HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spin-off “House of the Dragon” has been one of the few shows able to stay in production due to the Equity contracts tied to it – meaning they’re mostly unimpacted by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
One thing different about the new season from the first is that it’s shorter – clocking in at eight episodes as opposed to the first one’s ten.
Clare Kilner, who is one of the five directors on the new season, tells THR that the shortened order is largely a story-driven decision from showrunner Ryan Condal in an effort to ensure better pacing on the series.
It also means robust starts and finishes – no ‘setting up for later in the season’ style wheel spinning that ‘Thrones’ season openers were often accused of. Kilner, who will direct two episodes of the second season, says:
“There are eight wonderful episodes with so much happening in every episode, and we have trouble, at times, bringing them down to one hour. Ryan’s decision was to give it a good opening and a good ending, and they’re jam-packed with emotional and visually exciting events.”
Kilner also says the various directors on the series are each bringing something unique of their own, most notably ‘Thrones’ veteran Alan Taylor:
“It’s very inspiring because there are five directors, and they’re all different, and we’re all watching the dailies and commenting on one another’s work. We can’t help it; we’re all a bit competitive. So, Alan helps us up our game. He’s such an accomplished director, and I really love the way he uses depth of field and focus in his storytelling to bring viewers’ attention to certain elements in the frame.”
Taylor is helming “multiple episodes” of the new season, which is the second of an unknown number of seasons at this point. Previously author George R. R. Martin said with the shortened run, the series will need “at least four seasons” to do his book justice.
As has previously been reported, HBO is said to already considering greenlighting a third season which would allow creators to get to work on filming and shorten the gap between seasons.
