HBO releases awesome behind-the-scenes footage from Daznak’s Pit

Game of Thrones Season 5 becomes available to download in just a few days, and HBO is building toward it by releasing what looks like something from the special features, possibly from the “A Day in the Life” or “New Characters & Locations” segments. The network recently tweeted out some very impressive footage from behind the scenes of Daznak’s Pit. It shows director David Nutter guiding the likes of Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, and Nathalie Emmanuel from behind the camera, and gives us an inside look at how the scene was played before all the special effects were added.

The video is also available on HBO’s Facebook page. Points to the guy wearing the “Paddy’s Irish Pub” shirt in the beginning.

I particularly like the bit where Nutter yells for Drogon to roar, at which point some machine produces a gust of wind that billows Emilia’s Clarke’s dress back. Ditto the part where Clarke reaches out to touch Drogon on the snout, here represented by a green ball fastened to the end of a poll. It was an emotional moment from “A Dance with Dragons,” and while I obviously knew it was done with special effects, seeing how little was actually present on set puts things into perspective. Move magic!

Also, David Nutter seems like an impassioned, detail-oriented director. It’s a shame he’s not on the lineup of directors for Season 6, although he did say he’d love to come back for Season 7.

Next: Game of Thrones theorycrafting: The twins that were promised?