Tuesday, September 22, 2015
See How Daenerys' Dragons Come to Life in Game of Thrones' Emmy-Winning VFX
io9.com: I don’t know what’s more impressive: The sheer number of layers that go into every aspect of the dragon’s flesh, the many insane apparatuses that the show constructs to give Emilia Clarke something to act against, or all the little details, like the subtle gore dripping from the dragons’ mouths after they feed.
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The process of animating and creating animals that are believably realistic is incredibly difficult, and I really wish I knew how to do it. I attempted to teach myself how to CAD like that when I was younger, but I failed miserably. I instead turned to learning how to Photoshop, which I feel that I am pretty decent at now. So at least I got something out of my childhood curiosity! Using a skeleton and muscles is incredibly intriguing to me. It’s like building a real creature but on the computer! I’m guessing there is a way to change muscle density to facilitate the movement of each joint and such. Besides that, the coloring of the dragons was also very interesting. I’m surprised by how saturated their skin starts out, and as lighting effects and dirt is added, their skin becomes such a neutral brown color. It does make the dragons more realistic because animals are pretty dirty, though.
Game of Thrones is life and the dragons are a brilliant piece of technology. They move so naturally and uniform, but have their own personalities at the same time. I am especially impressed with the compound structuring they use to create the muscle and bone structure of the dragons, keeping the movements within the scope of the creatures and their physiological resources. The actors also do a phenomenal job interacting with the CGI creatures, they seem to really be responding and having a physical banter with the dragons, as opposed to being separate individuals in both reality and animation. The designers are really invested in creating the most realistic adaptation of a mythical creature, and their work shows. Another fascinating aspect of this video is watching the sequencing of how the animation is added and what the actors actually have to work with physically when filming. I can only imagine it’s extremely difficult to act without an object.
When reading this article, I was expecting two things: familiarity and a long list. For some reason, I thought that Broadway did many more revivals each year and that those revivals were more well-known and classic shows. Of the few shows mentioned in the article, however, I only recognize Noises Off! And to be completely honest, I do not even know exactly what Noises Off! Is even about. Despite my ignorance to super well-known Broadway shows, apparently Bernadette Peters, a name I know very well, starred in Dames at Sea, an apparently campy abut very successful show from back in the 60s. I guess revivals happen for a reason, and while I may not be enlightened as to where each one comes from, they all have their own kinds of relevance and reasons for being done now, for the second time, in the 2015 season. I wish the article mentioned why these pieces were chosen, but I guess another person will look into it, as opposed to just reporting it.
The video in the article has to be one of the most articulate videos that show the different layering that goes on with the special effects once the camera crew is done shooting. It would be interesting to see that once they have the shots they need, how long it would take to render something like that. I mean you’ve already got the dragon created, it would just be a matter of adjusting lighting and the muscle movements. Game of Thrones is already one of my favorite television shows. Also the design of the various mountaintops and cities. I would have figured some of that would have been a model space of some sort, but of course it would be fairly difficult to get a cultured society like the one in the show nowadays to be an actual thing, so you would need to add the visual effects. There is a reason why some people are gifted at animation and some people aren’t. I’m not one of them, I will leave that to the professionals.
I really wish I knew and could fully grasp the concept of VFX renderings and making them come to life. Our technology and level of detail has enhanced so much through the years that when we see these creatures created they look so life like and real. This is becoming a big deal for designers nowadays. Level of detail seem to be very important and it's something the audience seems to really focus on. If there is one mistake, then the creature doesn't seem real and the audience just sees it as a crappy part of the movie or production. I'm also curious as to this being used on stage with projection mapping. Would it have the same of different effect? Also, would it be on a scree or scrim or fabric? I would love to experiment with that and see what I come up with and maybe make it an installation for the future.
Special effects is such an interesting aspect of film. It changes so much each year. I feel that the people who work in those jobs must learn how to do new techniques all the time because new inventions and shortcuts are being made. But yet it doesn’t seem like they are shortcuts because I can imagine that each layer to just one dragon at one second can take hours and hours of work. I wonder what the people do who work in special effects do to take care of their eyes for how much they look at screens and work at a desk. That’s a big strain but yet I still think that it would feel so satisfying to finish scenes like the one in the video. To see them look so realistic that people don’t even think about how they aren’t real because they do look real. What an interesting job to have.
One of the saddest truths Game of Thrones fans like myself have come to grips with is that sometimes the CG is more lifelike than the actors are, and the dragons are no different. Every season, watching them get bigger and the CG getting more dense, more layered, as close to life as dragons can be, I marvel at the things humanity can create with a computer. Especially when you take into account the old Godzilla films by the Toho company, which involved a man in a monster suit stomping tiny buildings. While there is a certain novelty to that, all you will ever feel from that is glee. Godzilla was never a harrowing monster, just a silly guy in a suit kicking a whole bunch. The dragons make you feel like you are watching a legend on screen, and to that end, give you a sense of terror. How will the dragons react? Will our favorite characters be safe? The tiny details go a very long way, such as the blood in the dragon's mouth after a kill, or the vivid fire they spit. As the article states, Game of Thrones won it's 4th VFX emmy this year, and with imagination like this in the tank, here's hoping for four more.
This was sooo cool. As a kid I used to watch the 2nd disks to all the movies my parents bought. I thought it was so cool to see how they made peter pan fly or make a fantasy setting come to life. The bonus features really show the true art in all of its forms and lets you grasp at hoe complicated and immense the process of special effects is in a TV show. Without these effects we are not able to immerse ourselves in the story as well. With this video we are able to really see the process in a clear and quick way. The 3D modeling is what really blew me away. Having worked in 3D i know it is incredibly hard to make a organic object like a dragon that precise. The camera footage of just the actress playing Daenerys on a robot mechanism capturing her interacting with a moving piece. Then it was great to see the artists layer on shadow and detail to make the finished product. I love the quality in special effects like this. It seems like yesterday when the movie Dinosaur came out which showcased amazing special effects. but judging by this video the skill and realistic qualities of animation have doubled. Special affects is often characterized as a distraction from the story but in game of thrones the affects only add to the story.
I absolutely loved this. As a Game of Thrones fan myself, it is so easy to get caught up in the fantasy of it all and just expect dragons to look fully realistic because, well, they're real! Game of Thrones has created such a thorough world that I think it's easy to forget that it's just a TV show. So this video absolutely blew me away. It is incredible to see the way they build up the creatures from bone to muscle to skin to scales. The layering process is brilliant. The only thing I wish this video included were someone explaining how the process works. What program did they use? How many people work on it at a time? What was the design process like? I want to know everything about this and I feel like I'm only getting a slice of it. I did think it was really cool to see the contraption Daenerys was riding on before all the effects were put in. I always wonder when I see that stuff what it must be like to be the actress in those kinds of scenes. I feel like it would be really fun to ride on that green thing and then watch an episode where I'm flying on a dragon. Maybe I should consider TV acting.
My jaw is currently sitting on the floor and I'm still struggling to pick it up. The visual effects on this show is absolutely stunning and I completely agree with the author that Game Of Thrones should've taken the Emmy home for best VFX. I've been enchanted and enamored by the fantasy realm of magic and dragons ever since I was a child-- I remember checking out and reading almost all the fantasy/dragon related books as a kid. It's really incredible how far along VFX has come along since its first been implemented-- makes me think back to the visual effects that were included in the first Star Trek. Making such visually complex and complicated skins for Daenery's dragon was not an easily accomplished feat but it compels me to figure it out... If I could one day learn how to CAD like the masterminds behind the creation of her dragon, my life would be complete.
It is pretty amazing to see how much work actually goes into making the seemingly minuscule screen time the dragons actually happen on Game of Thrones. We often take it for granted when watching the series, because the world seems so fluid and put together, but the show actually utilizes a ridiculous amount of computer generated Imagery to piece together the world of Westeros from fragments of our real one. When watching the show this massive amount of editing is easily dismissed, like in many fine tuned crafts, when it's done right there's a successful suspension of disbelief and the work goes virtually unnoticed. What really astonished me about this video was the number of layers paint treatments and textures that had to be applied for each dragon, and more amazing is the work done on the computer to ensure their continuity in those sequences. From rendered bodies splitting in two, to simple piles of bones, I'm amazed by the work HBO's special effects team puts into the dragon sequences, and care and thoroughness they do it with.
Animation has become so convincing over the past couple of years that I’m not sure what the difference between real and fake is anymore. Now obviously I don’t mistake that the dragons in Game of Thrones are real, but some of their features and aspects are frighteningly life-like. The level of detail that is put into these characters is outstanding. All we see on the screen is layers coming together to make one final image, but when you break down it each layer and see how much time goes into finalizing what the viewer sees, it crazy to think they wouldn’t receive the special effects Emmy. Personally I have never been a big fan of Game of Thrones but to know how much time and effort goes into creating everything that end up on screen excites me to see what is next in the TV/animation industry.
The Game of Thrones dragons are incredible. They capture organic shape and movements perfectly. The dragons are lifelike and display personalities wonderfully. The animators and VFX artists deserve the Emmy. Now to what I want to talk about. This show has always displayed an astounding attention to detail. One of the most important details that I look for in a puppet or animated creature is the ability to breathe. Handspring Puppet Company produced a TED talk a few years ago about this subject. Breathing is, whether you recognize it or not, one of the first things we register when confronted by a new creature. Breath signals life, it can indicate mood, and it is one of the few things that every living creature on this planet does. Puppets that breathe take on a whole new level of realism. The horse created by Handspring for Warhorse does just this. The operator moves the shoulders to simulate breath. It is subtle, but the GOT dragons breathe. It isn't much, but it indicates a high level of thought in the design and construction of the dragons, and I appreciate the emotional effect such a simple action has.
I am very impressed with how far along computer generated images have come along since Pixar introduced the world to 3D animation. Games of Thrones cinematography is really what helps make their CGI dragons mess so well into the shots. I wish the video could have had an animator talk over the video compilation explaining how they got to the process of knowing that they needed that many layers of the dragon flesh to make it realistic and fit well into the scene. I was shocked to see that the lighting effects weren’t an effect added on to the dragon skin later but rendered real time within the creation of the dragon skin. Also the mechanic of how the dragon moves and the fact that the dragon has a masculatory systems shows that the creative team spent a love of time really breaking down the movements of the dragon down to the muscles. I find it overall extremely fascinating that they treat the dragon in animation as a very realistic creature and by having the it have muscles they are able to very precisely manipulate the dragons real life movement; this is what makes the dragons successfully believable in the show.
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