- For me, it was fun to get
to build this facility that had a very specific look
and feel to it.
At the same time, telling a story
that had a very unique tone,
different than anything I've done before.
- And just was a really great example
of how virtual production could be used
to help filmmaking process.
- We're about to go Behind the FX of Spiderhead.
Spiderhead is about a tech visionary,
played by Chris Hemsworth,
who is trying to create pharmaceuticals
that can create very specific emotions in people.
He's created this facility called the Spiderhead
where he takes in prisoners, who can serve out their time
in exchange for having these drugs tested on them.
I wanted it to have a very atypical prison feel.
Abnesti's trying to create an environment
that's very relaxing, very pleasant.
It does have prison elements to it.
There are no windows.
The only way that the prisoners are kind of able
to get natural light is through skylights.
So we built a set where we were pushing sunlight
in through the ceiling to kind of create a pleasant feeling.
But the same time, there's a sense of unease
in just the architecture of it.
- The sets you see are almost entirely real.
We went to great lengths to try to build as much as possible
for the actors to really feel like they could be a part
of that world.
- The whole set was built on a basketball court indoors.
So the light rig that Claudia designed and that we hung
above this set to create that natural sunlight
was probably the biggest lighting rig that we've
ever done to get that very specific look.
- The rigs that they were able to
put together really drove a lot of the looks
that we were following up on in visual effects
in terms of our extensions.
When it came to the outside of the facility, though,
our references really were looking at old bunkers,
old brutalist architecture.
And so we spent quite a bit of time gathering references
of that material and different forms of lighting
and different scales and sizes.
And just really try to get the details just right
about how that would feel.
- The very unique nature of the pandemic changed
the whole pre-production process for me.
I got out of quarantine two weeks before we started filming
but I felt very prepared
because I was prepping the whole time I was in quarantine.
- There was this perfect opportunity
in the hotel rooms to have a virtual version of that set
kind of a location scout, essentially,
prior to being able to put feet on the ground.
- Heather, listen to me, sit down, don't raise a finger.
That's an order.
(woman screaming)
- Away from me, please.
- You kidding me?
Are you fucking kidding me?
- Oh Jesus.
- Get in there go!
- Heather's death.
There really has to have a lot of impact
on the audience right?
It's this first time where you really sort of
see the really dark side of what's happening
at this facility.
I think some of the more interesting sort of art direction
that we did in that area was trying to convey the fact
that the MobiPak itself was not functioning properly.
And so it was really important to Joe that we got the lights
to flicker and sort of convey this idea that this device is
failing essentially all of our special effects with blood
and gore and various other things is really a collaboration
between special effects and visual effects
which is I think our favorite way to approaching this thing.
- I like, love practical effects.
So that was a practical blood rig with a packet
of blood hidden on her body with a tube that came up
and was like blended in using special effects makeup
that was captured in camera.
It was not something that we wanted to shoot a lot of times
The cleanup time
after a Heather death scene was pretty significant
- In order to make our day we're shooting what we have to.
And then we can kind of clean up some of that stuff.
After in the case of the blood, especially
in particular spraying on the glass, there was quite a bit
of work put into just adding to the violence
and the gore really getting the color just right.
It really comes down
to just making sure that we're as seamless as possible.
So we don't take you out of the story.
And, but I think really the credit goes
to our talent for pulling it off.
- I know you're struggling, but this will help.
- The MobiPaks are really a pretty central plot point.
You can almost argue a bit of a character as well
because it is this thing that really signifies how
trapped they are there.
- The idea of using an interface that felt
like something we were all familiar with
felt like a great misdirect
for what the software was actually capable of.
- They actually developed an app that was usable for some
of those shots.
The Mobi packs themselves were a real prop that had sort
of a back lit effect.
Always having that real thing that we could rely
on as a reference was critically important.
- Make sure to check
out spider head only on Netflix.
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