HBO officially commissions Season 1 of GAME OF THRONES

[Ursa major]

Then again, what the hell is with this Roz? This is news to me and not the sort of thing I wanted to hear! What, not enough characters to deal with already??? Has Frasier's slutty producer finally taken to the streets? Are you toying with me Imp?!

From the Winter Is Coming site (specifically Winter Is Coming – News and Rumors about HBO's Game of Thrones» A professional’s opinion on the script):

New Scenes and Dialogue:

[...]

The two that really stand out are used to introduce Jamie, something the novel deliberately avoids throughout the first book but which in the dramatic venue is probably more necessary at least to some degree. These conversations are between Jamie and Tyrion in a brothel in King’s Landing....

[...]

The Jamie/Tyrion scene is of course a completely new invention, but I think it works beautifully. It feels like a scene that might have been written for the novel but was cut and the dialogue is appropriate to the books and to the characters. It’s a well done scene and it also succeeds at feeling like a scene you expect to see on HBO.

Roz is a character in this scene (hence her alternative tag, "the Red Headed Whore").

 

[The Imp]

I tend to agree (Oz was one of the best of the best among tv shows and Rome was fantastic, as is most of HBO's programmes) and as you've pointed out, it may be that ASOIAF will translate much better than most because of the structure of the narrative. I hope you're right - I really, really do - but whereas you're maintaining the view that it'll take an effort to screw up, I'm going to stick to the view that it'll take a heraclean effort to make it half good. On balance, I think you've got the more convincing argument according to what we know of the production.

Then again, what the hell is with this Roz? This is news to me and not the sort of thing I wanted to hear! What, not enough characters to deal with already??? Has Frasier's slutty producer finally taken to the streets? Are you toying with me Imp?!

SHe's certainly a bit sexier than Frasier's producer, and no, I'm serious. Here is more info

Winter Is Coming – News and Rumors about HBO's Game of Thrones» Ros

Winter Is Coming – News and Rumors about HBO's Game of Thrones» Esme Bianco interview

 

[Ursa major]

And of course she's nothing like Frasier's producer: this Roz charges for her services....

 

[No One]

Ursa Major & Imp - cheers.

And thanks for the image Imp (I shall never again question your sincerity ). I feel a change in the wind toward this Roz (or is it Ros?). And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with her clearly being a very attractive, lovely, woman. Nothing at all.

I'm guessing these new scenes are part of that whole "having to create exposition to explain what wasn't explained through characters in the book", but hey, it's to be expected. Should be interesting.

 

[The Imp]

Ursa Major & Imp - cheers.

And thanks for the image Imp (I shall never again question your sincerity ). I feel a change in the wind toward this Roz (or is it Ros?). And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with her clearly being a very attractive, lovely, woman. Nothing at all.

I'm guessing these new scenes are part of that whole "having to create exposition to explain what wasn't explained through characters in the book", but hey, it's to be expected. Should be interesting.

You're quite welcome No One

I think the pronunciation would be the plural of what you say when the doctor asks to look in your throat, with an R before it, so open wide and say "rahs" That's just a guess of course. It could be (phnetically) "Rose"

 

[No One]

You're quite welcome No One

I think the pronunciation would be the plural of what you say when the doctor asks to look in your throat, with an R before it, so open wide and say "rahs" That's just a guess of course. It could be (phnetically) "Rose"

There's a joke somewhere between "open wide and say 'rahs'" and the fact that she's a prostitute, but I think I'll leave it alone...

 

[Ursa major]

At least she's still red haired: she hasn't been bored yellow....




rolleyes:)

 

[The Imp]

There's a joke somewhere between "open wide and say 'rahs'" and the fact that she's a prostitute, but I think I'll leave it alone...

In retrospect, I could see where someone could absolutely think that something relating to Roz's profession was being implied, and I might even go as far to say that I was subsonciously thinking that when I used that analaogy, however, i cn't take credit for being that clever, it was purely an accidental pun.

 

[Werthead]

Reposting from elsewhere, apologies for any information duplicated from earlier:

Casting for GAME OF THRONES has now resumed in the UK, with roles such as Barristan Selmy, Renly Baratheon and Littlefinger currently being sought.

However, there has been some recasting going on. Jennifer Ehle, who played Catelyn Stark in the pilot, is out and has been replaced by Northern Irish actress Michelle Fairley. No word on why Ehle left the project, but she reports via Twitter that it was all very amicable, she is a big fan of the books and will be tuning in next year, so it doesn't sound like major drama was the cause.

It also sounds like auditioning is currently going on for the role of Daenerys Targaryen, despite the fact that she was played in the pilot by rising British actress Tamzin Merchant (who can currently be seen as Katherine Howard in the final season of THE TUDORS). This leads to the conclusion that Merchant is also out and will be replaced by another actress. Again, no reasons have been given for why this might be the case.

In both cases, the actresses' scenes from the pilot will be refilmed for the series itself, to ensure no continuity errors.

On the production side of things, it has been confirmed that George RR Martin will be writing the eighth episode of the first season himself, and is now bent on finishing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS in the near future so he can throw himself into the script work.

GRRM has also shared some pictures (with permission) of actress Maisie Williams, who is playing Arya Stark, posing with a replica of the sword Needle from the books.

 

[The Imp]

On the production side of things, it has been confirmed that George RR Martin will be writing the eighth episode of the first season himself, and is now bent on finishing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS in the near future so he can throw himself into the script work.

This part made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'm sticking to my prediction of June 4th

 

[No One]

On the production side of things, it has been confirmed that George RR Martin will be writing the eighth episode of the first season himself, and is now bent on finishing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS in the near future so he can throw himself into the script work.

Eighth episode eh? I'll take a guess and say that will entail Littlefinger's betrayal or, maybe more likely, Ned's execution.

And thanks Wert for the updates/images. I've been deliberately steering clear of production/cast reports but Maise Williams looks more than on the right tracks for the part.

And yes, very encouraging news for ADWD...

 

[The Imp]

Eighth episode eh? I'll take a guess and say that will entail Littlefinger's betrayal or, maybe more likely, Ned's execution.

And thanks Wert for the updates/images. I've been deliberately steering clear of production/cast reports but Maise Williams looks more than on the right tracks for the part.

And yes, very encouraging news for ADWD...

Yes, thanks for the updates Wert.

Ned's execution sounds about right. That's chapter 59, not counting the prologue, It also makes sense that GRRM would want to write that himself

I really hope that people who haven't read the books don't get exposed to spoilers.

 

[No One]

I really hope that people who haven't read the books don't get exposed to spoilers.

That's one of my basic beefs with tv/movie adaptations. Sure, they spread awareness, but most people who now learn about ASOIAF will probably see the series first. We can say the series won't change the books, but when you look at it like that the series will change the books for a lot of people.

I'll always favour literature over film (i'm a big film fan but at the end of the day there's no comparison for me) and it's kinda sad to think of someone seeing the Red Wedding before reading it. With regards to that scene, I think it'll be impossible to match the atmosphere and the layers of deception worked into the narrative. No film has ever spun my head round quite like that scene did.

Oldboy (which I hold to be as good as any film can possibly get) comes only so close.

 

[The Imp]

That's one of my basic beefs with tv/movie adaptations. Sure, they spread awareness, but most people who now learn about ASOIAF will probably see the series first. We can say the series won't change the books, but when you look at it like that the series will change the books for a lot of people.

I'll always favour literature over film (i'm a big film fan but at the end of the day there's no comparison for me) and it's kinda sad to think of someone seeing the Red Wedding before reading it. With regards to that scene, I think it'll be impossible to match the atmosphere and the layers of deception worked into the narrative. No film has ever spun my head round quite like that scene did.

Oldboy (which I hold to be as good as any film can possibly get) comes only so close.

My hope is that those who get hooked by the TV series will want to "read ahead", not only to find out what happens without having to wait 6 or so years but also to experince the tale as it was meant to be told. Admittedly, there will be many that won't care about the books, or won't want to make the huge time investment that woiuld be required to read them, but I'm hoping there will be more of tghe former.

I've never heard of Oldboy. The wiki article talks about it being the second in a trilogy. Is it based on books? Please tell us more about this. The premise was fascinating, but I won't say it for fear of inadvertently giving something away.

Thanks

 

[No One]

My hope is that those who get hooked by the TV series will want to "read ahead", not only to find out what happens without having to wait 6 or so years but also to experince the tale as it was meant to be told. Admittedly, there will be many that won't care about the books, or won't want to make the huge time investment that woiuld be required to read them, but I'm hoping there will be more of tghe former.

I've never heard of Oldboy. The wiki article talks about it being the second in a trilogy. Is it based on books? Please tell us more about this. The premise was fascinating, but I won't say it for fear of inadvertently giving something away.

Thanks

Nope, Oldboy isn't based on books as far as I know, and it's not really part of a trilogy. Rather, the director - Park Chan-wook (it's a Korean film by the way) - made three films that are connected by the theme of vengeance, hence they're sometimes referred to as the Vengeance Trilogy. Other than that there's little or no connection between them.

The other two (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Lady Vengeance) are both high quality films, but Oldboy is Chan-wook's masterpiece. All I can say is that I'm a pretty jaded film buff, but Oldboy (and, in fact, a lot of Korean cinema since) made me love films again. Simply put, there's no area that the film doesn't excel - script, acting (the lead actor is phenomenal), editing, directing, etc.

Park Chan-wook makes 99% of Western directors look absurdly complacent in their work and he's been my favourite director ever since Oldboy. Another of his films, I'm a Cyborg but that's okay (still brilliant in every department), is now the only romantic comedy in my film collection! Just recently he released his latest flick, Thirst, a vampire horror. That's also brilliant (too funny though to be a proper horror - it has what must be the most awkward sex scene ever filmed. If you could see the image in my head right now, you'd think I was seriously demented and tell me to get serious help).

Point is, Oldboy is the best of a director whose films are all, without fail, unique and original, irrespective of peoples tastes in film. I really appreciate that in a director. Anyway I really can't/won't go into the details of Oldboy too much - I can only recommend it for those who appreciate the same thing.

Imp, if you get to see it, I'd like to hear your thoughts...

And apology to the mods for going so far off topic

 

[Quick Ben]

I was planning to wait until GRRM finished the series before I started it, pretty much the only reason why I changed that was because of the TV show as I knew I wouldn't be able to not watch it so rather than get spoiled by TV, I read the books instead.





Only to find out the show won't be on for another 1-2 years after I finished (even Dance would've been out by then!)

 

[Icemark]

I reckon it is a bit of a double edged sword…I don’t think I would have enjoyed the series quite as much if I had started reading it after it was completed. Don’t get me wrong – it would have still been unbelievably awesome and incomparable to anything else. However, there would have been absolutely no reason to obsessively re-read the books:
a) To make sure that I am ready in anticipation of the next one’s release (which has caught me “over prepared” on two occasions since the release of AFFC).
b) Pick up / fabricate any sort of clue as to the development of the plot and the ending of the series.
c) Following this forum and thinking “WTH, how could I have missed that?!” when reading about someone’s new theory.

I’ve spent A LOT of time wondering about this series…I mean, I know it is fiction, but it has just hooked me like nothing else – something I don’t think I would necessarily have done if I could have read it from start to finish without lengthy periods of nothingness in between…

 

[The Imp]

I reckon it is a bit of a double edged sword…I don’t think I would have enjoyed the series quite as much if I had started reading it after it was completed. Don’t get me wrong – it would have still been unbelievably awesome and incomparable to anything else. However, there would have been absolutely no reason to obsessively re-read the books:
a) To make sure that I am ready in anticipation of the next one’s release (which has caught me “over prepared” on two occasions since the release of AFFC).
b) Pick up / fabricate any sort of clue as to the development of the plot and the ending of the series.
c) Following this forum and thinking “WTH, how could I have missed that?!” when reading about someone’s new theory.

I’ve spent A LOT of time wondering about this series…I mean, I know it is fiction, but it has just hooked me like nothing else – something I don’t think I would necessarily have done if I could have read it from start to finish without lengthy periods of nothingness in between…

I'll offer a different perspective. I was late to the party. My nephew (Patches) that you all might remember as being the one who wrote that letter to GRRM that I posted, was trying for a long time to get me to start the series. I think he began After ACOK but before ASOS was published. I resisted the idea, saying that my pexperience with waiting for a couple of authors, the most notable being Stephen King, to finish a series made me gunshy (pun intended) about starting an unfinished series. I fnallly gave in shortly after AFFC was published. I immersed myself in GRRM's wonderful world for months, not reading anything else, untgil I was done. I almost immediately started a re-read after finishing AFFC. I was/am totally hooked and din't want the ride to end. I don't think thatI would have had the same reaction had I read AGOT when it was published, read other stuff, read ACOK, read other stuff, etc., etc.

I find a similar phenomenon happening with TV shows that I haven't watched before. I'll call it "The Marathon Effect". A good freind kept telling me to watch Criminal Minds. I saw an epsidoe or two, thought it was OK, but I didn't feel compelled to watch it regularly. The A&E ran a marathon of Criminal Minds episodes that I happened to watch and by the time I was done with the 6th or 7th one I was hooked. This just recently happened with the HBO series True Blood, which I saw when it first aired, but never started watching regularly. Again after the urging of friends i watched the entire first season this past weekend, and now I'm a fan of the show. This doesn't happen to me all the time, but it seems that if there's a substantial ammount of material to immerse myself into it's easier for me to get hooked than reading/watching the same material sporadically or over a long period of time. I probably have a somewhat addcitive personality.

I'll also say that my first read/viewing of something is always like watching a movie for the first time. I pay attention to detail but I don't try to analyze or figure things out until the second time. For me, it takes away from the immersive experience if I'm trying to analyze new things. I guess I need to get a "gestalt' of whatever it is, THEN try to determine the parts that add up to the sum that is greater than them.

 

[Werthead]

HBO have contracted the Language Creation Society to create a working vocabulary and grammar for the Dothraki language for the forthcoming TV series. The LCS has produced a 1,800-word vocabulary for the language, which will be used extensively in the sequences involving Daenerys on the eastern continent.

This is surprising news, with the assumption being that the Dothraki sequences would be translated directly into English throughout the series. Instead, it seems they are taking this as seriously as Peter Jackson did the use of Quenya and Sindarin in the LotR movies.

No word on if other, extensively-used fictional languages in the books (Qartheen for Season 2 and the Valyrian of Slaver's Bay in Season 3) will receive similar treatment.

 

[xLORDSNOWx]

Pretty cool fan posters here. Apologies if these have already been displayed here.