With Game of Thrones Season 8 just around the corner (can’t wait), we have been told that season 8 will have what is claimed to be the longest continuous battle sequence captured on film. The story around this was covered yesterday by Jammer and you can catch his excitement for this in the related section below.
However, with a battle sequence this long, the problem can be maintaining the attention of the audience. Even the most bloodthirsty action fan like myself can get bored with action sequences and frankly Game of Thrones popularity has been built on always focussing on the character as opposed to the action scenes. In fact, many action sequences were ‘off-camera’ for the first few seasons, those that did appear were done very well though.
RELATED: Game Of Thrones Final Season To Bring ‘Longest Consecutive Battle Sequence’ Ever?
In EW‘s recent coverage of Season 8, one of the show’s directors Miguel Sapochnik described the challenges of maintaining focus during such a large battle sequence. Sapochnik is Thrones’ go-to director when it comes to huge battles, having previously directed both Hardhome (one of my favorites ever episodes in Season 5), and The Battle of the Bastards from Season 6. Both of these battles had a very specific character as the central focus, that being Jon Snow, one of the shows leading characters. But now that all the main players are together and all involved in this massive battle sequence, how do you make sure everyone’s story is told?
“The [GoT battles] I’ve done previously were generally from Jon’s perspective. Here I’ve got 20-some cast members and everyone would like it to be their scene. That’s complicated because I find the best battle sequences are when you have a strong point of view. I keep thinking: ‘Whose story am I telling right now?’”
One of the strategies Sapochnik uses is asking the actors to fill in the blanks of their storyline of what happens when the camera cuts to someone else’s story. This is explained by actor John Bradley who plays Samwell Tarly in the show.
“We may not have seen Sam for 10 minutes but something has happened to Sam in those 10 minutes — you’ve been fighting, or you’ve been running, or you’ve been hiding. How has your story developed? You have to hold in your mind what’s happened since we saw you last.”
As Sandor Clegane actor Rory McCann explains, Sapochnik keeps the actors on their toes.
“You’re in the middle of a battle and Miguel comes up and goes, ‘Why are you here? Why am I here?’ It gets you thinking. Then he’ll go to another actor and go, ‘What are you fighting for?’” (One actor snarks back, “My close-up!”).
Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) clarifies.
“Everybody is fighting for a personal reason and Miguel tries to imbue every moment in that.”
I wrote yesterday about how it is impossible for Game of Thrones to satisfy all its varied fans with the ending. But damn it, I am excited for it anyway and just want to see what kind of craziness they provide to finish off my personal favourite TV show of all time.
Are you as excited as me for Game of Thrones Season 8? Play the game of opinions in the usual place below, and remember, you either win or you die. (Ok, slight exaggeration)
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SOURCE: EW
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