'Game of Thrones' Behind the Scenes: 'The Long Night'

55 nights of shooting. Your favorite characters fighting for their lives, some never to be on the screen again. How was “The Long Night” episode shot to keep us in suspense for the longest battle scene ever created for television or film? Spoilers ahead.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have created a phenomenon with George R.R. Martin’s characters and have brought them nearly full circle in their final season on HBO’s "Game Of Thrones." With this past Sunday’s episode now in the books, we can start to not only digest the storytelling, but also the imagery and the sheer, immense direction it took to create the episode. HBO has released a much more intimate detailing of their behind the scenes look at episode three of this final season, and it doesn’t disappoint, especially if you’re interested in seeing how an Emmy-winning show creates its stories.

From the set elements to the lighting and camera work, the video gives us some fantastic understanding of how each of these elements can come together to tell a story. One huge takeaway was the use of (or lack thereof) lighting. Social media exploded quite a bit over the darkness of the scenes, and several comments led to how much was saved on the cost of the CGI because of the lack of lighting for the episode. Whether this was or wasn’t the case is neither here nor there, but what really matters is that the darkest scenes of the episode left many people in suspense and on the edge of their seats, only adding to the emotional weight of the episode. In this case, I believe, it was used as a storytelling device that lent mood and fear of the unknown, which added to our fear for the many characters' safety. 

What did you think of the episode before and after watching the behind the scenes video?