03x04 - Tumbleton

[bunniefuu]

-[bell clanging]
-[goats bleating]

[director] Here we go.
Rehearsing. Quiet!

[Clare Kilner]
So you can look down.

And then you go even closer
to the edge.

-Okay.
-[Clare] Yeah?

[crew member]
We'll get these barriers
back in.

Work very carefully
in this area here, please.

Alright, hold the water.

Quiet, please. Roll sound.

-[crew member] Rolling!
-[slate claps]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[dragon screeching]

Rhaena.

[♪ thrilling music playing]

♪♪

[♪ solemn music playing]

[Sean Savage] This season,

we return
to these iconic sets.

It's just lovely
on the first day

to walk in and have all
these memories flood back.

And at the same time
have the challenge

of sh**ting
House of the Dragon.

[Jim Clay] Season Two, we had
the exterior of the Eyrie.

And this season, Ryan thought it
would be great for the audience

to bring the original
Eyrie interior back.

[Ryan Condal]
It was very exciting

getting to rebuild
that iconic set.

We haven't really gone
back to the well

of building an original set
from Thrones since Season One.

[Jim] I took it as it was
originally designed.

I changed some of the palette
a little bit

because of the years
of difference.

I just wanted to darken
some of the decoration

so it didn't feel edging
on the fantasy world.

Jim did a great job
at reproducing that center hall.

That was quite a big build,
actually,

and quite complicated.

The treads were all circular.

It was like a butterfly
staircase effect.

[chuckling]
They were massive steps.

We all know what that door is

in the middle,
that Moon Door.

There was a lot of tension

to keeping faith
with Game of Thrones

in terms of the design.

[Ryan] The Moon Door,
it was just thrilling

'cause I loved those iconic
moments in the book,

especially when Tyrion has his
duel for his trial by combat.

And there where Bronn gets
to shine for the first time.

[both grunting]

[Alejandro Martínez]
That door to the moon

is scary to everybody

that's seen it before

and knows what it's about.

[Sansa whimpering]

It's such a big deal
from Game of Thrones.

[Lysa screaming]

[distant screaming continues]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Lee Wiseman] The biggest thing
that the prop-making team

needed to do was
recreate the big throne.

Gavin, our prop maker,
actually made the original one

for Game of Thrones.

So, he at least had
a head start

on what it needed to be.

[Jim] And then a great
long-time friend,

Steve Mitchell,

painted this fantastic mural,

which hadn't existed
on the original set.

It was the history of the Eyrie
and its rugged environment.

Interesting set to think
about how to block something

because it's so different.

-[Matt Smith] And this--
-That's good, yeah.

-[Matt] Back here, yeah?
-Yeah, yeah.

[Matt] If I go, bang...

[Clare] How does Daemon
talk to Lady Jeyne?

They're so far apart.

And it was this
circular space.

I really wanted to use
a circular track

because it's quite
a sort of odd space,

and it's a bit--
a little bit trippy. [chuckles]

We wanted to pay homage
to that.

[Nick Heckstall-Smith]
So, we're doing checks,
we're sh**ting.

[director] And action!

I had thought never to see
you in the Vale again,

Prince Daemon.

And who could ever fail
to be charmed by your...

warmth?

[Clare] Cut!

-[studio bell ringing]
-[crew chattering]

[people chattering]

[crew member] [on megaphone]
Full rehearsal, with camera.

[indistinct chatter]

So, these guys are gonna
go straight on.

Lean, mean,
fighting machine, boys.

Nice and quick, you know?
'Kay?

[Clare]
Tumbleton in Episode Four.

I wanted to think about what
this place was like before.

So, I thought we could
have this hare...

[chuckling] ...hopping
through this field

and the camera goes up
and reveals

the whole of Tumbleton.

So, we have this really
peaceful environment

and then we hear...

[guard] [shouting]
Keep going!

[Clare] And then we cut
into what's happening.

[crew member] Background!

Basically, it's sort
of the Nazis entering France

during the Second World w*r

and taking over this place.

[director] And action!

Go, go, go!

[♪ tense music playing]

[Clare] Cut! Great. Lovely.
Thank you.

Look at this place, guys.

-[door creaking]
-Oh! And that door is

genuinely that heavy.

This is the most incredible set
I've ever filmed on.

I think it's one of the most
incredible sets ever built.

It's three-quarters of an acre.

It is literally a whole town.

[Ryan] It's the biggest set
we've ever built.

As anybody that's read the book

knows that Tumbleton
plays a major role.

And we wanted to introduce it
in a big way here

that made it really satisfying.

[Malcolm Roberts]
Right from the very
first steel frame,

that went up for where
the gates are, the main gates,

you are like 40-odd-feet high.

It is twice the size
of King's Landing.

It's a big build.

A lot of tube.

[laughing] A lot of fittings.

The footprint of the set,

it's 75 meters by 140 meters.

4,300 sheets
of 18-millimeter plywood

25,326 meters
of four-by-two timber.

And then, my favorite one

is 800,000 screws.

[Malcolm] I was thinking,
will the details

ever stop coming

from the windows
to the shutters?

One of our biggest challenges

is making those roofs
in a way

that we could just
drop them on afterwards.

-[crane whirring]
-Taking it up.

Luckily, we start sh**ting
on set, tomorrow,

on Saturday, inside.

Uh, actually
inside the weather cover

which is currently leaking.

[both laughing]

The waterproofing wasn't great.

[laughing]

But the-- But it's alright now.

[Clare] [on megaphone]
Going for a take now.

Appreciate you all
being here today.

And let's go for one.
Thank you.

[Nick] Here we go!

[♪ exciting music playing]

Walking onto Tumbleton was
an incredible experience

because you just suddenly feel
like you're in another country.

The brief from Ryan was that,
"We want to make this feel

like a sleepy
French market town."

And that architecturally,
it should have elements

that distinguish it
from King's Landing.

[Dominic Masters]
Geographically,

it needs to feel that we're
further south,

in the hotter climes.

So, we went for a more,
sort of Mediterranean look

than we've done before

on some of the other
exterior builds.

[Jim]
So, we did some research.

We went down to Puglia
in southern Italy

and those iconic
conical-shaped roofs.

And I came back and started
to draw and model those.

They started to look a bit
hobbit-like when we did them.

So, we've adapted them
to our own purpose.

We had lots of conversations
about how much it should

or shouldn't appear
like a fortification,

because that's a really
important story point.

It should feel like somewhere
any of us could live.

[Alejandro]
We got to show it
for the first time

as the town that it was

before it gets occupied
by the Hightowers.

[Joanna Lynch]
It's a farming community.

It's very parochial.

It's very different
to King's Landing,

which is an urban, buzzy city,

and it's beautiful to watch
the difference in the costumes.

We wanted it to feel
really idyllic

in terms of its color palette.

So, it's all harvest tones,
all cottons and linens.

The people that live there,
the work that they do,

we like the idea
of an olive farms.

Nice area here,
which is the, um,

Claire's olive press area.

[David Hancock]
Claire Richards
did an extraordinary job

just dressing it
and making it feel like

a place where
normal people live.

Real a piece of stone.

Shipped all the way from India.

-Fully practical.
-[stone press creaking]

I think olive pâté for lunch.

[Claire Nia Richards]
The new elements

that we were creating,

I took inspiration
from being in Cáceres,

and Trujillo,

and the old towns
of Rhodes and Greece,

where you've got that kind
of crumbling of stone,

but then you've got all these
lovely pockets of details.

Just feel the gravel
under your feet

and look at the walls
around you.

You really feel like you can
open every single door

and go in.

And down every alleyway
there's details.

[Lee] It was on such
tight timeframes

that we had to be
working in there

alongside our
construction team,

and literally,
as they finished an area,

we were moving into that area
and dressing it.

There's so much to do there.

What is this?

[Benjamin Evan Ainsworth]
I remember one scene

stepping out
and looking around

and not seeing a blue screen.

You couldn't see anything
that could indicate

that you weren't
in a real town.

It was such a special
experience for me

to be able to immerse myself
in, in such a rich way.

[Nick]
Alright, let's reset, please.

-Okay, resetting.
-Thank you, guys. Resetting!

Apple, Mark.

[clapperboard clacks]

[♪ intriguing music playing]

[crew member 1]
Standing by! Standing by!

[cast and crew chattering]

[crew member 2]
Thanks, guys. Set's clear!

Let's start to clear
and lock it off.
Thanks, everyone.

[crew member 3]
Clearing, please!

Here we go.

[director] And action!

[Nick]
Aegon and Larys come across

the fallen body of Sunfyre.

And we weren't able to return
to the location

where Sunfyre
actually crashed.

So we had to recreate it
in our location,

Caesar's Camp.

I saw this really great hill
that I could see Aegon and Larys

walking up.

sh**ting that Steadicam,

I really enjoyed seeing
the physical effort

it took them to get
to Sunfyre's body

before the reveal.

This place has,
strangely enough,

become a post-apocalyptic
tourist attraction.

[man] It's a penny
to touch the dragon.

-[director] Cut, cut.
-[Clare] Okay, hold it there!

We could do something
like this.

Can I see, um, Larys' look back
to Tom, please?

[Tom Glynn-Carney]
A group of settlers

had started using Sunfyre

as a means to make money.

Aegon's not happy
about that at all.

He's not happy at all, really,
this season.

-[Aegon whimpering]
-Will you get up...

and live?

[softly] Wake up.

[♪ serene music playing]

[crew member]
Any final checks,

going straight to this, guys?
Thank you.

The space that we had
for Sunfyre's body,

the art department had
to create this huge,

sort of hole in the earth,

like a meteor had hit it.

[Waldo Mason]
Traditionally, in this show,

whenever there's been a dragon
or a dragon's head on set,

it's always been a blue shape
that we see.

But because this Sunfyre
was motionless,

we could actually make
a full-scale model

for Tom to interact with.

[softly] Wake up. I'm here.

I'm here.

[speaking High Valyrian]

That model of Sunfyre
was spectacular.

Even the-- to the texture
to touch him.

It was, like, kind of soft.
The skin moved.

We had to figure out
what the size of Sunfyre

would be in the real world.

Establish a scale,

then have the general shape

chipped out in polystyrene.

And then sculpt over the top
of that, mold it.

Sunfyre is made up
of tiny scales,

and we had to sculpt them in
individually,

all over the head and neck.

[Claire Cameron]
Because it was delicate,

it became the baby
of the workshop.

Which part of Sunfyre is this?

-The neck.
-The neck?

This is part of Sunfyre's neck.

[♪ light, upbeat music playing]

[Waldo] We had to establish
a real-world version

of Sunfyre's color.

How fantastical should that be?

Or how much more grounded
should we make it look?

We had lots of reference
for what the scales looked like,

the texture of him,

but also the damage that
he received in Season Two.

Like, half of his face
is mangled.

[Tom] The skill
to make something

as beautifully detailed,

and as lifelike,

it's a gift to be an actor
on this kind of set.

You don't really have
to imagine very much.

♪♪

[Clare] And, cut. Cut.

-Thank you. Beautiful!
-And board.

[Clare] That was gorgeous.

-And boarding.
-Handle.

[crew chattering]

[♪ intriguing music playing]

[Matt]
I'm packing.

It's moving.

I'm having a look
in the direction of the thing

-that he's looking at.
-[Clare] Yeah.

It was a great sequence
when filming Daemon,

when he's got some gold
from Lady Jeyne,

and he's getting on his dragon,

and Caraxes is
sort of behaving weirdly.

The dragon is basically saying,
"I'm going this way."

Filming that on the buck
was fun

because Matt was
suddenly deciding,

"Maybe I can start to fall
at this point."

And we're all over this going,
"Okay, maybe..."

[laughing]

"How-- How much of a fall, Matt?

'Cause we've gotta
make it safe."

[Caraxes screeching]

[wings flapping]

[Clare]
And Caraxes takes him

and lands in the middle of this

lunar landscape in Wales.

[Alejandro]
We have some certain rules

about how to sh**t dragons,

and one of them is definitely

they need to live in the space
as if they were real.

So, the cave where Sheepstealer
and Rhaena are hiding,

we had to find this
high altitude

of the mountain cave

in our locations in Wales,

which became a big challenge
because there are none.

We take into consideration

-how tall the dragon is...
-[dragon roaring]

...sitting down
or standing up.

How long is the wingspan?

We could not find a cave

that was big enough
for Sheepstealer.

So we had to create this cave

with a sort of "V"
sort of shape

in the quarry
in the mountains.

We had massive construction
up above of blackout,

and we were able
to get a sense of a cave.

Everyone's on the move.

We're staying here
with Matt and the drone.

[Dadi Einarsson]
We built this scaffold rig

that blacked out
inside the cave,

so that Alejandro
was able to light that.

The logistics of doing that
were very complex,

and it was the first thing
we shot when we went to Wales.

So, that was like,
day one, Wales,

super complex scene.

It's very complicated
because it's a quarry

that needs to have
a lot of planning

and health and safety
measurements in place.

[Nick] We'll get these
barriers back in.

Work very carefully
in this area here, please.

Right. Wide shots.
Here we go.

[♪ serene music playing]

[Matt] It was nice
to be out in Wales.

I think the show really responds
well to great scale,

and those vistas.

And the dramatic weight
of the scene

is them hiding in a cave.

So we made a whole plan
with VFX.

We decided Sheepstealer could
actually crawl into that cave.

[Sheepstealer growling]

The scale of that rock opening
was huge.

You know, we're talking
Welsh mountains.

It just gave the directors
really beautiful wide shots

that we otherwise
wouldn't get on a set.

[flames whooshing]

[Clare] We really wanted
Rhaena to be lit by fire.

So the first time we see her,

it's Sheepstealer
blowing fire behind her.

So she's in a silhouette.

[Sheepstealer growling]

So, there was like
all kinds of light effects,

SFX included,

because we needed
dragon breath coming out.

We needed some
practical effects for the cave.

[Nick] Quiet, please.
Roll sound.

-[slate claps]
-[crew member] Rolling!

Dragon!

[Sheepstealer growling]

[Daemon]
Rhaena.

[Thomas Horton]
Tricky thing with that scene

was that it's a really intimate
father-daughter moment.

You don't want to overshadow
that emotional beat

with these huge dragons.

So a lot of the work
with Clare was about blocking.

Yeah, keep coming towards me.

[Matt] And then around here,
I do that.

[dragon roaring]

[Clare]
We push in a little bit.

[Matt] There. Yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]
How do we sh**t the scene

so dragons aren't sticking
their big heads

into the back of this really
intimate conversation?

[Clare] It's sort of tragic.

This scene is a really
emotional scene.

How?

[Clare] And it's really
wonderful to see

this softer side of Daemon.

Cut!

Great. Lovely. Thanks.

[crew member]
Cut there!

[♪ dramatic music playing]

It was so interesting
when Ryan said,

did I want to do Episodes
Two, Three, and Four?

It didn't dawn on me
immediately

the huge responsibility

that that is
in terms of viewers,

and really,
making three films.

When I read those three scripts,
I mean, I just loved them

because they were so rich
with character development,

which is what I really,
truly love.

I love working
with the actors.

They bring so much
to the stories.

Perfect. Yeah.

[♪ exciting music playing]

My favorite thing
about this season was

we get to sh**t back-to-back
episodes in a single block.

[Nick] Here we go.
Rehearsing. Quiet!

It did mean at the start
of the schedule,

we were sh**ting
pretty much every day,

which is more like working
on a feature film

or a TV series
that's shot in blocks.

[all cheering]

Now, it was five days a week
of filming,

and having to prep
what's coming ahead, as well.

-[rain pattering]
-[Freddie Fox] Harrenhal, baby.

Oh yeah.

Make it rain.

That's a huge challenge.

We're sh**ting


Set it all up again.

It is sh**ting like
a large-sized feature.

-How's that?
-How is it?

Everything, from the weapons,
to the set decor,

to props, to stunt teams
that run it all,

I think every aspect
of the filmmaking on this show

is phenomenal.

[James Norton]
Seeing the work,

seeing the attention to detail,

seeing the love that
goes into this whole show,

I did have a moment
where I was like,

"Wow, I really have to--

have to up my game
on this one." [chuckles]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[Alejandro]
Very exciting as a filmmaker

to create an arc.

[dragon purring]

That was amazing for us.

[Clare] There's something
wonderful in that.

Story-wise,
character-wise, look-wise,

you are able to build
on the themes

that are established
previous seasons

and Episode One.

It's very exciting to have
that responsibility, ultimately.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ theme music playing]