What do you get when you put seven scientists in an ice cube?
True Detective: Night Country’s defining visual effect.
This article contains spoilers forTrue Detective: Night Countryepisode 2.
The first episode ofTrue Detective: Night Countryconcludes with a grim tableau.
One guy scratched at his own face.
Even close up that was extraordinary.
It really did feel like it was disintegrating as we spoke.
We met the corpsicle before we met the actual [scientist] actors!
Kali Reiss (Evangeline Navarro) added.
It was made so well.
I could imagine how it smelled.
And thats where viewers really get to drink in the disgusting details.
Its one thing for rubbery artificial bodies to appear real under the cover of night.
Thats actually how [showrunner Issa Lopez] described it in the script, Taylor says.
Taylor previously worked with Lopez on season 2 of Sky AtlanticsBritannia.
The pair kept in touch through Covid and Lopez recommended him to HBO as production designer onNight Country.
It was clear early on that the writer/director had a clear vision for her corpsicle.
She was like this guy, hes sat down and hes doing this.
We realized quickly that they were arranged in a wedge.
Like a cheese wedge.
Issa was very keen about making sure that they were all looking in the same direction.
Taylor then did some brainstorming on the preferred aesthetics for the corpse models.
The works of American painterPhil Haleproved influential for Lopez.
As was a more unexpected cinematic source.
The process is extraordinary.
Eyebrow hairs are individually punched.
The eyeballs were made and put in.
Each staged required a turnaround, Taylor says.
In the case ofTrue Detectiveseason 4s corpsicle, it was certainly worth it for Taylor and his production team.
The prosthetics were straight 10 out of 10.
I honestly dont think Ive ever seen anything better.
New episodes of True Detective: Night Country air Sundays at 9 p.m.
ET on HBO, culminating with the finale on Feb. 24, 2024.
