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For a dozen years, sound designer Paula Fairfield has been bringing the dragons of George R.R.
Martins HBO-adapted world to aural life.
And repetition isnt really in Fairfields sonic vocabulary.
You dont want to hear any looping going on.
You want to hear some kind of progression of aggression or a diminution.
I always ask Ryan what hes thinking for the vibe of each one.
He has given me some interesting prompts.
Moondancer was one of the best.
I got one word back, and it was Bowie.
This is a sound designers dream and nightmare.
The dragons are all custom; I start clean on each one of them.
But then the vocals, no.
Whats amazing about this gig is that the dragons can be anything.
So they just let me go and do whatever.
I mean, they dont exist.
Were selling pixels in air.
The visual effects are spectacular, and I comb every frame for an opportunity to find something.
The old adage seeing is believing hearing is believing.
When you’re able to see and hear together, that would even be stronger.
DuringGame of Thrones, you said you used approximately 30 animals for the dragons vocal palates.
Is it the same onHouse of the Dragon?No, thats the challenge.
Theres like 17 dragons total in this series, whereasThroneshad only three.
This season, we are on the backs of dragons quite often.
That changed how I went about Rooks Rest.
I actually redid the wings.
It was a significant upgrade this season.
The most complex is Caraxes, because of the whole deviated septum thing.
You dont want to hear repeating.
Im taking material that should not be used for dragons and pitching it down and stretching it out.
Thatend shot of seven, with all of them up roaring together, Ryan wanted it longer.
Shes not overtly aggressive.
We havent seen her in any battle; shes intimidating a little bit here and there.
Animals, all their utterances are primal, pure emotion.
They will make the weirdest sounds.
I remember having this discussion on my very first episode ofThroneswith Greg Spence, my producer at the time.
Where am I going to look for something that articulates cranky?
Its literally an infant being really cranky.
Its pitched way, way down, and stretched out, but she is literally our old cranky baby.
I have some jokes in there that I laugh about.
In both cases, embedded in that is me saying fava beans.
Ive not told anybody that, and HBO doesnt even know it.
You cant really hear it.
But the beats are fava beans.
I work alone, so Im using myself in whatever way.
Its me challenging myself to see how far I can go while still staying in the box.
Were generally at quite a distance.
Fire is fire, it spews, whatever.
But I had a problem that started inRooks Rest.
We have two gigantic dragons tumbling ass over teakettle, blowing each other with fire.
And I thought,What the hell am I gonna do to differentiate this?
Fire is white noise.
To solve that, I started thinking about fire sphincters.
[Laughs] Fire holes!
The anatomy of the dragon, how does that work?
I went back to something I did inepisode 109, when Meleys comes up through the floor.
feels like she is going to blow the shit out of Alicent, and then she screams.
If you listen just before she screams, theres a chirp.
Its a little bird thing I liked.
I went back to that for Rooks Rest.
And then that brings me to the idea of the deviated septum with Caraxes.
In Rooks Rest, with Meleys, if you listen carefully, they did downplay it a bit.
I was a little disappointed by the mix.
But theres music there goddamnRamin.
[Laughs] But you hear her priming her fire hole.
It doesnt matter that you dont pick up on it.
It adds another texture and movement.
Now it comes into my version of dragon lore, which is: fire sphincter.
Weve got some massive battles coming up next season, Im sure.
Im terrified for season three, but one season at a time.
When Syrax and Seasmoke face off inepisode seven, are they conversing with each other or just peacocking?
One of my pet peeves having moved to the United States from Canada was that some Americans say foy-er.
I cant stand that, it drives me crazy.
Thats me, thats me.
Thats silly, and I was literally giggling.
It gives a cadence.
They got their own deal going on: Let me smell your butt.
No, let me smellyourbutt.
So it was meant to be a full-blown conversation, with some peacocking and intimidation.
Later, with the Red Sowing, Vermithor goes fullJurassic Park.
How did you approach that?Vermithor has to be intimidating.
The interaction with Rhaenyra and Vermithor is my favorite so far of the series.
Shes not even breathing, almost.
She calls and he starts humming to her, and then you hear it again when Vermithor claims Hugh.
That moment where Vermithor and Rhaenyra connect says to me that even the dragons know who the queen is.
When I first saw the scene, I completely underestimated the off-screen stuff.
Im still exhausted from it.
That scene cycles us through so many genres.
In the finale, we finally see Sheepstealer, a wild dragon that is nomadic.
My solution is that Sheepstealer has no song in its voice.
Shes looking for her next meal, may not eat for weeks.
I really tried to make it rough and raw and a little grungy in her voice.
And if that becomes an aspect, perhaps she will find song.
Thats an interesting TBD for the next season.
