If you're a Stranger Things fan like me, you're probably super interested in how they make the show. Or, IDK, maybe you're just into it for the nostalgia factor and Chief Hopper. Either way, I would like to talk to you today about the Void.
The Void — if you're not sure — is the place in Eleven's mind where she uses her extrasensory powers to find people, etc.
And every time I watch the show, I think to myself, "I wonder if that water is real or if they CG that shit in?"
Well, it turns out the water is indeed real and the way they shoot the Void is actually pretty simple. (And if you're the kind of person who doesn't like to have illusions broken, I don't recommend you scroll past this point.)
To achieve this ethereal plane, all they do is build a mini "hockey rink," fill it with water, and surround the whole thing with black theater drapes.
In a behind-the-scenes clip between seasons 2 and 3, director of photography Tim Ives explained:
We rigged a bunch of space lights, which are kinda like big white China balls in the ceiling. And we made a very special 60x100 grid cloth that we would put underneath it to really soften it. And then we used black theatrical drapes all the way around this, basically, hockey rink that we built with a very small lip to put water in it and get reflections of anybody that was in there.
Here's what the Void looks like IRL versus on the show, for comparison's sake.
Not quite the vast and endless expanse of nothingness we're used to.
However, this still doesn't answer my question of how the actors' costumes (appear to) stay so dry while splashing around. I mean, in some shots Eleven is literally kneeling down in the water?!
Obsessed with Stranger Things? Check out all of our Season 3 coverage!
