Game of Thrones has to contend with a digitally enhanced mouldering army of the dead, one giant (and we mean giant) wight, and three dragons. Seriously: this is your last chance, and you won’t have another so, get out while the getting is good. ), To be fair, immersing the viewer in the confusion of war is a choice, and it can be devastating. Now, with this existential threat eliminated three episodes before the finale, it seems as though that foolish game might become the series’ endgame, as if the Iron Throne, and not life, were the real prize all along. (We have a full accounting here.) If you’re not all caught up, or would prefer not to be spoiled, now is the time to leave. The second scene comes at the end of the battle — actually, it ends the battle in one swift stroke. They form a line on the horizon. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Credit... HBO © 2020 Condé Nast. This episode of Game of Thrones was called “The Long Night,” which is primarily an allusion to the fabled battle of old that rocked Westeros and may play a part in the prequel series currently in the works at HBO. He is evidently not a morning person. All rights reserved. At least as far as I can see them. The faces of the onlookers register this in quietly dawning dread. Maisie Williams and Vladimir Furdik in “Game of Thrones.”, collection of indelible individual scenes. 'Game of Thrones' has gotten darker partially because of the change in seasons on the show An unedited screenshot of season eight, episode one, "Winterfell." So dark, in fact, that there’s a … First, it’s worth noting that episode director Miguel Sapochnik has said that he studied the long nighttime fight at the center of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, called the Battle of Helm’s Deep, in order to figure out how to create a super-sized battle episode that wouldn’t tire audiences out. Sapochnik is fairly quick to give us close-ups of our favorites after each crowd scene to make sure we know they’re still alive, until they aren’t. The castle and its crypt are breached. The battle began with life vanishing into the pitiless dark; it ended with life desperately leaping out of it. There are distant sounds of clashing. “Game of Thrones” has done this well — say, in the epic battle sequence of “Hardhome.” (Also directed, like “Long Night,” by the capable Miguel Sapochnik.). For years, “Game of Thrones” has been a story of the folly of seeking power. The episode’s director of photography, Fabian Wagner, spoke with Vanity Fair’s “Still Watching” podcast about some of the challenges of shooting this nocturnal skirmish. The army arrived under cloak of darkness, and the hour-plus combat that ensued unfolded with all the chromatic variety of a goth teenager’s wardrobe. Jaime’s horrified reaction at what’s happening is really a masterpiece of acting. There’s something to be said for this, character-wise. Old Blue Eyes steps forward from the snowy wood, reaches for his frosty sword, arrogant, impassive. But lack of light also plays a pivotal role in this opening sequence which sees an entire Dothraki horde swallowed by the darkness of the army of the dead. “Game of Thrones” is a series that speaks visually as much as it does through dialogue. Why to light this episode of Game of Thrones for us of course! At worst, it’s a frustrating cliché, hostile to narrative and eyeballs, that substitutes fog for feeling. Beric inspires Sandor and Melisandre inspires many—but most specifically Arya who is shown to be in total darkness in the Winterfell hallways when she’s at her lowest. Again, I have issues with what this means for the story. Facing — whatever is out there — this indomitable army gutters out like birthday candles. To revisit this article, select My⁠ ⁠Account, then View saved stories. But mostly just dark. Yes and No. Too often, what it had to say was mumblemurmurmumble. The night was dark and — from what we could see of it — full of terrors. The Night King has raised the dead from the battle (corpses are a renewable resource). This was something we have seen, or rather not seen, before. The light is used effectively throughout the episode, such as this showstopper boy band moment for the White Walker boys. It was a fitting showcase for a series that, in its later years, has stood out more as a collection of indelible individual scenes than seamless episodes. But there were also images that absolutely sang. A little dark of night and convenient cloud … Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. The Dothraki charge in Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” was an inventive use of darkness and light, but much of the episode was simply too murky to track. Now, I have substantive questions about this attack. You can see a lot of that famous cinematic skirmish in the Battle for Winterfell, but one thing you won’t see is Oscar-winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie’s approach to lighting. The likes of “Ozark” and “True Detective” externalize their angst by painting the world in shades of black and blue. Even if you couldn’t see every second of it. Game of Thrones has to contend with a digitally enhanced mouldering army of the dead, one giant (and we mean giant) wight, and three dragons. . Some light is also just purely functional, as with whatever inferno is raging outside the Winterfell library window perfectly framing Arya in this kill. The Dothraki charge in Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” was an inventive use of darkness and light, but much of the episode was simply too murky to track. Natural-lit night scenes and gloomy filters have rendered expensive widescreens into charcoal rubbings of semi-perceptible movement. A blue-ish tinge is all Lesnie needed to connote “night,” but Wagner had to deal with something much trickier. Strategically, it might not have been the best opening move by an army outfitted with two dragons and a weird teen who can possess reconnaissance ravens! Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Lesnie replied, “Same place as the music.” Which is why Helm’s Deep is lit up like Fenway Park, making every grim king, glam archer, and shield-surfing elf easy to pick out in a crowd. USA TODAY has reached out to HBO for comment. Which dragon bit which? “Game of Thrones” has had gigantic battles before; it may have another in store. Was ‘Game of Thrones’ Too Dark on Sunday? Speaking to ThisIsInsider in 2017, Game of Thrones cinematographer Robert McLachlan explained that the show has gotten so much darker because there are fewer ways to "justify" the … It is also unsettling, in a series that has had issues around race and exoticism, to send off an army of nonwhite characters as zombie fodder. But it’s also a rather apt name for an episode of television that had many at home squinting and scooting closer to see if one of their favorites had just died in the dimly lit clash between the army of the living and the army of the dead. Over the years, the cinematographers have relied on sunlight, moonlight, candlelight, and fire light. But when comparing Sapochnik and Wagner to Jackson and Lesnie, it’s only fair to keep a few other considerations in mind. And those were scenes that used the darkness to a purpose — not as a shroud, but as a physical presence. “Saving Private Ryan” exposed a mass audience to war as a disorienting assault, where you can never get your bearings or know where the next bullet is coming from. There’s some CG crowd work for those orcs for sure, but there were also just a lot of amped up New Zealand stunt men and women in makeup screaming in the rain. And in a battle whose length and phantasmagoria befit a prog-rock double album, it reduced a climax eight years in the making to an inky, ill-defined scrum of beards and bones. (The final lesson of “Game of Thrones,” apparently, is to hang on to your old plasma TVs with their sharply defined blacks. Ad Choices. Then slowly, quietly, the fires die out. Wagner in his interview with Vanity Fair stressed that despite its zombies and dragons, Game of Thrones is a very naturalistically and “classically” shot show. The consuming battle to rule Westeros — the “game” cynically named as such by the villainous Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) — is precisely what kept the continent from uniting to face this threat. This seems part of Wagner’s effort to “make things smaller” and create an emotional story for each character “that we can follow.”. In a series devoted to spectacle, it harnesses the power of what we can’t see.

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