TV craft in action on set

The craft and skill that goes into creating an entire world on screen is epic. Months of planning, building and preparation go into each and every scene and it’s a truly collaborative process between cast and crew to make an initial idea become reality.

Here we pull back the curtain on the process through the lens of the latest season of BAFTA award winning series House of the Dragon, including speaking with BAFTA Breakthrough UK alum, and BAFTA winner Abubakar Salim – aka the show’s Alyn of Hull…

With a show like House of the Dragon there are so many components that go into making the fantasy world feel real for an audience. And as actor Salim highlights, a lot of this is down to “the amount of work and care that is put into every detail.”

Using season three of the show as an example, co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal admits that one episode – involving two ships crashing – has been in the works for three years. And finally filming the scene was an experience that Salim, whose character is involved in the crash, describes as “controlled chaos… because the boats are moving, there’s smoke, there’s noises, there’s screams. But it’s all controlled.”

Every department from the construction team, prosthetics workshop, armoury, filming, stunts, costumes, hair and makeup design, and so much more all have vital roles to play on set. But one thing that’s particularly exciting is how much each department can serve as inspiration for each other.

As a lead character on House of the Dragon Salim reflects: “I think even the construction department … like what they have done in regards to fully immersing the people on the boat into that space, it’s almost like they’ve done half the work for a lot of the VFX and stuff, right? In the sense there is so much care put into it and detail even from the swords, from the daggers, from the costumes. It’s really, really impressive.”

While Jim Clay, production designer, adds: “As a show for an art department and production designer, Dragons is just phenomenal because we are in reality, but it’s almost fantasy and it’s very definitely world building.”

Given the craft that goes into creating large scale television like House of the Dragon it may come as no surprise that the team approach it in a very cinematic way. Showrunner Condal says: “The way we approach this, block it, and film it and cover it, we’re trusting that people are watching this on a big screen. Whether that’s you know, a big projected theatre screen in their basement or a 50-inch television in their living room with a soundbar.”

With Loni Peristere, director and executive producer, adding: “Every day of our lives [we’re] looking to achieve cinema.”

House of the Dragon season three is available to watch now on HBO. The series won three BAFTA TV Craft Awards in 2023 for Make Up & Hair Design, Sound: Fiction, and Special, Visual and Graphic Effects. The 2027 BAFTA TV Craft Awards, celebrating the exceptional creativity, skill and craft of behind-the-scenes television talent, will open for entries in August.

At BAFTA we are committed to supporting creative Film, Games and TV talent and one way we do this is through our Learning, Inclusion and Talent programmes. Abubakar Salim was a member of BAFTA’s 2019 Breakthrough cohort – our flagship programme showcasing and helping accelerate the careers of the next generation, and part of our charity’s vision that people from all backgrounds will have opportunities to thrive in the screen industries. Find out more about our BAFTA Breakthrough UK programme, supported by Netflix.