Don’t be fooled into thinking that HBO plans to quietly wind down Game of Thrones just because of the reduced episode count; if anything, the final, truncated two seasons will give showrunners the ability to “break boundaries” through the use of cutting-edge CGI and new camera techniques.
That’s according to Kit Harington, whose Jon Snow quite literally received a new lease of life in Game of Thrones season 6. Now appointed King of the North, Harington has spoke at length about the monumental encounters that await in this year’s seventh season, and during a recent interview with the Huffington Post (via Comic Book), the actor touched base on the scale and scope of Game of Thrones season 7, and why it’s shaping up to be the biggest yet – even if it’s technically the shortest.
They spent an increasing amount of money on less episodes, so it’s gonna be much bigger in scale, the CGI … we’re trying new things, experimenting with new camera techniques. I think we’re trying to break boundaries and push past boundaries in these final two seasons.
When quizzed about the character of Jon Snow specifically, Harington naturally refrained from divulging too much, too soon. Nevertheless, the actor did outline some of season 7’s crucial story beats.
I certainly did more this season than I’ve ever done. I think every actor on it did more action, had more action, had more scenes. They really focused it because less characters are coming in, and they’re focusing in on the existing ones, and there are lots of people who cross paths, and that’s something that I think the audience has been waiting for for a long time.
In closing, he told Huffington Post that all involved want Game of Thrones to “go out with a bang,” and we’re inclined to believe HBO is set to deliver in a big, big way. What’s more, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have confirmed that singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will appear via a guest role. Word comes by way of the ongoing SXSW 2017, where Benioff told fans that, “for years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie [Williams] and this year we finally did it.”
Other musicians set to appear in Game of Thrones season 7 include Mastodon, Sigur Ros, Coldplay’s Will Champion, and Gary Lightbody, the frontman of Snow Patrol. Weiss continued:
“A lot of [music artists] say they would they would like to [be on the show], and then we tell them [shooting a scene] is so boring,” Weiss told fans. “‘You’re gonna hate this — you’re going to be sitting around three days for 12 hours a day.’”
In light of last week’s rather elaborate reveal event, Game of Thrones season 7 is officially booked in for a premiere on July 16th.
