Dragonstone beach landing
I spent a lot of time working on the scene in season 7 where Daenerys lands at Dragonstone beach. This was meant to be a momentous moment for the character returning to her birthplace . Working with production designer Deborah Riley a lot of attention was put into the design of the gates and how her journey would look on screen going up from the beach towards the castle. Two locations in Spain (Zumaia and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe) and our set in Belfast were used so it was a challenge for all involved to combine these into a seamless sequence. Here are a few concepts and things from the process!
This was a concept to show how the gate would look with steps leading up, based on the Zumaia beach location.
An early concept design of the gate with realistic Dragon heads, this was done when we thought we'd have the gate on the beach.
The creators David and Dan wanted more primitive dragon heads, working with production designer Deb Riley we ended up with a more aztec looking design which D&D loved.
An overall concept of Dragonstone island combining Zumaia, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and our gate set in Belfast.
A quick map i made to help illustrate to the producers the layout of the island with the different locations.
aerial view of the gate
wider aerial view of the gate and Zumaia beach
An early exploration of having the gate on the beach