From Winterfell to Dragonstone, Game of Thrones is known for its extravagantly designed, exquisitely detailed, beautiful sets. Production designer Deborah Riley, who’s up for a BAFTA Award for her work on the show, deserves a lot of the credit. Ahead of Sunday’s award ceremony, Riley spoke with Digitial Spy about her process.
“I am proud of different sets for different reasons,” Riley said. “Thinking back to season four, I was very proud of the Meereen Audience Chamber, as it represented the first big build that myself and the new art department had been responsible for.”
"Likewise, I very much enjoyed the Hall of Faces of season five, as it was a very interesting space to try and imagine – and logistically it had a lot of challenges. My very favourite, however, is the Dragonstone Audience Chamber of season seven. I feel it’s the strongest and most original space we have built."
As far as the most expensive set Riley and her team ever designed, that honor goes to the Hall of Faces introduced in season 5:
"For the Hall of Faces of season five, we had over 600 prosthetic faces made, all to varying degrees of finish according to how close to the camera they would be. I remember these being an issue as no-one imagined that we would need the kind of numbers that we did. The budget for them was a massive issue at the time."
And from where does Riley draw inspiration for her creations? When designing Dany’s digs in Meereen, she looked at “Frank Lloyd Wright and his Mayan Revival period of the 1920s.” When it came time to design the Dragonstone audience chamber, Riley got inspired by Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton, who’s also up for a BAFTA.
"When it came to the Dragonstone Audience Chamber, we referenced Michele’s dragon-scale details on Dany’s costume and introduced them into both the Dragonstone throne and the mighty 17-foot-high doors into the space."
Riley has also designed things you wouldn’t think of, like the pie full of doves that Joffrey cut up at his wedding. “Fans were installed beneath the pie to ensure that the live white doves that were hidden inside flew away at the correct moment!” Movie magic!
If you want to hear more about Riley’s work, she’s teaming up with the Royal Television Society giving a talk in Belfast on May 22: “Creating the Visual World of Game of Thrones.” She’ll discuss “the challenges and accomplishments of her design work on Game of Thrones, and how she created the visual world of television’s biggest television drama which changed television drama forever.”
Head to Eventbrite to reserve a spot. Tickets are free!
Next: Here’s every new actor and character appearing in Game of Thrones season 8
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