TV

The Stranger Things Scene That Took Two Years to Create

The Stranger Things Scene That Took Two Years to Create
Image credit: Netflix

It's crazy how several seconds of screen time sometimes amount to months of hard work behind the scenes.

Stranger Things is arguably the most challenging and ambitious project ever launched by Netflix, not only in terms of the story and the characters but also in terms of the visuals. Throughout the four seasons, the VFX of the show had to set new goals and successfully reach them — and when it comes to some particular shots, it took the creative team years to do so.

Rodeo FX's VFX Supervisor, Julien Hery, told Collider that there was one shot that actually took the team two years to complete. As the work on season 4 began before the pandemic, the work on a particular scene got stretched in time.

"When it [the pandemic] stopped, we kept working on one or two shots. One is a flyover of Hawkins — to follow the bats over Hawkins, and then you land onto the Creel House. And this shot took us almost a year and half or two years of making it happen, changing the animation, and there was plenty of time, so we took like such a long time to develop that shot," Hery told the outlet.

The final result was definitely worth it, as fans received a precise replica of Hawkins, but its dismal Upside Down version, with practically every city site recreated in the sinister dimension. So next time you binge-watch season 4 (which you might be doing right now as you wait for the final chapter to arrive), you might want to remember that the breath-taking flyover Upside Down scene is a result of more than two years of the VFX team's work.

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With the writing for season 5 officially underway, fans are preparing themselves for something even more ambitious, as the fifth chapter is going to be the final one for Stranger Things. The premiere date is yet to be announced — hopefully, it will not take as much time as that flyover shot.