Paint Hall abuzz with activity

A report from WiC reader silverjaime indicates that with a week left before principal photography begins, things are really starting to pick up at the Paint Hall studio.

Anyway i just drove past the Paint Hall where it’s all going to be happening, and it already is! There was a group of people (extras?) being taken inside by a staff member; there were numerous people outside the Hall along with lots of vehicles and huge trailers; there were a few security men standing at the gates, as one of the numerous Belfast Tour buses had just stopped – the Paint Hall was always a stop on their route. And best of all – there were a few marquees set up outside which I could see contained horses and ponies! The security guy told me that the filming was starting on Monday – which I took to mean NEXT Monday, but having seen the horses there already, maybe a few scenes are being started THIS Monday? All the “no Photography” signs are up although lots of people on the buses were taking pix.

Winter Is Coming: It’s getting close now. Casting news, set reports, the next few weeks should be exciting! It sounds like what is going on at the Paint Hall might be preliminary filming. Camera tests, rehearsals, establishing shots, and the like. We know principal photography is scheduled to start next Monday and that is when the majority of the main cast will be shooting their scenes. Still, it is exciting to hear all the activity that is already going on in Belfast!

UPDATE: Another report from the set, this one courtesy of Rimshot – of course keeping professionally within the confines of non-disclosure:

I’ve be given 2 roles as a ‘Tournament workman’ and a ‘Kings Landing Peasant’ for which I’ll be shooting for 5 days in August. It won’t be at the Paint Hall but it is a cool location that I’ve never filmed at before and is only 20 minutes away from me and has been hinted at before on here. The group of people that silverjaime saw were probably extras who were there for a costume fitting. Unlike the Pilot, all the costume fittings are happening at the Paint Hall. I know the fittings began last Tuesday (there was a sign in the costume marquee that said ‘Prepare for fittings on Tuesday!’) and I imagine that they will carry on right up to the beginning of filming. Of course, there will be fittings throughout the shooting schedule as at the moment they are only prepping extras for the first 3 episodes (they are prepping/filming in 3 episode blocks). Given that there are going to be loads of extras I was pleasantly surprised at the time and attention they gave my costume when I went for my fitting. I think I was the first ‘Tournament Workman’ that they had done so they were getting the look right on me. They would occassionally bring in the head of costume to look at me and make any changes. I am really happy with the look and the costume is comfortable which is a big deal when you have to wear it all day for 5 days! The costume department had racks full of costumes all in various sections (Dothraki / Wood People / Peasants / Pentos Slaves etc). I can’t describe them but they look cool!

Rimshot concludes with mentioning that there is indeed a lot of activity, props abound, and you can see the backs of big sets being built through the open massive doors of Paint Hall. There are even rumours about wolves on the set!

Hear Me Roar: More exciting first-hand stuff, it is cool to imagine a wolf pup playpen amidst all the frantic preparations to create the living, breathing world of Westeros in Northern Ireland. It would be interesting to learn whether the first set of three episodes they are preparing for includes the pilot or not. Perhaps they will leave reshooting the first episode for later.

• Published on 07/18/2010 at 10:35 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/03/2011 at 10:25 AM CDT