Game of Thrones VFX Reel Reveals how They Built the Battle Beyond the Wall
While the chatter from the super kinetic seventh season of Game of Thrones begins to fade, some of the key folks who helped bring the season to life are showing off their work. Perhaps the most technically ambitious season yet, including massive set pieces, a lot of digital work, and the show’s usual array of incredible locations mixed with stage and green screen work, season 7 brought out the best from some of the most highly respected below-the-line creatives in the industry.
One such team, the Spain-based VFX house El Ranchito has shared some of the post-production work that went into the crazed (and ill-advised) skirmish between Jon Snow and his band of brothers and the Night King and his undead army in “Beyond the Wall.” While a lot of the ghoulish details, including, of course, the dragons, were digitally created, a surprising amount of the action was done with practical effects.
Some of our favorite details here include the work El Ranchito does when Bran wargs into a raven; their doubling (or tripling) the size of the Night King’s army; and their creation of the ring of thin ice that temporarily saved our heroes from obliteration. It’s yet more proof that TV’s most popular show really does take a village.
