House of the Dragon
Summary
House of the Dragonseason 2 see House Targaryen go through a number of turbulence in episodes 6 and 7 , which bear off the grow number of Targaryen SOB introduce throughout the last several episodes . With honour - winning cameraman Vanja Černjul behind the photographic camera , the most recent episode of the hitHBO show highlighted Queen Rhaenyra ’s effortsto match her remaining dragon with rider despite the want of available Targaryen heirs . Seasmoke , Vermithor , and Silverwing each ascertain a novel rider in " Smallfolk " and " The Red Sowing . "
Černjul has served as manager of picture taking on a wide range of labor , from the plushy and present-day romance ofCrazy Rich Asiansto the wholesale period dramaThe Gilded Age , butHouse of the Dragonmay be his most ambitious work yet . From the dizzying bunch scenes depicting the smallfolk ’s revolt against the Greens to the more intimate moments between Rhaenyra and Mysaria , installment 6 cover a expectant regalia of musical genre in a exclusive time of day . House of the Dragonseason 2 , episode 7also bluster the great - scale fight picture of the season , thanks to Vermithor ’s fury , a challenging chronological succession that the gifted gang was more than ready to tackle .
In House of the Dragon , the Targaryens claim their " blood of the dragon " allows them alone to ride the creature , but that may not be the whole Sojourner Truth .
screen door Rantinterviewed Černjul about his fascinating camerawork onHouse of the Dragonseason 2 , how his previous connection with director Andrij Parekh head to him joining the show for episode 6 and 7 , and how he see some potent moments such as Vermithor run across Hugh or Rhaenyra and Mysaria ’s kiss .
Breaking Down House Of The Dragon’s Rhaenyra & Addam Face-Off And More
Screen blah : You worked on two really exciting sequence his season . What conversation did you have with each respective conductor , especially for episode 6 , about capturing the feel of the small folks ' desperation and how that gives Rhaenyra an advantage ?
Vanja Černjul : It was the first time I worked with both directors , but Andrij [ Parekh ] and I have known each other for a very long clock time . We went to film school together , and we stay in touch modality throughout the 10 . He ’s had an incredible career as a director of picture taking and start direct recently , and when he commence the opportunity to direct House of the Dragon , he asked me if I would come with him to London and go on this journey with him . It was very exciting for many understanding . One of them was the chance to work with Andrij , but also being part of this huge world , which I screw a little spot about . I never image the original series . It just so happened my son was a cock-a-hoop fan , but I never saw it - belike the last person on Earth who had n’t even seen season 1 .
When I arrived in London , I had a lot of catch up to do . I had to first prosecute season 1 , and then I see the original serial . I even take the books to catch up because everybody recognize this world so well . The great thing is that we , as a team , manage to bring some fresh perspectives and new ideas to the installment . Andrij was an one-time friend , but I just met Loni Peristere this season for the first metre , and we soon discovered that we have very similar appreciation in classical picture palace . We really promptly developed our own language , so hat that was really a lot of fun .
Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore
Andrij directed a couple of episode of Succession , another very successful HBO show . I think he brought a minuscule bite of that experience with him in how he wanted to approach the view in the little council , where a set of powerful mass are mystify together and hash out the future of other people . He wanted to wreak a unlike style to those scenes , specially the humble council scenery with Aemond as a shopping mall , as they ’re discussing how the war is going to spread .
Andrij ’s idea was to approach this scene with a more observational style , something to give you a seat at the table almost , as if you are observing this meeting like a tent-fly on the wall . But we also wanted to have some motivating for the bm , and we wanted Aemond to be the only soul with the great power to move the camera . We hail up with this blocking where Aemond was walking around the table , and then we trace him on the so - called dance floor with two cameras . We ’re always keep up Aemond , basically , but then the photographic camera operator were costless to spontaneously oppose to whoever Aemond was addressing . That was a very effective way to border on that scene , and I cogitate it worked very well .
With Loni , because we had to get to know each other really quickly , we used a circle of references from classical movie house . For object lesson , in instalment 7 , there ’s a scene where Rhaenyra is face Addam , the fresh dragon passenger , and is not sure if he is a foe or a friend . They ’re kind of measure out each other up in this unbelievable location on the beach , and Loni cite one scene from a classical westerly ; the iconic duel scene from Once Upon A Time in The West . We wanted to use that noted dual between Harmonica ( played by Charles Bronson ) and Henry Fonda ’s graphic symbol , Frank . We used it as a reference , just to jumpstart the process of shotlisting and getting estimate . Of course , the scene became something completely different , but that was the initial brainchild .
Image via Disney+
Screen Rant : Can you talk about working with Emma D’Arcy for such a pivotal moment ?
Vanja Černjul : [ They ] were excite when they pick up that we used the classical horse opera for intake for the view . It was one of my favorite scene in that episode because we shoot on the beach in North Wales , on the Isle of Anglesey , and it was a huge , gorgeous , beautiful beach .
But we learn , as we were planning the docket of when we were going to shoot each shot grant to the sunlight position , that the tide on the beach were incredibly violent . There ’s a vast difference between the sunrise and the afternoon , so that added another layer of complexness for how we were going to shoot it . We had to move after we shot each guess , and we had to move the whole work party and equipment because the tide was moving . We had this very complicated chart of where we needed to be at each time of day so as to stay away from the tide , in combination with the sun position and how we wanted each shot to be lit . It became this very complicated design [ detail ] which shot had to be done when .
Giving Dragons Like Vermithor & Silverwing Their Own Unique Personalities In Season 2
Screen Rant : We ’ve had some unbelievable dragon battle and flying dragon flying scenes already this time of year , but episode 7 gives us two new tartar rider and their encounters , from Hugh ’s violent claiming of Vermithor to Ulf ’s more peaceful joyride on Silverwing . What marks the remainder there ?
Vanja Černjul : The Dragonmount scene was probably the most thought-provoking scene in that sequence , and one of the grownup natural process scenes of the season . And the challenge was that this was a entirely new set . It ’s supposed to be this huge cave where these enormous creatures know , and we had a very big stage , but it was peradventure a tenth of the actual place it was conjecture to be . The dock where the riders mount the dragons was supposed to also be very tall , so this whole space was supposed to be huge . Of course , we could n’t construct such a Brobdingnagian point stage set , so only the dock was practically built and everything else was blue screen .
But the challenging thing was conceive of the scale of the blank and the scale of these firedrake , specifically Vermithor . He ’s suppose to be the second - largest firedrake . and no matter how much prep you have , just guess the distances and the plate was very unmanageable . Also , imagining what the dragon was doing at the time . We had pieces of a flying lizard that the puppeteers were moving , like this large dragon ’s read/write head that gave us some idea of where the dragon is in the space .
Image via Disney+
Loni build up a technique where he used this audio system that director sometimes utilize when they have to direct large crowds of multitude or they have to just project far out ; it ’s called " Voice of God . " He used this audio system to constantly describe what the dragon was doing , and he was even breathe like a dragon when the dragon was suppose to come close to Rhaenyra . He basically turned into a flying dragon over this system , and it really helped us sympathise where we were in the aspect and what the firedrake was doing . Every day that we shot in the Dragonmount , we knew that Loni was going to turn into a dragon over this audio system . It ’s one of those affair that you have to come up with when everybody has to see the same thing that does n’t exist .
How much do you discuss the personality and motility trajectory with both director and VFX executive program , especially for Silverwing ’s flight ?
Overall , this season , we desire to make Draco equitation find more subjective and more substantial . We wanted the Draco cod to feel as if the tv camera operator is on the dragon shooting handheld ; it was a very prompt , immanent feeling . Of of course , it was impossible to put the operator on a dragon because dragon riding is typically shot on a mechanical gimmick called the long horse , which is like a mechanical bull that they use for rodeo - only much taller . It was just the actor were sitting on this machine very high up in the air , and the machine was programmed to simulate the movement of the dragon in coordination with the visual essence and particular effects section base on the previous vivification that we did .
First of all , it would n’t be safe . Also , there was no room , so it would never work . But also the visual effects department needed to precisely read the tv camera bm . And the camera movement also had to be nodal - even though we desire it to find handheld , it had to be nodal for the ocular force intent .
All four displaced person sat down and discussed different manner to approach this , and I was give the task of doing the a part of the initial examination for this . I test the camera in an effort to have a hand-held feel , but all the dissimilar departments were part of the mental testing because they all had to adjust the dragon ride sequences as realistic as possible . The costumes section had to adjust the costume so that the mantle would pilot in a certain way , and it affected the tomentum because we used a muckle of tip machines . The resolution we had was to put a remote camera ride in front of the thespian on the buck , and we had a television camera wheeler dealer on the solid ground using a handheld Libra moose with the monitor mounted on it that mime whatever the hustler was doing .
Through the cognitive process of testing , we substantiate that the camera operator on the ground was a little mo too stable . Of course , they were standing on the ground and they were not on the dollar , but we did n’t want to have a fake the hand-held movement . We did n’t want the wheeler dealer to attempt to simulate it ; we wanted to have a tangible handheld feel . One idea we came up with on the spot was to work a half - correspondence ball from the nearby gym and ask the hustler to digest on it , so that it would throw them little bit out of balance . They would have to keep work to quell in balance , and that sum realism to the photographic camera movement handheld feel . When I purpose this , the operators were happy to try it , and it process out toppingly . I cover this to the other DPs and theater director , and everybody adjusted this approach to their own pauperism . It was one little innovation that I think work well .
Rhaenyra & Mysaria’s Episode 6 Moment Highlights How Unique House Of The Dragon Filming Is
Screen Rant : On the emotional side , I ’m beguile by the fact that Emma D’Arcy and Sonoya Mizuno have suppose that the hug and buss in episode 6 emerged course in the second of the Rhaenyra and Mysaria fit when it feels like such an emotional crux of the matter of the sequence . How does that change things in the minute for your squad , if at all , and do you think the romantic design was there beforehand ?
Vanja Černjul : That ’s the beautiful thing about the House of the Dragon , you have to practice every cinematic storytelling muscleman that you have because there are so many different approaches that you have to do . Some scenes are very proficient , some scenes are massive with hundreds of extras and horse cavalry , and some scene are heavy with visual effect . We have to plan everything down to on the nose what lens to utilise and how far away from the role player we will be for such scenes .
But that intimate scenery , for example , was one where the theatre director want to give role player as much exemption as potential to search . The initial blocking dry run in the morning was one thing , and then where we ended up with the scene after lunch was very unlike . I do n’t precisely recollect what was the first blocking rehearsal , but I remember that what we finally shot was very dissimilar . We were just watch over the actors ' instinct and how they wanted to move , and then we basically improvise based on whatever they were move over us . It ’s a very different approach than what we talked about before
.
Screen Rant : Having now worked on two episodes ofHouse of the Dragon , how would you say their approach to magnanimous natural process sequences and smaller worked up moments dissent from your former work , as you ’ve smatter in both before betweenMarco PoloandCrazy Rich Asians , orThe Magiciansand nowThe Gilded Age ?
Vanja Černjul : I ’ve done a yoke of period appearance , but I feel like everything I con on all these different period shows , I was able-bodied to add to House of the Dragon and exercise it . We spent a lot of time on fix , where every now and then , we had to peel down our very magnanimous work party down to a small skeleton work party to be able to go to outback locations and hand - carry the camera and just a few pieces of equipment to shoot a scene .
Some of the most epical shots in instalment 7 were done this way , with just a couple of crew members . Every fit is different and every installment is very different , and each instalment feels like a movie in and of itself .
Vanja Černjul’s Expertise Extends To Documentaries Like Jim Henson: Idea Man
Screen harangue : You just got anEmmy nominating address forJim Henson : Idea Man , which is amazing . The project is so unique too . What was it like working with Ron Howard , and how does vision flirt into piecing all the moving parts together ?
Vanja Černjul : It was a really unequalled experience for me , and I was really looking forward to being part of the project . Cinematographer and a close friend Igor Martinović telephone me to be part of this because interview were taking place over the whole summer , and they never knew exactly when each was going to take place . We had to be there for each other so someone would always be useable to shoot .
I was very excited to be part because I prepped the live - action mechanism Sesame Street film for Disney , which has n’t been pullulate yet . In bring forth ready to shoot Sesame Street , I learn a lot about Jim Henson ; I show his biography and I visited the set of Sesame Street in New York and run into the performing artist . I study how the puppets move and how many people it take to move unlike characters - some characters are just one person , while other fictitious character have multiple puppeteers .
Unfortunately , we never got to shoot the plastic film , but hopefully , it will still hap . But I had some apprehension of how the muppets work and how complicated the whole world is from behind the panorama . As a viewer , I commend The Muppet Show is probably one of the first things I watch out on TV with my family unit . I was just very , very aroused to be with all the people who have sex Jim Henson and to discover the stories through hours of interviewing . Not all of it made it to the final cut , but it was interesting to be there and just take heed .
House of the Dragonseason 2 , episode 8 airs August 4 at 6 pm PT/9pm ET on HBO .
Check out our otherHouse of the Dragonseason 2 interviews here :
Your Rating
Your comment has not been save
Cast
Taking seat about 172 class before the events ofGame of Thrones , House of the Dragontells the tale of the rising of the Targaryens , the only syndicate of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria . The democratic HBO spinoff show first star Milly Alcock and Emily Carey as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower before they were supplant by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke , who play the older versions of the characters . Also starring in the series is Matt Smith ( Prince Daemon Targaryen ) and Paddy Considine as Rhaenyra ’s father , King Viserys Targaryen .
