The
title sequence
A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...
of the
HBO fantasy television series ''
Game of Thrones'' that introduces every episode serves as a guide to the physical landscape of the world of the series. It changes depending on the locations visited in the particular episode it introduces. The title sequence was created by Elastic for HBO, and is accompanied by a
theme tune
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at som ...
composed by
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...
.
The sequence depicts a
three-dimensional map of
the series' fictional world, projected onto a
concave earth,
and lit by a small sun contained within an
armilla (or spherical
astrolabe) that metaphorically depicts major events in the
history of the fictional world at the sphere's center. As the camera swoops across the map and focuses on the locations in which the episode's events take place, complicated
clockwork
Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight.
A clockwork mec ...
mechanisms cause buildings and other structures to emerge from the map and unfold. Meanwhile, the names of the principal cast (with the
sigils of the characters' families next to the names) and creative staff are displayed. The sequence concludes after about one-and-a-half minutes with the title card and brief
opening credits indicating the episode's writers and directors.
Creative director
Angus Wall, art director Robert Feng, animator Kirk Shintani and designer Hameed Shaukat received the 2011
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design
This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design presented for the best main title sequence in television programming. Prior to 1997, the award was presented for Outstanding Individ ...
for their work on the sequence.
The title sequence has been ranked one of the best TV title sequences of all time.
Description
The title sequence consists of a three-dimensional map of the world, with the continents of
Westeros
The fictional world in which the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.
Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in ...
and
Essos
The fictional world in which the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.
Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in ...
located on the inner surface of a sphere, which is rendered in the style of a fantasy role-playing map used as a game board by participants for their battle plans. The maps used are those of Westeros and Essos that precede the novels in the book series.
At the center of the sphere is a
heliocentric armillary sphere. The title sequence serves as a guide to the physical landscape of the world of ''Game of Thrones'', and details of the title sequence change each episode depending on the locations visited, and new locations may be added in each season.
The sequence of every episode opens with a close-up of the sun and the sphere surrounding it. Relief depictions of the fictional's world's history are visible on the sphere, such as the
Doom of Valyria, Aegon's Conquest and the rise of House Baratheon, which appear at varying points in the sequence.
The camera then pans to different parts of the map, on which different locations in the fictional world are shown. Many of the cities and buildings on these locations appear out of the ground using clockwork mechanisms. Other elements, such as the weirwood tree at Winterfell and the Horse Gate at Vaes Dothrak, are also added at the various locations. The locations shown vary depending on the locations visited in that particular episode, and three or four variations of the title sequence are shown in each season. However, due to the limitation on time for the title sequence, no more than six locations may be shown in any episode. Also, because of their importance in the show, every episode features
King's Landing,
Winterfell
The fictional world in which the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels by George R. R. Martin take place is divided into several continents, known collectively as The Known World.
Most of the story takes place on the continent of Westeros and in ...
,
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
, and wherever Daenerys may be regardless of whether or not any of these locations is featured in that episode.
The sigils of the reigning families are added to each location; for example, the Baratheon stag sigil on King's Landing and the Stark dire wolf at Winterfell.
The names of the cast are also shown together with the corresponding sigil of the character they portray. The sigil may change depending on the storyline, for example the flayed man sigil is displayed over Winterfell when it is taken by the Boltons, but it reverts to the dire wolf sigil after it is recaptured by the Starks. Other events in the show are also reflected in the title sequence. For example, after Winterfell is burned, smoke is depicted billowing out from it.
The ''Game of Thrones'' logo appears over the armilla at the end.
HBO released an interactive 360-degree video of the title sequence in season 6.
While the locations featured change from episode to episode, the general design and route of the sequence remain roughly similar. However, in the final season, the title sequence received a major revamp to denote the change in season and shift in storyline. In this new version, the first location shown is the breached wall instead of King's Landing, and moves down to the cities south of the wall following the path of the army of the dead. The interiors of two major locations are shown for the first time: the crypts of Winterfell and the Red Keep at King's Landing, as well as the latter's throne room. The appearance of the armilla and the events depicted on it also change to reflect events of the season 7 finale, such as the fall of the Wall.
Conception and production
The title sequence was created by three teams: its design, which forms the bulk of the project, was done by Elastic, the computer graphics by a52, and the title sequence editing by Rock Paper Scissors.
Elastic had previously created the title sequences for ''
Rome
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, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
'', ''
Big Love
''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tri ...
'', and ''
Carnivale'' for
HBO, and they were approached by Carolyn Strauss of HBO, with whom they had worked on these shows, to create the title sequence for ''Game of Thrones''.
Angus Wall, the head of title design firm Elastic, met with Strauss, the showrunners
David Benioff
David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...
and
Dan Weiss, and producer Greg Spence to discuss the project around a year before the show debut.
When the pilot was first made, it was felt that the geography of the imaginary world of Westeros and Essos might confuse the viewers, and that maps could be useful as navigational guides for the viewers. An early suggestion was to use animated maps as a transition between scenes to orient viewers, but that idea was rejected as it would interrupt the narrative flow. The idea of the map was therefore reconsidered for the title sequence.
For the original pilot, the showrunners Benioff and Weiss initially wrote the title sequence as a crow's flight from King's Landing to Winterfell; however, the production team at Elastic thought the idea was too flat and devised the idea of using 3-D models within a sphere that represents the world in which the show is set.
The sphere was used to obviate the question of what might lie beyond the horizon of the map, and the whole sphere is lit by the sun in the middle.
According to Angus Wall, the title sequence had "a concrete function in the world of the show, in that it serves as a legend the way the map at the beginning of a fantasy book orients you." The title sequence informs the viewers of the locations of the show relevant to each episode, and changes to reflect the storylines of the show and changes within this world.
On the use of an armillary and models with moving parts, producer Greg Spence explained that
Angus Wall at Elastic came up with "a vision of a mad monk, in a tower somewhere", who was somehow keeping track of all this action "and creating as he went. He would then fashion little
automaton
An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...
s out of the materials that would be available in his world. They would be stone, or tin, or wood, and everything would feel very hand-crafted."
The idea is, therefore, that everything in the title sequence could be created with hammer, saw, and chisel, and operated with gears and cogs.
The turning gears and cogs were meant to be reminiscent of
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
's inventions.
The design team were given a list of the locations where the action may take place in each episode after the shooting had completed, and they had around 3 months to create title sequences.
The concepts, including details such as the machinery used, were first sketched by hand, and the models were then created with computer graphics.
''Game of Thrones'' theme
The theme music that accompanies the title sequence was composed by
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...
.
The production team showed the title sequence they were working on to Djawadi, who was then inspired to create the music for the "
''Game of Thrones'' Theme" and finished the theme music three days later.
Djawadi said the showrunners Benioff and Weiss wanted the theme music to be about a journey that reflects the variety of locations and characters in the show.
List of elements
The following table lists the locations shown in each episode's title sequence, in the order of their appearance in the sequence as determined by the first episode in which they are shown. The locations King's Landing, Winterfell, and The Wall are featured in every title sequence, as well as the most recent location in Essos (in the first 6 seasons), even if they are not present in that particular episode. It is also noteworthy that the appearance of Winterfell has changed over the seasons: in Seasons 3 and 4 Winterfell was covered in smoke, referencing its burning at the end of Season 2, and in Season 5 the smoke was removed but the Bolton sigil replaced the Stark sigil, reflecting how the Boltons moved to Winterfell during that season. In episode 6.10, the Stark sigil returned, the result of Jon Snow and Sansa Stark's reclaiming Winterfell from the Boltons at the end of the previous episode.
Summary
Homage
''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' episode "
Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart" features a homage to the ''Game of Thrones'' title sequence, with famous buildings in the town of Springfield rising through the ground as characters watch on, dressed in ''Game of Thrones''-style costumes. The Wall is replaced by the monolithic "Couch" at the end of the sequence. A version of the title sequence has also been recreated with Oreo cookies.
Awards
The design team behind the title sequence, Angus Wall, art director Rob Feng, designer Hameed Shaukat, and C.G. supervisor Kirk Shintani, won a
Creative Arts Emmy Award
The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...
on September 10, 2011.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
* Perkins, Will; Albinson, Ian (June 29, 2011)
"Game of Thrones (2011)" Art of the Title. May 11, 2011.
* Appelo, Tim (April 19, 2011)
"Secrets Behind 'Game of Thrones' Opening Credits (Video)" ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Game Of Thrones Title Sequence
Title Sequence
A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with vi ...
Film and television opening sequences