Game of Thrones Season 8 may have been a disaster, but we cannot take away the fact that the visual effects in the show were exceptionally done. The dragons, for example, had been painstakingly designed with precision to ensure the fire-breathing creatures looked as realistic as possible.
Well, since these are mythical beasts, we only have an idea of what they look like from numerous works of literature and films. However, the dragons in the show have a distinct appearance that sets them apart from the rest.
How Image Engine designed the dragons in Game of Thrones
One of the trickiest parts of animation is making sure that the subjects are anatomically correct. It’s easy to do when we’re capturing humans or animals, but since dragons don’t really exist—we know, it’s a real bummer—there’s no solid reference to base its body structure.
This is why the artists at Image Engine, the animation studio responsible for bringing to life Daenerys Targaryen’s children, used a selection of skeletal frames from animals as reference. It’s understandable to see some flaws in the design because, after all, there’s no standard appearance for a dragon as they vary in different parts of the world.
With flying, however, the creatives found it easier to use aircraft as the point of reference. VFX Supervisor Thomas Schelesny told Cospective how they designed the aerial movements of the dragons based on the flight trajectory of airplanes.
Drogon is the same size as a 747 airliner, so his flight dynamics work similarly. The audience has an expectation around the movements of something that big, after all, so we have to align with that touchstone in our animations. With this in mind, we gathered many references of airliners performing a variety of maneuvers.
The meticulous study of an airplane’s takeoff and landing only suggests the impressive amount of work and time that they invested for the show. Even the flapping of wings was patterned after eagle movements. Designing one dragon is hard enough, but talk about three dragons with distinct looks and even personalities—that sounds like passion and dedication.
George R.R. Martin didn’t like Game of Thrones‘ dragons
Unfortunately, even with the diligent study and execution of the dragon’s design, George R.R. Martin was not pleased. “They were like all the same,” he said at an FYC event via Deadline. Fans are aware of how each dragon in his books is unique, something that he didn’t see in the original show but loved in the prequel series.
Indeed, he likes the feral creatures in House of the Dragon. “They came alive. It came as great satisfaction to me,” he remarked. Well, he was pertaining to their personalities more than their looks, and it seems like the prequel show learned a lesson from the original series.
Game of Thrones is currently available to watch on Max.
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