• Briefing Alex
  • Video HBO / Elastic

We have shared many beautiful maps over the last year but the one of this week is literally epic. We are talking about the opening title of HBO's TV show Game of Thrones. It's a great adaption of George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels and we recently watched the whole first season over a couple of days.

As you may know, every (good) fantasy book starts with a beautiful hand-drawn map. Remember the Middle-Earth in the Lord of The Rings or the Discworld from Terry Pratchett's hilarious series. And Game of Thrones was no exception to this rule. That's why HBO tried to hire the best people to turn their opening titles into a marvelous fantasy map.

Art work for the preparation.

The company Elastic who created this title sequence got inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci engines to create an entire world of gears and interlocking cogs representing Westeros, the world where the action takes place. But the true wonder of it, is that if you watch carefully (and are familiar with Game of Thrones), you will realize that the sequence depicts the whole history of The Seven Kingdoms and the houses that rule them. It also symbolizes the main interest of the show: the race for power and the multiple mechanisms that are at work over the control of the country. The Game of Thrones.

Rendered map

If you want more info about this credit titles, you should read this interview of Angus Wall from Elastic where he tells all the secrets behind it.

Art work for the preparation.

Alex