Game of Thrones assistant director on the challenges of shooting season 7

It takes a village to make an episode of Game of Thrones, and one of the most important people in this particular village is Charlie Endean, the head of the show’s assistant directors’ department. The Verge spoke with Endean about his work on “The Spoils of War” and “Eastwatch,” and gave fans a look into this vital part of the Game of Thrones machine.

First of all, the nuts and bolts stuff: what exactly does the head of the assistant directors’ department do? “You want to ensure that the director’s perception of the script is visualized to the highest standard,” Endean said. “You also want to make sure that you protect the production, and bring that vision in on time.”

"So it begins by breaking down the script, scene by scene, beat by beat, into its component parts. That could be anything from what’s written on a scroll in a character’s hand, and whether you see the writing, to how long a section of pyrotechnics rigging will take to set up, and then how much the aftermath of an explosion will take the art department to dress up."

As you can expect, that job takes some doing, especially considering that Game of Thrones has multiple units, including Dragon and Wolf (and occasionally White Walker) often working at the same time. “As you break down the scripts, you work out which parts pertain to which department,” Endean said. “So if you have a huge stunt sequence, like in ‘Spoils of War,’ you go through with the head of the stunt department and break down their responsibilities for a sequence. And the same with makeup, costume, set dressing, and so forth.”

The Loot Train Attack in “Spoils” was tremendously complicated, so obviously Endean spent a great deal of time figuring that out. Figuring out how to effectively shoot horsemen riding through fire without putting anyone in danger was a particular point of interest, for example. Endean described the ever-present push and pull between ambition and budget as a series of “small negotiations.”

"We had multiple dragon strafing runs to blow things up, but it was very expensive, and time is money on a film set. To allow the pyrotechnics team to rig a set, you have to leave it, and that costs you time. You can’t be on the set when it’s being prepared, so you have to move an enormous crew away. Then once you’ve blown it up, you need to dress it again, to make it look like it’s been blown up. So you have to balance the cost of multiple attack runs with how it’s going to look, and the time it’s going to cost you to have all these different stages of set dressing. Those kinds of fine details require an awful lot of negotiations and planning. So you involve all of the [heads of department] and get their opinions, and they find the strongest throughline and the best plan that accommodates every department. And that becomes your shooting schedule."

Moving on the “Eastwatch,” Endean had plenty of interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits. For example:

• For the scene where the Tarlys were burned, they showed the pre-visualization to the extras beforehand, so they all had an idea of how it would look with the dragon inserted. “I think they did it for the first time on “Battle of the Bastards.” It’s one of those things that I genuinely think improves a sequence, when everyone has an understanding of what it is.”
• Also, while the actors who played Randyll and Dickon Tarly (James Faulkner and Tom Hopper) were obviously on set for most of that scene, for the final shots of them getting burned, they were switched out for stuntmen who wore casts of the actors’ faces. “They really looked like them, but like they’re very unwell versions of them.”
• For the scene where Jon pet Drogon, Kit Harington had to have a safety rope attached to him, because it was very windy and he had a heavy cape on, which put him in danger of turning “into a human kite.”

"So you have him standing on a cliff-edge with a flapping cape, and a guy dressed in wet-weather gear, because it’s freezing, holding up a green ball on the end of a green stick. And that’s the dragon. It’s quite crude, actually. And then obviously everything is added in post. It looks preposterous, but you have to treat it seriously and create an atmosphere on set as if you’re at the theatre, while there’s all this anarchy going on. That’s an important aspect of what the assistant director is. What I have to do on set is make sure the machine moves fast, but the moment the camera rolls, you go into that quiet mode. Otherwise, nothing gets done."

• The beach where where Jon and company leave Dragonstone was beautiful, but the tide presented unique challenges for the crew. “[W]hat you see as a tiny two-minute sequence cost us days of filming, and we were all wet up to the waist for most of it.”
• The Eastwatch cells were filmed on a recycled set in Belfast that the crew dressed to make it look new.

And as for those final shots where Jon’s SEAL Team 6 walked through the tunnel: “When the boys go out past the Wall, it’s a clear nod to the poster for 1969’s The Wild Bunch, a classic, iconic frame.” We knew it reminded us of something.

As the show winds down, Endean notes that characters tend to appear in more scenes together, which makes it harder to “share actors” and “manage resources.” Will that present new challenges for season 8?

"[Y]ou are always being challenged by the writers on Thrones. They look after their characters so well in the writing, but the challenges and sequences get bigger every year. So although the teams are strong, what’s being asked of them each year is more challenging. But that’s great! It keeps you interested."

So Endean made like a good Game of Thrones crew member and didn’t give anything away about the final season. Points for trying, though.

For more of Endean’s insights, head to The Verge.

Next: 'Eastwatch' sets another ratings record for Game of Thrones

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