As a seasoned film enthusiast who’s spent countless hours poring over production details and behind-the-scenes footage, I must say that the visual effects (VFX) team of “Squid Game” has truly outdone themselves. The level of dedication and attention to detail is simply astounding.
Managing a popular TV show with intricate sets and special effects can be incredibly demanding, so taxing that it could potentially cause tooth loss. This is exactly what occurred to director Hwang Dong-hyuk during the filming of “Squid Game” Season 1 – the pressure of orchestrating such a large production led to eight or nine of his teeth being lost due to stress.
It’s fortunate that understanding special effects isn’t as exhausting as actually creating them. You might find it astonishing to realize how much of “Squid Game” relied on visual effects, not just the intense tug-of-war game and the jaw-dropping glass explosion, but also various subtle moments outside the games and a specific stunt in the Red Light, Green Light scene. Let’s peek behind the curtains to fully grasp the effort put into “Squid Game,” or else director Hwang Dong-hyuk would have labored in vain.
The Red Light, Green Light sequence used over 300 extras
Audience members have declared the Red Light, Green Light challenge in “Squid Game” as the scariest game featured in the series. Filming this scene wasn’t a simple task either, despite the cast and crew not being at risk of being killed while moving. In fact, director Hwang Dong-hyuk stated that Red Light, Green Light was the most challenging sequence to film due to the vast number of people involved. The set included not only the main actors but also 300 extras and 20 martial arts actors. Initially, it was intended to have even more participants; the original script called for a thousand players, but Hwang realized this wasn’t feasible because it would require an impractical amount of resources such as sleeping quarters and increased expenses on extras. As Hwang shared with Vanity Fair, “We couldn’t provide 1000 beds for the extras, and more participants meant higher costs.
With just 300 actors, coordinating the scene was a challenging task due to some of the gruesome deaths being captured in slow motion. This made it simple for the performers to botch a take and necessitate redoing it, which took around 20-30 minutes to reset the fake blood. Whenever this occurred, the director would move to another section of the set and film another character’s death while the team cleaned up the fake blood and put the initial actor back in place again. In scenes as intricate as this one, there’s no room for wasted time.
Lee Jung-jae was dangling from a wire
In the scene of the Red Light, Green Light sequence, the shot where Ali (Anupam Tripathi) pulls Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) to prevent him from falling proved challenging to capture. Maintaining that awkward pose wasn’t a breeze for the actors. As shared by Tripathi in an interview with The Swoon, he might have gripped Jung-jae too forcefully during the Red Light, Green Light scene, but Jung-jae was quite gracious about it.
In this specific scene, the actors found it extremely challenging due to its physical impossibility. As Hwang Dong-hyuk explained to Vanity Fair, they had to use wires because no matter how strong an actor is, lifting a man like that is not feasible. The wire caused Jung-jae’s shirt to lift unnaturally, making it necessary for the visual effects team to remove the wire in post-production and also adjust Gi-hun’s uniform digitally. Otherwise, the presence of the wire would have been glaringly obvious. Hwang and his crew even joked that it might have been safer for Gi-hun if Ali had allowed him to fall, as he could have hit the ground before being seen by the doll, making it easier for Gi-hun to stay still. This would have spared the visual effects team a great deal of trouble.
The arenas were digitally modified to look bigger
In the real world, numerous settings seen in the series “Squid Game” were physically built by the production team, including the bunk beds and the marble game arena. Yet, this doesn’t imply that digital enhancements weren’t necessary. The Visual Effects (VFX) team had to digitally expand the sets for seamless integration of different locations and to create spaces that couldn’t be practically built in reality, as explained by visual effects supervisor Cheong Jai-hoon to GoldDerby.
To put it simply, the digital artists enhanced the tug-of-war scene to make it appear as if the room was much larger than it truly was. Although the team built the playing platforms and the actors seemed only slightly elevated in most shots, they employed CGI for certain instances where players were pulled over the edge, which were filmed on a different set. Similarly, the creators of “Squid Game” constructed part of the room with the famous staircase, but used computer-generated imagery to expand the set and suggest that the stairs continued spiraling downwards into the depths. Notably, these spiral stairs were inspired by a well-known piece of art.
The background of the Red Light, Green Light arena is CGI
It’s possible you wouldn’t expect this, but the backdrop of the Red Light, Green Light stage is digitally generated images (CGI) rather than a physically constructed set. Given that the Red Light, Green Light arena could have been built in reality, it might seem unusual to use a blue screen instead of painting the wall directly. The VFX team opted for the blue screen approach likely due to reasons such as flexibility in editing, easier integration with other digital elements, or perhaps to create more dynamic and visually appealing effects.
Initially, Director Hwang Dong-hyuk was undecided about the set designs, so they opted for Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) to allow him flexibility in changing the design later. Originally, Dong-hyuk thought of making the arena walls more colorful. However, the visual effects supervisor, Cheong Jai-hoon, proposed a different idea: creating a buffer zone for the first episode. This suggestion was made because if they began with overly colorful and flashy sets from the start, viewers might find it too childish. Jai-hoon compared the sets to “The Truman Show” in that they appear almost real but not quite. In the end, Dong-hyuk chose a final design that was realistic enough to be believable yet fake enough to feel unsettling.
Despite the blue screen, the set provided ample inspiration for the actors’ performances. As actress Jung Ho-yeon shared with Vanity Fair, “The tree and Young-hee [the doll] alone were sufficient to instill fear in us.
Some of the sets outside of the games contain CGI
In addition to using visual effects to make the game settings appear lively, the makers of “Squid Game” also employed computer-generated imagery to construct environments that existed beyond the games themselves.
One VFX breakdown shows what the famous overhead shot of the island at the end of the first episode would look like without visual effects. The massive arena with a retractable roof was actually filmed on a modest patch of land that only contained a couple of warehouses — the rest was added digitally. Likewise, the sequence where the cars leave the ferry and enter the island is not what it appears to be. In an interview with the Visual Effects Society, Cheong Jai-hoon explained, “People think that it was actually filmed on an island, but it was just like a really random part [of] Korea.” In this landlocked filming location, the crew took advantage of an existing waterway and then added the rest using CGI.
Surprisingly, you may find out that the entire airport depicted in the season finale was actually created in a studio. Originally, the producers intended to film the scene at a real airport, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were unable to secure the location for filming. To overcome this challenge, they shot the final episode’s scene in their studio and then employed advanced computer technology to make it appear as an airport.
The director shouted bang each time a gunshot went off
According to Hwang Dong-hyuk’s perspective, ensuring the safety of his cast and crew is absolutely crucial. Therefore, when it came to filming intense player eliminations with guns, he took additional safety measures, especially in gun-related scenes. In some instances, even the sounds of gunfire were simulated rather than real.
In some instances, Hwang utilized authentic gunfire sounds during filming of the death scenes. However, behind-the-scenes footage discloses that there were occasions where he only resorted to shouting “Bang!”. In numerous clips, particularly from the honeycomb game sequences where an actor is depicted getting shot off-screen, the actors react accordingly to Hwang’s instructions. Every time Hwang shouts “Bang!”, Lee Jung-jae and other cast members reflexively flinch, mimicking a genuine gunshot response. Under similar circumstances, we would likely react in the same way.
During tug-of-war, the actors played against a machine
Due to exclusive behind-the-scenes videos from “Squid Game’s” tug-of-war scene, we now have an insight into the demanding process of filming this intense sequence. It was such a grueling task that the actors needed breaks and freshened up between takes, with certain cast members even leaning on the short yellow rail at the edge of the tug-of-war platform for support. On the other hand, Lee Jung-jae had a small stool he would occasionally use.
In a special featurette on Netflix, actor Park Hae-soo shared that the tug-of-war scenes were incredibly demanding physically and he discovered this during the filming of Squid Game. Similarly, Heo Seong-tae mentioned to The Swoon that he put in an immense effort and ended up vomiting numerous times while filming these sequences.
It’s intriguing to note that when Gi-hun and his teammates appear in a tug-of-war scene, there aren’t ten opponents on the other side of the rope. Instead, they are always competing against a mechanical device specifically designed to pull the rope. Lee Yoo-mi shared this insight with The Swoon: “We were exerting every ounce of our strength in a contest against the machine, not other people. No matter how much we tried to overpower it, we couldn’t emerge victorious.” Sounds like a game that can’t be won? Well, that certainly fits with the theme of Squid Game.
The glass bridge was actually close to the ground
It’s likely comforting for you to discover that the majority of the Glass Stepping Stones scene was filmed quite close to ground level. However, the set remained 1.5 meters (around five feet) above the ground, enabling the crew to capture shots both from below the glass bridge and during scenes where characters seemed to plummet from great heights. Backstage footage reveals an extra jumping onto a spot where a glass panel should have been – but there was none. Instead, there was a platform (later digitally removed) that dropped swiftly and seamlessly the moment she stepped on it. After it collapsed, the actress squatted to ensure her body would no longer be visible in the shot.
Although the bridge on the Squid Game set may not have been as tall in reality compared to its portrayal in the show, it still managed to convince the actors convincingly due to its imposing appearance. According to visual effects supervisor Cheong Jai-hoon, interviewed by Still Watching Netflix, the director, Hwang, intentionally made the bridge that high to instill fear in the cast members. As anticipated, this height indeed caused some of the show’s actors to feel apprehensive, with actress Jung Ho-yeon admitting that jumping from panel to panel was nerve-wracking for her. In a behind-the-scenes featurette, director Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed that the game was authentic and that the actors genuinely felt fear, which was evident in their physical reactions.
The showrunners built a separate glass bridge that was higher up
In some instances, the camera angles weren’t as lofty as they appeared on screen. A few crucial shots during the glass bridge sequence required the actors to perform on a distinct set that was roughly 6 meters or 19 feet above the ground. The VFX team then seamlessly combined these sets in post-production. Backstage footage reveals Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryoung), Deok-su (Heo Seong-tae), and even the glassmaker (Lee Sang-hee) hanging from harnesses, with the latter taking a spill from the glass bridge. (Fortunately, he was secured by his harness and safety mats.) Heo Seong-tae shared with The Swoon that despite the precautions taken, the experience was thrilling as they had to simulate falls from great heights without the aid of stunt doubles. Even while working from the comfort of the editing suite, film editor Nam Na-Young felt a sense of dizziness when watching these sequences.
Additionally, to emphasize the magnitude and gravity of the game, the show’s creators constructed a separate set exclusively for filming the injured contestants who fell during the competition. This grim imagery was the idea of Cheong Jai-hoon, so we owe him a debt of gratitude for etching those unsettling scenes into our memories.
The glass shards were a mixture of practical effects and CGI
To capture the striking scene where the glass bridge shatters in “Squid Game”, the production team used a Phantom Camera, an exceptional device capable of recording 3000 frames per second in slow motion. This necessitated the actors to be extremely cautious not to move prematurely, or else the timing would be off. During breaks, a crew member would carefully make incisions in Sae-byeok’s (Jung Ho-yeon) costume sleeves to simulate the illusion of the glass slicing her clothes.
Initially, the special effects crew opted for a realistic approach, spraying the actors with glass-like particles for the main glass effect. Later, these particles had to be brushed off their hair. Concurrently, they filmed the rest of the bridge’s explosion separately. At first, they attempted to capture the real-life explosion, but were unsatisfied with the outcome, leading them to use computer-generated imagery (CGI) for the glass explosion instead. Kang Moon-jung, the CGI supervisor, shared with the Visual Effects Society that many believed CGI could never surpass a real shot, but in this particular sequence, CGI outperformed the actual shot surprisingly. However, achieving this didn’t come easily, as the visual effects team had to meticulously remove and replace reflections on every individual glass shard.
The actors were freezing when filming the final game
Among the heart-stopping scenes in “Squid Game,” none compare to the final game, where I found myself squaring off with Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) in a Korean schoolyard game that turned out to be a matter of life and death. Some might argue this wasn’t truly the last game, but if you believe the theory about the climactic game that could alter everything, then it most certainly was. Interestingly enough, this dramatic scene was filmed at the same location as the Red Light, Green Light sequence, yet the atmosphere couldn’t have been more contrasting. The set was draped in a gloomy overcast light, and to simulate a torrential downpour, they employed sprinklers. Behind-the-scenes footage reveals the camera crew donning ponchos and wrapping their equipment in waterproof coverings to protect it from the wet conditions.
Despite their luck not being on their side, the actors had to film an intense fight scene while soaking wet in cold weather. As Lee Jung-jae explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “It was winter, so it was very cold… I remember shooting that scene for about four days in the rain with a sprinkler, making it extremely challenging both emotionally and physically.” It’s clear that not all the exhaustion seen on the characters’ faces during filming was acting; try standing around in wet clothes in freezing temperatures for a few minutes, and you’ll understand their struggle.
Even seemingly simple scenes used visual effects
It’s quite astonishing how frequently Netflix incorporates post-production visual effects without them being noticeable to viewers, yet even seemingly regular shots in “Squid Game” would have a distinctly different appearance if not for these special effects.
For instance, the ceilings of most of the arenas were inserted digitally after filming. In the Red Light, Green Light arena, the walls of the set were just a bit taller than the blue screen, meaning they cast shadows on the ground that wouldn’t make sense in the final scene. As a result, the VFX team needed to digitally erase some of the shadows. And while you would think that the giant piggy bank containing all the prize money could be easily filmed in real life, this is actually not the case. The filmmakers did build a physical piggy bank, but they soon realized that it wouldn’t work; the plexiglass was so reflective that it was hard to actually make out the money inside when a spotlight was shining on it. So they created a CG version of the piggy bank instead.
Invisible to many viewers, these special effects likely went unnoticed – a fact that the showrunners are content with. As Kang Moon-jung explained to the Visual Effects Society, the aim was for the computer-generated effects not to stand out as such, allowing viewers to accept them without question. If you didn’t spot these stealthy visual effects, then it suggests that the VFX team has achieved their objective.
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2024-12-12 22:00