9. Mixed Media
Episode One: "Winter is Coming" Commentators: Co-executive producers/co-creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss "Game of Thrones" is one of the most gorgeous pieces of media that exists today thanks to a flawless combination of production design, costume design and cinematography. Though I may have expressed an old school attitude in my intro, I've got one foot out the door when it comes to how digital cinematography is quickly overtaking celluloid when it comes to ease of use and aesthetic equivalence. With a show like "Game of Thrones" that is so culturally, geographically and climactically massive and diverse, the producers needed to save money in any way they could without skimping on quality. One way they were able to do this was through the utilization of digital cinematography, shooting the vast majority of the first season on Arri Alexa digital cameras. But when it came to "Winter is Coming," director Timothy Van Patten and cinematographer Alik Sakharov, who would go on to direct a few episodes himself, didn't approach the filming homogeneously. In fact, there are 3 scenes in the pilot that were shot on good ol' fashioned 35mm. Can you guess which ones they are? Go and re-watch the episode right now and venture a few guesses. I'll wait. Welcome back! Ready to take a guess? The 3 scenes captured to film were: The scene in the Stark crypt when Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) is mourning the loss of Lyanna Stark with Ned The party scene inside Winterfell's Great Hall The morning after the party in which the men gather to leave on a hunt Did you guess correctly? Of course you didn't, you liar. Though never explained why (celluloid's superiority in low light seems to be implied by the nature of the scenes), it's fascinating to know that despite the mixture of formatting, the scenes blend together seamlessly - a testament to the quality of digital cameras that are gradually becoming commonplace on TV sets. Techies will likely find this information more valuable than the standard "Game of Thrones" fan, so to compensate, here's another interesting trivia tidbit: the edits covering the conversation during the party scene in the Great Hall between Sansa, Catelyn and Cersei (Lena Headey) take place a year apart. The character of Catelyn was re-cast after the unaired pilot, so while new shots of Michelle Fairley needed to be inserted, the original shots of Sophie Turner and Lena Headey remain. If you look closely, you can see how Sophie Turner has aged from that scene in comparison to others.