How Long Did It Take To Film Game Of Thrones

How Long Did It Take to Film Game of Thrones?

Figuring out how long it took to film Game of Thrones is like trying to solve a giant puzzle. It wasn’t just a quick movie shoot; it was a massive undertaking that spanned almost a decade! So, let’s dive deep and see all the different pieces that make up the filming timeline of this amazing show.

The Overall Timeline: A Decade of Westeros

Game of Thrones wasn’t filmed all at once. It was a big project that had many seasons, each with its own filming period. The show aired from 2011 to 2019. To put it in simple words, from the start of filming the first season till the production of the last, it roughly took almost 10 years for the entire series to come to life on screen. But that’s not the complete story, let’s explore further.

• First Season: Filming for the first season began in 2010, and it premiered in April 2011. This means the actual filming lasted approximately six months, with post-production taking a few extra months.
• Subsequent Seasons: Each subsequent season usually took a similar timeframe for filming and post-production. Filming usually began towards the end of summer, spanning a couple of months, sometimes it took even longer. The time it took to film a season varied based on several factors, such as the complexity of story and the number of special effects required.
• Final Season: The last season, season 8, was different. They spent more time filming this final season as it had huge battles and epic scenes. It took more than 8 months to film which is more than the usual time for one season’s production and had a longer post-production timeline.

Breaking Down Filming Per Season

The filming of Game of Thrones wasn’t a constant, straight line. Each season had its own challenges and required different amounts of time to film. Let’s explore each one:

Season 1: Setting the Stage

The first season was crucial to get right. It had to introduce all the important characters, the different houses, and the world of Westeros. Filming started in late July 2010 and wrapped up in late December of the same year. So, approximately 5-6 months were spent filming the first season. Remember, this doesn’t include editing, adding visual effects and other post-production tasks.

Seasons 2 Through 6: The Middle Years

These seasons followed a more regular schedule. Each took around 6-8 months of filming, generally, it used to start in July and end in December or January, depending upon the needs of the season and storyline. The crew had become more efficient, but the stories got more complicated which means that sometimes filming had to be extended for a couple of months. The crew became more efficient as it got experienced over the course of the show and was able to work according to the demand of each season’s storyline.

Season 7: Short but Sweet

Season 7 had fewer episodes than usual, and this meant a shorter filming schedule. It started in August 2016 and wrapped up in February 2017. It was different because the number of episodes were less than the previous seasons, so filming took less time.

Season 8: The Grand Finale

The final season took the longest to film. It started in late 2017, specifically October and continued into mid 2018, wrapping up in June. It took more than 8 months to film the last season, due to its intense battles, special effects, and many locations. This is the longest time that any season had taken to film as compared to previous seasons.

Factors Affecting Filming Time

Several factors made the filming of Game of Thrones take longer. These were not simple shoots; they were huge productions with lots of moving parts. Understanding these factors will help you appreciate the overall filming duration. Let’s explore those factors:

Multiple Filming Locations

Game of Thrones was filmed in many different locations around the world. These locations included Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland, Spain, and Morocco. Traveling to these locations, setting up sets and moving crew and actors between these locations all added time to the process. Sometimes, even the weather in these various locations changed plans which took even more time and money.

• Northern Ireland: Served as the primary filming location and many sets were permanently built in this location.
• Croatia: Dubrovnik and other parts of Croatia were used for Kings Landing.
• Iceland: Served as the backdrop for the North of the Wall scenes.
• Spain: Various locations were used to portray Dorne, and other parts of Westeros.
• Morocco: Served as the location for Essos.

Large Cast

With many characters, coordinating schedules for such a large cast was difficult. It required the production team to make sure all the actors were present at the right time, at the right location. Scheduling clashes and actors’ availabilities certainly added to the complexity and time required for filming.

Complex Battle Scenes

The battles in Game of Thrones were legendary and extremely intricate. Planning, choreographing, rehearsing and filming these battle sequences took many days to complete. In fact, just one battle scene could take weeks to film. The final season had an especially difficult battle scene which took more than 50 days and nights of shoot, just for one battle scene.

Visual Effects

The dragons, direwolves, White Walkers, and other magical elements were not real. They were all made using visual effects. These visual effects took a considerable amount of time to add during post-production. The post production work was a time taking process, and needed a team of artists and many months to properly create such visual effects. The more complex the effect, the more time it took to add them.

Post-Production

Filming is just one part of creating a show. After filming, there was the post-production process. This process involves editing, adding music, creating sound effects, and color correction. Each of these steps was a lengthy process, which is why production timeline was longer than just the filming time. The last season had the longest post production time compared to the previous seasons due to its massive battle scenes, special effects, and storyline.

The Role of Pre-Production

Before the cameras even started rolling, a lot of work was put into pre-production. Pre-production includes script writing, set design, costume making, location scouting, casting, and more. This phase took months and was a crucial step in the overall timeline. It helped everything go smoothly when filming finally began. Without proper pre production the whole filming schedule could have been disrupted causing more delays and costs to the production team.

The Impact of the Show’s Growth

As Game of Thrones grew in popularity, the production also became more extensive. It started as a medium-sized show and then moved onto becoming a global phenomenon, which also impacted its production schedule. The production budget kept increasing each season, and with that increase the scale of production and time to film also increased.

• Increased Budget: The production budget increased as the show got more popular, allowing for more lavish sets, better effects, and longer filming schedules, especially for the final seasons.
• More Complexity: The storyline of the series became increasingly complex, which required more filming days, special effects, and planning from the cast and crew.

Season-by-Season Filming Length – A Detailed Look

To really understand the filming timeline, let’s look at a quick table that summarizes the filming length of each season:

This table gives a better visual representation about the time it took to film each season.

So, to get a very concise idea, the filming of Game of Thrones from start to end took roughly ten years and it varied with each season. The entire process included filming, pre and post production, and the complexities that came with such a large-scale project. This is the reason why the show took a decade to air on the television. From planning to filming to finally bringing it to our screen, a lot of work, team effort, and time went into this project. The end result made it worth the wait!