After David Ellison's loan was secured, Stanton Studios, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox, funded the Ice and Fire Studio, with the first tranche of funding from Fox also arriving. "Game of Thrones," the fantasy series, was officially greenlit, and its preparation was announced to the public.
Of course, the preparation had started much earlier; over a year ago, Murphy and George Martin had been refining the script.
At the same time, Murphy issued a call to his team. Although they were puzzled by his sudden shift from filmmaking to directing a TV series, everyone responded enthusiastically.
After long-term collaboration, they had realized that following Murphy meant easy access to both fame and profit.
Working with familiar people undoubtedly also reduced many unnecessary complications.
Due to the investment, "Game of Thrones" was mainly divided into two parts: Stanton Studios was led by Murphy, while Twentieth Century Fox was entirely managed by Kara Faith.
This division maximized the assurance that the crew could work towards the planned direction.
Murphy and Kara Faith might have friction in the process, but they wouldn't let this affect their personal relationship. With the two most powerful people in the crew working together sincerely, conflicts among the rest of the team were also significantly reduced.
Twentieth Century Fox was more involved in production and distribution, while the actual preparation and filming were still led by Murphy's team.
The heads of various departments in the team remained unchanged, but people like Philip Lasher and Helena Espora knew they had to keep up with Murphy's pace or else be left behind, so they made certain adjustments to their teams.
For example, Philip Lasher's cinematography team, who had worked on "Gone Girl" and "Deadpool," dismissed one photographer and publicly recruited three new ones, bringing the total number of principal photographers to five to meet the demands of "Game of Thrones."
Helena Espora's art and set design team was no exception. Murphy had not previously worked on fantasy genres, and many in her team lacked experience in this area, making new hires a necessary choice.
David Robbie's makeup, costume, and styling department also needed new personnel and had to study the characteristics of medieval European clothing, combining it with George Martin's descriptions to design costumes and character looks that met Murphy's standards.
During this process, several of Murphy's longtime employees left the large team, and many newcomers joined. Embracing new talent is one of the most effective ways to maintain competitiveness.
The fierce competition in Hollywood is well known even to outsiders, and these are very normal natural changes. While Murphy competed with other projects and individuals in the market, he also needed to foster a competitive atmosphere within his team.
Everyone working harmoniously and steadily is an ideal state but doesn't suit the competitive nature of Hollywood.
"Game of Thrones" is a series filled with fantasy elements, the result of collective effort, and also a major production highly dependent on location, design, and cinematography. Because of its vast "stature," it required the concerted effort of many hands.
Murphy was always clear about this. To accomplish such an epic series, a closely cooperating team was essential.
Before deciding to shoot digitally, the preliminary work for the first season was already in full swing. After testing by Murphy and Philip Lasher, the crew chose the Sony F35 as their camera.
This digital HD camera was chosen not only because the Alexa digital cameras from the German ARRI company were not yet available but also because the Sony F35 could showcase the costumes and materials right in front of the lens.
Frankly, Murphy was very impressed by the ARRI Alexa, but unfortunately, that camera would not be available for a few more years.
Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox securing up to $6 million in tax rebates from Northern Ireland, after surveying with Kara Faith, Murphy unhesitatingly set the main filming base in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, and confirmed that the scenes of Westeros would be shot there.
Additionally, led by Paul Wilson, several location scouting teams had moved out early, searching for suitable filming locations across Europe and America.
The crew was not just one team; by the time of shooting, Paul Wilson and Seth Rogen, who was confirmed to join the crew, would each lead a group to film some of the secondary plots, which would effectively improve the crew's work efficiency.
After several collaborations and long periods of working together, Murphy had ample confidence in Seth Rogen and Paul Wilson.
Of course, he also seriously warned Seth Rogen that the crew didn't need too many humorous shots.
This was also a great opportunity to train Seth Rogen. In film production, no matter what kind of theoretical learning, practical experience is necessary.
"In recent years, North America has produced a multitude of popular series, yet fantasy has never appeared in the prime-time TV schedule."
In a huge conference room at the Fox Building filled with people, they all looked towards the front where Murphy stood, speaking eloquently, "Our 'Game of
Thrones' can fill this void, a series that includes swords, dragons, and magic."
This was a major preparatory meeting for the crew, attended by the heads of all departments at Twentieth Century Fox, except for the actors who were not yet confirmed.
Given that there had been no successful fantasy TV series in the past, those who had followed Murphy for a long time, although choosing to continue working with him, couldn't help but have their doubts.
Murphy called this meeting primarily to articulate some conceptual points and to bolster his team's confidence.
If the team members themselves didn't believe in the success of the fantasy series they were shooting, it would definitely affect the actual work.
Representing Twentieth Century Fox as the producer, Kara Faith sat on the left side of the conference table but hardly spoke, leaving the stage entirely to Murphy.
She knew very well what to do and when.
"Given the incredible popularity of fantasy themes like the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and the 'Harry Potter' series, fantasy is the most successful film and television genre."
Standing at the forefront of the conference table, Murphy leaned forward, exuding confidence and vigor, "Yet there has never been a fantasy TV series. If anyone dares to try, it must be us! We are a team that can shoot any dark theme!"
"Game of Thrones" carried a typical dark tone, whether in its visual color or plot direction.
This was also a crucial reason Murphy chose this series; he excelled in this style.
"But fantasy themes often mean high production costs."
Murphy never thought of shooting something haphazard to deceive the audience, which would easily squander the influence he had accumulated over the years. However, production costs were also a practical concern that he needed to address, "High costs are usually a major reason why fantasy series don't make it to production. In shooting 'Game of Thrones,' we will focus more on character, role development, and plot while avoiding large-scale war scenes."
Large war scenes were costly. This was not a summer blockbuster but a TV series that focused more on narrative. Especially for the first season, instead of spending funds on war scenes, it was better to further refine the plot.
In fact, in the original books, full-scale warfare only begins after the first volume.
Murphy stood up and walked back and forth twice, then said, "This is not a story like 'Lord of the Rings' where tens of thousands of orcs cross the prairie because the highest production costs in those films were for the creation of non-human creatures. In the first season of 'Game of Thrones,' such creatures are not prevalent."
With fewer fantasy creatures, significant funds for CG production could undoubtedly be saved.
If he were just an ordinary director, Murphy would definitely ask the producers to increase the investment, but he was not just that. In addition to being a director and producer, he was also one of the main investors in the series, needing to consider the return on investment.
Tens of millions of dollars in investment was not a small amount for Murphy; a failed investment could severely impact him, even now.
Over the years, he had accumulated a fortune of tens of millions of dollars.
"We are not shooting a series like the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy that targets teenagers!"
Even as a fervent fan of the series, Murphy couldn't deny the somewhat juvenile style of the 'Lord of the Rings' series, which was not suitable for "Game of Thrones," "We are shooting for an adult audience, my ideal series is luxurious, bloody, dark, bizarre, sometimes even delightfully shocking. Malice and benevolence intertwined, just like life, unpredictable."
His voice grew louder, "I want viewers to watch this series for various reasons: the tension of the plot, the interplay of death and hope, the direwolves of destiny, the fantasy elements and imaginative spaces, family disputes, the lure of power, transgressive love, and brutal violence."
Murphy's eyes swept over everyone in the room, then he added, "And most importantly, remember the core concept and ultimate definition of the series."
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT