I worked on the opening title sequence for A Game of Thrones. AMA!

How does it feel to be awesome? I love that intro.

It's fucking gorgeous! Is it all CGI or did you have to make some models to film it?

All CGI!

How badass does Harrenhal look in the new season 2 intro?

Pretty badass :)

So I take it the opening title sequence for each season is going to pan over the locations that are most commonly featured in that particular season/book?

Yep! And if you look closely, you will notice that the flyover changed for certain episodes during the first season based on where it was taking place.

Who is your favorite character in the series?

Well I can tell you without a doubt that my most hated character is Joffrey Baratheon. Great actor, but I have never hated a character so much in my life. If I saw him walking down the street I'd be inclined to punch him in the face! My favorite would have to be Tyrion Lannister.

There's a town called Joffrey near where I live. I get angry when I drive past the sign.

That's hilarious :P

I get a really steampunky feel from it and was always curious about that. What was the thought process and decisionmaking behind making the cities 'grow' like that?

There is a great interview/making of with the director of the opening here.

Have you read all the books in the series? What do you think of them?

I actually haven't ready any of the books but I am in love with the show so I think I should start!

Hey! Fellow motion designer! I work in packaging for television mostly(CNN, Oxygen, Discovery, TNTLA). How long have you been doing it? Where did you go to school, and did you think it was essential to your ability today?

I have been in the industry for about 4 years now. I graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in Visual Effects and a minor in Technical Direction. I don't think it was essential for me since anybody with a computer can learn 3D with all the tutorials available online (like Digital Tutors and Gnomon). I had been doing 3D as a hobby long before college, so going to school for it was a no-brainer, and it helps to have it on my resume.

Did knowing how 3d design worked beforehand give you a noticeable advantage over your classmates? Did you feel like you were wasting your time in some classes if you already knew something?

Yes, I'd say I had an advantage. You could instantly tell who actually liked doing it and had a good eye vs. the people who were just there for the hell of it. There were a handful of classes that were pretty much geared towards beginners but that was to be expected. No matter how basic a class is, it is always good to help brush up on your foundation. There was the occasional class that was awesome, but those tended to be in the last year or two. I actually really enjoyed the first year art classes such as figure drawing and color theory.

What part specifically, are you most responsible for? I knew it was going to be a great show after watching the intro. Nicely done! My girlfriend and I actually looked at each other afterward and agreed it was the best we'd ever seen.

I was in charge of the lighting/texturing/shaders.

Any easter eggs that were hidden in it? Have you been working for the same company since you graduated? What else have you worked on?

One funny little thing is that if you look at 1:27 on the left hand side you can see what looks like a bear fucking a pig from behind! They darkened this area down for obvious reasons, haha. I have been at the same company for the past 2 years or so, but before that I jumped around every few months. You can check out my portfolio here.

Very impressive portfolio! You might want to change the title on your site, though. "Untitled Document" is a bit ambiguous ;-)

Oh crap, didn't notice. Will fix tonight. Thanks!

[deleted]

That's what she said.

How long did it take to get the whole opening sequence perfect? Who came up with the idea of doing something like that where the music fit so well with the CGI video?

It took a good half-year to make, although it was in planned out over the span of 2 years or so. I believe the music was created afterwards, so that is why it matches so perfectly.

Its absolutely amazing how much work was put in and then how perfectly it all fit.

To be honest, not much credit is ever given to the composers for their effort in these cases, but they have such an outstanding contribution to whatever it is they work on.

A good example is John Williams, who wrote the Star Wars theme, the Jaws theme, Indiana Jones theme, Jurassic park theme and the ET theme, to name just a few of his accomplishments.

It takes an inordinate amount of talent to compose a completely unique piece of music that fits every aspect of the show, and I can't voice how much these people do for the programs we watch.

Another example of musical awesomeness is the opening montage in UP. This scene was going to have a script over the top, but when the director watched the scene with the music over the top, he couldn't believe how perfect it was so no script was written. This is also the first scene in any movie to make me cry like a little bitch... the way they turned him from a cranky old man into this guy that had been through... well... everything really, made me change my entire outlook towards old single people in general, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the cinema on the opening night.

I completely agree. Ramin Djawadi did an AMAZING job with the opening score, and the title sequence would not be the same without it. Here is a cool metal version of the opening song.

What software did you use to build it? And what was the process like for putting it together? (Storyboards -> Animatics -> Animation?)

For the 3D side of things, we used Autodesk Maya, and it was rendered in Vray. You can learn about the process here.

We have long been a mental ray studio, but the longer we use it the more we hate it. I've just done my first project using Vray, and so far it seems much nicer. Any particular reason you chose VRay over Renderman/Mentalray/Maxwell/whatever?

I did like the look of the rendering when I watched last year, was wondering what you did it in.

We used to use mental ray also, but Vray has a better global illumination solution in my opinion (looks nicer and tighter), and the render elements and MUCH easier to break out for compositors. I would have a tough time going back to mental ray after being in Vray for so long. Many companies are switching over to Vray now, and the support forums at chaosgroup are fantastic, so it is a great time to switch over. The GoT sequence was our first Vray job, so it was quite the learning experience!

Love the intro and the design! Is the whole map of the world built inside a 'Dyson sphere' as one big detailed model? Or is it broken down into smaller scenes for the closeups etc?

We had to cheat it for each shot. So really it is only half of a Dyson sphere so that the light could get in. Wouldn't make sense to keep all that stuff in there that you aren't going to see anyway...takes up a lot of memory.

What is wrong with bad CGI? In other words; what are things in CGI that must correct so our minds are and will be playing tricks on us?

Great question, but a tough one to answer. One little thing can be off, and we will catch it immediately since we see the world through our eyes every single day. We know how things are supposed to look. It could be the color of the lighting or shadows, the scale of a texture map, the amount of light let through in a subsurface scattering shader...anything. It really all comes down to studying the real world and always having reference for how things are supposed to look and behave. With increased processing power, we are getting closer and closer to real life. Scroll down and check out these renders. Pretty photoreal. That is because the model is a scan of a real human head, and the shader and lighting is fantastic. This is very render intensive though, so don't expect graphics like this in real time (games) for another 8 years or so.

What a cool project! Did the map change each episode, and if so, was your team responsible for making different versions? How will the intro change in season 2?

There were about 4 different versions that played for the first season. We had all the locations built, so it was just a matter of changing the camera move and then fine tuning the lighting for that specific shot. Season 2 will feature alot of the same locations, but some new ones as well. Many of the shots from the 1st season will be reused.

I've worked in motion graphics, editing and compositing for 7 years but I cannot seem to get a job outside of my current one to save my ass. Any advice?

Hard to say without seeing your work, so feel free to send it to me. I would say try to focus on one thing and make your demo reel 100% geared towards that. Seems like you might be trying to spread yourself too thin. And if it's not working, then make a new demo reel from scratch and try again.

Yeah, you're spot on, I was going with a more generalist approach to my reel, I think I'm going to have to refine it to compositing...the only shitty part is I have only ever messed with Nuke once, which is industry standard in a lot of places so I'm hesitant to send in composites done with AFX.

Believe it or not alot of the compositing on the intro was done in AFX. But yes, most places are fully switching over to Nuke. It's not too late to learn!

I actually watched the first episode today, loved the show. Is there a program you recomend learning, aftereffects cinema 4d etc.? Thinking about getting in to motion graphics

Figure out the kind of stuff you would like to make first. If you like the motion graphics side of things, then I recommend learning photoshop, after effects, and cinema 4D. If you like the visual effects/3D side of things, then you will want to learn Maya and/or 3D Studio Max.

Are you a fan of the books? If so, did they help you to visualize from an artistic perspective; how the general flow and feeling of the CGI sequences would work out? Thanks! :)

I never read the books. When I was working on the intro, I actually was doubting that it would be a good show since I had never heard of it. Now after watching the first season I am kicking myself for not reading the books :)