Stranger Things 4’s new monster is made with practical effects, some CG, and lots of lube

With terrifying beasts like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer, the show has slowly been building up an impressive bestiary of monsters. The show goes in a different direction for the latest season. Vecna is less of a mindless beast and more of a classic movie monster in the mold of Freddy or Jason. The Duffer brothers enlisted the help of a designer to bring their attempt at a villain to life.

Game ofThrones, Night King, and Harry Potter are just a few of the projects that Gower has worked on. He had only joined the show for the fourth season. The makeup department head, who has worked on the show since the beginning, said that the experience of Gower added a different aspect to the show.

Vecna looks like something out of the dark world of the Upside Down. He is the most humanoid monster featured in the show so far. The process began with concept images from artist Michael Maher Jr., which was followed by discussion with the Duffers, the visual effects team, and others. One of the main goals was to create the character as close to 100 percent practical as possible.

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Vecna's costume consists of a series of different pieces that were sewn directly to the actor's skin. The actor was given more freedom to move. Buckles in rubber suits don't look great on camera. The application process took an average of 7 hours to complete, but it did require a lot of work.

Some human problems have to be factored into the design. One is cold. Even though the costume was designed to be as comfortable as possible, the actor had to go to the loo at some point during the day.

The team had the advantage of more modern materials, but many of the techniques used in Vecna were pioneered in the 80s. The monster's slimy look was helped by some of these. He has to be slimy so we use products like K-Y Jelly. There is a product called UltraWet, which is a clear gel that we would apply all over him.

It was not all practical. The plan was to add some digital effects to Vecna's design. The ropey tendons were subtly moved and twisted by the team at the film studio. The actor's nose was removed. Most of the time, what you see in the show is what the teams built.

We have worked on shows before where we would create characters, and as far as you are aware, they would play in the final edit. This has been completely painted over. It was a lovely collaboration.

Image: Netflix

Vecna fits into the world because of the apparent thought and planning that went into other elements of the show around him. All of his victims have ghastly broken limbs and ghastly eyes. The collaborative aspect of the style is due to how the various departments work so closely together.

The production was challenged by the Pandemic. The team filmed for 14 months but had a six-month gap because of COVID protocols. We would lose someone important to our team every time we caught our stride.

When you watch the new season, you will see the benefits of merging practical effects with digital ones. More than any other season before it, Stranger Things 4 has the feeling of a classic horror movie with a monster that gets scarier the more it is revealed. The cast members enjoy having something physical and practical on set that they can interact with. He is in the flesh.

There are drawbacks. He slimed the driver's seat of my car when I took a photo of Vecna in her costume.