‘Stranger Things’ Craft Heads On Piecing Together The “Surreal Madness” Of The Series
deadline.comStranger Things earned 13 Emmy nominations this season, including Outstanding Drama Series, thanks to the unsung heroes of the show—the below-the-line departments who put in the tireless effort to create the “surreal madness” of the series.
From ‘de-aging’ Millie Bobbie Brown to building Vecna and his lair in the Upside Down, the collaboration of the craft departments continues to bring the series to new heights.
Here, some of the Emmy-nominated craft department heads give insight into the most important aspects of this season.ElevenOne of the most difficult tasks this season was de-aging Eleven for flashback scenes. “Before shooting we explored just about every option, including deepfake, full CG head replacement, smoothing and warping,” says VFX supervisor Michael Maher Jr. “Luckily, our experienced friends at Lola Visual Effects agreed to take on the work and help us out.
They arranged a shoot with a special, proprietary camera and lighting rig called an egg. Using a combination of the 2D footage and projection, they were able to graft Millie’s performance onto a different body.”“The devil is in the details of skin prep,” says department head makeup artist Amy Forsythe. “We played with texture and skin quality for each location in the show.
Read more on deadline.com
