Not so strange after all

We’re running up that CGI hill. Minor spoilers ahead. (Photo: Still Watching Netflix)

“Stranger Things” season 4 makes an epic comeback after six years since its first release on Netflix. Creators of the show Matt and Ross Duffer spared no expense in creating its fourth installment, quite literally. At an estimated $30M per episode, this season alone made the series the 2nd most expensive television production, more expensive than the production of The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones combined.

Where did all the money go? Well, if you thought the Upside Down looked and felt real, it’s because it was. 

The Duffer Brothers are no strangers to computer-generated imagery (CGI) and visual effects (VFX), as most of the hit show’s previous monsters were edited using digital effects with tennis balls and people in green suits as stand-ins. Typical science-fiction and horror pieces often depend on CGI and VFX to compensate for what doesn’t exist in the real world, just look at any MCU film.

So what makes this season different? One can argue that the Duffer Brothers have finally uncovered the secret to portraying hyper-realistic, sci-fi horror that makes people’s skin crawl—practical effects assisted by CGI. 

From real to reel

Today’s audiences are nitpicky when it comes to deciphering what looks real or fake on a screen. Many filmmakers are willing to break the bank to protect their creations from such criticisms.  By combining real art-department constructed environments with digital elements, the latest installment’s production team could easily manipulate how the series looked in post-production. 

One example involves the portrayal of the season’s main baddy and his lair. Every Stranger Things fan knows that each season has its own Dungeons & Dragons-inspired monster wreaking havoc on Hawkins. For this season, it was none other than Vecna. The most obvious difference Vecna has from the show’s past creatures is that Vecna can talk and express emotions.

What people may not know about the sentient monster is that 95% of the effects used to depict Vecna are practical and did not make use of CGI. Jamie Campbell Bower, the actor who played Vecna––had to sit through seven and a half hours' worth of make-up and prosthetics to achieve the look.

VFX artists wanted to add to his realism by giving Vecna’s vines a kind of “churning, undulating life inside the meat”. So animating these went through three stages: creating the textures of the meat of the vines, rough animations, and finally hyper-realistic VFX layers. 

Another example includes how they filmed the iconic bone-breaking scenes of Vecna’s victims. Their walk-around for this is by having a person put their arms through the leg of the pants in front of a green screen. With the bigger range of motion of arms, VFX artists could easily manipulate how the on-screen limbs twisted and bent.

Less CGI, more acting

Striking the balance between practical effects and CGI doesn’t just make for a visually stunning piece of media, but it also enhances the level of acting. 

“The more you can practically build, the more you’re helping your actor do their job. You’re also helping the audience with kind of an on-ramp to believability,” said director Shawn Levy.

So when actress Sadie Sink filmed her scenes in Vecna’s Mind Lair, there were actual bloody pillars and real-life dummies—these were just augmented with fleshlike textures added in post. 

It also didn’t hurt that Bower being in costume terrified the cast, to the point that actress Millie Bobby Brown broke down in tears, and was “visibly disgusted” due to how realistic Vecna looked.

CGI taking a back seat

CGI has greatly evolved over the years, becoming a cost-effective alternative to building real-life sets and acquiring physical props. With the continuing rise of digitization, CGI has become even more accessible since all you need is a computer, software, and an open imagination. 

Despite the upward trend of CGI usage in the filmmaking industry, creators like the Duffer Brothers still recognize the importance of practical effects. Even in the age wherein CGI technology has reached its full potential thus far, CGI cannot—and hopefully will not—kill the age-old practices of traditional filmmaking.

Because at the end of the day, CGI is not supposed to distract audiences from the plot, it is supposed to serve as an effective storytelling tool. For the case of “Stranger Things” season 4, having practical effects shine as the star and CGI as a supporting role serves the plot the best. 

On the note of using both practical effects and CGI, Levy puts it finely, “From artists, to VFX, to engineers, to an entire cast and crew, it’s deeply gratifying to tell stories that have both spectacle and emotionality that hits us where we live.”