The Game of Thrones final season is so close , guys!
It’s hard to think of a TV show with so much hype going into its last batch of episodes. I mean, there have been other huge finales before — Lost comes to mind, though I hope GoT ends on a less divisive note — but this feels special.
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The growth of social media since Lost has also allowed fandom to grow in unique and interesting ways, such as with these awesome photos from Fangirl Quest .
It feels like once the show is done, there will be a big hole in the TV landscape.
I’m not just talking about the characters and plot and the show’s ability to pull the rug out from under the audience on a regular basis, but also the show’s sheer production values.
Especially how it’s filmed on location.
Green screen and CGI may be cheaper, but ‘GoT’ is a great example of the difference real locations can make.
Plus, by being filmed on location, it means that fans can relive the hype by visiting the exact spots where their favorite scenes were filmed.
That’s exactly what travel blog Fangirl Quest has been doing.
Bloggers Tiia and Satu document their travels and visit filming locations around the world.
Their claim to fame is photos called “sceneframes,” in which they hold up a screenshot of a scene and perfectly lining it up with the filming location.
You have to admit, the pics are pretty darn cool.
Game of Thrones has six major filming locations: Iceland, Northern Ireland, Croatia, Spain, Malta, and Morocco.
So far, Tiia and Satu have managed to visit Iceland and Northern Ireland, but they have plans to go to the rest.
But don’t worry, they’ve got plenty of locations to work with in just those two countries.
In Iceland, they spent some time in Thingvellir National Park.
It was the site of the Wildling Camp and has some great rock formations to act as the backdrop for Ygritte and Tormund to have a heart-to-heart.
Much of the Westeros shenanigans are filmed in Northern Ireland.
It seems like you can’t take a walk without wandering into a sceneframe. Such as Brienne and Jaime travelling through the grounds of Audley’s Castle.
The beaches around Ballintoy Harbour are a popular spot for important dialogue.
Such as here, where Stannis and Melisandre have a dramatic chat.
Or Theon’s baptism way back in season two.
He was so young and innocent then, wasn’t he? This was before Ramsay Bolton got ahold of him.
The Dark Hedges make a suitably dreary King’s Road.
The old and gnarly beech trees line Bregagh Road in County Antrim.
The grounds of Castle Ward acted as a bunch of locations in Westeros.
In particular, the grounds housed Robb’s war camp, but the castle’s courtyard also doubled for Winterfell in the pic of the gathered Starks above.
Though most of Daenerys’ early seasons were filmed in southern countries, not all of it was.
Much of her traveling in season one was filmed in the Shillanavogy Valley in Northern Ireland. Since season one was filmed before HBO knew it would be a hit, it makes sense to keep the number of locations limited.
If you’re looking for a direwolf of your own, head to Tollymore Forest Park.
It’s where the Stark siblings got their few minutes of happiness in the pilot, before everything went to hell.
Look how young they all are!
It’s pretty crazy to look back on those first episodes. The Stark kids have all been through so much in seven seasons, and season eight isn’t likely to let up.
A very important meeting in season seven was filmed at the Cliffs of Fairhead.
It’s there that Jon Snow met Daenerys and was reunited with Tyrion for the first time since season one.
Oh, and it’s also where he met a dragon. No biggie.
You have to admit that the cliffs make for a seriously epic backdrop for the scene.
Tyrion was already familiar with the area, having already visited nearby Murlough Bay.
It’s pretty cool how a single area in Northern Ireland can act as the backdrop for such geographically distant parts of Westeros.
Frankly, I can’t wait to see all the ways locations are used in season eight.
And I also can’t wait to see the sceneframing photos Tiia and Satu create once they get to travel to the other four countries the show has been filmed in.
Be sure to check out all of their pics at their website and follow their posts on their Facebook page !
