How Game Of Thrones Filmed The Loot Train Battle

If you like seeing the production of massive battles, like the one that featured in the most recent Game of Thrones episode, here’s the cast and crew talking about the ins and outs of it all for almost 14 minutes.

Note: If you haven’t seen “The Spoils of War”, pro tip: there’s gonna be a spoiler or two. Catch up with Tegan’s latest recap if you need the finer details, or come back after seeing the episode.

To shoot the Loot Train Attack, the largest battle shown in the latest Game of Thrones season so far, the directors used multiple aerial cameras, including a spider cam (which cricket fans will be familiar with) and a company called FlyCam. “It’s like a souped up drone, a small helicopter,” Matt Shakman, who directs episodes four and five of the latest season, said.

The video, uploaded to the official Game of Thrones account, also goes through the amount of very real fire effects deployed. Around 20 men were fully burned in a single shot, which is supposedly a record for television. Some of the stunt actors also talk about how to deal with being immolated – you have to hold your breath, and you have to remain as calm as possible, given the fear factor being on fire induces.

If you’ve already seen the episode, the video above is worthwhile just for the range of alternate angles and shots on the same scenes. It’s fascinating to see just how much work goes into things like the pyrotechnics and the visual effects, but also the amount of stunt work required.