As the Season 3 Blu-Ray release approaches its February 18th release date (Pre-order: US Bluray, US DVD, UK Bluray, UK DVD), HBO and HBO UK hosted a very special event for bloggers, media, and fans presenting an early look at the kind of exclusive features the Blu-ray will take place. We were invited, and I happily trooped off to London while Linda held down the fort.
Hosted at the lovely Soho hotel, the event featured an open bar (very important, that!), a magnificent Red Wedding-themed cake made by the talented Choccywoccydoodah team, and a terrific hostess in Maisie Williams. After an initial bit of chatting—including with Nick and Ben from the University of Exeter’s Game of Thrones Society—we were ushered in to the Soho’s theatre for a screening of the Blu-Ray-exclusive, detailed behind the scenes look at the creation of “The Rains of Castamere”. The episode was introduced by Maisie, who discussed her reaction and that of fans the world over to the infamous Red Wedding—reactions that led HBO to create this teaser for the collection:
As the program started with the familiar strains of the Game of Thrones theme, we saw the typical picture-in-picture approach to showing the episode and also behind the scene interviews, shots, and more that described the action as it was going on, how it was put together, and more. It should prove very insightful for those who want to learn what goes into creating an episode, and adapting written material to the screen. Courtesy of HBO, here’s a taste of what this will look like, with an excerpt from the episode:
Afterward, HBO gave out gift bags to those who had attended, including their own very slice of the Red Wedding cake. All in all, it was a terrific event, put together first and foremost for the fans of Game of Thrones. Hopefully UK fans will get more opportunities in the future to take part in such special screening events!