Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
S T R A N G E R T H I N G S S T O R Y B O A R D S | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 9 Cedar Lodge In early 2023, I got a call that a Netflix series named Cedar Lodge needed a Storyboard Artist. I work primarily in feature films and commercials, rarely on series. But to my overwhelming joy, Cedar Lodge was, in fact, the working title of the upcoming final season of Stranger Things. My only hesitation was that season 5's secrets were soon to be revealed! Stranger Things first aired in 2016 and was an unexpected cultural hit for Netflix. A mix of '80s nostalgia, sci-fi horror and character-driven storytelling, monsters emerge from every dark corner, but the real magic lies in the friendships at the heart of the series. Creators Matt and Ross Duffer (the Duffer Brothers), along with their excellent writing team, crafted intricate, intertwined and unforgettable stories beautifully told and epic in scope. Building Worlds Feature films are daunting tasks, managing the sheer amount of work involved. However, on a huge series where multiple departments, overlapping prep schedules and parallel units are building and shooting across various locations and episodes, a Storyboard Artist's work becomes the connective tissue that ensures visual continuity. It's an immense responsibility. Storyboards are more than an illustration of a shot, they represent the sum of a hundred creative choices that have been revised, omitted, realized and expanded in pursuit of narrative clarity, visual energy and dynamic storytelling. The Duffer Brothers use storyboards to see the pacing, tone, lenses and editorial structure for entire scenes. If a sequence had just a handful of VFX, the entire scene is drawn to explore the lead up to action beats, how transitions will work and to ensure coverage is tight. S t o r y b o a r d i n g t h e F i n a l S e a s o n o f S t r a n g e r T h i n g s D R AW I N G U P S I D E D O W N B Y W. D . H O G A N , S E N I O R S T O R Y B O A R D A R T I S T KEYFRAME