Game of Thrones filming continues apace in Northern Ireland for the forseeable future. Things have been low key in the run up to and following the big Comic-Con Panel, new cast announcement, and the premiere date being set as March 31, 2013. However, we do have some news about filming from both yesterday and torday. First, it seems that they had set up campe in Ballynure for filming in Straid:
#GameOfThrones has set up camp in village of Ballynure. They’re filming in nearby Straid.
— Aaron Alexander (@aaronjalexander) July 16, 2012
And today? Tweets from multiple Northern Ireland-based reporters say that they witnessed filming at Shane’s Castle, the location of the Hand’s Tourney in season 1. Apparently, reporters may have had interviews with some cast members as well, although the mixture of extras and cast seen is rather curious, suggesting some quite different scenes were being planned, or perhaps some of the cast members were seen at the Paint Hall studio rather than out on location:
Wet but fab visit to Game Of Thrones set at Shane’s Castle. Saw a scene from season 3 ep2. More in tomorrow’s @News_Letter @NIscreen
— Rebecca Black (@hackedoffhack) July 17, 2012
@LindaFStewart saw Jaime Lannister, Catelyn Stark and Brienne of Tarth tho :)
— Rebecca Black (@hackedoffhack) July 17, 2012
On set at #Gameofthrones. I’ve just seen two men of the nights watch!!!! #anorak
— Alison Fleming (@alifleming_utv) July 17, 2012
That last tweet from Alison Fleming follows with a statement that a full report will appear on UTV Live this evening, so something we’ll be keeping an eye out for.
One last tidbit, from Rebecca Black of The News Letter, in answer to a query about how long they’re filming in Northern Ireland:
@P_Knox01 until November, then off to Iceland for two weeks
— Rebecca Black (@hackedoffhack) July 17, 2012
That’s rather interesting. Are they really going to pack all of the material deep beyond the Wall into just two weeks, with filming in Northern Ireland covering most of the rest of the material beyond the Wall? Somehow, I had expected it would take a bit longer. Presumably they’ve lined up multiple directors to appear in that two week period to get scenes shot for their respective episodes. I’m guessing one of the two units, Wolf or Dragon, will be out there while the other continues to work in Northern Ireland.
Finally, the first of the full reports has turned up, revealing various details from producer Frank Doelger, including 140 days of filming in Northern Ireland.