How Virtual Cog-Driven Machines Made Game Of Thrones AwesomeS

Inspired by ancient self-operating machines and driven by clever computer animation, the opening credits for HBO's Game of Thrones is packed with Easter eggs and miniature marvels.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Angus Wall, founder of Elastic, says that his company used computer graphics to create an opener packed with hidden details for the fantasy series turned trading card game, turned role-playing game turned TV show.

As the show opens, a virtual camera swoops along a map made of tiny mechanical cities that unfurl, rotate and pop to life driven by a complex series of cogs.

Wall says the interlocking automatons are meant to touch on the three feuding families of the fiction and their histories. The map itself is built around the inside of a sphere.

The map, like the series, is meant to constantly evolve. There are already four versions of the opening sequence, Wall said.

Here's one version, as seen over on The Hollywood Reporter.

Click to view

Pretty nifty.

Secrets Behind 'Game of Thrones' Opening Credits (Video) [The Hollywood Reporter]