Behind-the-scenes facts from the hottest show in town. Netflix’s new show has a lot of things going right in it. It is a wonderful fantasy drama that dropped right in the midst of a pandemic. People wanting to escape their sordid realities found the perfect show to treat themselves on. And the show contains faithful adaptation, attention to detail, great music, and wonderful use of technology. The show introduces us to a host of characters with their own narrative driving the plot forward. Wonderful visuals and a great source material support a stellar cast.
Let us go through a few behind-the-scenes facts from the show that should excite avid fans.
1. The cast used the books for reference on set.
The cast would often take help from the books during filming so that they helped them get into the right mindset for their characters.
2. The cast really bonded during the whole creation of the show.
Instagram posts of various actors showed them really bonding and doing random group activities. Jessie made sure to include every cast member in the activities.
3. Jessie Mei Li is not a big fan of those antlers.
The prosthetic was not the most comfortable. As soon as she saw the antlers in the wardrobe, she became wary of them.
4. The fictional languages are developed by the same person who worked in Game of Thrones.
David J. Peterson developed Valyrian and Dothraki languages for Game of Thrones. He also helped the showrunners of Shadow and Bone by developing the various fictional languages used in the show.
5. The Jester actor Kit Young kept practicing his gun tricks at home.
Kit Young accidentally broke the guns given to him on the first day. He made sure to practice with them and took a few spare ones home. We can see his skills developing as the show progressed.
6. The cast took home memorabilia.
The impeccable set pieces made many actors take their gear back home. Jester actor Kit Young took 4 guns and Freddy Carter took his cane and gloves.
7. The goats were a menace.
The cute goats we prancing around were a real menace. They kept pooping everywhere and screaming in scenes.
8. Ben Barnes did his part in most of the soundtrack.
He features in many songs on the official soundtrack. More feathers for his hat!
9. Doctor Strange‘s stunt team helped Jessie train.
The Marvel film’s stunt team made sure Jessie was on top of her game.
10. Inej’s knives were carefully sized down.
Suman’s dress carries 14 knives with her at all times. They were carefully fit into it. And to make sure it doesn’t look obtrusive.
11. The series is mostly shot in Hungary.
They fully utilized Budapest and its outskirts for most of the principal shooting and photography.
12. Ben Barnes showed the showrunner a fan edit of him as The Darkling way, way back.
Ben Barnes once showed a fan-made edit of him as The Darkling to Heisserer during a meeting. He knew of the support of the entire fandom. Apparently, series creator Bardugo knew this too. And she showed the same Tumblr post to Heisserer before his meeting with Barnes.
13. The actors were rigorously trained in martial arts.
The actors got trained in a form of Russian martial art technique known as Systema.
14. Kit Young took inspiration from the characters of Jack Sparrow and Deadpool.
Iconic movie characters are an inspiration for the quirky Jester.
15. The cast did most of their own stunts.
Even though they had their own stunt team, the actors chose to do most of their own stunts. Suman also took home a scar she got during a knife fight scene.
16. Leigh Bardugo had a cameo role.
The series creator had a minor role in the third episode of the show.
17. Jessie was diagnosed with ADHD during filming.
Everyone noticed that Jessie couldn’t sit still during shoots and pre-shoots; hence they chose to check up with that. And she officially got diagnosed with ADHD.
18. Monsters of legend are the inspiration for the Volcra.
Demons and gargoyles formed the basis of the monsters created by well-known VFX artist Ted Rae.
19. David Lanzenberg took inspiration from classic scenes for the Shadow Fold sequence.
The director of photography was inspired by scenes of Mad Max and Under the Skin in creating that iconic bog scene.
20. Many iconic films were used as inspiration for locations.
Macbeth was a major visual influence throughout. So was Dunkirk for Ravka. And also The Grandmaster for Ketterdam.
