Raving Ravens

South or North Iceland?

I got an inquiry via Facebook which I couldn't reply to, so I decided to reply to it hear. The question was as follows:

Hello! 

I'm going to Iceland in late March and I have a few questions. I cannot decide if my father and I should visit Hofn and the south or go to Akureyri. He wants to do this vacation without renting a car and driving, and I want to do as much as possible and see scenery that looks like where Game of Thrones is filmed. Any advice?

I assume the weather is difficult to predict, but which location do you think would have a more moderate climate?

Hope to hear from you,

Liz

And here is my reply:

Hi Liz

If you want to see the landscape from Game of Thrones, you should go to Höfn. However, though you can get to Höfn by bus and pass the mountains and glaciers seen in Game of Thrones, you can not access those places without a car. You can take the bus to Jökulsarlon which is between shooting locations and very similar by bus. The scenery along the way is fantastic with glaciers, volcanoes, black volcanic sands and lava fields covered with soft green moss.

Akureyri is a beautiful, friendly town and if weather is bad, Akureyri is a much better choice. From there you can also get to Myvatn which is interesting and where part of the third series of Game of Thrones was shoot last November. The exact locations are a secret though until after the episodes showing them have been aired.

So, I recommend renting a car. There is very little traffic at this time of the year. You can risk bad weather, so ask about the weather predictions before hitting the road and bring a phone. If anything does go wrong, you can simply call 112 and you will be picked up. Rescue is fast, effective and free in Iceland.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to send me any further questions you might have.

Cheers
Hjörtur

The breaking up of 7.4 cubic kilometers of ice caught on film

Those magnificent images of a large "chunk" of the Greenlandic ice cap breaking up were released on Wednesday. The magnitude of these events are hard to realize when there is nothing to compare it to, but the total amount of ice breaking away is actually 7.4 square kilometers. Or as the photographer James Balog described it:

It was like watching "Manhattan breaking apart in front of your eyes."

 

The Greenland ice cap is melting faster than it ever has, raising concerns. The footage, shot in Ilulissat in Greenland, is from James Balog's documentary about the fast melting of the ice cap called "Chasing Ice" and will be released in the UK today.

Hjörtur

Testify - Alan Doyle and Russell Crowe's new music video from Iceland

Russell Crowe spent the summer in Iceland shooting a new movie called Noah. After seeing the great landscape Russell got his friend Alan Doyle over to shoot a music video to the song Testify. And it looks good :)

Enjoy:

 

The Last Viking in America

Did the Vikings ever make to the American continent? Might there still be one left here?

Yes, Leif the Lucky had a brother who wasn't quite as lucky. Like Leif he sailed to "Vineland" in search for a place to settle. But to his bad luck, he got struck by an arrow from the natives and died from his wounds. His body was buried on a peninsula according to the sagas and left there. My mission is to find that grave.

 

Why do I want to find an old grave?
I have a personal relation to these events as Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, one of the first settlers in America and the first European to give birth in America was my ancestor. I can trace my family directly to her. I grew up listening to the Viking sagas, not only this one, but also local ones. In the recent years archeological excavations have been proofing those sagas to be very accurate in their descriptions with graves and battlegrounds being found where they were said to be. 

This is of significant historical importance. It has been debated for a long time how far the Vikings actually did sail. The sagas tell us they sailed all the way to mainland America and in my mind there is no doubt. But physical evidence is lacking. A Viking camp believed to have belonged to Leif has been found in Newfoundland but that doesn't fit the descriptions of the settlement. So I'm going to try to find physical evidence of their arrival on the mainland.

 

What are my chances?
To increase the chance of finding the grave I will attempt to put myself into the mindset of the Vikings. To do that I will not only study the sagas from the old manuscripts, but also investigate Viking farms and graves that have been excavated in Iceland and Greenland and interview experts in the field. The descriptions of the Sagas will be followed as we sail a 60 foot ketch the same route the Vikings took from Iceland to Greenland and onwards to Canada.

Accompanying me will be the Canadian film-maker Evan Warner who worked on the award winning film People of a Feather. I have created a project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter (http://kck.st/Lp28Km) where people can back the project by pre-purchasing the film, memorabilia or even become co-producers. You can also see examples of our earlier work.

The ketch has already left Ireland and set sail to Iceland where it will arrive June 15th. I only have 60 hours to raise the money needed so all support is very much appreciated, both financial and in spreading the word and getting media publicity. If all my readers chip in just a couple of dollars, we can make it :)

Thanks!
Hjörtur 

Nokia's Ultimate Challenge in Iceland

Nokia was looking for the ultimate test for their new amazing camera phone, the Nokia 808 Pureview with a revolutionary 41 MILLION PIXEL camera! So, with a team from Kin Design and Design Studio in London they came to me for the ultimate challenges that could be found on the island of fire and ice - and in the space above it! Here are the results:

 

Hjörtur

 

ps. if you're looking for the ultimate challenge for yourself, your films or your products - you know who to turn to ;)

Iceland - Hollywood's New Favorite?

What do Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller have in common? Well, they're all going to shoot movies in Iceland this summer. 

Iceland has been a popular retreat for celebrities for some time and a very popular location for TV commercials for brands like Audi, Porsche, Peugeot, Johnny Walker and a series of others making the most of the magnificent Icelandic atmosphere. Now it seems like Hollywood has fallen in love with Iceland. The otherworldly landscape with glaciers, deserts, waterfalls and volcanoes within easy reach, well trained local crew with proofen experience form producing quality films in tough conditions and of course, the low value of the currency, are all very attractive features for the film industry. 

Russell Crowe and Liam Neeson are starring Darren Aronofsky's film Noah which is a very large and complex production. Shootings are starting soon and will be all summer. Russell sounded excited about finally visiting Iceland on twitter: 

I don't know about you, but I can easily picture Russell Crowe as a convincing Viking.

Ben Stiller was here this winter looking at locations for his next film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and found what he was looking for. He'll be shooting in August and September and unlike most other projects, he will be doing a lot of urban shooting here as well in both Reykjavik and Seydisfjordur in the east.

Tom Cruise's film Oblivion is still more of a secret. All that has been heard is that it has been confirmed that it will be shot here this summer. According to IMDB Morgan Freeman and Andrea Riseborough will be co-starring the film. And the topic of the film:  

"A court martial sends a veteran soldier to a distant planet, where he is to destroy the remains of an alien race. The arrival of an unexpected traveler causes him to question what he knows about the planet, his mission, and himself."

Otherworldly landscape sounds like the perfect match for that ;) And Tom Cruise isn't the only one to think so. Last summer Ridley Scott shot his film Prometheus here in Iceland, the prequel to the Alien movies and this summer the new Star Trek movie will be shot here as well. Looks like Iceland has become the cheap alternative to outer space.

 

Outer space isn't the only fictive world Iceland makes the perfect background for. So are the fictive worlds of Game of Thrones but last year part of series two was shot here and this year more of series three will be shot in Iceland. All those film projects have been a great boost for the small economy of Iceland as a lot of local crew and cast has been used. And if you watch closely the episode aired tonight you might actually see yours truly as one of Ygritte's Wildlings. Who knows, if I have the time, I might participate in some of the upcoming projects as well :)

Hjörtur

Just released: Game of Thrones in Iceland

Game of Thrones was shot partly in Iceland for season two, that starts airing April 1st. The world North of the Wall is shot in Iceland and for about three weeks the film crew was in various locations in South-Iceland shooting. And yours truly was part of the cast :)

HBO has released the first video with footage from the set in Iceland:

 

The snow, frost, wind and the winter is all very real in Game of Thrones this season. Nothing had to be faked. I'll be sharing more as it is released. And some real trucks needed to be used to get to and from location, like the huge Man truck you see in the picture above.

Hjörtur

ps. I've been nominated for the ShortyAwards for travel, so if you like my posts, my tweets and my pics, your support would be higly appreciated: ShortyAwards - Hjörtur