15 minute preview/behind the scenes HBO

[No One]

I'm going to be the wet blanket and say that I don't think the series will be for me. Yes, there's a predominantly good production and cast involved (even though I have quibbles with a majority of them, not least being Kit Harrington for Jon), but aside from the fact that I just don't want to re-visualise the characters as living effigies I'm just not sure that the much-vaunted idea of "grittiness" is being properly translated.

Yes, the world of the books is gritty, but still full of splendour and lavishness, little of which is really seen in these previews. I'm not even talking about the landscapes, castles and such when I say that, though it still applies, but take for example Jaime's armour - a rather dull, lustreless gold. Just because the series is gritty doesn't mean extravagant measures aren't taken by the ruling families to appear spectacular and colourful. Would Renly settle for a faded, lifeless green for his armour? We all know the answer to that. Another example would be Tywin, who I thought must've made for a striking sight on the battlefield with his crimson, gold-trimmed armour, and yet I imagine that too will be dulled down in keeping with the rest of the visuals. Westerosi customs in that department aren't gritty - they're garish and overblown for obvious reasons of status and wealth. It's the characters and the circumstances that are realistic for the most part.

As much of a thrill it must be for GRRM to see his world being brought to some semblance of life, I'd rather the series wasn't happening, which must be a huge (even if welcome) distraction from the rigours of finishing the story.

I'll be more than interested to keep pace with what you guys think of the series, but I'm officially opting out.

And I've always called Jaime "Jay-mee"...

 

[Mouse]

Hmm... I thought Jaime was supposed to be handsome? That guy is uuuuuugly! And Jon Snow is super pretty. Me likes. Although, that's not how I imagined him, but meh!

And Harry Lloyd! Will Scarlett?! Ha! Love him. Pity he plays matey who doesn't last long.

Anyway... Looks good! Can't wait.

 

[soulsinging]

Proof that there's never any pleasing a die hard... one poster complains the previews don't look nearly gritty enough, another complains that the previews look way too gritty without enough flash and ostentation.

I think it looks pretty fantastic, other than the Dothraki being the prettiest "barbarians" ever onscreen. They have more makeup than a drag queen! Otherwise, looks fantastic.

Also, the actress playing Dany is much older than Dany was supposed to be in the book right? Because she is stunning!

 

[The Imp]

It's maddening trying to watch this... either my internet stinks or the hbo site is awful becos it stops and freezes every 3 seconds when I try to play it. Anyone else having trouble like this?

Does this happen on other sites, such as Youtube? It might be that you need to update Adobe Flash Player to the latest version (10.1). If it turns out that you need to do this, be sure to UNINSTALL the old version. There is a link on the Adobe site to do that. It might even help to uninstall and reinstall, even if you're using the latest version

rich Internet applications | Adobe Flash Player

good luck

 

[Boaz]

I couldn't even get it up...

So, no stretch for you either.

I don't believe in smiley faces in print, but if I did I'd insert one now.

Today, I''m being reticent again. I seem to remember letting people talk me into anticipating The Lord of the Rings movies. For the most part, the movies were impressive... especially visually.

***SPOILER ALERT for the books, movies, and TV shows concerning the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin.***

The look of Middle-earth was astounding. The Shire, the Argonath, Minas Tirith, the charge of the Rohirrim, Shelob, the Balrog, and moonlight over Ithilien amazed me. Yet it was the smaller differences from my imagination that were the most troublesome. Elrond's trip to Rohan, a weak-willed Faramir, Aragorn's cliff jump, the Galadhrim at the Hornburg, Treebeard's reluctance, Arwen's sickness, Denethor's two-hundred yard flaming dash, and Gimli's continual comedic lines highly frustrated me.

I guess my issues are with the changes made in the story in the effort to bring it to the big screen. And I'm afraid changes like this must occur with A Song of Ice and Fire.

There were some changes in The Lord of the Rings that I could live with. Tom Bombadil, the Gaffer, Ghan-buri-ghan, Ioreth, and Imrahil were all cut to streamline the story. Saruman's possession of Theoden and Sam's dismissal by Frodo were vast departures from the story, but seemed to fit. These changes moved the story along and remained within the original framework of the characters and plots.

I know changes will occur with Martin's story, they must occur to bring the first season in under forty hours of screen time. I just don't want Littlefinger jousting against Varys. I don't want to see Stannis and Renly combined into one character... Stanly, Robert's only brother. I don't want to see a ten fingered Greatjon proclaiming Robb as king. And I really hope to never see Sansa do anything wise or brave in the first season.

 

[Ursa major]

I think you're probably right, Boaz.

* Hopes it doesn't go to his head. *

My hope is that GRRM's experience as a writer and producer for TV has so permeated his writing for ASoIaF that the need for such compromises is limited. There again, AGOT is a big book and they've only got the ten hours. And from ACOK, the books get longer....

And they do seem to have spent a lot of effort trying to get the look right; one would hope that the sort of details you mention - which don't necessarily cost any more time and money to get right - are handled in a way that both you and I would accept as being reasonable.

 

[Conor]

I am not sure about the Mediterranean feel of Kings landing complete with palm trees. I always felt it would be warmer than Winterfell of course like maybe London compared to Sweden. How about you good Sers?

 

[murphy]

Hmm... I thought Jaime was supposed to be handsome? That guy is uuuuuugly! And Jon Snow is super pretty. Me likes. Although, that's not how I imagined him, but meh!

And Harry Lloyd! Will Scarlett?! Ha! Love him. Pity he plays matey who doesn't last long.

Anyway... Looks good! Can't wait.

Can't agree with that. I'd call him ruggedly handsome.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Maybe, but he's supposed to be pretty. He and Cersei traded places as children.

I don't know if I really like the clothing and art style they've gone with. From the descriptions in the book the sophistication of clothing, especially, seemed more in line with early Renaissance, but this series seems to have taken it back to a kind of Mid-Medieval pastiche.

That's fine, but George described objects like Cersei's gowns and Sansa's wedding dress in great detail, so we know they have things like corsets, stays, buttons, and a full range of fibers and fabrics to work with. So then to dress all the girls in the same kind of faux-medieval gown is kind of lame, and a little lazy.

 

[Mouse]

Maybe, but he's supposed to be pretty.

Exactly, I picture him as being waaaay prettier than Jon Snow!

 

[R M Tobias]

Without having actually seen an episode yet I actually prefer the look of Jaime to the one presented in the books. I find his character so annoying and thin that I generally skim through his chapters when reading.

The actor playing him to me seems a perfect foil to Sean Bean's Eddard. He is brash, confident and cocky, and has the look of someone who is used to winning and getting what he wants. He is not overly pretty either which elevates him. I suppose in GOT novel we only ever know him through the eyes of the starks and his ugly little brother, whereas through television we see each character with our own 'eyes.' You can't suddenly change actors in season two just to make Jaime more 'gritty'

That, I think, is more important then subjective ideas of 'attractiveness'

In regards to the costuming, I think its close to being on the money. I don't want to see sparkles shooting out of the women's gowns and WoW sized pauldrons mounted on shoulders. I think perhaps there will be some special costumes for the ladies but saved for significant events / scenes.

There is alot left out of that behind the scenes. For example, we see almost nothing of Catelyn, Sansa and Arya. 3/4 of the female 'leads.' To early to jump to conclusions. For mine the Danys plotline looks the weakest though. The Dothraki look ridiculous, like they should be carrying madonna on a litter circa 1984

 

[Culhwch]

So, no stretch for you either.

Well played, sir, well played.

I think a lot of the complaints you had listed with LotR arose from Jackson having to contemporise a story that showed its age for a modern audience. aSoIaF is written for that audience, and already contains the humour, already contains the modern sensibilities that LotR lacked. Don't get me wrong, I love LotR - both the books and the movies - but it's unfair to compare these two adaptations, I think.

SW - Jaime and Cersei may have traded places as children, but at some point he did hit puberty...

 

[The Judge]

Right. I have never read the books -- stop! don't throw things at me! -- but from time to time I've wandered around here puzzling about people's... er... enthusiasm. So, as I'd got a few spare minutes I thought I'd have a look at the clip -- and thank you kindly for linking to it.

I'd read all the comments here and very knowledgeable they were too

AND NOT ONE OF YOU DEADBEATS MENTIONED THAT ROGER ALLAM IS IN IT!!!!!

I could have missed him!

(Mind you, by the look of it, he'll be around for all of 5 minutes in the whole thing and from the way he's phoning his performance in, he's clearly only doing it for the money...)

And who is the actor talking to Sean Bean who says something like "Not trusting me is the best thing you ever did" and walks away? I'm sure I recognised him but can't put a name to a face. And since I don't know who the character is, I've no chance of doing a search.

Anyway, the trailer has me intrigued. You never know, I might even get around to finding a book...

 

[Mouse]

Possibly Aidan Gillen, TJ.

 

[The Judge]

Thanks, Mouse. Odd. I knew the name, but I've had a look at his "filmography" (is that a real word?) and I don't think I've seen anything in which he's played, so goodness knows where I've seen him (or who I'm confusing him with...)

 

[Ursa major]

Definitely Mr Gillen, who's recently been on the TV in The Wire and Identity. (The latter was quite heavily advertised, so you may have glimpsed him on one of the ads.)

 

[the smiling weirwood]

To Culhwch:Obviously Jaime hit puberty, I wasn't saying he should be able to trade places with her now, but the actors playing them look nothing alike and he's decidely rugged, not handsome or beautiful.

To Tobias: I think the idea of not being pretty somehow elevating the character is, put politely, total ********. It's part of his character that he's good looking. You wouldn't say that Maester Aemon would be "elevated" (by the way, what does that mean?) if he wasn't so old.

No one advocated sparkles and craziness, so just stop.

 

[Culhwch]

Well, attractiveness is terribly subjective. I've never seen the attraction of Angelina Jolie, for instance, and yet men and women the world over seem to think she's a bit of alright.

On their not looking alike - it would have been hard to find a pair that looked as similar as these two are meant to. Granted, they could have matched the hair colour a little better. I don't think it's terribly important. There's no real narrative need to have them nearly identical that I can think of. Correct me if I'm overlooking something, though.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

No, but I like attractive people.

 

[R M Tobias]

wow way to personal smiling weirwood

I've read the books. My opinion is valid.