Winter is Coming - Season 2

Interview with the producers about Season 2 Game of Thrones.  Excerpt:

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are currently in Belfast, knee-deep in pre-production for season two of Game of Thrones. They took some time out of their schedule to chat with the Los Angeles Times about how the work is going so far and what to expect in season two. Here is some of what they had to say:

There are some big shifts between the first book and the second — different characters, new locations, huge battle scenes and new elements like … [spoiler redacted]. How closely are you sticking to the book?

Weiss: The book is always going to be our template, our go-to bible. It’s mainly about the balancing act between keeping the characters the viewers have spent so much time investing in front-and-center and introducing all these new characters George has come up with and giving them their fair share. That’s what we’re currently engaged in doing.

So you’re still rewriting?

Benioff: We’re definitely still rewriting. You start out with your dream scenario, and then the hard reality hits you and you make adjustments. We’re still in that adjustment phase. There’s a lot of writing and a lot of casting still. Most series if you get second season you’re done with most of the casting. With the second book and the second season, a whole slew of characters make their appearances.

Weiss: I’m sitting here looking at our casting grid, which is a grid of names and faces of all the characters. Last year I remember being so excited as I’d watch week after week — it gradually fills in and finally … you have this beautiful wall of faces that represents your cast. Now I’m looking at the grid again, and half the people are gone. And there’s a grid to be filled in again with a new group of people.

Benioff: Luckily it's a big enough cast that the people we're attached to ... the whole top row is all people we know...
 

 

The interview is very spoilerish for Season 2.     If you want to know (or have already read the books) link.  If you don't want to know, don't click.

Of some brief note (and in a totally expected turn of events because of the difference between TV and books and because of things like actor contracts meaning that you can't shelve major characters for an entire year):

 

Weiss: In the book there are a couple of characters who have more of an offscreen role and come back in Book 3. But in the case of, say, Robb Stark {...}  we realized there’s no way to talk about this guy and not have him in the show. So there are people offscreen in the book who we are going to write onscreen in the show ...

Benioff: In the case of Jaime Lannister, he’s got one scene in the second book, but he’s such an important character we want to see more of him. There’s fluidity in that certain scenes from the third book find their way into the second season  {...} We wanted to make sure those characters [that people love] stayed in the audience’s mind and didn’t disappear for a whole year.

Winter is Coming - Season 2

Interview with the producers about Season 2 Game of Thrones.  Excerpt:

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are currently in Belfast, knee-deep in pre-production for season two of Game of Thrones. They took some time out of their schedule to chat with the Los Angeles Times about how the work is going so far and what to expect in season two. Here is some of what they had to say:

There are some big shifts between the first book and the second — different characters, new locations, huge battle scenes and new elements like … [spoiler redacted]. How closely are you sticking to the book?

Weiss: The book is always going to be our template, our go-to bible. It’s mainly about the balancing act between keeping the characters the viewers have spent so much time investing in front-and-center and introducing all these new characters George has come up with and giving them their fair share. That’s what we’re currently engaged in doing.

So you’re still rewriting?

Benioff: We’re definitely still rewriting. You start out with your dream scenario, and then the hard reality hits you and you make adjustments. We’re still in that adjustment phase. There’s a lot of writing and a lot of casting still. Most series if you get second season you’re done with most of the casting. With the second book and the second season, a whole slew of characters make their appearances.

Weiss: I’m sitting here looking at our casting grid, which is a grid of names and faces of all the characters. Last year I remember being so excited as I’d watch week after week — it gradually fills in and finally … you have this beautiful wall of faces that represents your cast. Now I’m looking at the grid again, and half the people are gone. And there’s a grid to be filled in again with a new group of people.

Benioff: Luckily it's a big enough cast that the people we're attached to ... the whole top row is all people we know...
 

 

The interview is very spoilerish for Season 2.     If you want to know (or have already read the books) link.  If you don't want to know, don't click.

Of some brief note (and in a totally expected turn of events because of the difference between TV and books and because of things like actor contracts meaning that you can't shelve major characters for an entire year):

 

Weiss: In the book there are a couple of characters who have more of an offscreen role and come back in Book 3. But in the case of, say, Robb Stark {...}  we realized there’s no way to talk about this guy and not have him in the show. So there are people offscreen in the book who we are going to write onscreen in the show ...

Benioff: In the case of Jaime Lannister, he’s got one scene in the second book, but he’s such an important character we want to see more of him. There’s fluidity in that certain scenes from the third book find their way into the second season  {...} We wanted to make sure those characters [that people love] stayed in the audience’s mind and didn’t disappear for a whole year.

Winter is Coming - Season 2

Interview with the producers about Season 2 Game of Thrones.  Excerpt:

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are currently in Belfast, knee-deep in pre-production for season two of Game of Thrones. They took some time out of their schedule to chat with the Los Angeles Times about how the work is going so far and what to expect in season two. Here is some of what they had to say:

There are some big shifts between the first book and the second — different characters, new locations, huge battle scenes and new elements like … [spoiler redacted]. How closely are you sticking to the book?

Weiss: The book is always going to be our template, our go-to bible. It’s mainly about the balancing act between keeping the characters the viewers have spent so much time investing in front-and-center and introducing all these new characters George has come up with and giving them their fair share. That’s what we’re currently engaged in doing.

So you’re still rewriting?

Benioff: We’re definitely still rewriting. You start out with your dream scenario, and then the hard reality hits you and you make adjustments. We’re still in that adjustment phase. There’s a lot of writing and a lot of casting still. Most series if you get second season you’re done with most of the casting. With the second book and the second season, a whole slew of characters make their appearances.

Weiss: I’m sitting here looking at our casting grid, which is a grid of names and faces of all the characters. Last year I remember being so excited as I’d watch week after week — it gradually fills in and finally … you have this beautiful wall of faces that represents your cast. Now I’m looking at the grid again, and half the people are gone. And there’s a grid to be filled in again with a new group of people.

Benioff: Luckily it's a big enough cast that the people we're attached to ... the whole top row is all people we know...
 

 

The interview is very spoilerish for Season 2.     If you want to know (or have already read the books) link.  If you don't want to know, don't click.

Of some brief note (and in a totally expected turn of events because of the difference between TV and books and because of things like actor contracts meaning that you can't shelve major characters for an entire year):

 

Weiss: In the book there are a couple of characters who have more of an offscreen role and come back in Book 3. But in the case of, say, Robb Stark {...}  we realized there’s no way to talk about this guy and not have him in the show. So there are people offscreen in the book who we are going to write onscreen in the show ...

Benioff: In the case of Jaime Lannister, he’s got one scene in the second book, but he’s such an important character we want to see more of him. There’s fluidity in that certain scenes from the third book find their way into the second season  {...} We wanted to make sure those characters [that people love] stayed in the audience’s mind and didn’t disappear for a whole year.