House of the Dragon used unexpected gym equipment to film dragon riding scenes

From Luke’s rest to Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma Darcy) recruiting new dragon riders. House of the Dragon Season 2 featured more dragon action than Season 1, or even the entire season. game of thronesMore dragon action means more dragon riding scenes.

House of the DragonThe dragon-riding scenes in are filmed with actors riding on a contraption called the Buck, a mechanical bull whose movements mimic those of the show’s dragon. Surrounding the Buck are LED screens that display animated backdrops and illuminate the actors. But even with all this expensive, high-tech equipment, some simple gym equipment proved essential to bringing the dragon-riding scenes to life.

For Season 2, the show’s four cinematographers, Vanja Černyjl, PJ Dillon, Kathryn Goldschmidt, and Alejandro Martínez, decided to go a step further in creating the dragon-riding experience on screen. “Our goal was to make the scenes feel more subjective, as if the cameraman was riding the dragon alongside the actor,” Černyjl, who served as cinematographer on episodes six and seven, told Mashable.

Chernul led early testing of the new dragon riding technique, which he explained involved “integrating handheld camera movements into a motion control system that was synchronized with the mechanical stag.” These movements were based on pre-visualized animations of the dragon, ensuring that the movements of the actor riding the stag matched the work of the VFX team.

For the shoot, a remote camera was placed on the stag itself. The camera operator stood at a distance from the stag and wore a Libra console that was attached to the moose bars on his shoulders. “This setup allowed the remote head with the camera to react to handheld controls from the ground,” Chernul explains. “The challenge was to make it look like the camera operator was reacting to the movements of the stag, or the dragon. The problem was that the camera operator on the ground was too stable and we didn’t want to fake handheld controls.”

Then inspiration struck from an unlikely source. “It was a silly idea that ended up working,” Chernul says. “We borrowed a half-balance ball from a local gym and asked our cameraman to stand on it. This threw him off balance a bit, allowing us to replicate the movements we needed. Our amazing cameramen are willing to try anything, so this approach worked.”

The game-changing half-balance ball is now in, and Chernul used a 32mm prime lens to film dragon-riding scenes, including Wolf the White (Tom Bennett) riding Silver Wing for the first time. “It was immersive, close enough to the actors to be subjective, and long enough to convey the movement,” he said. House of the DragonOther cinematographers and directors adapted it to suit their own purposes.

“Our innovative setup makes the dragon riding scenes more realistic and we’re pleased with the results,” Chernur said.

The next time you use a half balance ball, instead of just thinking of it as exercise, think of it as preparation for filming a dragon riding scene – or, even better, as preparation for riding a dragon yourself.

The finale House of the Dragon Season 2 will premiere on August 4 at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.