It might sound a little confusing when a modern story is said to have a connection with a show such as Game of Thrones, but it should be noted that this usually means that there’s connection behind the scenes that people don’t think about right away. Survive, one of the newest features from Quibi stars Sophie Turner and Corey Hawkins as two survivors of a plane crash that sets them high in the mountains, far away from civilization and in desperate need of help. The only twist is that they’re not alone, as plenty of wild animals happen to live beyond the range of humanity, and in the wilds, some of them are anything but intimidated by humans, especially two ragged humans that are already badly shaken and not fully aware of their surroundings. The connection, however, is that the same people that trained the wolves in this feature were those that trained the wolves in Game of Thrones, so one can imagine that Sophie might have felt just a bit torn since in Survive her character has to find the will and ability to kill a wolf, while in GoT her character, Sansa, was devastated when her wolf, Lady, was put down by the order of King Robert for recompense after Arya’s wolf, Nymeria, attacked Prince Joffrey, which was justified but not bound to be forgiven.
One could see how this development would give Sophie a little bit of pause since she went from one show in which she was expected to revere and love the wolf that stood by her side while in this current feature she had to work against them and play a deadly game of survival of the fittest. It might have been a little more difficult as well since if anyone remembers she did adopt the wolf that played the role of Lady from GoT, meaning that having to ‘fight’ with another dog on the set might have been slightly difficult for her mindset. But being that she’s a professional, Sophie obviously turned in a great role and managed to make things look as convincing as possible, especially since she knew that those handling the wolves knew what they were doing and likely felt safe in their presence after having worked with them before. To be realistic a lot of people might still be slightly nervous about working with live animals if only because of any predictability issues. Animals that are used for filming are often well-trained and well-mannered and can act just as well as their human counterparts, but there are those moments when the wild aspect still factors into their being and things might turn out to be a little dangerous.
Thankfully most trainers are typically on hand to take care of any problems that might arise and a lot of the animals that are used for live shots have been trained to the point that they’re quite used to whatever goes on during a shoot and won’t freak out unless there’s a good reason or something untoward that happens that triggers a fight or flight response. On many sets, the understanding appears to be that trainers will adhere to strict guidelines that have been written specifically for the handling and safety of the animals that are to be used on set. One can just imagine the trouble that producers and directors would encounter if they decided to flaunt the rules and simply do what they want, which is why these rules are in place and have been for decades. It’s true that incidents have still occurred in which an animal was injured or seen to injure someone on set, but typically, if the rules are followed, there will be few to no incidents at all and the production will continue to move forward without any further trouble. Many producers take the safety of their cast and crew very safely and will tend to abide by any rules that have been set in place.
Apart from that, the only other thing to worry about it is something that does happen but can’t really be avoided since a lot of movies tend to demonize various animals, and wolves are definitely high on that list. While they are vicious predators at times, wolves are also quite social, as it was proven in GoT since each cub adhered to their ‘pack’ meaning the Stark children, and were very protective of their respective owners in their own way. In fact, GoT actually displayed wolves in a very regal, positive, and even mysterious light that was quite enchanting. How they’ll eventually be viewed in Survive is hard to say since while it’s possible that wolves will take the opportunity to feast on just about anything they can get, it’s also a big hope that they aren’t seen as villains as has been done in several other movies.
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