Perhaps it’s because I’m used to TV series with blatantly obvious special effects but, after seeing this behind-the-scenes video of HBO’s Game of Thrones, I’m amazed at the number of architectural structures and elements that aren’t real. It’s simply awesome.
Sure, there are fantastic castles and structures that obviously don’t exist anywhere on Earth, but those are not the ones I’m talking about. While they are great, the most impressive thing is how they enhanced real architecture, transforming the most mundane period sets into picture-perfect period architecture. It seems as if almost every scene has some kind of 3D enhancement that seamlessly transforms what already looks great in the real world into total awesomeness.
Not many years ago, nobody would have been able to do this for TV, no matter how high-end the series was. Now, the advancements in hardware and software are making these techniques available to everyone instead of just feature films made by powerhouses like ILM or Weta. [Kottke]