With terrifying beasts like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer, Stranger Things has been slowly building an impressive monster bestiary. But for last season, the show is going in a slightly different direction. His new villain, named Vecna, is less of a nonsensical beast and more of a classic 80s-style movie monster with the mold of Freddy or Jason. So showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer used prosthesis designer Barrie Gower to help bring their iconic villain to life. “The most interesting thing about Stranger Things is that it’s already this huge property and it has that great design sense,” Gower tells The Verge. “They already had a very clear vision of what they wanted to do with this character.”
Gower is no stranger to showing villains, as he has previously worked on Game of Thrones’ Night King, among other notable projects ranging from Harry Potter to Chernobyl. But he was a stranger, well, Stranger Things, as he had only joined the show for the fourth season. According to the head of the makeup department, Amy Forsythe, who has worked on the program from the beginning, Gower’s experience added a different dimension to the program. “The practical effects are very important with the nostalgia of the 80’s, and we were losing a lot in our program,” he explains. “So in the end, getting someone with Barrie’s experience comes in really leveling out the presentation.”
Vecna is a dark black creature that certainly looks like something from the dark world upside down. But he is also the most humanoid monster to appear on the show to date. Gower says the process began with conceptual images of artist Michael Maher Jr., which was followed by a heated discussion with Maher, the Duffers, and the visual effects team, among others. One of the main goals, says Gower, “was to create the character as close to 100 percent as possible.”
Instead of a rubber suit, Vecna’s suit consists of a series of different pieces that were glued directly to the actor’s skin. This provided some benefits, including giving the actor more freedom to move around. Rubber suits also have a tendency to sink, which doesn’t look great on camera. However, it took a lot of work: the application process took an average of 6.5 to 7 hours to complete.
“The day must be super smooth”
And there are also some, let’s say, human issues that need to be considered in design. One is heat. The suit was designed to be as comfortable as possible, but still, the actor could be seen walking out into an air-conditioned tent to cool off between prey. “The most important thing is that the actor has to go to the bathroom at some point in the day,” Gower says. “So you have a special landing gear that went under some cycling shorts so I could open a special Vecna bag and go to the bathroom.”
Gower points out that many of the techniques used in the creation of Vecna were pioneered in the 1980s, although the equipment had the advantage of more modern materials. Some of these helped to give the monster its decidedly viscous appearance. The prostheses were painted with a glossy silicone finish, but that wasn’t enough. “The day has to be very smooth, so we use products like KY Jelly. There’s a product called UltraWet, which is a kind of clear ice that we park it all over,” says Gower. “It’s the kind of thing you’d put your hand on your shoulder on the set and regret doing because you’re covered in slime.” (Keep in mind that lubricating grease is a fairly traditional monster-making technique.)
This is not to say that everything is practical. From the beginning, the plan was to increase the design of Vecna with some digital effects. Their rope tendons, for example, move and twist subtly in a disturbing way, which is what the VFX team did. Similarly, the actor’s nose was removed digitally. But for the most part, what you see on the show is what the prosthesis and makeup teams built.
“We’ve already worked on programs where we would create characters and, as far as you know, that’s how they would be played in the final edition,” Gower says. “And then you look at the show and you think, ‘Where’s the character we did? This is completely painted. It wasn’t like that. [on Stranger Things]. It was a wonderful collaboration with VFX. “
One of Vecna’s unfortunate victims. Image: Netflix
From what I’ve seen from season 4 so far, Vecna also fits perfectly into the world because of the apparent thinking and planning that was introduced into other elements of the show around it. Above all, all its victims have a different appearance with horribly broken limbs and torn eyes. Forsythe explains that this kind of cohesive visual style is the result of how different departments work so closely together. “The collaborative aspect is a lot of fun,” he says.
Like most shows and movies in recent years, the production was challenged by the pandemic. In total, the team rolled for 14 months, but with a six-month gap halfway through due to COVID protocols. “It was just a small wild shoot of 20 months,” says Forsythe. “From start to finish I could have had two children.” He points out that the biggest challenge was continuity. “We went through maybe four different makeup teams,” she says. “It’s the nature of the beast. Every time we took the plunge, we lost someone fundamental to our team.”
The benefits of focusing on practical effects and merging them in a cohesive way with digital ones are evident when you look at the new season. More than any previous season, Stranger Things 4 has the feel of a classic horror movie from the 80’s, with a monster that gets scarier the more it is revealed. Gower also believes that the practical approach has a positive impact on the actions of the different cast members. “I think from their point of view it’s nice to have something physical and practical on set with which they can interact,” he explains. “He’s not a guy in a mo-cap suit or a green suit or anything. He’s in the flesh.”
There are downsides, though. Forsythe remembers taking a picture of a disguised Vecna sitting in her 1965 Ford Ranchero, with members of her makeup and prosthesis team on her back. “He cheated on the driver’s seat of my car,” he says.