Betsy Paterson on Stranger Things’ Final Season’s VFX | Women in Entertainment Podcast

What does it take to “land the plane” on one of the most ambitious shows in modern TV and still keep it feeling human?In this episode, VFX Supervisor Betsy Paterson pulls back the curtain on joining Stranger Things for its final season and stepping into a world where every sequence is a high-stakes puzzle. Betsy walks us through the reality behind the spectacle: a long prep period shaped by constant planning, storyboards, and pre-vis, followed by a full year of shooting and an equally massive post-production push. Her north star is always the same, ground the visuals in reality so the emotion and performance stay front and center.We dive deep into how the team approached Vecna with a hybrid practical/CG solution designed to preserve Jamie Campbell-Bower’s performance while reducing the brutal hours in the makeup chair. Betsy also shares the craft (and chaos) of collaboration, working hand-in-hand with special effects, stunts, wardrobe, and cinematography, whether that means building rigs for falling “goo” or problem-solving a stab-able Demogorgon stand-in with… flower foam.Listen to learn:- What a three-year VFX timeline really looks like- How Vecna was redesigned with a performance-driven hybrid approach- Why the best VFX starts with practical, on-set reality- The behind-the-scenes teamwork that makes big creatures believable- Where AI is (and isn’t) actually helping VFX pipelines todayThe Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment from film and television, to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85...#InHerWordsPodcast #WomenInEntertainment #BetsyPaterson #StrangerThings #VisualEffects #VFXSupervisor #Vecna #TheUpsideDown #Netflix #Weta #ILM #Maya #Houdini #JamieCampbellBower #DufferBrothers #JamesGunn #Peacemaker #PostProduction #Filmmaking #CGI #PracticalEffects #AIInFilm