Neill Blomkamp blew our brain with District 9 , and now he ’s back with Elysium . We blab out to concept artists and the moving-picture show ’s VFX producer to come up out how they imagined a next distance post , with the help of legendary designer Syd Mead . Here ’s our exclusive spirit inside the conception of Neill Blomkamp ’s Elysium !
Top images : Aaron Beck / Weta . All trope below via Titan Books , except where labeled .
Most of the figure of speech in this article are undivided to io9 and come fromElysium : The Art of the Film by Mark Salisbury , which is a fantastic look inside the devising of the film . It ’s muddle - packed with horrify conception art of Matt Damon having his skull rend open and cybernetic implants placed at heart , plus endearing views of the orbital place promised land . We also got a few images sent to us by Weta conception artist Aaron Beck .
The movie ’s baddie was originally a robot
In early adaptation of the motion picture , Kruger , the soldier of fortune who goes after Matt Damon ’s Max , was a “ constabulary mechanical man , ” according to Weta ’s Christian Pearce . “ A robot cop , if you will . ” Weta did a bunch of excogitation for the android Kruger , but then this got nix and he was turned into a even human .
In another edition of the narrative , the human Kruger gets “ wasted by Max in a battle , ” enunciate Weta ’s Aaron Beck . And Kruger ’s brain gets “ redeploy in a crowing badass automaton , or in a synthetic bio - orchestrate prototype military animal . ” Weta came up with rafts of concepts for this final adaptation of Kruger as a cyborg or as a bioengineered arm , before the musical theme was nixed .
Weta actually came on board this labor very early , when the approximation of a space post was n’t even part of the story . “ The introductory premise of a class battle was there , but without any tarradiddle specifics like the Elysium quad post for example , ” says Beck . Blomkamp bounced lot of estimate off the Weta crew , who come up with designs for robots and weapon , allowing him to see which thought would wreak and which would n’t .
The exo - suit was originally means more brutal
According to Weta ’s Aaron Beck , the early versions of the “ exo causa ” that Matt Damon clothing were downright horrifying :
design the exo - frames that Matt and Sharlto wear was a substantial highlight of the task for me . I ’ve long been bewitch by the idea of exo - bony , ‘ thunderbolt on brawn ’ concepts , and tapped into a life of ideas and thinking when developing my designs . It was a pleasure to work with a director who had a similar conception in mind , in that the exo - frame should interface with the wearer , vastly supplementing their combined strength as one building block , as opposed to relegating the wearer to just being a archetype .
In my previous imaginings the bond was always nano - tech base with the exo - frame able to be put on and removed via near invisible ports in the wearers already augmented skin / body , but Neill was after something much more visceral . He wanted the installation surgery to be very brutish and at one stage take the removal of Max ’s intragroup organs , which were replaced with a index cell , implanted in his body . His finger cymbals and ligaments were also to be strengthened to take the strain of the powerful exo - anatomy which was to be bolted to them , forget dreadful scars all over his tattooed body . And the top of his skull was to be removed to gain approach to the brain , for the dominance neural interface to be installed .
So yeah , the final result was more or less scaled back .
In terms of the actual intent of the exo - chassis , I decide to use Walter Piston and the idea of triangulation of the floating upper limb sections . The original concept had the stand of each piston see in two axis , so that combined with the triangulation of the pistons in the way they connect the various floating piece , would tolerate for a highly mobile exo - frame that look alone .
The pistons would allow for an exciting optical component in the way they would put out and contract , permit the actual strong-arm prop to visibly indicate power and articulation in a agency that conventional servo motors like those seen in current military paradigm exo skeletons do not .
Plus Neill loves pistons .
Creating a mark new space station
Elysian Fields is the futurist orbital habitat where the tiptop - rich live , await down on the Earth , like a more tropical and opulent version of West Beverly . And the design team break the challenge of Elysium down to a “ series of designing challenges , ” including the superstructure , the wheel spoke of the primal hub , how it rotates and the layout of the luxury estates , according to Shawn Walsh , the movie ’s VFX producer and a manufacturer atImage Engine Designin Vancouver .
A lot of the design of Elysium is based on discussion with the Jet Propulsion Lab , plus inquiry into the idea of theStanford Torus , says Walsh . The designers “ tried to define what would actually have to take place to create an orbital habitat , ” and they “ used these things as a jumping off point . ” They also look at huge technology projects like the Three Gorges Dam and Vancouver ’s BC Place Stadium , to make the technology look as realistic as possible .
They assay various arrangements of the station ’s spokes , before settling on five spokes , which are clad in large fairings , like the soma that seem on a Ducati or some other type of luxury car , says Walsh .
And the most important thing about create this outer space station was to make it plausible according to purgative , say Visual Effects Art Director Kent Matheson with Image Engine . They were creating a two - kilometer - wide infinite wheel , but it had to make gumption of physics . Any fourth dimension the design crew run too far into “ gee whiz ” territory , they were reined back in .
One important intention imperative , tell concept artist Mitchell Stuart with Image Engine : every exclusive panel and part of Elysium had to look as though it could have been transported up separately from Earth and then assemble in orbit .
And the interesting affair about designing a space habitat like Elysium , enounce Matheson , is that “ the atmospherical effects would be basically inverted from what we ’re used to . ” :
On Earth the continual increase density of the atmosphere creates an effect called “ airy view ” where visually things are more affect by the ambience the further they are away from us , getting more blue , less a pure , disappear , and this effect is always increase the further objects move away from us because of the curvature of the Earth which is always down , away from us . On Elysium though the curvature is in the polar focal point , up , and while the atm exists in a slight landing strip as it does on Earth because the curved shape is up the atmosphere stacks in density to a point but then begins to rise up through this to be seeable above the ground . So one of the cardinal cues we use to plant depth in optic force was basically tossed away .
Syd Mead ’s design piece of work
One of the most exciting matter about Elysium is that fabled artist Syd Mead worked on the picture . In Salisbury ’s book , Blomkamp talks about realizing that he could in reality taste and get “ someone who was an icon of mine ” to sour on his moving-picture show . Blomkamp felt as though Mead is not just an crucial fantast , but also a headmaster craftsman of the type that does n’t really exist any more , in the years of concept artists using Photoshop to crank out 300 images a mean solar day .
And Mead become out to be a fan of District 9 , especially the silhouette of the starship hanging in the air .
Mead came on board , and immediately change the whole concept of how Elysium , the orbital home ground , would face . According to Salisbury ’s Holy Writ , Mead took aerial photos of Beverly Hills and scale them according to the sizing of the tennis royal court — because tennis tourist court are always the same size — and then imbed a naturalistic Beverly Hills - elan layout onto the toroid . It was Mead who came up with the estimate of adding lakes and rivers to Elysium to “ balance the high ring , ” because water will “ find its own zero , it ’ll always balance out , ” as Blomkamp put it .
“ There ’s a sense of proportion and elegance to what Syd design , ” tell Walsh . “ In a luck of Syd ’s representative , you ca n’t actually make out how something is fabricated , but for some cause you feel that it ’s wholly plausible . ”
The dotty futurist fomite
Elysian Fields has some really memorable flying vehicle , including the Raven , which is the silken attack ship that Kruger ( Sharlto Copley ) fly ball . And the Immigrant Shuttle , the beat - up , destroy - look ship that the illegal immigrants practice to attempt and get inside Elysium .
According to Weta ’s Pearce , the space bird fly by the ample factory owner Carlyle was originally conceived as a kind of Hum-Vee , a futurist luxuriousness APC . But Blomkamp kept pushing it more towards being “ a Bugatti Veyron in distance . ” Adds Pearce , “ I did a heap more concepts , and Neill just keep labour it closer and nigher to a flying Veyron . I did n’t bring in he literally intend it was gon na be a Bugatti until I saw some art come through from their guys . ”
Meanwhile , Blomkamp hired legendary fomite designer TyRuben Ellingson to work on the Raven , which Blomkamp line as a “ bad ass ” military fomite which could move fast . Blomkamp mostly described the Raven in worked up terms , and once Ellingson turned in his designs , he gave some feedback like , “ It demand to be leaner , ” or “ bragging engines . ” In the end , Ellingson designed the shape of the Raven , while Christian Pearce did a paint and detail pass , come up with the ship ’s camouflage , weathering and “ cool raunchy action , ” says Ellingson .
motion-picture photography vehicle that are n’t there
Most of the vehicles in the photographic film were purely data processor - generated , but Blomkamp still wanted a “ splanchnic ” approach to filming them , accord to Walsh . “ He felt like those shots should be as substantial as if you ’re film a genuine vehicle . ”
So the VFX team lease real helicopter to perform the movements they wanted — like if the Raven was landing or taking off , they would take a helicopter landing or taking off . Then they ’d off the helicopter from the frame and stick in their digital vehicles instead . That way , there would be a strong-arm vehicle for the camera to reply to and put up on .
There ’s only one actual physical mannikin in the moving picture — for a wreck aspect tardily in the movie , Turner Optical built a 1:6 scale leaf model of one of the ships so they could take a strong-arm ship crashing .
Not only that , but Walsh and his VFX team came up with a crack - imaginative way to film distance succession . Blomkamp wanted all of the CG space shots to look one of two shipway : as though there ’s a camera operator in a space capsule , filming the natural action , so “ as a vehicle whips by , you pan off with it . ” Or else , as though there ’s a camera traveling along with a vehicle that ’s in motion . But the camera dead should not belt along up or pull aside from a starship , or any other sorting of unrealistic camera move that you would n’t see if you were filming some sort of fomite on Earth .
So what Walsh ’s crew did , was to load an integral space scenery into a apparent motion gaining control mass , and then re - entrance the scene using a virtual camera . They actually put a forcible picture camera inside a gesture - capture carriage , and then had it “ virtually capture the spiritedness , ” Walsh explains . “ So you ’re guiding the animation in the camera , and re - lensing it in the virtual camera , so it feel real . ”
The droids
You might be surprised to realize reasonably much every droid in Elysium is digital , even though they look super - realistic and interact with the character really well . “ Any meter a droid is move , it ’s digital , ” sound out Walsh . The droid motion was captured from a performing artist in a gray suit — but this was n’t done at the prison term of filming , but afterwards on a soundstage .
The Weta designers experiment with making the droids look wildly different depending on their occasion , but Blomkamp kept wanting them to have the same basic human body , state Pearce . Pretty much all of the automaton in the film are the creations of Armadyne , the company where Max mould , and “ they supply to all levels of budget and functionality , ” says Pearce .
“ For reference when designing things like this you just need to attend at real world developments , ” Pearce adds . “ The clobber from Honda , DARPA and Boston Dynamics , even down to production line automaton — there ’s a never - terminate supplying of to the full operable aspiration . ” But also , being at Weta Workshop , you ’re wall by coolheaded auto that can provide a sense of inspiration .
Weta Workshop did initial designs for the droids in the movie , and build some partially get together droids for some of the factory picture . But Image Engine wound up adding a lot more details , attempt to make the robots look as “ skimpy and athletic and powerful ” as possible , say Walsh . The droids were given a lot more gadgets and matter they could do , including light source that could make out on , spotlights that could shine on someone , laser targeting mickle , and in one case the nose of a shotgun . These things give the robots “ a bit of business organization ” they could do while interacting with people , read Walsh . Blomkamp need the sense that the security robots were forever scrutinize everything and maintaining total cognisance of their surroundings .
And of row , all the droids on Earth had to count dirty and hard-pressed , while all the droids on Elysium were shiny and everlasting .
Turning Mexico City into Future Los Angeles
Most of the scene of next L.A. were filmed in Mexico City , and according to Walsh they did n’t ask that many pinch or alterations . “ The huge majority of that picture taking was unaffected by VFX , ” says Walsh . They did add a few futurist skyscraper in the distance , and prospect of burning stack , plus some power outage .
Blomkamp “ wanted to be subtle ” about making Mexico City look more futurist , but they did contribute a fair routine of fog to some shots , along with “ a world-wide mucking - up of the skeleton , ” suppose Walsh .
According to Matheson , creating the future Los Angeles require some real - life inquiry , but also an amazing “ what if ” secret plan :
Neill and the output decorator Phil Ivey had done this amazing inquiry where they had ground the metropolis preparation documents show what tower LA has actually approved to be build over the next 25 to 30 years and this was our start dot . We then created a manakin of on the button the buildings that currently survive in the metropolis effect and then had our modelers build out those designs of the towers that are plan and placed them where they they ’re going to be . So we had as a starting point this survey of what Los Angeles is really run to look like in 30 to 50 year , with the correct manner and finishes . And then we recrudesce it .
To break it , Neill had some very strict rules about how the city would develop , based on idea about might happen if our infrastructures and resource were to be taken past sustainable horizontal surface but the universe were to continue to expand . This was the basis of the favela conception employ to LA and the idea moving into these design was that the towers , though built and grow in the current world , what would happen to them as the resources to preserve them were to disappear but more and more people were looking , urgently for stead to know . We terminate up with the approximation of an LA core of towers that was essentially an aerial citystate unto itself , lived in and keep by people who practically never left , creating this snarl of bridgework and annexe and levels .
And here ’s more of Aaron Beck ’s artwork , which he sent to us , plus one he postedon his web site :
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