HBO
The Hardhome battle was a visual effects marvel, and one of the highlights of the season.
Along with a video released by HBO last month, El Ranchito Imagen Digital, one of the companies responsible for the show's visual effects, released a very thorough breakdown of the battle, showing how much green screen came in handy.
Here is a shot that lays out the scope of the soldiers:
HBO/El Ranchito Imagen Digital/Vimeo
In reality, there was a lot less people there, and a lot less snow:
HBO/El Ranchito Imagen Digital/Vimeo
A lot of the details were created with the computer. At first, the landscape was a bit more bare bones:
HBO/El Ranchito Imagen Digital/Vimeo
Watch as a tennis ball on a stick becomes a giant:
One of the most impressive parts of the scene is watching Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) literally shatter a much-feared White Walker with one blow:
Before that awesome VFX ice shattering, it was a little less dramatic:
At one point, a mix of living and dead jump off a giant cliff:The tumble looks a lot less risky without the CGI:
Check out the video below: