15 minute preview/behind the scenes HBO

[Ursa major]

I think you're being a little patronizing in dismissing a discussion of the disparity between characters we know and the actors being cast to play them.

You'll have to be more specific when you say "you", TSW.

In the meantime, and because I know you don't mean me (), I'll say that I don't think anyone here has been patronising. Now if I wanted to be patronising, which I don't, I'd say... but I won't because I neither want to nor think it would be helpful.

What I would say is that if anyone ought to be upset, it's GRRM, because the canon characters are his. He made Jaime "golden", I didn't. As it happens, he seems to be more than happy with the way things are going.

Personally, I find it both interesting and entertaining to hear everyone's vision of the story and characters hashed out in relation to how they seem to be portraying them from what we've seen so far, which is admittedly a limited sampling.

Ditto.

 

[The Imp]

I think you're being a little patronizing in dismissing a discussion of the disparity between characters we know and the actors being cast to play them.

None of us here have vowed to boycott the show because they didn't include this or that or show the other thing this particular way, but I think it's a perfectly valid discussion to be having.

Personally, I find it both interesting and entertaining to hear everyone's vision of the story and characters hashed out in relation to how they seem to be portraying them from what we've seen so far, which is admittedly a limited sampling.

I'll assume that your post was a response to mine. If so, i in no way meant to be patronizing. I'll stand by what I said though, which is, there WILL be differences between the books and the HBO adaptation. In the grand scheme of things, if the color of Jaime's hair is what we're all complaining most about, they'll have done a great job. I have a friend who isn't planning to watch the sho becuase he knows he will be disappointed with the inevitable comprimises they will have to make to have the story fit into the ammount of time they have to tell it.

It's going to come down to everyone making a decision after seeing the first episode or two. I'm HOPING they do a good enough job so i'll want to watch it, but if they don't i won't. I do know that watching the 15 minute preview/making of trailer gave me goosebumps at times.

Again, apologies if I sounded patronizing. I try very hard not to do anything like that.

 

[Mesanna]

I know I've mentioned a couple of times about Jaime's golden hair (or lack of), but I don't want to give a false impression that this is a HUGE deal to me. I think it stuck out because it's mentioned so often in the book and it would be such a trivial thing to incorporate so why not just do it?

I've loved the Lord of the Rings books since i was a teenager and I was desperate to see the films when they were first released. And was I disappointed in the changes they made? No, I wasn't. OK maybe I didn't like the way Faramir was portrayed as he was one of my fav characters, but overall, I fully accepted that this was a completely different medium to the book and the two should be treated as separate entities. And I do think Peter Jackson is truly a fan and did the best he possibly could to keep the diehard fans happy, as well as producing a movie that was accessible to non-LOTR fans and pulling in the lucre to please the studio bosses.

And I feel the same way about Game of Thrones. I've already read about a couple of minor plot changes that will appear in the TV show and provided they don't do any major changes (like not throwing Bran out the window!), I'm absolutely fine with this. I'm sorry if my complaints seem superficial, because, well, I admit they are! Jaime is my favourite character in the book and I was really looking forward to seeing HBO's vision of him. Given all the attention to detail shown elsewhere, from the heraldry to the armour to the room decorations, could they not just have given the guy highlights to make him look just a teensy bit more like his character in the book?

Anyway, I won't mention this again, though I agree with Smiling Weirwood that it's interesting to hear how others perceive characters. Isn't that the whole point of this board? And their physical appearance is certainly part of that perception. But, moving on, I cannot wait for April as I really, really hope I will love this TV series!

 

[No One]

I think most of us want to have the series made for the screen. Why?

We perhaps do so because, like armchair missionaries, we want others to see the light: that ASoIaF is a story worth knowing.

I fully agree with the sentiment, but this is where tv translations are a catch-22 for me.

Sure the tv series will help promote the books, but let's suppose that a certain "event" (we all know which one) isn't pulled off with the right mix of subtlety and flagrant foreboding (something I'm convinced will be the case). The scene itself, as portrayed on-screen, will tell the viewer everything they need to know, without conveying the same impact as it had while reading it.

Nor, after that, can it have the same impact on the page for anyone who wants to read the books, which, in effect, will be spoiled for anyone who watches the show first. It's a sort of loss/loss situation in that eventuality, and it'd be a crying shame to have the books undermined like that.

 

[Eulalia]

Thanks for Gabriel Aubrey pic! Very nice.
I like Nicolaj though.

TK had a good point about the blonde curly more feminine guy being covered by the Loras character. On screen, they probably need to be as far apart as they can, because we can read about all the differences in book form and that is not available, and on screen they do not come with nametags--which they kind of do in print.

There is probably also the problem of how to make Cersei the dominant twin, without making Jaime come across as too wussy. He has to be a strong match for her or it won't work. And then, there is the whole leading armies business.

They could make Jaime a comic character very very easily. That would be the worst case scenario. (or having Kevin Costner play him) It would be hard to get more tragic than Jaime.

I don't know. If I am intending to read a book, I don't watch it on video first. I've also heard that there are some people, (horrors) that don't read very much! The whole idea is distressing.

I imagine that they have to give Catelyn have a lot of gravitas. They have to make her very brave, strong and queenly, and yet mistaken. She does a lot of heroic things, but I don't think we are supposed to like her. And then, we have to believe her, (spoilers) as the character that she is to become. Seems a tall order. The average babe won't do.

I am enjoying some of the details much too much already--like the hand's chair. And I've already found something picky not to like. I think I saw Cersei eating off green crockery. A Lannister!!?

 

[Wiggum]

I'd like to continue the erudition in this thread, but I spooged myself while finally watching the preview.

 

[Eulalia]

Tissue?

 

[Wiggum]

Thanks, but I had my lucky sock on hand.

Pun quota for week fulfilled.

I over-quibbled details while watching LotR movies, to the point of not being able to enjoy them. I'm not going to do that with this.

Outside of it being ASoIaF, it looks like it's going to be a good production of fantasy material, which makes me happy.

Even if the Dothraki look like rejects from the orginal Stargate movie

 

[hadd]

Continuing the Dothraki thought train...
What's up with the blue body paintings? I can't recall any info about them in the book. I thought the Dothraki would have a bigger resemblance to mongols or something...
Of course this isn't anything that would make me not watch the show, but i'm just thinking why they chose this path.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

They might be going for a Tartar thing? I don't know if the Tartars ever painted themselves, though. I only saw that one picture of the Dothraki, and it looked very Conan the Barbarian. Which personally doesn't bother me that much, since I never liked the Dothraki anyway.

I would like to see a sept and a godswood and how the show is going to portray the various religions.

 

[C Of K]

The was a part when the preview showed Sean Bean sitting next to one of the old trees in the godswood. It was a very quick shot about 10:15 into the longer video. The face looked kind of corny to me, but I didn't mind too much.

 

[soulsinging]

I can only hope they've chosen good actors to be the characters we love (or love to hate) even though they aren't identical to the images we (may) have in our heads.

Kinda what I was thinking. I know we all want to have our cake and eat it too, but when it comes down to it... do we want a hack that can't act but is a golden-haired pretty boy that looks exactly like the portraits that have been done of Jaime before, or an actor that might be a bit more rugged but can really nail the character? I realize it's only a short clip so there's not much to analyze other than the purely shallow and superficial, but there seem to be some who are ready to damn this thing before ever seeing even one scene from it.

 

[TK-421]

Amen! Sing to my soul.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

I'm critical, but you guys are way too sensitive. First of all, just because I have criticisms doesn't mean I don't like it. Secondly, when I do watch it and I like it, since I'm sure I will, I'll still have critiques to make and it doesn't mean I like it any less.

Some people seem to be incapable of understanding that.

Also, I find it absolutely hilarious that so many male users find it necessary to assume that any "pretty boy" (which is in itself a derogatory phrase) would be incapable of acting or in some way less believable or "realistic" than a traditionally masculine, manly, rugged looking man. As if there was some sort of inverse relationship between physical attractiveness and competence. Or between traditionally held ideas about hyper-masculinity (almost to the point of parody, I mean look at The 300) and competence.

What is most interesting to me though, is that ideas are projections onto the book by readers, and is not something found there naturally. Take the example of Loras, who is undeniably the most competent at jousting and apparently no slouch at hand to hand combat at well, since he was able to take down the rest of the Rainbow Guard on his own.

Anyway, something to chew on!

 

[Mesanna]

Well said Smiling Weirwood. Just because some of us are pointing out things that we feel are perhaps less than perfect *in our opinion* doesn't mean that we are down on the TV series as a whole. Not even remotely. People can debate, for example, Arya's morals or who is the Valonqar for years, but any tiny criticism of the show is unwelcome? I thought the whole point of this forum was to discuss our likes and dislikes respectfully. I *want* to hear what people love and hate about what they've seen so far. It's great to be able to talk about the show.

And you're right again Smiling Weirwood about Loras - a complete pretty boy who can kick almost every butt in Westeros. Oh, and just to stir the pot some more, the guy who's playing Loras ain't pretty at all in my opinion. So there!

 

[Mouse]

I'm with SW and Mesanna on this one! People seem to be getting way too worked up over the pretty boy thing. So we don't think Jaime's pretty enough, we're allowed to say that!!

Didn't I read someone saying that Cersei's chest wasn't big enough?! (Or did I imagine that? Which is possible, to be fair!) Anyway, I definitely recall people whinging about Dany's hair colour. So, men are allowed to complain about looks but us ladies aren't?! Pah!

I'm gonna need to go and have a look at the guy who's playing Loras cos I've missed that. And damnit, I hope he's extra pretty.

So... so... there!

 

[TK-421]

Well, if this is the worst you guys can come up with to complain about after what we've seen so far, I am very optimistic that the series will meet our high standards.

 

[Mouse]

We're not complaining. Or I'm not. We're just commenting. I think it looks awesome... which I said in my first post after I'd watched the preview.

 

[Mesanna]

Exactly, Mouse! We're commenting. We're discussing. I have one opinion, someone else has another. That's fine. That's great actually, cos we get to talk about it. We get to debate with each other about what we love and what we're not so keen on. Wouldn't be much of a discussion after all if everyone just sat about agreeing how wonderful everything was!

 

[Culhwch]

Anyway, I definitely recall people whinging about Dany's hair colour. So, men are allowed to complain about looks but us ladies aren't?! Pah!

Don't go thinking you're special, Mouse - that was me 'complaining' about Dany's hair, and Urse hounded me until I lost the will to live. Fortunately Thoros was nearby to revive me. Now I just have to get my username changed to UnCul...