- Hi, I'm Einar Thordarson, (light music)
location manager and scout on Game of Thrones
in Iceland for Pegasus.
We are here at a location where we shot
East Watch, part of East Watch,
on the beach behind me.
We're standing on what would be base of the wall.
There was some more CGI work done obviously
to make it the real wall.
Down there we shot a scene
with Jon and Jorah's boats
on the beach
where they are approaching
and the wall they used for
where the dragon comes flying around
and starts knocking it down.
Well I think Iceland really offers
a lot of locations that are very
fantasy and adventure-like,
which really fits into the show, I think.
Mysterious-looking but also
we have a lot of locations that are very accessible
even if they look like they're in the middle of nowhere,
so that has really helped.
And the producers on Game of Thrones are very
knowledgeable about Iceland, and together
we have managed to find new and exciting places
for most seasons.
It's fantastic and exciting to see
all the work that you put into this
come together on the screen,
and just to work it out logistically,
you know, make it happen,
is tricky at times.
But of course, the end result is
the glory, I mean, that's the exciting part,
to see it on the screen.
Obviously, film tourism is something that is
quite big around the world.
And in Iceland has become big.
Game of Thrones is a huge part of that.
It's been here many times.
You may have a Hollywood movie come in,
but it's just once and it has a big effect,
but Game of Thrones has been here many times,
and there are a lot of followers that
just want to go to Iceland because
Game of Thrones was shooting there.
We were looking for a canyon for a dragon to fly in
and coming up to a hill to pick up a goat.
And this canyon was right for it.
The dragon came flying down the canyon behind me
and up to the hill, picked up the goat,
blew some fire on the ground,
and you have the beautiful waterfall in the background.
It was a location where the herder had his goats
and wasn't expecting the dragon to come up behind him.
Behind me is where they put the Bloody Gate in CGI.
At the end of this path that the Hound and Arya
are walking along, having a conversation.
It's a little distance from the parking lot,
so you have to carry everything down here.
And it's a national park, so you have to
keep the tourists away.
And in the summer time, you have a lot more
tourists than in winter,
so a little tricky, but still,
it worked pretty well.
The funny thing is it was really warm on that day,
which is unusual in Iceland,
but that was probably the main problem.
People in heavy costumes were really having a hard time.
They wanted a narrow canyon that they would travel through.
We just started thinking about any canyon
that could possibly work.
And looked at there are a few of them around here.
We looked at a few,
and this one in the end was the winner.
So this is a location where one of
the most climactic scenes in the series was filmed at.
We're in Thingvellir, and this is where
the Hound and Arya are trekking.
He has the fight with Brienne,
and in the end begs Arya to kill him.
So in these hills here, we have
like seven different positions where they were fighting
and then we had to do a little stunt work
where the Hound falls off the cliff.
Then, him laying on the ground.
And then, in the end, you have Arya
walking down the valley behind me
at the end of the scene.
This location, even if it's right off the main road,
you just walk up the hill and you have a hike into the hills
that are difficult for the crew
carrying equipment, and even just without equipment
it can be difficult,
so there were logistical aspects to worry about here,
but we spent about a couple of days
and some rehearsals up here as well.
But yeah, a couple of days of shooting in here
in like five, six different spots around me.
(soft music)