While it is almost a given these days that most horror monsters are created with the use of CGI, many big productions have been investing more in practical effects and returning to practices that made movies like Jurassic Park and Aliens groundbreaking movies of their time that still hold up today. Although CGI can have stunning results, such as in the creation of Thanos in the MCU or Gollum in Lord of The Rings, there are many more examples where it just falls flat. For that reason, Stranger Things wanted their new villain Vecna to be as real as possible and that meant the need for some hefty makeup.
Now prosthetic Makeup Designer Barrie Gower of BGFX Ltd has shared some behind the scenes shots of makeup tests and original sculpture designs of Vecna, and having previously worked on effects for likes of Game of Thrones and The Witcher, they are every bit as amazing as you would expect. In one of the posts, Gower said:
“Here’s a shot of the test makeup we did of ‘Vecna’ for Stranger Things 4. We were super lucky to work with @bowerjamie , an incredible actor who’s great humour and stamina made this makeup possible. We had an amazing team working on this.”
Of course there are some additional effects added to the character of Vecna in post-production, but the actor in the suit is what makes the performance come to life, both for the character itself and for those acting alongside them. There is no doubt that the work that has gone into Vecna’s development has paid off massively in the series, and with two episodes to come there is still more to come from this thing of nightmares.
Stranger Things Concludes Its Fourth Season On July 1, With An Emotional “Punch” To Come.
We have already seen over 9 hours of Stranger Things season 4 across seven episodes, and the final two episodes deliver feature length runtimes. While there is a lot to be resolved, and even more to be set up for the fifth and final season of the show, producer Shawn Levy has already warned fans to brace themselves for a punch “right in the heart.” He previously said:
"I'll just tell you that we are hard at work on volume two. There's so much being written as far as the runtimes of these episodes, and the hefty runtime of episode nine, in particular. Having seen both those finale episodes, they are as emotional as they are cinematic. Holy sh*t, they are definitely a treat for the eyes, but they punch you right in the heart. So, that's what I'll say about that. But hopefully, it's also deeply satisfying because as we all know, as fans of many other shows, there's few feelings as crummy as an unsatisfying ending — and there's no chance in hell that we are going to give our passionate, loyal fans anything less than a deeply satisfying close in the final chapter."
Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 is available now on Netflix, and Part 2 arrives on July 1.