Un cultural phenomenon of unquestionable significance, Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and BD Weiss and based on the novel saga Song of ice and fire by George RR Martin.
It is a product for television, which has exceeded all forecasts, and has meant the resurgence of American television.
Awards and acknowledgements
Released in April 2011 in the United States, and a month later in Spain, Game of Thrones has been setting record after record in recent years, both in terms of audience and the amount of awards and recognitions received.
The series has accumulated 38 Emmys, a mark that it achieved in the 2016 ceremony (and that will probably continue to rise), displacing the sitcom Fraser, that in 11 years of issuance accumulated 37.
In addition, it is the only production to collect 12 statuettes in one night, which he has achieved on a couple of occasions (2015-2016). Beyond the Primetime Emmy Awards, also adds 1 Golden Globe (for Peter Dinklage for best supporting actor in season 1), 5 awards for the best cast by the Screen Actors Guild of America, among many more.
In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named her as the # 40 best written television series ever. For The Hollywood Reporter is the 4th best series in TV history, while for Rolling Stone Magazine it is the twelfth best television show of all time.
The high audience ratings of Game of Thrones
Beyond the hundreds of awards and recognitions, the audience numbers are growing every season: the first episode was seen in the United States by 2,5 million peopleAs by the end of the first season the number of spectators was 9,3 million per episode.
For the second season the average rose to 11,6 million and the third closed with an average of 14,2 million viewers per chapter, which made it the second most watched series on HBO, behind The sopranos.
A year later it would achieve a surprising average of 18,6 million viewers per episode. For the sixth season, the number rose to 25 million per installment, 40% of this figure belongs to audiences on digital platforms, beyond the "traditional" television screen.
For all this, 10 million dollars of budget that is invested for the realization of each episode, with this audience they are more than justified.
As if all of the above weren't enough of an impact, according to the magazine guinnesit's the most “pirated” television series.
In Spain the series is also an unquestionable audience leader every time it is broadcast, with an average of 42.500 viewers per delivery.
The Soundtrack, as iconic as the series itself
Initially, the music to set the fantasy-medieval epic was to be composed by English composer Stephen Warbeck, Oscar winner for his work on the 1998 film Shakespeare In Love. He even signed a contract for the realization of the pilot chapter. However, Warbeck decided to abandon the project, so David Benioff and D. B. Weiss had to find someone else.
The chosen one was the German composer of Iranian origin Ramin Djawadi, who after reading the script for the first two chapters and meeting with the producers, resigned with many conditions the film project in which he was involved and joined the new series.
Djawadi graduated with honors from the Berklee Collage Music from Boston, the world's largest private university dedicated exclusively to the teaching of music. In 1998 he was recruited by Hans Zimmer, one of Hollywood's most powerful soundtrack composers. (if not the most), so he settled in Los Angeles and joined the staff of musicians at Remote Control Producctions. His first job was in the TV movie Saving Jessica Lynch of 2003 and his debut in the cinema would arrive a year later with the ineffable Blade trinity.
After some not too momentous work, in 2008 Zimmer gave him the responsibility of creating the soundtrack of Iron Man, your first big budget project. Although the film was an unquestionable critical success and especially at the box office, its music did not have a major impact, so much so that the music with which the Marvel hero is usually identified today is that composed by Brian Tyler for iron man 3
Currently it is one of the most prestigious composers of orchestral music, whose works are followed by a good part of the public, as if it were a rock star.
The creative process in the music of Game of Thrones
Djawadi has pointed out that the process for creating the music for the series has been the same practically from the beginning: once each chapter has been filmed, they send you a first edit cut to work. At the same time, he holds sessions with Benioff and Weiss, where they discuss the melodic tone that will be printed on each sequence.
Addition Main Theme (Main Theme), from chapter one you were asked to develop a particular score for each of the main characters.
A general level, the cello is the main instrument on which almost all the pieces rest, whose dark, melancholic and medieval character is accompanied by string instruments, choirs and in some pieces, with the use of industrial instruments, mainly in the most suspenseful or action scenes.
Djawadi's work on the series has valid 1 Emmy nomination, two awards from the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in the category of Best Music for TV, among other additional recognitions.
When they are already confirmed that the series will end in the eighth season, it is also a fact that the German Iranian artist will go all the way.
Beyond tv
The specific weight of the music of Game of Thrones is such that at the beginning of 2017 the Tour Game of Thrones: Live Concert Experience, by 24 cities in Canada and the United States, with a success equal to that of the series, obtaining acclaim from the public and recognition from the press and specialized critics.
Image sources: MusicIsNatural / Melty / Youtube