Chapter 353: Six Real Fathers

The Stark family of Winterfell is undoubtedly a prominent family in the entire series, being the paramount lords of the North. Their sigil is a silver-grey direwolf against a white field, and their motto is "Winter is Coming." Sometimes, the term "Blood of the Running Wolf" is used to describe some Stark family members' wild and unrestrained nature.

Therefore, direwolves are a very important supporting character in any scene featuring a Stark.

Animal actors frequently appear in Hollywood films, and there are specialized companies and agencies that provide these services. Some star animals even command impressive fees.

Direwolves are a significant symbol for Ned Stark's children and appear frequently in "Game of Thrones." The production team had long been in touch with a specialized animal actor agency.

Using actual wolves was impractical, making dogs that resemble wolves the best choice.

Six huskies, accompanied by professionals, crossed the Atlantic to Belfast. However, what Murphy hadn't anticipated was that with the huskies entering the production, some troublemakers also came along.

"Currently, three UK civic organizations have set their sights on our production."

In an office at the set, Kara Faith's brow was furrowed tightly, evidently bothered by some issues that even she found annoying, "They are the British Environmental Protection Organization, the Animal Welfare Organization, and the Dog Lovers Association."

Murphy leaned back in his swivel chair, his brow even more furrowed than Kara Faith's, "The environmental protection organization is manageable since we've hired a specific service company, and cleaning the outdoor filming locations won't be an issue, but the latter two..."

He shook his head, "The animal welfare organization and the dog lovers' association are the real trouble."

Hollywood has a well-established system, not only in terms of clear regulations and strong unions that protect workers' rights, but even animal actors are closely monitored by some people.

Many productions using animal actors, if they do not want to attract too much trouble and protests, must operate under the supervision of related protection organizations.

Just as actors who are union members sign contracts with the production under union oversight, agreements involving animal actors are often signed under the supervision of related organizations.

Of course, this isn't a mandatory measure, but avoiding it invites more trouble.

"No way around it," Kara Faith shook her head, "It's industry standard. Let's just get this over with."

"Hold on," Murphy said calmly, "Let them wait a bit longer."

The production had already signed official agreements with all parties concerning the animal actors, but the agreements needed to be filed with the animal welfare organization and the dog lovers' association, and required the signatures of Murphy, the director, and Kara Faith, the producer.

"You..." Kara Faith didn't continue to argue and instead picked up a budget report, reading it patiently.

Meanwhile, Murphy closed his eyes; he had been busy all morning and took this rare moment of downtime to rest.

After a full half-hour, Murphy opened his eyes, signaled to Kara Faith, and they walked out of the office, crossed a small open-air set, and entered a somewhat shabby production meeting room.

Two middle-aged men were waiting there, greeted by a production staff member who sat near the door, seemingly reluctant to interact with them.

When Murphy and Kara Faith entered the meeting room, the two listless middle-aged men looked up as if seeing their class enemies, immediately perking up.

The staff member stood up and introduced them to Murphy and Kara Faith, "This is Richard Dennis from the UK Animal Protectors Organization and James Morse from the Dog Lovers Association."

Murphy nodded at the two men and sat opposite them at the conference table with Kara Faith.

"We will use the animal actors according to regulations," Murphy stated bluntly, not wanting to waste time on these irrelevant individuals. "They will have the same rights as all actors in the production."

"That's not right!" the middle-aged man named Richard Dennis shook his head vehemently. "Director Stanton, that is incorrect. The animal actors, the six huskies, should receive more protection and more effective care."

Murphy's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing.

"Even though you've signed an animal actor contract with the owners of the huskies," spoke James Morse from the Dog Lovers Association, "your production is located in the UK, and you must abide by the regulations of the Animal Protectors Organization, the Dog Lovers Association, and relevant UK laws."

"Please, go on," Murphy gestured for him to continue.

"According to the regulations," James Morse spoke with grave seriousness, as if fearing Murphy might harm his precious charges, "animal actors cannot work continuously for more than forty-five minutes and not more than three and a half hours per day. Any mistreatment, physical abuse, or verbal abuse of animal actors is forbidden..."

He rattled off a long list of requirements within a few minutes—exceedingly detailed, more so than what Hollywood A-list

ers and superstars' agents might negotiate for their clients.

Finally, the dog-crazed James Morse concluded, "We will monitor the production's use of the animal actors to ensure their rights are protected. If the production commits any violations, we will immediately report to the association and relevant government bodies to stop such actions."

In Murphy's view, the production hadn't just brought in six huskies; it was as if they had brought in six real fathers.

Kara Faith, less patient than Murphy, interjected, "What about the people taking care of the huskies? Are there also regulations about their working hours and conditions?"

Apparently not grasping the irony in Kara Faith's question, James Morse matter-of-factly responded, "We are concerned with and protect dogs, not humans!"

Kara Faith's eyes flashed with disdain.

This response left Kara Faith speechless, even though she herself had a pet dog. She could not comprehend such an attitude.

Murphy, however, was not in the mood to argue further, "Can we sign the memorandum now?"

"And the huskies' accommodations..."

James Morse tried to continue, but Murphy interrupted him with a raised hand, "This aspect is clearly outlined in the crew's terms. If there's anything unclear, you can review the relevant actors' agreements. After you've done that, we can continue."

"Ah... that's all," James Morse and Richard Dennis pushed the memorandums in front of them forward.

These had already been reviewed by lawyers. Murphy flipped through them, found the place, and he and Kara Faith signed their names, nodded to the two men, and promptly left the meeting room.

Kara Faith followed him out, "Why so brisk? That's not like you."

Murphy walked towards the studio, explaining as he went, "Rosa Rodriguez and two security officers will accompany them for the entire time!"

"I see," Kara Faith replied, relieved.

No matter how you looked at it, Murphy disliked those two, and he could not understand their mindset of valuing dogs over humans, as James Morse had clearly indicated that the six huskies were more important than the people taking care of them.

If the production had been about animals as the main characters, Murphy would have kicked those two out without signing the memorandum. But since the direwolves had limited screen time in "Game of Thrones" and the shooting requirements were minimal, they were unlikely to exceed those stringent demands.

Reaching the door of the studio, Murphy suddenly stopped. This was just the beginning of the series; the direwolves would continue to appear in future episodes. It would be quite annoying if these guys kept showing up on set, even if he wasn't the director later on.

"Kara, make a note," Murphy instructed Kara Faith as she caught up, "Starting from season two, use CGI as much as possible for all direwolf scenes."

Even if they continued to use huskies to portray direwolves, CGI modifications would be necessary, so they might as well go fully CGI.

Entering the studio, Murphy put these thoughts aside and focused on preparing for the afternoon's shoot.

The upcoming scenes involved the direwolves, and the huskies, brought in by professional trainers, were undergoing makeup and styling by one of Jack Watson's makeup artists.

As is well known, child actors and animal actors are the two most uncontrollable elements in Hollywood productions.

These elements were prevalent in the "Game of Thrones" production, and compared to the scenes involving child actors already shot, filming with the direwolves was even more challenging.

Child actors had their professional teachers or parents for guidance, performing variably well, but once the huskies appeared on set, Murphy fully understood why they were called one of the "three stooges of sled dogs."

Using huskies to portray wolves was genuinely challenging. If animal actors weren't professionally trained, it meant repeatedly calling "cut." Murphy needed only a short shooting time, but the ratio of usable takes was very high. He shot a lot of footage, but suitable lighting, styling, and actions were rare. He did his best to merge the suitable material and atmospheric shots he captured to create a somewhat "wolf-like" husky.

As for the rule about not working more than forty-five minutes at a time, with everyone else preoccupied and those dog lovers occupied, Murphy completely disregarded it.

This led to a situation where, by the end of the scene, the huskies involved in the shooting were genuinely exhausted. One husky looked at the camera with its tongue out and head tilted, quickly closed its eyes, and pretended to be dead, endearing itself to everyone on set who couldn't bear to wake it.

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