“When in doubt, meat, and even when there’s no doubt”, has always been one of my mottos, so it’s good to hear that Game of Thrones brings the same point of view to things.
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I’m going to preemptively give you a spoiler warning for all seasons of Game of Thrones, so if you haven’t caught up, I just gave you a major reason to have a midweek binge watching session.
Well, Image Engine – the special effects company that created numerous memorable scenes for season six -originally intended it to be even gorier. But Mat Krentz, visual effects supervisor at Imagine Engine, explains that Bolton’s transformation into Westeros’ most ugly Snausage was originally much more graphic. “They did a pass of the dog on green screen, then Ramsay on green screen, and then we also had a background plate, which we put together”. But when they watched it back it was decided it was “too gruesome” even for Game of Thrones.
Katz’ team at Imagine Engine killed off 72 characters on the hit HBO series – and 22 of those deaths were by knife.
A lot of work goes into each death to make it memorable.
“Some shots were really specific, like someone getting their head smashed directly against a wall”, Holdsworth explained.
Last we saw of him, the Red Lady was using leeches to get his King’s blood (Gendry is the illegitimate son of Robert Baratheon), and had more dire plans for the lad until the Onion Knight (Liam Cunningham) stepped in and helped him escape on a boat.
The most realistic results come from the combination of practical effects and computer-generated ones. During the show, he and Jon Snow (Kit Harington) finally came face-to-face to battle for Winterfell.
Image Engine doesn’t just do the blood and gore, the company was also responsible for numerous lovely environs, including The Citadel, its giant astrolabe, and even the icy Wall where the Night’s Watch is stationed.
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Don’t expect Game of Thrones to pull many more of its punches when season 7 debuts in summer 2017.
