20 Behind-The-Scenes Details About Game Of Thrones That Change Everything

Game of Thrones is one of the best shows on television, and that is no exaggeration. Last season alone brought in 30.6 million views per episode. It really has captured the attention of people all over the world.

Sadly, the show is ending. The last season will premier in April 2019 and it will be its last. Fans around the world are excited to see the biggest battle yet, what is to come to all our favorite characters, and how it will end.

Since the show is about to hit its ending mark, what better way to honor the show than by looking back at all the greatest moments and what happened behind the scenes?

We all known the show requires a lot of CGI. Between the White Walkers, the dragons, the battle scenes, and all the other special effect scenes, it is no wonder they only release a few episodes a year.

What actually happens in real life behind the scenes, though, is what will shock the world. Be it real, special effects, or just some epic film struggles, these are some must see moments for all the fans out there.

Keep scrolling to see some epic behind the scenes moments that will shock fans everywhere and change everything.

25 Game Of Thrones Or Walking Dead

As stated earlier, there is a big reason why Game of Thrones takes so long to create. Between the dragons, the zombie polar bears, and all the other worldly elements, it requires a lot of CGI to make it the great show that we all love.

That's why it came at such a shocker when fans learned that the most impressive creature of the show is actually real.

That's right folks, the White Walkers are real and not CGI. According to gamerpunk.net, Barrie Gower, the show's prosthetic designer, admitted that the White Walkers are originally inspired by The Walking Dead. It wasn't long before they took a life of their own though.

24 The Zombie Polar Bear

The monsters are basically the coolest things in Game of Thrones. The creative design that goes into bringing them to life on screen and incorporating them into the battles and other scenes is what makes the show great. When it came to the zombie polar bear, though, the cast and the effects team weren't very thrilled to have it. The showrunners were waiting a long time to finally bring their zombie polar bear to life. Unfortunately for the rest of the cast, though, they didn't feel the same way.

The special effects team found the task of bringing it to life daunting, while some of the actors found it to be ridiculous.

Rory McCann, or who fans known as the Hound, called the whole experience a “ping-pong-ball thing,” and found it was more difficult than expected to act with the contraption that was supposed to be the bear.

23 The Dragons

There are tons of different teams that are responsible for making all the crazy different creatures come to life on screen.

For Daenerys' dragons, it takes a team of computer animators to make them look, act, and move the way they do.

There are a few different contraptions that Emilia Clarke, who plays the amazing Daenerys, uses when it comes to scenes with her three children. The one machine used to show Daenerys riding Drogo is the biggest of them all, though. Riding it feels like riding a mechanical bull. She must ride the machine, while acting her part of the Dragon Mother. That takes skills.

22 Does The Cast All Have A Twin?

When it comes to stunt doubles, it is best to try and match the person as close as possible to the actor, this way fans do not see the difference during certain scenes when the double is acting and not the actual actor.

In this photo, though, it is as if they all have a twin. Fans have to do a double-take just to see that it is not our favorite loveable characters, but their doubles on set.

If you had to do a double-take with this picture, don't worry, so did we. While this could easily be some dedicated cosplayers, it's actually our favorite Game of Thrones character body doubles hanging out on set.

21 Befriending A Dragon

When it came to befriending Daenerys' dragons, Jon Snow had some issues at first. Behind the scenes though he had no trouble at all. Maybe it was his impeccable charm? Or maybe it is because behind the scenes they are just fake heads? Who knows.

Either way, these actors really have to use their imagination when it comes to their scenes.

Seeing how hard Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke must work to make their scenes look real with all these different props, makes them just that much better actors.

20 The Prosthetic Truth

The prosthetic team really has their work cut out for them when it comes to making the different creatures come to life, especially the white walkers, who are not CGI, but actually real.

Though the prosthetic team is amazing, it is the actors who are even more amazing. Having to sit in a chair for hours at a time is a gruelling process. The Night King is the worst. He can take anywhere from four or more hours to bring to life. The detail in his looks is mesmerizing and is a pain staking process to create.

19 Fire-Breathing Dragons

Fans know that the dragons in Game of Thrones are not real, but the most amazing thing is that their fire is.

Now, don't get us wrong, there are times when the creators must use CGI to create some massive flames, but thanks to some brave and professional stunt man, a camera, and a flame thrower, fire breathing dragons become almost real.

If it is one thing Game of Thrones knows how to do, its blending the real world with computer animation.

18 Daenerys And Her Dragons

Emilia Clarke plays her role as the Mother of Dragons very well. It is almost as if the dragons she is caring for are her real children. Unfortunately, they are not though.

Sometimes, her dragons are actually just a green screen mold of a head that she is holding, and boy does she look silly holding, petting, and loving this mold as if it was a real dragon's head.

What is even funnier is the mold is just the head, and the body is just a green stick that sticks out of it. On screen it's a huge fire breathing dragon, off screen it's a mold on a stick.

17 Growing Up

For the fans who have been loyal from the beginning, it is easy to remember how the Stark children have grown with the show. In the beginning, Sansa was dreaming of marry a Prince and becoming a real lady, Arya was training to become a master sword fighter, Brandon was being a rambunctious and adventurous 10-year-old who loved to climb towers, even though his mother said not to, Rickon was an adorable little and there oldest brother Robb was trying to follow in his father's foot steps and be the man he wants him to be.

Let's not forget about Jon Snow. At the start of the show he was a quiet, lonely, and barely out of his teens. Fans have literally watched these kids grow on screen since the start of the show in 2011. Eight years later, here we are about to start the last and final season in 2019 and they are all grown up.

16 Bringing The Wights To Life, Well Sort Of

The Game of Thrones creators are really good at mixing real life with CGI. Prime example is the white walkers and the wights. For those who do not know, or for those fans who might have forgotten, wights are the decaying bodies that the white walkers reanimate and control.

These wights take a mix of costumes, prosthetics, and green screen technology to create.

Technology has really come a long way. The things people can create and bring to life nowadays is nuts.

15 Having A Blast

Typically, fans are use to seeing the Game of Thrones cast dirty and scared or angry, but never really joyful.

Not only is this photo of them laughing a site for sore eyes, but it is also quite random for these characters to be together on good terms at all. It is obvious that this must have been a season where worlds finally collided, and everything was peaceful for a little bit.

The cast spends weeks around another and it is no wonder they are all so close and get along so well. They have been doing this for almost 9 years. They are basically family now.

14 The White Walker Battle

In this photo, fans get to see a better version of one of the greatest battles of the show. Fans really get a close up of the prosthetics that go into making someone a White Walker and the green screen behind them that will show the battle that will be taking place. It is quite clear here that the effects department are amazing at mixing reality with computer animation.

A lot of the scenes with snow are normally shot right on set, but there are some that need a little more enhanced effects, which is where the studios come into play to help make it more dramatic.

13 Realistic Filming

So, it has already been addressed a few times that Game of Thrones has a lot of CGI in its scenes to help either the creatures become creepier, to bring some creatures to life, or to just make the natural elements a little more out there.

Well, in this photo, we get a better idea of what a realistic set looks like on the Game of Thrones set.

In this picture, we see Margaery Tyrell, who is played by the adorable Natalie Dormer, sitting at a table surrounded by all the other ladies of the castle. Fans are able to look at not only the great costume work fitted with all the little details like jewelry, the hair, and the makeup to make the scene look real, but also the furniture and scenery behind them that makes it look like they really are in Westeros.

12 It's Just Khal Drogo Having Some Fun

This must be an alternate reality. Khal Drogo is sitting there smiling. Seeing Drogo smiling is definitely a sight for sore eyes. It is a rare occurrence to see Khal Drogo smile, that is unless he is having it out with an enemy.

Jason Momoa really knows how to jump into his roles. He plays the part of Khal Drogo so well with his impeccable body, signature Dothraki hair, and that face that tells everyone do not mess with him.

It was a hard thing to swallow when Khal Drogo left us. His love story with the gorgeous Daenerys, though problematic, was a beautiful one.

11 The Mountain

Fans will be surprised to know that Hafthor Bjornsson, the man who plays Gregor Clegane on Game of Thrones, is that massive in real life. There are no special effects when it comes to his size and muscles - it is all him.

Hafthor was even awarded the official crown of the world's strongest man last year, along with Europe's Strongest Man and the Strongman Classic in the Arnold Schwarzenegger's competition, which made him the first man to ever win the two awards in the same year.

According to chaostrophic.com, Bjornsson weighs in at a whopping 397 pounds and is an amazing 6'9" tall. Games of Thrones creators really picked a good one to play the part of The Mountain.

10 Rivalry, Smivalry

Fans know all about the rivalry between Cersei Lannister and Tyrion. It is no lie that they have nothing but hate for each other and the actors play it off so well that it is hard to even tell that they are acting and that they actually don't hate each other in real life.

According to chaostrophic.com, Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion, and Lena Heady, who plays Cersei, made sure to remind us that they actually do not hate each other when they were caught behind the scenes hanging out and having a good time while laughing over something that was on Lena's phone.

9 The Fall Of Balon Greyjoy

A lot of the times when a fan sees a behind-the-scenes set, it is hard to pin point what exact scene they are filming, unless it says it in the description.

This scene is obvious to all those dedicated fans, though.This is the scene where Euron Greyjoy gets rid of his brother so he can gain control of the Salt Throne.

The original scene is dark and gloomy as Euron and his brother Balon stand in the middle of a rickety bridge, with a bluish looking mountain in the background and lots of fog over lapping the scenery.

8 All The Tiresome Hours That Goes Into Filming

When it comes time to start filming for a new season of Game of Thrones, the cast and crew spend tiresome hours basically living on set during film sessions.

One of these really long sessions was for the Battle of the Bastards which took a gruelling 55 days to shoot.

Unfortunately, that means they also get to endure some bad weather from time to time. Jonathan Quinlan, the assistant director for the Game of Thrones show, took to Instagram a while back to thanks everyone personally for what they must endure and how they're dedication means a lot to him. They really are impressive with everything they must go through.

7 Nothing But Love

We all know that when it comes to the Lannister family, there are a lot of issues, especially among siblings. Cersei loves her twin brother, Jamie, more than siblings should love each other, but hates her brother Tyrion. Jamie, on the other hand, also loves his sister more than anything in the world, but also loves his brother Tyrion and feels bad for him and his situation.

According to gamerpunk.net, the three take hilarious pictures while in costume in between filming and off camera and fans can defiantly tell that though they have bad blood on camera, of camera, these three have nothing but love for one another.

6 Creating A Wight

So, earlier it was stated how when it comes to making a Wight come to life, it takes a mixture between makeup, prosthetics, costuming and CGI. For those who want to really see what it takes though, there is a YouTube series called The Game Revealed.

According to youngtribune.com, they give an even more detailed look into the make of the Wights. In one episode particular, they focus on the Wight Jon Snow kidnaps.

Director Jeremy Podeswa actually admitted that rendering a Wight up close and personal is actually more complicated than making an army of 10,000 Wights.

Cool fact: When we get to see a Wight get split in half during an episode, it is actually done on set without CGI.

5 For The Greater Good

A lot of the time, Game of Thrones is shot on some epic location that make the scenes perfect without much extra help, but there are occasions when mother nature needs a boost and the cast and crew all pile up in doors to film in front of a green screen that makes the weather look a little worst than it really is.

According to chaostrophic.com, in this photo, we get to see Jon Snow, played by Kit Harrington, and Tormund, played by Kristofer Hiviu, look chilled to the bone as they get ready to film a scene in front of a green screen.

It is hard to remember what the cast and crew deals with while filming when we as fans are watching from our cozy couches.

4 Takes A Crew To Build A Village

Knowing that it takes an army to create the Game of Thrones television show comes as no shocker. Between the production budget, the cast and crew, it takes way more than one person to make everything come to life and run smoothly.

According to gamerpunk.net, in this photo we get to see Jamie Lannister, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, acting in a scene, and behind him there is a large crew making sure everything is perfect. It is just a little taste of how many crews are actually behind scenes while filming is taking place.

3 Simpler Times

In this photo, we get transported all the back to the beginning to season one. Ah, season one, when times were a lot less chaotic and simpler. Ned, Robb, and Catelyn are still alive, and Jon Snow is less worried about the impeding doom that is coming and going to wipe everyone out and more about being a role model to his brother Bran.

This scene in particular will be the easiest for fans to pinpoint thanks to the position that Ned and Catelyn are standing in.

What is crazy about this scene is the town itself. Winterfell actually looks like a real town and not something built just for production.

2 More Dirt Is Key

In this photo, we get to see Gwendolyn Christie, who plays the incredible female warrior Brienne of Tarth, getting a makeup touch up.

Fans are quite used to seeing a lot of our loveable characters of the show dirty, ragged, and what we could assume, if they were real, pretty smelly. The makeup team does a pretty good job at focusing on every little detail and making them look exactly how they would if they were really back in that time period.

According to chaostrophic.com, the makeup team will sometimes take up to an hour making sure that the cast's makeup looks as real and natural as possible. They even make sure that their hair is exactly right, and their clothes look how they should for that particular scene.

Every detail is key to making the show as realistic as possible

1 Just Chilling With David

So, fans have gotten to see quite a lot of pictures of the cast and crew hanging out with one another behind the scenes. On a rare occurrence, though, we were able to catch some of the cast hanging out with the most important person on the set that a lot of fans probably won't recognize.

According to gamerpunk.net, in this photo we get to see Peter Dinklage, aka Tyrion, Conleth Hill, aka Varys, and Jacob Anderson, aka Grey Worm, with none other than the co-creator David Benioff.