A Letter From Steven Spielberg Informed The Look Of Stranger Things Season 4
If you thought this latest season of "Stranger Things" was a little bluer than normal, well it's not your imagination, and it's for a good reason. Turns out it was at the behest of the best living filmmaker.
The long and short of it is that show creators Matt and Ross Duffer received a note from Steven Spielberg sometime after season one of "Stranger Things" where he complimented their throwback use of blue hue for their nighttime scenes. This was definitely more common in the '70s and '80s and while James Cameron might be best known for his blue nighttime photography, Spielberg himself dabbled in that look. Go back and watch "Jaws" and most of the nights are shown in shades of blue.
In "Jaws" that was mostly due to the "day for night" process which is when filmmakers shoot nighttime scenes during the day and slap a particular filter on the camera's lens to make it look more authentically like night. For whatever reason (I'm not a scientist) that brings out the blue.
All this came to light in a 2022 interview in Filmmaker Magazine with "Stranger Things" season 4 cinematographer Caleb Heymann, where he talked about what he's added to this new season. For The Duffers, it was at the top of their list to go back to that blue-ish nighttime look that they did in the first season and then put on the back burner for the seasons thereafter.
I mean, if Spielberg says you're doing something right then you gotta keep doing that thing, even if you're already so big that new episodes of the show can break the biggest streaming service that exists.
These shots aren't out of the blue, they're done with intent
Spielberg's influence is all over "Stranger Things" and has been since the very first season. In fact, I interviewed The Duffers once for Backstory Magazine and the majority of that conversation was about their two '80s dads: Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. The whole of "Stranger Things" feels like a blending of "It" and Amblin's style. That's the show's secret sauce. And some of that sauce is very blue.
Not only are we talking about direct nods to Spielberg's filmography or something as visually apparent as lens flares and blue nighttime shots, but we're also talking about the more subtle filmmaking tricks at play.
Spielberg is the master of making complicated shots look natural. He moves his camera a lot and will capture different kinds of shots in one flawless take. According to cinematographer Caleb Heymann, this is something The Duffers have been studying and implementing as "Stranger Things" evolves from season to season. The result is the cinematic season 4, which had the filmmakers the most confident in their ability to execute these complicated dances between the actors, sets, and the camera. As Heyman said:
"For this season that meant that often we'd be shooting these shots that moved around 270 degrees, sometimes even a full 360. As a cinematographer, I love that challenge, because it really keeps you on your toes with lighting. It's not just about making it look good in one direction. You have to make it look good in all directions and also keep your lights out of the shot."
It's paying attention to the minute details that makes Spielberg one of the best that has ever been, and that makes "Stranger Things" stand out from other streaming shows. It's a filmmaking tactic I hope they keep embracing well into the next (and supposedly final) season.