It’s hard out there for a Stark. All of them. Even the Snows. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you have somehow managed to miss out on one of the most ambitious undertakings to hit cable television in the last three years, HBO’s adaptation of the Song of Ice and Fire novels from George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones. While I would rather you go read the novels, then watch the show, I’ll settle for either or, and in either order. You should not be missing this.
So, more like this, perhaps.
Having participated in the Game of Thrones podcast on Word of the Nerd this past season, I can tell you that while most fans are excited by the series, our secret wish, if we can just go ahead and say it, is that the show would look more like Lord of the Rings. Not by way of content. No one wants to see Jon Snow running across the Shire or Sansa thrown into the fires of Mordor (shush you Sansa haters. She’s 12-years-old for Pete’s sake). We just want the production values. We want each hour-long episode to look more like half a movie. There is a tremendous sense of place in the novels, and while the show has absolutely done an admirable job translating that to the small screen (particularly when it comes to The Wall) we still want more.
According to a recent interview with Vanessa Taylor on Jeff Goldsmith’s Q&A Podcast, it looks like that might be just what we are going to get when season three, which will collect the first half of A Storm of Swords, hits airways next Spring.
I’ve actually been learning a particular lesson this season. My bosses [show creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff] seem to be becoming more visual storytellers. All of the episodes of the third season seem to open with a particularly cinematic opening. And they’re less about clever dialogue and transition and more about these huge cinematic… just the visuals of it all. And so I’m really learning a different way of writing from that. Because I think it’s quite subtle and I feel like, by contrast, the writing of the second season was a bit more conventional.”
…and this! (Wildfire on the water, season 2)
This is good news for us all. While I enjoyed season 2, there is no denying the writers occasionally lost it’s way, trying to give all of Martin’s characters everything they deserve, but unfortunately falling short perhaps because their attention was so divided. Even with 13 hours per book, or 26 hours as A Storm of Swords will receive, there is no way to cover every character the way Martin does. It is much better to focus on creating the feel of the books than transcribing them.
A Storm of Swords is by far my favorite of the series. I can not wait to see how the show brings it into my living room in…7 months. SEVEN MONTHS! Let us know what you think of all this in comments below.
Source: Bleeding Cool
About Rachel Proffitt
Rachel Proffitt – Rachel is in a state of fluxx, having taken a year off from teaching high school social studies to pursue writing, adventure, geekery and all things beautiful. She adds a touch of class to this ordinarily crass and reckless group of guys. When we are not enjoying her brilliance here, we can always click over to Good Girls Gone Geek to get more!
