Season 2 – The Burning of the 7

In 2013 we were honoured to play host to the crew of HBO’s Game of Thrones when an episode was filmed on the beach in front of the Downhill Beachhouse. It was absolutely amazing to see up close what goes into a huge production like this and the see the craftsmanship of the sets. Here are photos of the process of setting the scene of ‘the burning of the seven’

First a track needed to be created to allow the lifting equipment to move on the soft sand under the Mussenden Temple.

Pipes were buried vertically that each sculpture of one of the ‘old gods’ would sit over. These pipes carried gas that would be released when the sculptures needed to burn. Trenches were created to bury the gas lines.

Sunset at the end of the first day.

The second morning the sculptures of the old gods were brought to the site.

They were carefully lifted off the transport vehicle onto a smaller lifter and carried under the train bridge.

Then carried down the beach to the filming location.

Subsequent sculptures are moved down the beach to the film set and gathered together before placement.

The pieces looked amazing sitting on their own on the sand.

The crew were very fortunate with the weather, it was absolutely beautiful throughout the set up days.