HOUSE OF THE DRAGON PRODUCTION.
FIRE AND BLOOD The two filming units were each equipped with one Alexa 65 and several Alexa LFs
“We used blue screen, green screen, even grey screen when appropriate, as well as the LED volume,” Bickerton adds. “The first consideration was costume and set colours, then environment tone.” Having started in VFX before computers, Bickerton says he tends to favour the former. “The optical blue screen process was originally devised for optimum skin reproduction, and I still worry about loss of skin tone and texture if too much green despill is applied – even though the green channel is less noisy,” he asserts. “Green screen was used for the exterior jousting scenes in
“I worked closely with our DOPs to find ways to combine atmospheric SFX with the volume stage”
“By contrast, the coronation scene in episode 9 was filmed on stage with wrap-around blue screen,” Bickerton says. “We could control lighting of the screens and the predominant costume colours were browns and greens – particularly the Hightowers.” BUILDING UP VOLUME When not shooting on the continent, House of the Dragon was filmed extensively at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden. Even with a massive budget and the finest technology, the VFX team had to learn new techniques to bring the series to life.
episode 1, as English daylight was our only illumination, and I always feel the greater luminance of green screen is an advantage if the screens fall in shadow.” The flip side, according to Bickerton, can be trying to control brightness if there’s strong sunlight – but he knew the scene would be shot over six to seven days of variable English weather, so it was a reasonable gamble.
SMOKE AND MIRRORS The crew endeavoured to match practical effects with visual at every turn
43. JANUARY 2023
Powered by FlippingBook