STARNO collaborated with Raynault FX on Neill Blomkamp’s dystopian sci-fi epic, Elysium. The primary mandate was the digital environment construction for the film’s high-stakes final battle. This sequence takes place in the industrial underbelly of the Elysium space station, specifically on a massive metallic platform.
Working as a freelance Matte Painter in close partnership with Mathieu Raynault, the project required a full 360-degree environment. To maintain visual continuity across 30 to 50 complex shots, the environment was meticulously split into two sections. The work focused on extreme industrial detail: intricate piping systems, dynamic lighting, precarious catwalks, ladders, and high-tech structural elements.
The challenge was to deliver a photorealistic, "lived-in" sci-fi aesthetic that matched the gritty yet sophisticated visual language established by Blomkamp. Every detail had to withstand the scrutiny of fast-paced action and varying camera angles while reinforcing the immense scale of the orbital station.
In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. While Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) will stop at nothing to preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium, the people of Earth will stop at nothing to get in.
Max (Matt Damon), an ordinary man in desperate need of a medical cure, agrees to take on a daunting mission that pits him against Elysium’s forces and its ruthless mercenary, Kruger. If he succeeds, he could not only save his own life but bring equality to these polarized worlds.
The final showdown in the station's core is the narrative's climax, representing the collision between the gritty reality of the workers and the cold, high-tech fortress of the elite.
STARNO TEAM:Frédéric St-Arnaud
Raynault FX
FEATURE FILM – 2013