Severance Season 2’s Disorienting Opening Scene Took Months to Create

break up is back, and though season two is In just one episodeFans are already formulating theories about what really in progress Apple TV+’s sci-fi thriller enters its next chapter. We’ll have to be patient as the puzzle pieces drop in weekly releases, but the season premiere’s opening scene sets up the breathtaking, confusing path that the characters—especially Adam Scott’s Mark S. The secret behind Lumon Industries.

In a new video from Vanity Fair, executive producer Ben Stiller, who directed the season premiere “Hello, Mrs. Cobell,” and star Scott go behind the scenes of the crazy sequence. It took four to five months to complete and involved more special effects and logistical tricks break up is usually required.

As the duo explains, Mark starts running as soon as he gets off the elevator—returning to his “me” mindspace for the first time after realizing his Lumon colleague Mrs. Casey, the wife who believed his “out” was killed in a car accident—because his first The motivation is to find Mrs. Casey and share this incredible discovery with her.

But the path to the wellness room proves a much longer journey than the viewer realizes. Lumon’s isolated floor feels like a mile-long maze of stark white corridors and right-angle turns.

Although Mark is so confident that he knows how to sprint there, capturing his mad dash was far more technically challenging than following Scott around with a steadicam. It involved a huge piece of camera equipment called a “bolt arm”, as well as a patchwork of hallway shots whenever it was set up to support the sequence – and a treadmill for Scott at certain points.

“We don’t like to use too many visual effects on the show in terms of creating backgrounds and atmosphere,” says Stiller. “But we needed to do this shot because the bolt arm was taking up all the space.”

The video explains why Stiller didn’t use a steadicam (“it was too cumbersome” for the operator to use while keeping up with Mark’s increasing speed), as well as how Scott knew whenever he was going to film a high-intensity scene when he was asked What flavor of Gatorade does he prefer?

“We always felt like we really wanted to start the season in a way that would be exciting and fun and kind of indicate where we’re going in season two,” Stiller said. “[The shot] It was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to indicate to the audience that this is some new thing happening.”

Oh, and that dude who pops up behind Mark once he gets to the former wellness room? Scott and Stiller point to him in the video, but don’t reveal more about his identity. Add this to your growing list of theories! Its new episode break up Arrives Friday on Apple TV+.

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