too. I nearly spit out my coffee when I saw a Dothraki mounted on a lumbering Clydesdale cross! Am I the only one who is desperate for even the tiniest bit of time and effort to be spent on casting horses of appropriate size, conformation, and colour? I just don’t understand why something that’s such an immense part of the look and realism of the production has been totally overlooked.
LuanaQuote Reply
Luana,
I can only speak for myself, of course, but to me a horse is pretty much just a horse. Sorry. I hadn’t given it much thought, at all, to be completely honest. At a glance, I couldn’t tell a mare from a stallion, a gelding from a…well anything really. As long as they aren’t riding donkeys out there, I’m pretty sure I won’t mind either way.
But, that’s just me. Maybe you horse connoisseurs out there will end up hating this series?
Cutter Allen KilgoreQuote Reply
Luana,
Luana, I commented on this after the 12 minute preview. The Dothraki horses were so obviously the same kind of horses used for the westeros horses… It really annoys me as well. I was expecting Arabian style of horses for the important Dothraki (especially Dany’s silver), or maybe Tarpan/Mongol horses for the Dothraki in general.
In my dream version the Dothraki were totally riding Akhal Teke’s, but that never was going to happen.
Seriously, it doesn’t make sense at all that with an entire ocean between the two continents, that the horses would look so alike.
Horses are something I always notice, especially in period drama’s, because so often they aren’t heavy enough to carry an armoured knight through charges long enough.
Jan OdaQuote Reply
Luana,
My original comment in which I discus the horses
Jan OdaQuote Reply
Luana,
I think more care could have been taken with choosing the horses. And this is something I personally care about since I’m a horse person. Doesn’t affect the show at all, but I also noticed that Khal Drogo is missing his “red stallion” from the books and is mounted on a black horse for the show.
I hope when HBO introduces the Dornish they give them Arabs, since the sandsteeds are so clearly meant to be Arabian horses.
But I doubt the average viewer will notice or care, even if they’re readers of the books. Maybe HBO figured it was more hassle than it was worth going for certain breeds and just made sure they had calm horses of particular colors (i.e. gray/white for Dany) for those inexperienced riders/actors to ride? Didn’t a few of the actors mention they were uncomfortable riding?
Half MyrishQuote Reply
Hello!
I have failed to see the antlered helm of the Baratheon House.
Is it me or have I just missed it, I doubt that because I have scrutinized every frame of each video, but I have failed to see the icon of the King’s armor – His antlered helm.
Just cannot wait to see him bedecked with the helm on, hoping that they show a clip of the battle at the Ruby Ford, where Rhaegar is defeated.
DyNasty9Quote Reply
DyNasty9,
I think the antlered helms where not in any of the videos zjis far, but take a close look at this picture:
http://www.makinggameofthrones.com/storage/sansa.jpg
AbyssQuote Reply
Abyss,
Thanks Abyss,
I must admit that I had looked right passed that when the initial photo came out – the miniature antlers on the Baratheon helms – I now have an idea of what to expect anyway. Thanks again.
DyNasty9Quote Reply
When it comes to horses I think people had pretty unrealistic expectations if they expected HBO to easily get a lot of horses of the right kind when they are filming on a tiny island like Malta.
Luckily I don’t care much about that. I don’t know a lot about horses and despite that an entire people are based around horses the animals still aren’t really in focus. When it comes to that I’d say that armor and arms were clearly more in focus in the books.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
Rose,
Yeah pls, i just arrived here from Germany and cannot watch it or find on youtube….
WAGQuote Reply
WAG,
See with your eyes.^^
AbyssQuote Reply
Half Myrish,
Yay! I’m not the only GoT fan who cares about the horse casting! You have no idea how much better that makes me feel. :-)
I was disappointed to see that Drogo’s red stallion had mysteriously changed colour as well. And the Dornish sandsteeds have to be Arabians. Here’s hoping HBO doesn’t miss that.
While I agree that most viewers wouldn’t notice horse casting that doesn’t make sense, neither would they notice choices of armour and weaponry that don’t make sense. Yet HBO has spent a lot of time and money creating distinctive armour and weaponry for the different regions, and has tried to present a cohesive and logical picture. But they’re making no effort with the horses. That’s what I find more than passing strange.
LuanaQuote Reply
Jan Oda,
I hadn’t noticed your comment about the horses in the preview. I think it’s the only one, though!
I always pictured most of the Dothraki on Tarpan/Mongolian types, with Russian Arabians for the leaders, but Akhal Tekes would be a stroke of brilliance. I know, never going to happen…but thanks for putting a smile on my face!
LuanaQuote Reply
What do you think about the rumors of filming Season Two in Iceland for scenes beyond the Wall? They’d have to use Icelandic horses since Iceland doesn’t allow any importation of outside horses. I think the look of the Icelandic horses is perfect, since the wildlings are described as having shaggy little garrons for their horses.
Half MyrishQuote Reply
Luana,
So you don’t think what I said about the availability of horses on tiny Malta is a factor? I think there’s a ton of difference between shipping horses and having the art department create things that are more of a focus point in the books than horses are.
Not that I wouldn’t like every detail to be perfect, it’s just that I figured that getting enough horses to be able to pick exactly what you imagined would be one of the least probably scenarios to have when you’re filming in a tiny island country.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
Luana,
I agree about your preferences for the horse casting, but you have to realize that for most productions, the people who know about the animals are the ones who take care of them–not the producers or costumers. For LOTR, for instance, apparently an open casting call was given to anyone who could ride and who owned a horse. More important in my eyes, though, is that the animals used by production companies for stunts and the like tend to be rescue animals. You take what you can get, I guess.
goatstagQuote Reply
Couldn’t care less about the horses, tbh. The worst aspect of fantasy fiction to me is having to read about bloody horses >_<
I'm glad HBO concentrated more on the armour. Gregor's heavy plate is badass.
GaRQuote Reply
Luana, goatstag,
I was gonna reply to Luana with the LOTR example too. A lot of the horses will probably belong to extras who bring their own.
I agree that it would be amazing if everyone rode perfectly cast horses. Especially the Dothraki would in a perfect world have horses that were distinctly theirs. If they had filmed in the US maybe they would have used mustangs? But to be honest I haven’t thought much about it, besides thinking that Dany’s silver should have been silver and not white. I suppose people have a tendency to focus more on the humans than the horses. Which is really perfectly natural. Much as I love horses and animals in general, from a story perspective they are little more than props… As long as they don’t use thoroughbreds beyond the Wall or cart horses for the Dornish I’m pretty much happy.
KatjaQuote Reply
I think this has been mentioned before, but the horse(s) that Emilia Clarke rides is a gray horse. Most “white” horses are actually grays, even though they look white. Some grays are born darker and lighten as they age. I suppose HBO could have gone with a darker gray horse, which would have looked more like the silver described in the book, but when was the last time you saw a really dark gray horse besides in pictures of show horses? And HBO probably doesn’t want to spend the time searching for and acquiring the “perfect” horse for Dany.
Half MyrishQuote Reply
Yup. I totally agree. All my joy at seeing the Dothraki Sea was shattered by seeing them riding what I would term Shire horses, more suited to pulling a beer wagon around Victorian London town. Very disappointing.
Absolutely spot on. So much care over the costumes and armour, yet someone has made a c*ck-up with the draft livestock.
Still, the armour IS fantastic.
Porcupine TreeQuote Reply
Porcupine Tree,
I dunno. It’s just a horse. The Dothraki DO pillage other cultures, and really, the breed of horse doesn’t change the fact that they are horse-people, which I feel is the main point to be made about them.
HBO’s GoT is not going to be a documentary of the book… it’s fiction about fiction, so let the good times (read: bad times) roll.
reedgirlQuote Reply
There probably isn’t enough of some of these specific breeds in Ireland to film many of the scenes with the Dothraki(for example), let alone enough that are available and ready to be used for filming. Sure they could probably get a few for the main actors but that would look weird with the many extras having obviously different horses.
Though I am not a horse person, I can definitely see why this would bother people that are. I think it is just an unfortunate fact that it simply wouldn’t be possible, especially with the rules for using animals in film productions.
ChrisQuote Reply
While I agree that it is probably not practical for HBO to get, say, 50-100 film ready Arabian horses for the Dothraki, I think the point that Luana and Porcupine Tree are trying to make is that it looks weird to mount a Mongol type warrior people on European draft horses. Those horses are big and slow and gentle, not fast and spirited, which is what you want if you’re using them to raid and pillage. Now, I don’t know what breeds of horses ARE commonly available in Ireland or Malta, but HBO could have at least said, “Alright, no big draft horses in the Dothraki scenes, light saddle horses only.”
And for the record, yes, the Dothraki raid other peoples, but cultures that rely on their horses in the real world tend to very possessive and selective about their animals’ purity (i.e. the Bedouins). I highly doubt the Dothraki would steal just any old horse on a raid unless they were planning to eat it.
Half MyrishQuote Reply
No, you’re not the ONLY one, but you’re one of a VERY small number.
Me? I could care less about what kind of horse they ride. I understand and respect your knowledge, but it’s a minor thing, and I’m okay with them ignoring that aspect of production.
There’s just not enough “horse people” out there for them to spend much time (and especially money) on that aspect. Sorry.
If someone came on and started spouting off about a style of vase that was at King’s Landing, would you care? No. Somethings are just not as important as others.
EdQuote Reply
cool video! Can I just raise a glass and toast the wonderful stunt riders that you see in this video? We stood for 4 days and watched these guys getting whacked by lances; getting thrown off their horses; and getting chucked all over the place, while wearing cumbersome, uncomfortable armour (it was fake stunt armour but still made their jobs all the more difficult).
These guys are truly incredible. I literally hand a ring-side seat (well…a stand) as you can see in the screen grabs of the tourney from the preview (I’m holding the orange moose banner) so I saw these guys getting pummeled right in front of me. I was in awe of how they were able to fall off a horse on to a small marker on the ground to be in just the right spot for a shot. And how they managed to stay on their horses after getting blasted by a lance is anyone’s guess. I think the stunt team were called the ‘Devil’s horseriders’ or something.
Anyway, hats (helms) off to them and, as they say in Ireland, more power to their elbows!!
RimshotQuote Reply
Great video, but that guy has the most soporific voice. I could hardly keep my eyes open.
clangleeQuote Reply
Rimshot,
Was it Gerald Naprous and the Devil’s Horsemen Stunt Team?
Half MyrishQuote Reply
*cough*
*points*
It could be worse. They could be riding very large goats. Or camels. Or they could be traveling … on foot! (forgive my blasphemy, GRRM, I know not what I do – I was born a cheeky little bitch, but I will now go and hit myself with a desk in penance. )
reedgirlQuote Reply
reedgirl,
Chill out. I don’t understand your comment, but apparently I struck a nerve. Do I really need to say that this board is for everyone to discuss their different views of the series, because different points of view are fun? That if you don’t like what I posted, you’re free to go about your day without being rude or making fun of my post? Unless that’s what you’re into, of course.
The people who are into the armor, the swords, the period clothing, are very quick to jump into discussions about how HBO’s choices compare to historical items. And I think that’s interesting and cool. If the horse people want to discuss the choices HBO made about the horses, and you don’t care about it, no one is forcing you to read it.
Half MyrishQuote Reply
Chris,
It is hard to tell from the videos. It just so happens my computer’s background image is a screencap of Loras holding up The Hound’s hand in victory from the tournament, capped from the end of one of the promo vids.
In that screencap the little golden flowers are not recognizable as such on Loras’ armor, but they are visible as dark marks. They appear to be dark smudges. I had actually interpreted them to be battle damage form where he had taken lance blows. But now from the up-close artisan video it is apparent that those were the tiny golden flower details I was seeing in the earlier vid, just too small in that shot to be seen clearly.
Loras’ helm alone came across to me as too ornate, to the point of being ridiculous.. but seeing it in context with the rest of his armor, I like it all quite a lot.
BradQuote Reply
I had my doubts about the armor, especially with the early glimpses we were given, but the more I see the more I like what I’m seeing. Loras’ armor looks fantastic, except for the weird visor and plume-like tip of his helm. lol All the different styles are great though. It’s an excellent way to distinguish the guards of each house.
As for the horses, I can understand the concern. It’s totally unbelievable to see Drogo on a draft horse, but most viewers won’t know the difference. I believe most shots with them mounted will only show the uppper 2-3 hands of the horse anyway. But… yeah. I’d like to see Drogo charging in to battle on those beasts! :p
LinayusQuote Reply
Half Myrish,
Ah that’s interesting, thanks.
But if I’m gonna nitpick (and I don’t actually care), my complaint was that the horse in the book is described as having a silvery mane. “Grey” would be more a term used in breeding I’d say. Like how they call certain grey pedigree dogs and cats blue or lilac. If someone asked me to pick out the grey horse I’d ignore the white one. But I like the horse they used for Dany. It matches her hair very nicely. :)
KatjaQuote Reply
That sounds like it!
RimshotQuote Reply
cool! I’m on someone’s desktop image!!
RimshotQuote Reply
Ed,
Comparing the importance of a mounted warrior’s horse to a vase is a wee bit silly. If you asked a knight or a Dothraki what their most important possession was, they’d say their horse.
How would you react if Arya’s Needle were turned into a six-foot-long two-handed sword? You’d spit out your coffee, right? Dothraki riding draft horses is like Arya wielding a two-handed greatsword. Sure, it’s a minor detail (it’s a sword, not a mace, or a bow, so what?) But I think the people who are interested in medieval weaponry would be talking about it on these boards.
LuanaQuote Reply
Luana,
Well, if you’re going to complain about comparisons being “a wee bit silly”, your Arya sword example is a wee bit silly too. Even someone who knew nothing about medieval weaponry would instantly see the problem with Arya trying to use a sword that’s taller than she is. But you can’t say that someone who doesn’t know anything about horses would look at those Dothraki scenes and think “those horses look wrong.”
As for why HBO would go to more trouble to get details of the weapons right, but not the horses– well, first, you may have noticed that people have argued about the look of the weapons and armor here; it’s not as if everyone agrees that they’re right, whatever “right” means in a fictional world. But mostly I think you’re just ignoring the practical issues. Sure it costs money to get an armorer to make a fancy piece of metalwork, but once it’s done, it’s just a prop and it’s relatively straightforward to store, transport, and maintain. Horses, not so much. I’m not saying it would be literally impossible for them to ship dozens of horses across the Mediterranean for the show and stable them on site, instead of using whatever was on hand, but it seems like the kind of thing that could easily become a logistical nightmare, and given the number of other things they have to pay for and worry about, there’s just no way this was going to be a top priority.
mummerQuote Reply
…And if you’re going to ask the Dothraki for their opinion, then they’ll just tell you that horses don’t cross the poison water and that’s it. :)
mummerQuote Reply
The Dothraki don’t even name their horses, mayhaps they look at them as more of an appliance or a commodity.
GaRQuote Reply
Honestly, i don’t really care how the horses look as long as they stay true to their horse character.
JJtheCROWQuote Reply
Seriously.. if we get Mr. Ed in GoT, I’m not watching it. ;)
LinayusQuote Reply
Half Myrish,
You commented that in the real world, such things aren’t done, and I simply meant that this ISN’T the real world, so your argument was kinda moot. I was just trying to be subtle about it. (Didn’t work.) Nomad clans don’t usually look forward to rape and murder at weddings in the real world either. I didn’t read about any sort of selective horse-breeding program within Drogo’s tribe, so I guess that’s why I didn’t expect there to be one. You have inferred one though, based on reality. This is where we differ. And that’s cool.
I like differing opinions, especially educated, well thought-out, respectful opinions like yours. Love to debate those differences too. Again, at least it’s not goats. XD
reedgirlQuote Reply
This.
reedgirlQuote Reply
reedgirl,
The point you’re missing is that form follows function. It doesn’t matter how the Dothraki feel about their horses; the horses would end up having a certain form due to the purpose for which they are used, and the conditions in which they live: lean, small, fast, tough. Everything without the proper physical form would die, or be killed in raids. Arya doesn’t use a sword taller than she is because it doesn’t physically make sense. She couldn’t use a six-foot sword any more than a lumbering draft-cross horse would survive on the Dothraki Sea. It doesn’t physically make sense.
There’s a great deal of talk in these artisan clips about creating a world that “makes sense”, even down to minor details like the food on the table and the placement of furniture. That’s why it’s strange that they would miss something as major as the physical plausibility of the horses.
mummer: I wouldn’t be so sure that Arya wielding a sword taller than she is would be noticed by the average television viewer. It would be fun to test, though!
LuanaQuote Reply
Luana,
I demand claymore-swinging Arya right now! It would make GoT so much more badass! j/k
In all seriousness,
mummer,
Maybe a logistical nightmare for getting the 100 odd or so horses all right for every single background extra and shipping them to Malta. But at the very least the principal cast members, especially Drogo and everyone with speaking lines, should have the correct and logical horses, and if it is feasible than also give logical horses to extras who appear in the foreground often. Compared to the entire budget of this production, I don’t think giving Drogo a draft horse was down to money concerns, but just down to laziness and ignorance about horses. (not that the rest of the production has been lazy, it looks fantastic to me with all the details in food and costuming and weapons, but as Luna pointed out, the horses *are* a gaping lack of detail, and a missed opportunity for the production team to get something right that so many historical/fantasy movies get wrong.)
clemintineQuote Reply
Luana,
But it does make sense. It’s very hard to scrape together horses for a movie. As someone pointed out, the Lord of the Rings movies just made a public call for anyone with a horse, despite that they had an enormous budget compared to Game of Thrones. GoT is also filmed a lot in Malta, which is a very tiny island and will not have a big population of horses to choose from. Shipping horses oversea (plus all the costs of feeding and housing them) would probably be absurdly expensive compared to what would be gained from it.
Comparing it to the weapon props is really what doesn’t make sense. No matter what design they choose they still have to make the props themselves. Since they are making them themselves they can easily pick and choose whatever they like as it makes absolutely no sense that they would suddenly opt for making things they don’t like. It’s a bit harder to build horses as breeding them takes a while.
That’s unless you do it the Simpsons way. When they shot Radioactive Man in that series they used painted horses as cows in the movie, because cows supposedly don’t look like cows on the screen. When someone asked what you do when you need a horse the answer was “usually you just tape a bunch of cats together”.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
I wonder if they shipped the main horses (Dany’s of course and possibly Drogo’s) across or just used different but similar horses in Malta and N.I.
MormegilQuote Reply
clemintine,
You know, generally I’d agree. But putting Jason Momoa on a small (if realistic) horse in the same picture as lots of extras on more “normal” sized horses or even draft type horses (as mentioned above) would probably make him look pretty silly. People aren’t used to seeing big men on small horses without there being a comic element, no matter how realistic it is.
KatjaQuote Reply
Tywin’s Bastard,
I’d have to argue that HBO’s location scouts made an error in judgment. Malta, being comprised of small, rocky islands in the middle of the Mediterranean, wasn’t the best choice for filming scenes about a plains-based horse culture. We’ve heard plenty of complaints about Dany’s wedding being set on the shores of the sea, which doesn’t make much sense. Here’s hoping they’re able to find a more appropriate location to film the rest of the Dothraki scenes.
Ireland certainly has no shortage of horses, so they have no excuses there. If the company they hired to provide animals for the shoot didn’t have enough horses, I don’t see why they couldn’t recruit from the surrounding countryside. Shouldn’t be difficult, or expensive. Can’t go ten feet in Ireland without tripping over a horse, and with the economy as bad as it is, many horse owners would be happy to let the production company use their animals in exchange for feeding and sheltering them during filming.
Lord of the Rings was a good example of why you shouldn’t try to film large-scale fantasy epics in New Zealand. Lovely country, but they simply don’t have the necessary horse population to support this type of production. I guess I should be glad they didn’t use sheep painted to look like horses, a la Simpsons.
LuanaQuote Reply
I’m sorry, but the idea that LotR shouldn’t have been filmed in New Zealand because of a lack of horses is, well, kind of silly. There are so many other really important, really expensive things that go into making movies (or a show like GoT), like government kickbacks, amazing set locations, variety of local geography within a close proximity to each other, etc. etc.
We’re not watching, say, Hidalgo or something, or Black Stallion. I mean, sure, it’d be nice I suppose if all the horses were the right types, etc. but ….well…. to each their own I suppose.
Steve BQuote Reply
Katja,
That’s why I said foreground extras should also have logical horses. I’m only talking about order of magnitude 10-20 properly cast horses in all. In closeups and scenes to only involve a couple horses, there is no excuse that not have those few horses on camera be proportioned together. Like the scene we saw in promo where Dany and her brother are introduced to Drogo, there were like only 5 men mounted on horses in that scene? Why not make them all logical horses that fit together in that scene? Are you saying that on the entire island of Malta they can’t find 10-20 horses of a suitable breed?
When we’re talking about sweeping epic scenes that show the entire hoard moving across the grasslands, involving 100 or so horses, then they probably all can’t be kept the same, but they are seen from far away and are so numerous that precision matters less. And as Luana points out, some of those Dorthaki scenes were filmed in Ireland that has a huge supply of horses of all kinds.
clemintineQuote Reply
Luana,
But even though Ireland has far more horses you can’t really change it up too much, or it will become inconsistent, which far more people will notice than that the breeds of the horses are wrong. Therefor a lot of it will likely be limited to what can be used in Malta.
And I don’t agree in the slightest that filming LotR in New Zeeland didn’t make sense. It was probably one of the smartest ideas they got while producing that trilogy since they got so many perks from that. No country, or set of countries, will ever be perfect in every way. I certainly understand that someone that knows a lot about horses, and cares a lot about the subject, will be irked by flaws in that casting but even those people will have to realize that horses can’t really come that high on the list of priorities when it comes to producing a movie or a TV series. I’d say that the books themselves also have more words devoted to describing heraldry, armor etc than it does with horses, despite that an entire people revolves around those animals.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
I rewatched the 11 min extended preview on Youtube and the particular shot I think Luana was originally referring to when she started this thread is at the 10:09 mark. There is a Dothraki riding a huge draft horse at the head of a line of many small saddle horses, which says laziness to me, rather than lack of appropriate of stock. But like I said, the average person probably won’t notice or care.
I looked up some information about Malta and they seem to have a lot of horses for such a small island. Carriages and trot races seem to be popular and some of their horses are imported from Tunisia. I couldn’t find specific breed information, maybe Barb? Someone correct me if you know anything about the horses in Malta.
Of course, whether it would have been cost efficient or even possible for HBO to have used these horses is anyone’s guess.
Half MyrishQuote Reply
Luana,
NZ has a lack of horses? Could’ve fooled me. You can’t turn around without bumping into a bloody horse here. Or at least, bumping into someone who has a horse and wants to tell you all about it even though you’d rather have your face raped off with a pitchfork than listen to such banal drivel. Or getting stuck behind a bloody horse float doing 70, then driver oblivious to the queue of a dozen cars full of drivers who are getting less rational kilometre by frustrating kilometre.
GaRQuote Reply
I will concede that GRRM never specifically mentions what breed/type of horses the Dothraki ride, other than describing that they are fast and hardy and also describing specific characters mounts (i.e. silver filly for Dany, red stallion for Drogo). So it’s just inferred by some fans that fast/hardy/desert plains horse does not = European type draft horse.
But GRRM uses some very specific terminology when it comes to horses, just like he does for every other detail in his books. “Destrier” refers to big powerful warhorses, used by knights. “Palfrey” refers to a comfortable riding horse with an ambling gait. “Coursers” are fast, light battle horses. “Rounseys” are all purpose horses. “Garrons” are small, pony like horses, used by the Night’s Watch. The wildlings ride shaggy mountain horses, etc.
A great deal of description is also given to Dornish horses, the sandsteeds, in several places. They are clearly based off of Arabian horses based on his description.
Not that I’m agreeing with the LOTR/no New Zealand argument. I’m just pointing out that, yes, there are a lot of horse descriptions in the books. You just may not have noticed them or think they’re important.
Half MyrishQuote Reply