Art of the Title: There was feedback from fans almost immediately regarding certain inaccuracies within the sequence. Were you prepared for that level of scrutiny?

Angus Wall: You know, I honestly haven't read any of the backlash. I knew there was going to be some. Basically, we had an existing map of Westeros and a xeroxed hand drawn map of Essos — both done by George R. R. Martin — and I took those into Photoshop and played with their scale until they lined up perfectly. The actual dimensions, the locations and their placement, and the different terrains are all based strictly on George R. R. Martin's maps. It was really important that we stay as absolutely true to the books as possible because of the ardent fans out there.

Winterfell and The Wall final renders (2 images)

Art of the Title: Was Martin himself involved in any way? Did he see any of the work that you guys were doing?
Angus Wall: He created the foundation of what we did by writing the books and drawing the maps. He didn’t see the sequence until the premiere though... and he was very happy with it, which meant a huge amount to us.
Art of the Title: So how long were you involved with this?
Angus Wall: We probably worked on it for five or six months with varying scales of crew, but the first conversation we had with Carolyn Strauss was probably two years ago.
Art of the Title: You said "scales of crew." How big to how small?
Angus Wall: I think in total there were about twenty to twenty-five people who worked on it. There was an amazing level craftsmanship, which is a testament to Rob and Kirk and everyone who worked on their teams.
Art of the Title: How large is Elastic?
Angus Wall: It depends. We have several people on staff, and we bring in freelancers for their specific skills. Between "Rock Paper Scissors," "a52" and "Elastic" it's well over a hundred people.
Art of the Title: A fair amount then!
Angus Wall: Yeah, that’s why I wake up at 2:15am some mornings with morning terror...
Art of the Title: How was the collaboration with HBO?
Angus Wall: It was great. They are an amazing company to work with because they’re always about trying to make the idea better. I think in any situation where you're trying to do something creative, you want all of the energy going into the work, and with HBO, everyone really wanted to do what was right for the show, and subsequently for the title sequence.