STARNO contributed to the visual world-building of AMC’s martial arts drama, INTO THE BADLANDS, focusing on the creation of sprawling post-apocalyptic environments that emphasize the collapse of modern civilization.
The core of this work involved an extensive Digital Matte Painting task: the complete "deconstruction" of a major elevated highway and overpass. To achieve the required look of centuries of neglect, we meticulously designed a ruined viaduct featuring crumbling concrete structures, exposed rebar, and large sections of the roadway suspended precariously or collapsed onto the ground.
This process required a high level of detail to integrate the "old world" ruins into the series' unique aesthetic—a world where nature has begun to reclaim industrial structures. Every piece of debris and every texture pass was designed to tell a story of a long-lost society, providing a gritty and immersive backdrop for the show's action sequences, a work performed in collaboration with Rocket Science VFX.
Set hundreds of years in the future, INTO THE BADLANDS tells the story of a warrior and a young boy who search for enlightenment in a ruthless territory controlled by feudal barons. In a world without firearms, power is held by those with the most lethal martial arts skills.
The series is highly acclaimed for its stunning visual style, blending feudal aesthetics with the ruins of 21st-century technology. It explores themes of power, loyalty, and redemption amidst a beautifully decaying landscape where the remnants of our modern world serve as haunting monuments to a forgotten past.
STARNO TEAM:Frédéric St-Arnaud (Freelance Matte Painter)
Rocket Science VFX
AMC TV SERIES – 2015-2019
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