Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is an American

fantasy drama television series
created by showrunners David
Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an
adaptation of A Song of Ice and
Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of
fantasy novels, the first of which is
titled A Game of Thrones. It is
filmed in a Belfast studio and on
location elsewhere in Croatia,
Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Northern
Ireland, Spain, Scotland, and
theUnited States, and premiered on
HBO in the United States on April
17, 2011. The sixth season of the
series premiered on April 24, 2016,
and the series has also been
renewed for a seventh season to
air in 2017
The series is set on the fictional
continents of Westeros and Essos
and interweaves several plot lines
with a large ensemble cast. The
first narrative arc follows a civil war
among several noble houses for
the Iron Throne of the Seven
Kingdoms; the second covers the
attempts to reclaim the throne by
the exiled last scion of the realm's
deposed ruling dynasty; the third
chronicles the rising threat of the
impending winter and the
legendary creatures and fierce
peoples of the North.
Game of Thrones has attracted
record numbers of viewers on HBO
and attained an exceptionally
broad and active international fan
base. It has received widespread
acclaim by critics, particularly for
its acting, complex characters,

story, scope, and production

values, although its frequent use of
nudity, violence, and sexual
violence has attracted criticism.
The series has won 26 Primetime
Emmy Awards, including the
Primetime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Drama Series in 2015
when it set a record for most
wins for a series in a single year
and numerous other awards and
nominations, including three Hugo
Award for Best Dramatic
Presentatio, aPeabody Award, and
three Golden Globe Award
nominations. From among the
ensemble cast, Peter Dinklagewon
two Emmy Awards for Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Drama Serie
and a Golden Globe Award for Best
Supporting Actor Series,
Miniseries or Television Film for his
performance as Tyrion Lannister.
The first season is a faithful
adaptation of the novel. Later
seasons, however, began to
diverge with significant changes.
According to David Benioff, the
show is "about adapting the series
as a whole and following the map
George laid out for us and hitting
the major milestones, but not
necessarily each of the stops along
the way."
The novels and their adaptation
derive aspects of their settings,
characters, and plot from various
events of European history. A
principal inspiration for the novels
is the English Wars of the Roses
(145585) between the houses of
Lancaste rand York, reflected in
Martin's houses of Lannister and
Stark. Most of Westeros is
reminiscent of High Medieval

Western Europe, with its castles

and knightly tournaments. The
scheming Cersei, for instance, calls
to mind Isabella, the "she-wolf of
France" (12951358). She and her
family inspired Martin, as depicted
in Maurice Druon's historical novel
series The Accursed Kings, in
particular. Other historical
inspirations for elements of the
series include Hadrian's Wall (ich
became Martin's great Wall), the
legend of Atlantis (ancient Valyria),
Byzantine "Greek fire" ("wildfire"),
Icelandic sagas of the Viking Age
(the Ironborn), the Mongol hordes
(the Dothraki), and elements from
the Hundred Years' War (1337
1453) and the Italian Renaissance
(c. 14001500). The series' great
popularity has been attributed in
part to Martin's skill at fusing these
disparate elements into a seamless
whole that appears credible on its
own terms as an alternative history.
Adaptation schedule
Benioff and Weiss intend to adapt
the entirety of the still-incomplete
A Song of Ice and Fire novel series
to TV. In March 2015, Benioff and
Weiss said that, with the fifth
season adapting all material from
the novels published so far, Game
of Thrones might begin outpacing
A Song of Ice and Fire in the sixth
season. The series would then be
based on an outline of the plot of
the future novels provided by
Martin. According to HBO executive
Michael Lombardo, the series is
expected to encompass over seven
seasons, with Benioff and Weiss
aiming for eight and HBO hoping
for more. In January 2016, HBO

began discussions for a potential

two-season renewal, consisting of
season seven and eight.In April
2016 before the sixth season
premiere, Benioff and Weiss stated,
"I think we're down to our final 13
episodes after this season" with the
plan being seven episodes in
season seven and six episodes in
season eight. Later in April 2016,
the series was renewed for a
seventh season with an unknown
episode order.
As of 2016, seven seasons have
been ordered and six have been
filmed, adapting the novels at a
rate of about 0.8 minutes per page
for the first three seasons.
Season March Second
1
2,
half of
2010
2010
Season
2

April
19,
2011

Second
half of
2011

Season
3

April
10,
2012

Second
half of
2012

Season April 2, Second

4
2013 half of
2013

April
17,
2011

June
19,
2011

A
Game
of
Throne
s
April 1, June 3,
A
2012
2012
Clash
of
Kings
and
some
early
chapte
rs from
A
Storm
of
Swords
March June 9, About
31,
2013
the
2013
first
twothirds
of A
Storm
of
Swords
April 6, June
The
2014
15,
remain
2014
ing
one-

Season April 8, Second

5
2014 half of
2014

April
12,
2015

June
14,
2015

Season April 8, Second

6
2014 half of
2015
Season April Second
7
21,
half of
2016
2016

April
24,
2016
2017

June
26,
2016
2017

third of
A
Storm
of
Swords
and
some
elemen
ts from
A
Feast
for
Crows
and A
Dance
with
Drago
ns
A
Feast
for
Crows,
A
Dance
with
Drago
ns and
original
conten
t, with
some
late
chapte
rs from
A
Storm
of
Swords
and
elemen
ts from
The
Winds
of
Winter
Mostly
original
conten
t
Mostly
original
conten
t

Filming
Principal photography for the first season was
scheduled to begin on July 26, 2010. The
primary location was the Paint Hall Studios
inBelfast, Northern Ireland. Exterior scenes in
Northern Ireland were filmed at Sandy Brae in
the Mourne Mountains (standing in for Vaes
Dothrak), Castle Ward (Winterfell), Saintfield
Estates (the Winterfell godswood), Tollymore
Forest (outdoor scenes), Cairncastle (the
execution site), Magheraorne quarry (Castle
Black), and at Shane's Castle (the tourney
grounds). Doune Castle in Stirling, Scotland,
was also used in the original pilot episode for
exterior and interior scenes at Winterfell. The
producers initially considered shooting the
whole series in Scotland, but eventually chose
Northern Ireland because of the availability of
studio spa.
The first season's southern scenes were filmed
in Malta, a change in location from the sets in
Morocco used for the pilot episode. The city of
Mdina was used for scenes in King's Landing.
Filming also took place at Fort Manoel
(representing the Sept of Baelor); at the Azure
Window on the island of Gozo (the Dothraki
wedding site); and at San Anton Palace, Fort
Ricasoli, Fort St Angelo, and St. Dominic
monastery (all used for scenes in the Red
Keep).
Costuming
The show's costumes are inspired by many
cultures, such as Japanese and Persian.
Dothraki outfits resemble the Bedouin's (one
was made out of fish skins to resemble dragon
scales), while the Wildlings wear animal skins
inside out like the Inuit. Wildling bone armor is
made of molds taken of real bones and
assembled with string and latex resembling
catgut. While extras who portray Wildlings and

the Night's Watch often wear hats, as would be

normal in a cold climate, main actors usually
do not do so. This allows viewers to identify the
characters. Bjrk's Alexander McQuee highneckline dresses inspired Margaery Tyrell's
funnel-neck outfit, while costumes of
prostitutes are designed to be quickly and
easily removed. All clothing, whether for
Wildlings or for women at the royal court, is
aged for two weeks to improve realism on highdefinition television.
Makeup
For the first three seasons, Paul Engelen was
the main makeup designer and prosthetic
makeup artist on Game of Thrones, alongside
Melissa Lackersteen, Conor O'Sullivan, and Rob
Trenton. At the onset of the fourth season,
Engelen's team was replaced by Jane Walker
and her crew, which is composed of Ann
McEwan and Barrie and Sarah Gower.