Emmy Nomination for Pixomondo

Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 23, 2012. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

The episode “Valar Morghulis” from the second season of the HBO series “Game of Thrones” was officially nominated for the Emmy Award in the “Special Visual Effects” category. Pixomondo was the primary supplier of effects for the ten one-hour episodes.

Organization of the VFX

Project management was handled by the Pixomondo studio in Stuttgart, where work on creatures and matte paintings was carried out in addition to set extensions. This gave “Westeros,” the series’ fictional continent, its distinctive appearance. Pixomondo also digitally altered the wolves filmed in live action so that they became the so-called “Direwolves.” The Pixomondo studio in Frankfurt created the completely digital dragons, brought them to life, and taught them to breathe fire.

The experts at the Berlin location worked on scenes in which smoke and fog had to be added. The Munich and Hamburg locations supported the other studios by taking on compositing and some 3D work.

Nominations

In addition to show VFX supervisor Rainer Gombos, project manager and VFX supervisor Juri Stanossek, and VFX producer Jan Fiedler, three team leaders who were responsible for creating the fire-breathing dragons, set extensions, and other visual effects are also nominated for the Emmy Award. A total of 528 shots were worked on for "Game of Thrones."

The “Primetime Emmy Awards” are the most important television awards in the USA and will be presented for the 64th time in Los Angeles on September 23. Beyond the “Special Visual Effects” category, “Game of Thrones” is nominated in ten other categories, including “Best Drama Series,” “Best Sound Mixing,” and “Best Costumes in a Series.”

Further information at http://www.pixomondo.com

Here is the trailer for the second season of "Games of Thrones":