memes

Here Are a Bunch of Brilliant Shots That Should Be Studied in Film Class

Photo: HBO

Last night’s Game of Thrones finale had many things. Stabbings, treason, a dragon, boats, Daenerys, calligraphy, piles of rubble, a table and some chairs, armies, snow, crowns, Bran, a momentous discussion under an awning, a monologue about the power of stories, the suggestion of democracy, an errant water bottle accidentally left in one of the shots, Grey Worm, the thing where they say the title of the work in the work itself and you nod knowingly. Truly it had something for everyone — and there were memes.

Here’s one of the memes: there’s a part in the episode where Daenerys (the one who has dragons) walks out and her dragon (named Drogon?) is behind her. The dragon spreads his wings, but Daenerys blocks his body, so from a certain angle, it looks like she, in fact, has wings. Almost like she’s got the spirit of a dragon. Wow.

People on Twitter were blown away by the optical illusion of a woman who seemed like she had wings. Twitter user Jonathan Hill posted “This shot is brilliant and should be shown in any film study class.” Four-thousand five-hundred or so people retweeted it.

I mean, I think the shot’s a little on-the-nose but maybe that attitude is why I was not hired to adapt George R.R. Martin’s celebrated fantasy series over the course of eight seasons for HBO. Anyway, a lot of people on Twitter immediately thought of other shots for Film Studies 101.

Anyway, these are all great illustrations of the power of film. I’m learning so much about film from these tweets. The mise en scène is off the charts, in my opinion. Great job, everyone. And of course, thank you to the dragon.

These Brilliant Shots Should Be Studied in Film Class