Book Review: Elysium: The Art of the Film
Because director Neill Blomkamp hails from a special effects background, the production design in his films is obviously out of this world. Blomkamp’s sophomore effort Elysium is no exception, a sci-fi movie filled with fascinating futuristic devices and eye-popping space-age technology. Since everything in Elysium is pretty believable, I was very curious to learn just how Blomkamp and his creative team crafted this visually captivating film. So of course, I jumped at the chance to review Mark Salisbury’s Elysium: The Art of the Film by Titan Books.
Like any other behind-the-scenes movie book, Elysium: The Art of the Film, is jam-packed with insightful set photos, concept drawings, and computer rendered designs. However this coffee table piece differentiates itself with painstaking detail. Salisbury’s book covers all facets of Elysium’s art from minute aspects like character tattoos and corporate logos to guns, robots, vehicles, and even the titular space station itself. Another area that Salisbury’s volume sets itself apart is with graphic illustrations that bravely depict blood and guts from some of the film’s most grotesque scenes. In that way, it’s definitely not a book you’d want to leave around for youngsters to flip through.
My favorite section discusses all the considerations that went into designing the movie’s creepy artificial intelligence. Nestled inside, is a cool fold out section loaded with various robot ideas that Blomkamp’s team went through before settling on their preferred designs. Something else I really enjoyed, was finding out about the involvement of futurist and industrial designer Syd Mead, who collaborated with Blomkamp on this picture. Mead’s impact is apparent in the believability of his technology, just as it is in other sci-fi classics he has worked on like Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
In addition to all the pretty pictures in Elysium: The Art of the Film, Salisbury provides background on Blomkamp’s casting process, including quotes from the flick’s famous stars Matt Damon and Jodi Foster about their experience with Blomkamp. There’s even some interesting insight provided by Blomkamp himself on what he was trying to accomplish with the movie. Although he admits that subtext and socio-political commentary are there, Blomkamp, says he was making a sci-fi thrill ride rather than a preachy picture that force-feeds the audience those things. I would argue that Elysium is very successful social commentary and that it’s impossible to ignore those elements of the film, but that’s for another piece.
Perhaps the least surprising bit I learned from this book is that Blomkamp is a primarily visual filmmaker who hates writing, “I’d rather have root canal surgery than write.” That said, the director is still decent at writing even if he doesn’t love it. If you’re a cinephile like me, you’ll dig Salisbury’s detailed look at Elysium. Lovers of the film will especially appreciate this book, however even if you had issues with the movie, you’re likely to have fun learning about the process behind this production’s design decisions.
Elysium: The Art of the Film is available in stores and online at www.titanbooks.com.
