Game of Thrones Art

Some people truly have a knack for seeing a bigger picture. According to the video below, snow art is a thing. Snow art is mapping out a drawing and steps you need to take in order to make it with the actual snow. Because Game of Thrones season 6 is coming up, I thought it would be super appropriate to post this video! ENJOY

http://devour.com/video/game-of-thrones-snow-art/

Lighting in Game of Thrones

**SPOILER ALERT**

Sticking with our class theme of lighting today, I decided to analyze the lighting of the series I am currently binge-watching — Game of Thrones. The majority of scenes in Game of Thrones take place in three places: Essos (a desert-like continent), King’s Landing (a well-developed coastal town), and The Wall (a city in the frozen tundra of the North). The lighting in the scenes from each place changes dramatically, and perfectly matches the mood and tone of the storylines that take place in each location.

The first location I’ll discuss is Essos, the desert continent. This story line follows one of the show’s main protagonists, Daenerys, as she travels from city to city freeing the slaves and killing their masters, recruiting former slaves who wish to join her army. In the beginning of the series, Daenerys is given to a barbarian-like race called the Dothraki and is made “khaleesi” (queen) of one of the tribes. Her only purpose is to give the “khal” (king) a baby, and she is mistreated as many women in the series are. These scenes are very dark with lots of shadows and warm colors, which does a good job of portraying the mood of the scenes. As time goes on though, Daenerys gains power and begins to form an army. She fights for a good cause and is a very positive character, so her scenes change to being lit with soft, warm light. Daenerys has bleach blonde hair and wears very bright colors, which contrasts the dark, plain colors worn by the slaves she frees. As she gains power and her army grows, the colors lighting in her scenes gets brighter and brighter with less shadows.

The second location, where much of the show takes place, is King’s Landing. As the name suggests, this is where the King and the royal family lives. The storyline in King’s Landing follows two families: the Starks and the Lannisters. Sansa Stark is another one of the series main protagonists, but she is forced to marry into the antagonist Lannister family. While some of the happier scenes take place outdoors with bright colors and full, soft light, the dark and twisted scenes take place inside the castle and are much darker. Since there is no electricity in the time period/world that the show takes place in, everything is lit with candles. The show does a great job of targeting light to make it appear that each room is lit only with candles since there are rarely windows inside the castle, even though the number of candles shown couldn’t possibly create enough enough light to actually show what’s happening. It is interesting watching these scenes, and the lighting is always impressive.

The last major location of the show is along “The Wall”, a giant, 700 foot tall ice wall in the North that travels 500 miles from coast to coast. The main character here is Jon Snow, the bastard child of Ned Stark, father of the Stark family. Jon Snow is a member of the “Night’s Watch”, the defenders of The Wall who give up their life for the brotherhood. Since the North is a tundra-like environment, the outdoor scenes have no shadows, imitating how clouds diffuse the sun when it snows. The indoor scenes are VERY dark, lit with very few candles, and the color palette is always very dark. Jon Snow has lots of personal struggles, and the mood of the storyline at The Wall is usually dark and depressing. The lighting and color palette matches this mood, with all colors either being pale white like the snow or dark brown like their furs/clothes.

Game of Thrones: Season 2

Earlier on in the semester I wrote a post about the first season of Game of Thrones and the quality of its adaptation from the book. I mentioned how I really liked how closely it corresponded with the first book and wanted to give a perspective on the second season, now that they've started straying from the book a little bit more.

While I ususally get a little upset when a book adaptation strays too far from the story line of the book, there are parts of season two that leave the pages, mostly for the better. Most of these changes stem from further character and relationship development, two things that I am a sucker for.

One relationship in particular doesn't even exist in the book, but it's one of the more interesting ones that takes form in the series. The relationship forms between a man sworn to the Night's Watch, celibate protectors of the realm, and the wildling, Ygritte. Their bond has just begun to form, and it will be interesting to see now that each has paid their debts to one another.

Another relationship that forms is between Arya Stark, who disappeared from the castle she was held captive in and winds up a servant for Lord Tywin, the head of the family who is trying to find her. Tywin does not know who she truly is, and the bond formed between them is entertaining. In many ways they are very similar, both very smart, and Tywin likes her blunt attitude.

The television series, while leaving the plot of the book in many places, does an excellent job at telling the story. I find myself more interested to see where it strays and how my favorite characters fare because of the new circumstances they're faced with. It will be interesting to see how the series continues to develop and change when season three airs in the spring.