Severance pay came back, and yet the second season is only one episode infans are already formulating theories about it what is really it happens 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 this week’s issue, but the opening scene of the season premiere sets up the breathless, disorienting path the characters — especially Adam Scott’s Mark S. — will travel as they seek to unravel the mystery behind Lumon Industries.
In a new Vanity Fair video, executive producer Ben Stiller, who also directed the season premiere of “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” and star Scott go behind the scenes of that frantic sequence. It took four to five months to complete and involved more special effects and logistical maneuvers than Severance pay usually requires.
As the couple explains, Mark takes off running as soon as he exits the elevator—returning to his “innie” space for the first time since realizing his Lumon colleague is Ms. Casey is actually Gemma, the wife he believes his “terrible” died in a car accident—because his first wish is to find Mrs. Casey and share this incredible discovery with her.
But the journey to the wellness room proves to be far more of a journey than the viewer could ever realize. Lumon’s cut-off floor feels like a miles-long maze of all-white corridors and right-angled turns.
While Mark is so confident that he knows how to sprint there, capturing his mad dash was far more technically demanding than simply following Scott with a Steadicam. It included a bulky piece of camera equipment called a “latch arm”, as well as a panoply of corridor shots placed whenever it was set to support the sequence – and a conveyor belt for Scott at certain points.
“We don’t like to use visual effects too much in the show in terms of creating backgrounds and environments,” says Stiller. “But we had to for this shot because the shutter arm was taking up all the space.”
The video goes on to explain why Stiller didn’t use a Steadicam (it would have been “too cumbersome” for a cameraman to use while keeping up with Mark’s increasingly fast pace), as well as how Scott knew whenever he was going to shoot a high-intensity part of a scene when asked which flavor of Gatorade does he prefer.
“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’re going in season two,” says Stiller. “[The shot] I felt like, ‘Okay, we’re going to show the audience that this is something new going on.’
Oh, and that guy who appears behind Mark when he reaches the former wellness room? Scott and Stiller highlight him in the video, but don’t reveal anything more about his identity. Add it to your ever-growing list of theories! New episodes Severance pay they arrive on Apple TV+ on Fridays.
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