'House of the Dragon' used a surprising piece of gym equipment to film dragon-riding scenes

From Rook's Rest to the recruitment of new dragonriders by Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy), House of the Dragon Season 2 has delivered more dragon action than Season 1 or all of Game of Thrones. And more dragon action means more dragon-riding scenes.

House of the Dragon's dragon-riding scenes are shot with actors riding on a device known as a buck, whose mechanical bull-like moments mimic those of the show's dragons. The buck is also surrounded by LED screens, which display animated backgrounds and light the actors. But even with all of this expensive, high-technology equipment in play, a simple piece of gym equipment proved crucial in bringing the dragon-riding scenes to life.

For Season 2, the show's four cinematographers — Vanja Černjul, P.J. Dillon, Catherine Goldschmidt, and Alejandro Martínez — decided to go even further when it came to crafting the dragon-riding experience on screen. "Our goal was to make the scenes feel more subjective, as if the camera operator was riding on the dragon alongside the actor," Černjul, who served as cinematographer for episodes 6 and 7, told Mashable.

Černjul headed up initial testing of the new approach to dragon-riding, which he explained involved "integrating handheld camera movements into a motion control system that synchronized with the mechanical buck." These movements were based on the previsualisation animations of the dragons, so the actors' motion on the buck would match with the VFX team's work.

For filming, a remote camera was placed on the buck itself. The camera operator stood separate from the buck, with a Libra console mounted on moose bars on their shoulder. "This setup allowed the remote head with the camera to react to handheld operation from the ground," Černjul explained. "The challenge was making it look like the camera operator was reacting to the buck's, or dragon's, movement. The problem was the camera operator on the ground was too stable, and we didn't want to fake the handheld movement."

Then, inspiration struck in the unlikeliest of places. "I had a silly idea that ended up working," Černjul said. "I asked for a half-balance ball from a nearby gym and had the operator stand on it while operating. This made the camera operator a little off-balance, simulating the movement we needed. Our amazing camera operators were game to try anything, and this approach worked."

With the game-changing half-balance ball now in play, Černjul used a 32 mm prime lens to shoot dragon-riding scenes in his episodes, including Ulf the White's (Tom Bennett) first ride on Silverwing. "It was immersive, close enough to the actors for subjectivity, and long enough to convey movement," he said. He flagged his approach to House of the Dragon's other DPs and directors, who adapted it as they saw fit.

"Our innovative setup made the dragon-riding scenes more realistic, and I'm proud of the results," Černjul said.

So, next time you're using a half-balance ball, don't just think of it as exercising. Think of it as preparing to shoot a dragon-riding scene — or, better yet, as preparing to ride a dragon yourself.

The finale of House of the Dragon Season 2 airs Aug. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.