Stranger Things in LT

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More productions being filmed

Fans of Netflix will be familiar with the series “Stranger Things”, now in its fourth season and breaking the streaming service’s viewership records. LRT tells us that part of the series was filmed in Lithuania, with the country’s actors appearing on screen. Lithuanian actor Vaidotas Martinaitis, who played Soviet ward Melnikov in Stranger Things, and Jonas Špokas, location manager of the series and representative of Baltic Locations, were interviewed by LRT Radio about various issues encountered during the filming experience.

For this season, a Russian American was one of the translators for the Russian-speaking characters in the series. The translation of the whole series is divided into at least 15 small pieces and given to different translators. The problem arises because the translators don’t know the context of the story, and this results in a translation that is nonsense. When the texts are all combined, an editor is required to connect them stylistically.

A previous HBO series Chernobyl was also filmed in Lithuania, and its success contributed to the choice of Lithuania as a film site. All of the interior footage was filmed at Lukiškės Prison, which was an ideal location. An outdoor Siberian winter scene was manufactured in Atlanta, Georgia, in 30oC weather. In the second year of filming, the pandemic caused restrictions, and it was not easy to fight coronavirus on the film set.

While working in Vilnius, the show’s Director Shawn Levy said, that from the start, Stranger Things “has been inspiring to all of us lucky enough to work on it. My adventure here in Lithuania in bringing the reveal of the ‘American’ to life has been a huge challenge but an even bigger inspiration, and we are so thankful to the city of Vilnius and the beautiful country of Lithuania for their hospitality.”

Vilnius is becoming an increasingly popular shooting destination among filmmakers globally. Other hit shows like HBO’s Chernobyl, and Netflix’s Young Wallander and Tokyo Trial were also shot in Vilnius in recent years. The city is attracting high-profile productions due to its multifaceted history, ability to provide backdrops representing different historical periods, and a highly skilled film industry workforce. Go-Vilnius.lt