Post by Leo of Red Keep on Sept 16, 2017 14:18:17 GMT
TV shows on HBO are not started on the basis of a long term commitment. When Game Of Thrones was accepted, it was for one season with an option on more in case of success. The show-runners have said they hoped to get to the Red Wedding and after they got there, they still had no guarantee of being able to complete the whole series as GRRM was planning to write it. The continued success of the show was a constant precondition to its going further and its writers had to ensure that. They must have studied the reception of the show in order to achieve this. They used this when deciding how to adapt the books, what to leave out, what to soften, what to focus on. When they ran out of book material, this information likely took even greater importance.
By Season 5, the adaptation work was heavy. Massive parts of the books were cut, story-lines like Sansa's or Dorne were significantly altered. In the case of Dorne, some will say it was improvised.
The rest was simplified enough to fit the format while trying to make sense, like Cersei's attack on the Tyrells through the High Sparrow or Jon's assassination. Action and shock value, proven success factors in earlier seasons, were satisfied through Sansa's wedding night, the added Hardhome sequence, the burning of Shireen, the attack of the Sons of the Harpy in Daznak Pit or the butchering of Meryn Trant.
Still, Season 5 was granted mixed reception and some of the nagging criticism on-line was that it had started slow and even stayed that way until the fireworks started cracking in the 8th episode. A fringe of the audience appreciated the characters and intrigue while much of the rest complained about Arya sweeping floors. Book readers were outraged about Jon saying "Olly, fetch me my sword" instead of "Edd, fetch me a block" and stopped watching in protest. Can you imagine? Olly was not even a character in the books!
There you had it. The literate had left the building and the rest wanted bloody, flashy action. It is unclear how much of the feedback to Season 5 was received before the writing process of Season 6 was completed but it is safe to assume it came in time to influence part of it. Statements from actors of the Dornish story line saying they got paid for more episodes than were shot imply late changes.
Shortly after receiving the scripts to Season 6, Emilia Clarke announced: "This season coming up, that we’re about to film, there’s none of that. It’s just go, go, go, go. Shocking moment to shocking moment. Epic moment to epic moment. It’s mental; it’s epic. And definitely Dany’s a part of it."
"None of that" referred to the slow build-up some of the earlier seasons had offered. Of course, like for Season 4, the season could be expected to be the downhill run from the slow climb that had just culminated with Hardhome, Shireen roasting, dragon riding, Stannis killing, Cersei shaming, Jon murdering etc… although that had felt massively rushed all of a sudden when considering Meryn Trant, Myrcella, blind Arya, jumped off Sansa, disappeared Margaery and Littlefinger, oysters, clams and cockles not even included.
The fact she was being asked about "slow build-up" and replying "oh no, don't worry, it will be just what you want this time" ("shocking, epic, mental") was already worrying and… so it came. The season 5 feedback had been received and processed, we got what the masses wanted.
People still say today "D&D can't write" and I must disagree. They could if they wanted to but they listened to their audience and fine tuned their product accordingly.
By Season 5, the adaptation work was heavy. Massive parts of the books were cut, story-lines like Sansa's or Dorne were significantly altered. In the case of Dorne, some will say it was improvised.
The rest was simplified enough to fit the format while trying to make sense, like Cersei's attack on the Tyrells through the High Sparrow or Jon's assassination. Action and shock value, proven success factors in earlier seasons, were satisfied through Sansa's wedding night, the added Hardhome sequence, the burning of Shireen, the attack of the Sons of the Harpy in Daznak Pit or the butchering of Meryn Trant.
Still, Season 5 was granted mixed reception and some of the nagging criticism on-line was that it had started slow and even stayed that way until the fireworks started cracking in the 8th episode. A fringe of the audience appreciated the characters and intrigue while much of the rest complained about Arya sweeping floors. Book readers were outraged about Jon saying "Olly, fetch me my sword" instead of "Edd, fetch me a block" and stopped watching in protest. Can you imagine? Olly was not even a character in the books!
There you had it. The literate had left the building and the rest wanted bloody, flashy action. It is unclear how much of the feedback to Season 5 was received before the writing process of Season 6 was completed but it is safe to assume it came in time to influence part of it. Statements from actors of the Dornish story line saying they got paid for more episodes than were shot imply late changes.
Shortly after receiving the scripts to Season 6, Emilia Clarke announced: "This season coming up, that we’re about to film, there’s none of that. It’s just go, go, go, go. Shocking moment to shocking moment. Epic moment to epic moment. It’s mental; it’s epic. And definitely Dany’s a part of it."
"None of that" referred to the slow build-up some of the earlier seasons had offered. Of course, like for Season 4, the season could be expected to be the downhill run from the slow climb that had just culminated with Hardhome, Shireen roasting, dragon riding, Stannis killing, Cersei shaming, Jon murdering etc… although that had felt massively rushed all of a sudden when considering Meryn Trant, Myrcella, blind Arya, jumped off Sansa, disappeared Margaery and Littlefinger, oysters, clams and cockles not even included.
The fact she was being asked about "slow build-up" and replying "oh no, don't worry, it will be just what you want this time" ("shocking, epic, mental") was already worrying and… so it came. The season 5 feedback had been received and processed, we got what the masses wanted.
People still say today "D&D can't write" and I must disagree. They could if they wanted to but they listened to their audience and fine tuned their product accordingly.
