Stranger Things Team Confirms No CGI Was Used To Create Vecna's Full Body

With his hollow eyes, tentacled neck and pointy fingers, it would be easy to assume the Stranger Things creators had used the magic of CGI to create the villain Vecna, but they've since confirmed his look was entirely practical.

Footage of Jamie Campbell Bower being transformed into Vecna went viral ahead of his return as the evil monster in Stranger Things 4: Volume 2, the video showing the actor hanging out in a chair with a Starbucks while the impressive effects team got to work around him.

Despite the transformation playing out before our eyes, it's still hard to believe Vecna was brought to life with what is essentially some very impressive makeup.

Check it out below:

It's clear a lot of post-production work went into creating Stranger Things 4 and the dark, dangerous world of the upside down, but the creators assured computer-generated imagery (aka CGI) wasn't necessary for Vecna's look - not even to give him his eerily long fingers.

In a statement released on Facebook, the official Netflix Geeked page wrote: "That's no CGI: to apply Vecna’s full-body practical look, it took a four-person team between 6-7 hours every day to apply the full-body transformation in STRANGER THINGS 4."

The concept for Vecna's appearance came from creators the Duffer brothers, who had a 'clear vision in mind of how they wanted Vecna to look', according to Barrie Gower, the makeup effects department head on Stranger Things.

Vecna's look took about seven hours to create.

Netflix

Speaking to Metro, Gower explained: "[The creators] were very keen to return to a lot of the traditional techniques of the 1980s of having prosthetics and a character in a makeup, rather than approaching it from a visual effects, digital point of view."

When Campbell Bower was cast in the role, the team created a 'full body copy' of the actor so they could sculpt Vecna's prosthetics. They initially considered using digital methods to create his hands, but mechanic Adam Keenan was able to create finger extensions that gave the actor 'actual extended fingers'.

Vecna's look took approximately seven hours to apply and consisted of prosthetics, makeup, silicone rubber and foam latex. It then took an hour and a half to get the make up off each day.

Campbell Bower would have to start his day at around 2:00am or 3:00am to undergo his transformation before actually stepping foot in front of the camera, and as a result the production team made sure to schedule his scenes on alternating days, giving the makeup team time to recharge between each epic stint on the job.

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