In just over two hours, film directors and writers Matt and Ross Duffer took on another project while producing the season finale of the decade-old show, “Stranger Things.” The brothers decided to document each step of their journey in “One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5,” as they worked with hundreds of cast and crew members to remember the highs and lows throughout the last season.
“I feel like being able to see behind the scenes of how they made the show and what really went on within those three years [between seasons four and five], really shows their process. It will show how everything was made and help understand the show better. I think it will help people understand and appreciate the characters better, too,” magnet sophomore Sonal Patel said.
Beginning by reminiscing on the past 10 years since the start of Season 1, the Duffers explained their attention to detail to each scene, especially the evolution of the main character and hero Eleven’s eventual death. Even so, the directors spent hours and hours debating the conclusion, walking into the production of Season 5 without a finale written. Scenes in the documentary also shared the creation of the final sets and costumes, such as Max Mayfield’s cave and Holly Wheeler’s purple flower overalls.
Explaining their interest in film, the Duffer’s transitioned to documenting their childhood memories to explore the initial cause of their love for film. The brothers featured old home videos on their Hi8 video camera, which they received at only nine years old. This Christmas present jump-started their career as filmmakers and helped bring their imagination to life. The brothers also directed “Stranger Things” with inspiration from famous directors like Sam Raimi, John Woo and M. Night Shyamalan.
Continuing through the documentary, the directors flashback to the very beginning of the show and remember their first days creating the sets of “Stranger Things.” Writers ran through and revealed the initial design of the Wheeler home and downtown Hawkins, which the Duffers decided to keep for Season 5. As the cameramen captured never-before-seen clips from episodes two and eight, they also recorded conversations between all the writers. These moments between the writers when deciding on how the finale would play out opened up discussion about the overall meaning of the show. The brothers explained that the main goal of the show and their intention to “maintain this sense of fun in the show or it doesn’t become the show anymore.” This legacy revealed itself throughout the season, especially in the final episodes leading up to the actors’ ultimate adventure as “Stranger Things” characters.
“I really liked the whole show and the aspect of it. I loved the new dimension and how they [the characters] had to navigate all those different monsters. But then the finale, I loved it, and I feel like if you didn’t really like it, you didn’t really appreciate the show. It was a nice and happy ending, and it was a great way to end the show,” Patel said.
Dialing back into the creation of Season 5, the Duffers mainly focused on how their crew filmed the exhilarating scenes, including one of the final Military Access Control Zone (MAC-Z) moments with hundreds of actors on set. Iconically, this complex sequence took tens of takes and a night’s worth of shots to ultimately reveal Will Byers’s new powers, which included psychic senses.
The documentary continued to detail clips from the final season by recording behind-the-scenes elements to allow fans to dive into the world of “Stranger Things” one last time. Throughout the special, director and writer commentary showed the specific moves and actions the filmmakers took to ensure proper framing for the exciting scenes, such as the Mind Flayer’s final battle against the characters. The two-hour documentary closed off by showcasing the crew’s last set from the final season, as the five main actors played their last round of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) to close the chapter on their childhood.
