Severance season 2 has delivered not only some shocking moments in the story, but also some incredible filmmaking. One particularly spectacular shot, featured in last week's episode 7, didn't even require CGI, which makes it even more impressive.
"There's the shot that goes from MDR to the control room downstairs," director and DP Jessica Lee Gagné told Esquire, describing the nightmarish scene where the camera travels through electrical cables, diving deep into the insides of the mysterious Lumon office. Some fans have already shared the moment on social media, in awe of the craft behind it.
"There's no CGI in it. It's all real," Gagné reveals in the interview.
"We actually shot through cables. It was the most laborious thing I have ever done as a DP. It was the biggest side project of this show and so many people participated on it. You should see the rig for it: The camera goes through the internal part of the desk. There's a pulley moving in it," she continued.
The scene is used to reveal the man behind the curtain, in this case Dr. Mauer (played by Robby Benson). The character was introduced in season 2, with episode 7 revealing his involvement in Ms. Casey/Gemma's torturous existence.
Gagné has talked about what the new episode shows about Gemma, who is split into multiple innies depending on the rooms she visits. "The idea of the rooms that Gemma goes to comes from Dan Erickson, of course," she told AVClub.
"He wanted it to be places that make you do things you might despise. For example, Gemma only writes Christmas cards in one room. Dan hates doing that, so that’s where the idea came from. Lumon is doing different things to people based on fear or hate.
"The plane is an obvious one. A lot of people have a fear of flying or going to the dentist. The rooms are about putting people through these processes and [whether] the chip can resist this leaking of feelings. There were a lot more rooms and ideas, but these are the ones that ended up sticking."
Severance season 2 is streaming now on Apple TV Plus. For more, check out our Severance season 2 release schedule to stay up to date on weekly episodes, or, check out our spoiler-free Severance season 2 review.
