Dany and Drogon's dramatic rescue of Jon Snow
and his fellow warriors is one of the most memorable scenes
from season seven of "Game of Thrones."
But before that scene came to life,
it started here, in a slightly less polished place.
Before filming ever began,
certain problems had to be solved,
like how all the characters would fit on the dragon
and what they'd hold to avoid falling off.
Also, what does a dragon even look like?
Building these mythical creatures from scratch required
a combination of elements found in the natural world,
like the scales of a lizard,
the wings of a bat, and the neck of a T. rex,
all to create this.
(dragon roaring)
Dan Katcher: I built that gigantic thing
in this little, tiny bedroom.
Narrator: This is Dan Katcher,
the self-proclaimed "father of dragons,"
and he's the man responsible for designing
these iconic creatures for one of the biggest shows
in television history.
(dragon roaring)
The "Game of Thrones" dragons set a new standard
for how these creatures are designed and brought to life.
Katcher: For me, every season it would go anywhere from
eight weeks to 12 weeks
of actually working and designing these guys.
Narrator: It all starts with a sketch,
like this early drawing of Drogon.
But it's not just about sketching.
Katcher creates detailed models
that he sends to HBO for approval,
models that have to take into account
the proportions of the dragons...
(dragon screeching)
which grew from tiny to massive during the run of the show,
how the creatures would work inside and out,
and every single detail down to the individual scales.
To do this, Katcher used a program called ZBrush.
The first step for creating one of his 3D models
is creating the proportions of the creatures
using elements called ZSpheres.
Before he can think about how the creature will look,
he has to create the basic infrastructure
for how it will work.
Pretty soon, you see the basic building blocks of a dragon.
Katcher then creates an internal structure, or skeleton.
He lays out bones that will be connected to muscle,
establishing the physical dynamics
of how this creature will move and, eventually, fly.
An understanding of physiology and anatomy
is crucial to Katcher's designs,
many of which are inspired by real-life animals.
Katcher: In the skeleton itself, I've mixed
all these animals together.
So, you've got bat wings that are in the bones.
You've got a bird rib cage.
These are neck vertebrae taken from a
Tyrannosaurus rex.
Narrator: For his dragon, Katcher combined
specific elements of real animals;
the scales on the dragon's head look like
those of a sungazer lizard.
And you'll notice the similarities between
the scales on its chest
and the feathers on the chest of an eagle.
Katcher puts his inspiration to work
in the most time-consuming part of the process:
creating and refining the extremely detailed
features of the dragon's anatomy,
like its teeth and its scales.
Although ZBrush has tools that allow artists
to repeat the patterns of the scales, thus saving time,
Katcher meticulously designs every scale himself
to avoid the appearance of artificiality.
Once the detailed model is complete in ZBrush,
Katcher exports a 2D image to perform a paint-over
for an image that's submitted to producers for approval.
But the initial design is only the beginning.
Katcher would be given the story line,
which would determine specific modifications
that needed to be made for each dragon.
Like in that scene in season seven.
Katcher: So I had to show, like, all right,
well here's how all the guys
can hold on to the scales on Drogon's back
to eventually be pulled away.
So that's, like, part of the design process.
Narrator: Katcher exports his files from ZBrush
and sends them to visual-effects companies,
who import the files into programs
like Maya and 3D Studio Max
to begin rigging and animating the creatures
that you see come to life on screen.
Katcher: The technology now is at the point where, really,
if you could conceive of it, you can make it.
Narrator: So, how do you get a job designing dragons?
Katcher: I was working on a show,
called "Terra Nova," with dinosaurs,
and a gentleman by the name of Rainer Gombos came in,
who happened to be the executive producer
for the visual effects for "Game of Thrones,"
and he was looking for a dragon.
And it just so happened that I had spent my life
making dinosaurs and dragons, like for McFarlane Toys.
Narrator: Years before getting hired
on to "Game of Thrones," Katcher worked as a toy maker,
designing and sculpting creature figurines
for "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane's
New York-based toy company.
Katcher: I had already had a pretty big portfolio
of different dragon works to show them,
so I didn't have to do another concept on top of that.
They just sort of looked at my work,
and Rainer trusted me and said,
"We see you know what you're doing, just go for it."
So that design was always in me,
and finally "Game of Thrones" just let it come out.
Narrator: Katcher received Emmy recognition
for his work on "Game of Thrones."
Today, he is busy creating creatures for DC shows
like "The Flash," "Titans," and "Supergirl."
(dragon roaring)
Katcher: That was the design I did for the ice dragon,
which I had to keep secret for two years
before it was ever released.
Even my wife did not see that. (laughs)
Because everybody was like, especially my wife was like,
"Don't you tell me what happens,
don't show me anything on your computer,
I don't want to know until the show comes out."