Game of Thrones’ head sculptor talks about making that huge dragon skull

In the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, Cersei shot a giant bolt through the skull of Balerion the Black Dread, the dragon that Aegon rode when he conquered Westeros 300 years before the show started. But would she have done it if she’d known how much work the Game of Thrones production team put into making it?

Yes. Yes she would. But Darren Fitzsimons, the top sculptor on the production, didn’t mind. “It was not sad for me to see the skull damaged in the action, actually the opposite,” he told Newsweek. “I enjoy being a sculptor for film and having my work interactive and play a role in telling the story. The way it is to work on camera has to always be my focus.”

To create the massive skull, which measures “32 feet by 20 feet by 15 feet high,” Fitzsimons said that he “worked with a team of four sculptors over six weeks from start to finish.” He explained the process in generous detail:

"Firstly, the art department, under the direction of production designer Deborah Riley, created a concept illustration and a digital model of the skull that was approved by Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff, executive producers]—they were keen that the skull have the detail of an evolved creature…We set out a grid and drew a front and side elevation of the skull. We then calculated that we needed 30 poly blocks that are each 2 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. These were all glued together. A basic shape was then created using hot wires, followed by an assortment of hand tools to carve the detail on the interior and exterior."

And of course, Fitzsimons’ team had to work with the special effects department to make sure the skull exploded right when the bolt from Qyburn’s giant crossbow hit it. And I know Fitzsimons said he was fine with his work being abused in that way, but I’m still a little offended that Cersei would so casually destroy such a valuable historical artifact. Think of the future generations, Cersei! That skull belongs in a museum!

Anyway, on top of everything else, Fitzsimons had to create the skull under a deadline, without enough time to first make a clay maquette — the team worked directly from the digital model. “There was a lot of sculpture work in Season 7,” he said, “and time was a problem.” And after that, the whole thing was disassembled, sent to Spain, and put back together to be used in the scene. It all worked out, although we wonder if we’ll see any more of Fitzsimons’ “sculpture work” as the season goes on.

As for how Balerion’s skull compares to other dragons in our story, Fitzsimons said that “[w]e calculated that it would be about the same size as Drogon is in Season 7.”

Meep.

Next: New photos from “The Queen’s Justice” tease a momentous meeting

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