Do you ever wonder how HBO’s Game of Thrones gets all of those majestic shots of Jon Snow surrounded by endless snow when he’s in the North? No, there’s no CGI trickery here. A huge chunk of the production actually takes place in freezing cold Iceland, where the cast and crew really are surrounded by endless snow. White Walkers may not be real but a cameraman stuck on a six-hour shoot in this frozen tundra is close enough to the real thing.
Well, just to give you an idea of how absolutely hellish the conditions are, here’s a report from Page Six that says Jon Snow, Ser Davos, and other GoT fan favorites are getting absolutely rolled by Iceland’s relentless freezing wind.
“Stars were said to include Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Joe Dempsie (Gendry), Rory McCann (Sandor “the Hound”) and Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane). They have been shooting amid 100 mph winds and a minus 25 centigrade wind chill.
A source on the set said, “Daylight is scarce here [five to six hours a day]. Super jeeps are needed to bring in equipment, and much is then transported by hand . . . The actors are made up and dressed in hotels and driven to location 90 percent ready to shoot . . . Shelter is provided by ‘Russian tents’ that are anchored down, and able to be heated, and [can] withstand 100 mph winds.”
And the winds made it hard to record the dialogue between characters. The insider continued, “High winds caused words to be ‘whipped away’ — shouting became the norm. And despite the cold, there was an issue with a lack of snow in the lowland locations.”
Just FYI, -25 centigrade wind is roughly -13F, which is pretty damn cold. I’ve never experienced 100mph winds in sub-freezing temperatures, but I can’t imagine it’s very pleasant. So, next time you see our heroes venturing out into the unforgiving Northern lands on screen and the characters look absolutely freezing and miserable, remember that they actually are. It’s all real.
Appreciate the sacrifice.
