Last Sunday’s Game Of Thrones episode, “Hardhome” was notable for many reasons: the rampant fan speculation it engendered, the continued inclusion of events that had not yet happened in the books, but most of all the epic ice zombies-and-White Walker massacre that took place at the episode’s namesake. Thrones usually reserves its big battle episodes for the ninth installment in the series (e.g. season 2’s “Blackwater” or last season’s “The Watchers On The Wall”), but this year it’s episode eight that delivered fantasy action thrills on a scale the series has never achieved before. This brief behind-the-scenes video from the official Game Of Thrones YouTube channel delves into how the show’s team made this possible, from its immense practical sets to a couple of smart directorial choices that allowed the “Massacre At Hardhome” to have big budget sense of spectacle while keeping the stakes grounded and intimate.
[via io9]