Another Mike Flanagan horror miniseries created for Netflix that showcased its auteur’s deft stylistic touch was “Midnight Mass.” The series, Flanagan’s only one so far to feature a completely original story, was a years-long passion project for its creator, and that passion comes through in the visuals, which are among the trippiest and most strangely beautiful in the Flanagan-verse. In the plot, Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) returns to his hometown on the fictional Crockett Island and reconnects with childhood sweetheart Erin Greene (Kate Siegel).
The fifth episode, “Book V: Gospel,” sees Riley and Erin go on a boat expedition off the island’s coast, in which one of them ultimately meets a fate that turns the entire series on its head. To shoot the scene, rather than send Zach Gilford and Kate Siegel off into the actual open sea, the series placed them on a rocking boat in a blue screen warehouse, as shown in a (very spoiler-y) effects breakdown clip from Zero VFX. Water tanks were placed to each side of Gilford in order to allow him to row in place, and the entirety of the sea and sky around the boat were created with CGI.