Season 5 sets in spleet, split and Klis appear ready, while there may be trouble for production in Dubrovnik 

cast and crew have descended on Los Angeles for tonight’s Primetime Emmy ceremony, but preparations for Season 5 continue in Croatia.

Our latest look at the new set in Split reveals some darker colours than most of us anticipated, and the installation of an overhead green screen.

Preparations at Klis Fortress look to be nearing completion as well, with all of the beams securely in place.

Filming of the Meereen storyline will likely be first up when the Croatian leg of filming commences later this week. Our sources tell us that Unsullied extras have been confirmed to be working from August 28th – September 2nd, and again from September 8th – September 16th. We’ve also received word that slave extras will be filming on September 5th and 6th.

While Split and its surrounding areas seem ready to roll, preparation in Dubrovnik may have hit a road bump. WotW

reported in late June that HBO had asked permission to shoot a particular scene in streets of Dubrovnik, and according to a new report from TMZ, permission has not been granted.

The scene in question would have included a naked actress accompanied by about 500 extras walking from Dubrovnik cathedral to Sponza Palace. According to TMZ’s sources, the Church of St. Nicholas is strongly against the scene, which they perceive as a public display of sexuality, and the local film commission will not give production a permit to film.

While it’s not hard to believe that the film commission and city officials would stand behind the church, this new information does come from an un-cited source, and has not been confirmed.

The Church of St. Nicholas lies roughly 60 meters north of the end point of the walk, Sponza Palace, so it is possible that the church raised concerns about the production of such a large, and let’s face it, touchy, scene being filmed in close proximity.

This could also explain the confusion about the numbers of extras reported to be working in Croatia by Embassy Films over the weekend. With 1,000 extras in total, and 750 in Split, the number initially reported to be used for the walk didn’t quite fit in.

TMZ also claims that producers have not yet found a workaround to the problem.

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Has anyone noticed that WiC.net seems to have disappeared? Haven’t been able to visit it in days.

(Just curious about it My Game of Thrones fix remains here!)

Are they testing textures on the pillars in the first picture? They look very differential.

Hmpf. Doesn’t work on my phone or my Mac. Strange.

I guess the set in Split will be the entrance of the House of Black and White.

Sucks that we probably won’t get the WALK in Dubrovnik if things hold. Maybe they can film it in studio as an alternative

Tsss, what a bunch of prudes. I can’t believe they’d actually listen to that lot, after all the business GoT brought to the city over the years.

The Walk Of Shame! Man, I hope they do it justice.

Isn’t this kind of obstinate disapproval and obstructionism from a vocal faction of religious leaders one of the reasons that the production team ultimately decided to leave Malta and move to Croatia between Seasons 1 and 2? It’s sad to see it happening again in the new location, especially after Game of Thrones has helped to bring in so much money and exposure to the region over the past few years. First it was (reportedly) the Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik, and now this. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the beliefs held by certain people involved in the situation, but from an outside perspective, I won’t deny that I find it to be pretty damn ridiculous.

If this report is accurate, and they can’t come to some form of compromise, what would the production team do? Would they film the crowd of extras reacting to a stand-in, then film the actress doing her part of the scene in the Belfast studio before combining the two together in post-production? I guess that could work, but as excellent as the CGI has been for most of the series, it’s still no substitute for using practical effects and actors on location whenever possible. It would be a shame if one of the most iconic scenes of the season winds up being in any way diminished because it doesn’t look as realistic as it might have under ideal circumstances. Especially for reasons like

Why does the church always have to get in the way. I hope they’ll be able to find a viable workaround.

That set in Split is looking great, HOBAW or something fom Meereen.

Tsss, what a bunch of prudes. I can’t believe they’d actually listen to that lot, after all the business GoT brought to the city over the years.

“That lot” would be people who actually live in the city. GOT is transitory. Not saying I necessarily agree with this decision, of course, but it’s far from surprising that the town government pays heed to local interests that they will be dealing with long-term.

So there is no a nude woman present in the streets of Dubrovnik.

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