The Disorienting Opening Scene of Severance Season 2 took months to create

Severity is back, and yet the second season is it only one episode infans have already formulated theories about it what is indeed going as the Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller enters its next chapter. We’ll have to be patient as the pieces of the puzzle fall in the weekly version, but the opening scene of the first season establishes the breathless and disorienting path that the characters, especially Adam Scott’s Mark S., travel as they search to unravel the mystery behind Lumon Industries.

In a new video from Vanity Fair, executive producer Ben Stiller, who also directed the season premiere “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” and star Scott go behind the scenes of that frenetic sequence. It took four to five months to complete and involved more special effects and logistical maneuvering than Severity usually requires.

As the pair explain, Mark takes off running as soon as he steps off the elevator, back into his ‘innie’ mental space for the first time since realizing that his fellow Lumon, Mrs. Casey, is actually Gemma , the wife that his “outie” believes. he was killed in a car accident, so his first impulse is to find Mrs. Casey and share this incredible discovery with her.

But the road to the wellness room proves much more of a journey than the viewer has ever realized. Lumon’s cut pavement feels like a maze of miles of white corridors and right-angle turns.

While Mark is so confident that he knows the way he is able to sprint there, capturing his fugitive fury was much more technically challenging than just following Scott with a Steadicam. It involved a bulky piece of camera equipment called a “bolt arm”, as well as a patchwork of hallway shots set up each time it was set up to support the sequence – and a treadmill for Scott in some places.

“We don’t like to use visual effects too much in the show as far as creating backgrounds and environments,” says Stiller. “But we needed it for this shot because the bolt arm takes up all the space.”

The video goes on to explain why Stiller didn’t use a Steadicam (it would have been “too cumbersome” for the operator to use while keeping up with Mark’s growing pace), and how Scott knew every time he shot a movie. part of the high-intensity scene when he was asked which flavor of Gatorade he preferred.

“We always felt that we really wanted to start the season in a way that would be exciting and fun, and kind of give an indication of where we were going for season two,” says Stiller. “(The shot) felt like, ‘Okay, we’re going to indicate to the audience that this is something new that’s happening.’

Oh, and that guy who pops up behind Mark once he gets to the old wellness room? Scott and Stiller hint at her in the video, but don’t reveal anything else about her identity. Add this to your ever-growing list of theories! New episodes of Severity arrives Friday on Apple TV +.

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