Nitpickery

[fuchsoid]

Finished watching the first series of Game of Thrones, and now I’m starting to re-read the whole series from the start, which should take me at least until the second series comes out on DVD, if not longer, especially if (as at the moment) I have to read with one eye

Comments

[sollersuk]

I am so with you on candles. I'm trying to track down a book written a few years ago on the subject of light, artificial light and lack of. OK, the scene has to be lit well enough for the viewer to see what's going on, but there are other ways, and the brutal fact is that for most of history life after sunset was spent in gloom (and big, burly Saxon invaders were too scared of the dark to go outside). But people blithely assume good lighting levels, and as you say, never think about the cost.

Better stop here before I go into a major rant.

[fuchsoid]

Repeated, since I seem to have lost the reply I sent you this morning.

Older films seem to have used a sort of magic candle, that gave full electric illumination to a whole room as soon as a character lit it, so I suppose we have improved a bit, and there is at least an indication of the gloom. What gets me is that everyone, from peasants up, has wax candles, and burns dozens of them at a time. I don't think I've ever seen a rushlight (apart from a possibly remembered sighting in a TV Jane Austen, maybe Persuasion). Not to mention characters who walk into a room that already has lit candles on every flat surface.

Was the book Brilliant, The Evolution of Artificial Light? I have a copy, but haven't got round to reading it yet. I also read a couple of books on night and darkness a year or so ago that covered a lot of the same ground, but would have to look up their names. I'm rather taken by those large Saxon lads afraid of the dark, but then I suppose we all are to start out with. I used to love nightwalking when I was a kid in

[gwendraith]

I think GoT is brilliant and have just finished watching series two. They do put a lot of effort into the costumes and I particularly like the female attire.

As for the candles, I guess that the director just wants it to look as though it's not lit with studio lights and it does make it atmospheric.

I have wondered about where the food comes from especially in the frozen wastes! It is fantasy and I'll just assume it comes by sea and transported by horse and cart (the cold keeping it fresh ;))

Who is your favourite character? I think Tyrion Lannister is brilliant. I also like the young Arya Stark. Jon Snow is good for looking at ;) Joffrey Baratheon really comes into his own in series two ;)

[sollersuk]

Re candles, I thought that had been sorted after "Witness" - technology had reached the stage where the cameras could handle authentic lighting.

Food always gets me gnashing my teeth. I grew up in an era in the UK without refrigeration, when for great chunks of the year the only available vegetables were root vegetables and the only fruit apples that had been kept for months on end. Horse transport? Slow and bloody expensive.

[fuchsoid]

Maybe that's why there are so many candles - the lenses can work with authentic light levels, but you still can't see anything with authentic numbers of light sources.

I was brought up with access to a pretty wide range of home-grown fruit and veg, and I still remember long stretches with nothing but carrots, spuds, onions and swedes. The first peas or strawberries were a very big deal. To be fair to Game of Thrones, a good part of it is set in a sort of Italy-analog and they do seem to have avoided really unlikely stuff like bananas.

[fuchsoid]

Repeated, since I seem to have lost my earlier reply

Actually, freezing the food might be a good plan - they must have some sort of system worked out. In the books, Winterfell has heated greenhouses too, which should help them all get fresh greens in the long winter, but probably not oranges.

Favourite characters? Tyrion of course, and I find the rest of his ghastly family fascinating. Jaime in particular, improves quite a bit over time. Not Joffrey, unfortunately... My favourit character is Arya, and Syrio, her "dancing master". I do hope he survived his last appearance. We didn't see his body. "There's only one thing we say to death - "not today""

Brilliant series altogether!

[vaporw]

You must truly enjoy the series to begin re-reading them again, and with one eye!

[fuchsoid]

I may see if the library have the audio versions of the next books in the series!