KFC x
Stranger Things
Reimagining KFC as ‘Hawkins Fried Chicken’ and bringing the brand into Stranger Things distinctive visual universe.
From the outset, we wanted the VFX to feel grounded and cinematic while still capturing the surreal, unsettling quality of the Upside Down. The film follows a lone courier on a high-stakes delivery journey through a landscape of military roadblocks and supernatural threats, with the situation becoming increasingly chaotic as the journey unfolds.
From the outset, we wanted the VFX to feel grounded and cinematic while still capturing the surreal, unsettling quality of the Upside Down. The film follows a lone courier on a high-stakes delivery journey through a landscape of military roadblocks and supernatural threats, with the situation becoming increasingly chaotic as the journey unfolds.
At the heart of the sequence is a fully CG 1980s-era KFC restaurant, which we created from the ground up, including both the interior and exterior. We placed the restaurant within a fully CG forest environment, carefully building the world around it to capture the atmosphere and visual language of Stranger Things while maintaining the recognisable details of the KFC brand.
At the heart of the sequence is a fully CG 1980s-era KFC restaurant, which we created from the ground up, including both the interior and exterior. We placed the restaurant within a fully CG forest environment, carefully building the world around it to capture the atmosphere and visual language of Stranger Things while maintaining the recognisable details of the KFC brand.
The environment became increasingly dynamic as the story progressed. We created extensive atmospheric effects, debris and environmental simulations to create a sense of movement and instability, while a relentless Mind Flayer rift stalks the courier throughout. The rift needed to feel like a genuinely threatening physical presence rather than a graphic effect, interacting with the environment and creating the sense that the Upside Down was constantly breaking through into the real world.
The environment became increasingly dynamic as the story progressed. We created extensive atmospheric effects, debris and environmental simulations to create a sense of movement and instability, while a relentless Mind Flayer rift stalks the courier throughout. The rift needed to feel like a genuinely threatening physical presence rather than a graphic effect, interacting with the environment and creating the sense that the Upside Down was constantly breaking through into the real world.
A key part of the process was finding the balance between the familiar and the unexpected. The KFC restaurant had to feel authentic enough to belong to the brand and its 1980s setting, while the surrounding world could become progressively stranger and more unsettling. By combining detailed CG environments with atmospheric simulation, destruction and supernatural effects, we were able to gradually push the reality of the film into something much more surreal.
A key part of the process was finding the balance between the familiar and the unexpected. The KFC restaurant had to feel authentic enough to belong to the brand and its 1980s setting, while the surrounding world could become progressively stranger and more unsettling. By combining detailed CG environments with atmospheric simulation, destruction and supernatural effects, we were able to gradually push the reality of the film into something much more surreal.
The result is a world that starts recognisably grounded in KFC and Hawkins, before steadily tipping into the chaos of the Upside Down, allowing the VFX to drive the escalation of the story while keeping the brand at the centre of the action.
The result is a world that starts recognisably grounded in KFC and Hawkins, before steadily tipping into the chaos of the Upside Down, allowing the VFX to drive the escalation of the story while keeping the brand at the centre of the action.
[Credits]
- Author • Black Kite Studios
