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Game of Thrones (TV)

Game of Thrones (TV)59 posts

“Game of Thrones” is a fantasy drama television series produced by HBO and created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. The series debuted in April 2011 as an adaptation of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, George R.R. Martin’s best-selling novels, the first of which is named “A Game of Thrones”.

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1 Jul, 2014

Spain hosts filming of Dorne

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10453321_669640983085657_2630714911056599532_n__1404226815_80.111.179.106The U.S. ambassador of Spain and HBO announce that Spain will host the filming of Season 5’s country of Dorne.  The Alcázar of Spain will serve as the Water Gardens of Dorne with the possibility that the country will also host scenes for Sunspear, the seat of House Martell.

 

19 Jun, 2014

‘Hodor’ app

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Tyler Hedrick, an iOS developer at Medium, announces an app called Yo, Hodor.  The app works similarly to the popular Yo app where users can create a username, locate friends using the app, and then send them a single word message; in this case, the word “Hodor.” The phrase (and the audio clip used in the app) is from a Game of Thrones character names Hodor who can only say the word “Hodor”.

17 Jun, 2014

Illegal download record

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TorrentFreak, a blog that monitors piracy, notes that within the first 12 hours of the Season 4 finale premiere, there were 1.5 million illegal downloads. a 48% increase from Season 3’s finale. The blog estimates the premiere will reach 7.5 million downloads by the end of the week, which will make it the year’s most pirated show. This is the third time the show has created a new piracy record for the largest torrent swarm ever.

9 Jun, 2014

Facebook cancellation hoax

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A message being spread on Facebook that Season 5 has been cancelled is proven false.  The link acts as a lure to a webpage which attempts to convince the user that their Java plug-in needs to be updated.  The download is believed to be malicious.

May 2014

Joins GOT directors

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Slovis joins the lineup of directors for Game of Thrones season 5.  During an event at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Slovis reveals that he is set to direct the first and second episodes of Season 5.

22 Apr, 2014

Demands removal of screenshots

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HBO accuses ScreenCapped.net, a site which hosts user-uploaded movie and TV screenshots for fan-created artwork, of copyright infringement and demands the removal of the Game of Thrones and True Blood screenshot libraries.  In response, a petition has been launched on Change.org supporting ScreenCapped and asking HBO to reconsider it’s decision.

The fans and staff of Screencapped.net ask that you remove the DMCA against Screencapped.net so that the site may continue to provide HBO fans with high quality screencaps for non-profit use.

21 Apr, 2014

Rape scene

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Martin addresses fan reactions to a scene in season four, episode three that appears to depict the rape of Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey, by her twin brother Jaime Lannister, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, at their son’s funeral. The scene translated differently onscreen:

The whole dynamic is different in the show … I was writing the scene from Jaime’s POV, so the reader is inside his head, hearing his thoughts. On the TV show, the camera is necessarily external. You don’t know what anyone is thinking or feeling, just what they are saying and doing. If the show had retained some of Cersei’s dialogue from the books, it might have left a somewhat different impression — but that dialogue was very much shaped by the circumstances of the books, delivered by a woman who is seeing her lover again for the first time after a long while apart during which she feared he was dead. I am not sure it would have worked with the new timeline.

While the scene was confronting, it was not meant to depict rape:

That’s really all I can say on this issue. The scene was always intended to be disturbing… but I do regret if it has disturbed people for the wrong reasons.

19 Apr, 2014

Hugo Award nomination

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The finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards are announced.  The Season 3 episode, The Rains of Castamere, is nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form). Martin comments on the nomination:

The nomination is just the latest confirmation that David, Dan, T’Other David, Richard Madden, Oona Chaplin, Michelle Fairley, and the rest of our cast and crew did an amazing job on this one, creating a moment that will live in the annals of television for a long, long time.  No novelist has ever been more fortunate in the people who came forward to translate his work from the page to the screen.

9 Apr, 2014

#TakeTheThrone: Hodor

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Nairn stakes Hodor’s claim to rule Westeros for HBO’s #TakeTheThrone interactive fan challenge:

He’s the only nice guy in the entirety of Westeros, he’s trustworthy, he’s kind to children … he’s hardworking, he’s just a solid, nice guy, he totally deserves it.

Game of Thrones Season 4: Kristian Nairn on Why Hodor Should #TakeTheThrone (HBO)

8 Apr, 2014

Renewed for two seasons

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HBO renews the series for another two seasons.

Game of Thrones is a phenomenon like no other. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with their talented collaborators, continue to surpass themselves, and we look forward to more of their dazzling storytelling.

25 Mar, 2014

‘Second coming-out’

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Nairn says that he was surprised when media picked up his interview with the WinterIsComing.net fansite as confirmation that he is ‘coming out,’ as his gay identity has been public since he was 16 and he told his mother when he was 12:

I couldn’t believe the nuclear mushroom. It’s always been the way. It’s not as if I suddenly went, ‘Hi guys’ and put a boa on.

While he intentionally mentioned it in the interview, he assumed people already knew:

I kind of had been waiting for it to come up in an interview question. But I sort of thought that people knew, because all you had to do—I started out doing a drag queen [act]. I DJ at a gay bar. Learn to Google, people. That’s all it is.

Still, he says he doesn’t want to diminish the positive reaction he received:

I don’t want to make light of it either because people have been in touch with me and they’ve been really…nice about it, and I’m really grateful. And also people said it inspired them. Because even within the gay community, there’s a stereotype even when you’re a gay person. You have to look a certain way. You have to be thin. You have to be tanned. You have to have small eyebrows. You have to look pretty. And that’s never been me. I just think it’s important to show the world that we are varied people, as everybody else. You don’t have to be any way. I think that’s really important, and people said that to me.

On the unexpected popularity of his Game of Thrones character:

[Showrunners] Dave [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] told me before the show. They’re like, “Your character’s not one of the main characters, but it’s probably one of the most popular—if not the most popular. Everyone’s going to say ‘Hodor.’” I was like, “Really? I don’t think so.” My mom’s a huge “Game of Thrones” fan. She was like, “I love Hodor. I think there’s more to him and something’s going to come out eventually along the line.” She was right. They were right. I was wrong.

Mar 2014

‘Beautiful Death’

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HBO collaborates with 360i, a digital marketing agency, and artist Robert Ball to put together the Beautiful Death series, which chronicles the show’s iconic deaths by turning them into art. Ball says the images only take a few days to put together and are completely digital, although a few do contain hand drawn elements.  On his blog, the artist explains his reaction to the project and reveals the first image.

Working with the lovely guys at 360i in the US, for the past fortnight I’ve been drawing stabbings, garottings, beheadings, lancings, hangings, matricides, fratricides, genocides and suicides. Which is one way of making a living.  It’s amazing to be involved – in some small way – in one of the most relentlessly entertaining TV shows on the box.

15 Mar, 2013

Show might outpace books

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Game-of-Thrones-EW-cover-2013The producers tell Entertainment Weekly that they do not intend to slow the show down or pad it out if it comes down to outpacing Martin’s next two novels.  It’s possible the producers, who know the general idea of the story’s ending, might conclude the show before the last book is released.  Those involved are hoping this doesn’t become an issue. Benioff comments:

Ideally, the books come out first.  ‘We don’t want to become a show that outstays its welcome and tries to turn each book into three seasons. Part of what we love about these books, and the show, is this sense of momentum and building toward something. If we tried to turn this into a 10-season show we’d strangle the golden goose. There is a ticking clock here.

14 Jun, 2011

Executed

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Lord Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark, Bean’s character on the television series Game of Thrones, is executed in the ninth episode of the first season. Queen Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey, and Sansa Stark, portrayed by Sophie Turner, reach an understanding with Jack Gleeson’s King Joffrey Baratheon that Stark’s life will be spared and his daughters kept safe in exchange for a confession of treason, but the king reneges on the deal:

They have the weak hearts of women.

The episode draws in 2.664 million viewers, the third-highest viewership count for the series’ first season, and is well received by critics.

Game Of Thrones-Eddard Stark's Death

5 Jun, 2011

The Pointy End

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Nairn’s character, Hodor, is shown in a full-frontal nude scene in season one, episode eight, The Pointy End. Bran Stark, played by Hempstead-Wright, and the wildling Osha, played by Tena, are discussing the ‘Old Gods’ worshipped by the people of northern Westeros when Hodor appears naked after bathing in a nearby pool and then forgetting to dress.

Cast as Hodor

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Nairn confirms he is cast for the part of Hodor on the upcoming season of Game of Thrones.

16 Jul, 2010

Discloses credits and cast

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On his blog, Martin reveals a list of the show’s credits and current cast members as released by HBO.  The announcement also mentions that the first season will consist of 10 episodes with production based in Belfast, Ireland.

This should give you plenty to chew on for a few days … while casting continues and we nail down a few more parts. Lots more still to come, including Osha, Shae, and Twyin.

11 Nov, 2008

HBO orders pilot

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HBO orders a pilot along with 10 other shows.  The network declines to project how many of the shows will receive an order but expects at least 6 to be picked up.  The pilot will share its title with the first book, A Game of Thrones.