and Max enjoying a photo shoot was a necessary plot element, the design team created a similar photo studio but with a new fictitious name. Not only did they recreate the facade of each of the storefronts, but they worked to fully stock them as well, in anticipation of any last-minute filming ideas the Duffers may have had. A custom-built grid cloth was employed to completely block sunlight from entering the atrium of the food court to enable filming night scenes during the day. In addition to the aforementioned sets, filming also occurred at pre-existing structures dressed as the Hawkins town hall and Mayor Kline's house. The production also used a total of seven sound stages, with an average of three sets per stage. To create the "black void", the visual manifestation of Eleven's telepathic ruminations, filming took place in a pool that was "painted black [and filled] with about an inch of water, [and was] surrounded by 270 degrees of duvetyne around thirty feet high". The void's look was tweaked slightly for the third season and shooting in the newer, smaller space required a Technocrane and two boom operators. An empty field was used to film the scenes set at the Hawkins Fun Fair, with the crew arriving just three weeks prior to the opening of a previously booked medieval fair. Period-appropriate carnival rides were trucked into the set from locations across the country, and the crew retrofitted the rides' modern lighting with bulbs that would have been used in the 1980s. On September 27, 2018, Brown was spotted filming an emotional scene with stunt doubles and a child dressed in a baseball uniform at a beach in Malibu, California. Filming for the third season concluded on November 12, 2018. Regarding the lengthy hiatus between the second and third seasons, Netflix programming executive Cindy Holland noted "[the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy] understand the stakes are high. They want to deliver something bigger and better than last year. I think it's going to be a fantastic season. It will be worth the wait." Visual effects Heading into production for the first season of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers intended on shooting a number of special effects using practical methods. However, due to issues with the deployment of the practical effects on-set, coupled with a dissatisfaction with the results of the filmed practical material, The Duffer Brothers became much more