Back in 2019, Betsy Paterson joined us to discuss the visual effects work behind the first season of Carnival Row. Since then, she has contributed to the first season of Peacemaker before stepping into the world of Stranger Things.
What was your feeling entering this iconic universe?
Honestly, it was both thrilling and humbling. Stranger Things has such a devoted fanbase and such a strong visual identity built over nearly a decade — you feel the weight of that the moment you step on set. But what really grounded me was how invested the crew was. I’ve been in the business for a very long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group that really lived in the world as much as the crew on this show. So many of them had been there since the beginning, or at least the last few seasons. That sense of collective ownership was something special.
How did you split the work amongst the various studios?
We had a large vendor family: Weta FX, ILM, Eyeline, The Yard VFX, Rodeo FX, Accenture Song, BigHugFX, BOT VFX, and MAS. Weta FX and ILM were our two primary leads. Weta handled a lot of the creature work — they really owned the Demogorgons, the Demodogs, young Will, and Vecna’s design evolution, also the final Mind Flayer battle was all them. ILM had a huge amount of work, spread across every episode, and they covered everything from environmental extensions over Hawkins, to the MacZ battle, and the destruction of the Upside Down. The other vendors took on more targeted sequences and episode-specific work. It was a genuinely collaborative pipeline — everyone was talking to each other constantly, which you have to make happen deliberately at that scale.
How did you approach expanding the visual language while staying true to the show’s DNA?
There’s an established language, but we were pushing everything much further. The DNA of this show has always been that VFX serve the emotion, not the other way around. The Upside Down has a very specific texture — the spores, the particulate air, the oppressive atmosphere. The creatures are fantastical, but they are grounded with real physics. We kept all of that and built from there. Especially after Season 4 being so big, we knew going in this final season was going to need to be even bigger to help deliver the emotional payoff for such an epic story. The goal was evolution, not reinvention.
What key evolutions did you introduce to the Upside Down this season?
We tried to create as much practically as we could, especially the parts of the sets that were closest to the cast, but the rest of the Upside Down was enhanced with VFX. We spend so much more time there this season, in many different environments. We pushed the scale of it enormously. We produced extensive atmosphere simulations to give it that suffocating quality, and every floating spore was art directed to match the action and emotion of the scene.
How did you maintain visual continuity between the real world and the Upside Down while increasing the sense of danger and scale?
It comes down to lighting language and texture consistency. The Upside Down has its own color palette, its own gravity — literally and emotionally. My goal is always the same: ground the visuals in reality so the emotion and performance stay front and center. We were very deliberate about how gates and transitions were handled, making sure the audience always knew where they were spatially, even as the threat was escalating. It was always important to me to make sure we have the design down as early as possible. My goal during prep and the shoot is to figure out and set expectations for what these various things are going to look like and the tone of each scene.
How did you evolve the Demogorgons and Demodogs to keep them fresh and threatening?
We knew this season we would be seeing lots of them, well lit and close up. We really tried to up the ante and made sure they could handle their close-ups, adding as much detail as possible. The confidence the team has built with these creatures over the seasons is palpable. You can see in the earlier seasons that they were being more cautious with what they showed onscreen and what the creatures were asked to do. Whereas now, in the final season, it’s like, ‘We know we can do this, so let’s just go for it.’ For the Demodogs specifically, Weta FX went in and sculpted a more muscular version of the existing model. We wanted them to be closer to human size so they were more threatening, and we could have real stuntmen running around on all fours to help ground the scene.
What were the main technical challenges integrating creatures into complex action scenes?
We always work hard to make sure the cast has something to react to on set. We used stunt performers to stand in for the creatures wherever possible, even where it would be inconvenient to paint them out. The MAC-Z attack sequence is the perfect example. The attack on the MAC-Z was hugely challenging because it had so many people, quick action, and children running through the middle of it. You have live stunts, real set pieces, CG creatures, and child actors — all in the same frame. Tracking continuity on each individual Demogorgon was essential. There’s not that much difference between them individually, but we track each one. We know exactly which demo is killing which soldiers so that there’s a logic to the chaos in the background. We know that’s the one who got stabbed in the face by Karen, so we’re going to track his little scar on his pedal all the way through. That level of specificity is what makes it feel real.
How did Vecna’s design and visual language evolve for Season 5?
In the last season, we called him Vecna 1.0 — you could really tell there was a human body underneath a lot of scarring. The events of Season 4’s ending left him really damaged. The idea is that he’s gone away and rebuilt himself to handle his final push. We really wanted to show that he had rebuilt himself. All of those animated vines and everything show that he’s fully in control of it all. Vecna’s vines became a visual language unto themselves — they respond to his emotional state, they reflect his power. That was a deliberate narrative choice, not just a design flourish. We have a really wonderful visual effects art director, Michael Maher, who has been working on the show since Season 2. He did most of the design of Vecna, and then we worked with Barrie Gower, an amazing prosthetic artist, who built the head that Jamie Campbell Bower wears throughout the show.
How was Jamie Campbell Bower’s performance captured and enhanced?
The team approached Vecna with a hybrid practical/CG solution designed to preserve Jamie Campbell-Bower’s performance while reducing the brutal hours in the makeup chair. We worked very closely with Barrie Gower’s prosthetic team. The CG enhancement always had to serve Jamie’s performance, and every bit of animation is built around something that Jaime is doing physically.
Episode 4 features an impressive oner. Where does VFX come into play?
The oner in Episode 4 is something we’re enormously proud of. It was a huge accomplishment. VFX is woven throughout it — Demogorgons are fully CG, environments are extended, stunt wires and rigs are removed, and the invisible stitches between takes required very careful compositing. The whole goal was that you never feel a cut, and you never question the reality. Every moment had to be motivated, every transition had to be hidden in camera movement or practical darkness. We planned it extensively in previs.
How does a long uninterrupted shot impact the VFX pipeline?
It was a beast to get through. Different teams attacked each section of the oner, with others handling continuity and seaming everything together. It took longer than any other sequence in a season full of extremely complex work!
How did you approach scale, weight, and interaction for the giant creature in the final battle?
The Mind Flayer was the biggest challenge of the season in every sense. It took a long time to decide exactly what size the Mind Flayer would be because he had to be as impressive as possible and as large as we could make him. We started quite a bit larger, but it needed to be believable that these kids could take him down. We wanted to feel like he’s lumbering because he’s so big and heavy, and that’s why they’re able to outrun him. He couldn’t be so huge that he could take one step and cross the whole desert. We used augmented reality tools to see the Mind Flayer on set to provide proper eyelines for the cast. Special effects provided dust cannons so that we could feel the impact of the footsteps.
How did you balance practical effects, on-set elements, and full CG for the final confrontation?
The philosophy is always: shoot as much as you possibly can practically, and let VFX build from there. For the finale, the emotional stakes are so high that if the audience feels even one moment of “that’s a digital thing,” you’ve lost them. Every CG element had to earn its place by being grounded in something real on set.
How do you reflect on the role of VFX in the overall storytelling of Stranger Things?
VFX on this show was never about spectacle for spectacle’s sake. It was always about making the impossible feel emotionally true. Every creature, environment, and FX moment was created with deep respect for the world and the audience that loves it. Building on performance and story, our crew focused on evolving the visuals while staying true to fan expectations. Details like Vecna’s vines became a way to respond to emotion and add depth to a character shaped by destruction. Our goal for Season 5 was to make sure audiences felt like they were saying goodbye to a world they truly inhabited — not just watched.
What is your best memory on this series?
I genuinely can’t pick just one. But I think it’s the feeling on set when a scene came together — when the stunt performers, the actors, the special effects team, and all of our prep work clicked into place and you knew: that’s it, that’s the shot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group that really lived in the world as much as the crew on this show. That collaboration is the best part of the job.
How long have you worked on this series?
I came in for season 5, which took 3 years! I came in knowing I was a newcomer to a very tight-knit family — I felt that responsibility deeply.
What’s the VFX shot count?
The eight episodes of Season 5 required the creation of 5,844 visual effects shots, with 1,456 appearing in Episode 508 alone.
What is your next project?
That’s something I’m not able to share just yet — Stay tuned!
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
ILM: Dedicated page about Stranger Things Season 5 on ILM website.
Rodeo FX: Dedicated page about Stranger Things Season 5 on Rodeo FX website.
The Yard VFX: Dedicated page about Stranger Things Season 5 on The Yard VFX website.
Weta FX: Dedicated page about Stranger Things Season 5 on Weta FX website.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2026
