Elysium: The Art of the Film

by Mark Salisbury

From Neill Blomkamp, the director of the acclaimed District 9, comes Elysium, an eagerly awaited sci-fi blockbuster starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster.

All will be revealed in The Art of the Film, which will feature a Foreword by Blomkamp, and wealth of stunning production art and photos, including the input of legendary designer Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Tron).

TM & © 2012 TriStar Pictures Industries, Inc.  All rights reserved.

Genres: Art

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2013

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredible artwork book - again its part of the excess stock purchase I made just after Christmas and its amazing. The book is a a heavy high quality publication. It is printed in landscape which lends perfectly to the large glossy images from the film and concept work. I didn't realise it at the time but some of the concept work is by the legend Syd Mead (as I found out after my brother tried to steal the book).

The book itself covers off both concept and production images showing how the film developed and evolved - it is one of the better film artwork books and I see that it is from the same team that did the District 9 art work book too. (Knowing that its gone on to my wish list)

So if you enjoyed the film this is a must to read although even if you didn't you have to appreciate the craftsmanship that went in to the production of this book.

[Horror DNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance, Elysium: The Art of the Film is just a nice-looking coffee table book, but the contents inside reveal an unbelievably dense collection of concept art, production stills and storyboards that demands closer inspection. Kicking things off is a nice foreword by writer-director Neill Blomkamp (District 9), in which he expresses his enthusiasm for the opportunity to present a look at the intricate design work that went into the making of the film. He explains that his process as an artist is very visually driven and the images in his mind determine the direction the finished script will take. Elysium took several years and underwent countless variations of artwork to get the correct style. This book reproduces many of these graphics in a sleek, highly organized layout that will surely impress both graphic artists and cinephiles alike.

You can read ZigZag's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The level of effort and detail Blomkamp's design team put into this film is astounding. It actually encourages me to go back and enjoy the film from a whole new perspective. It also doesn't hurt that the great Syd Mead joined in on some of the designs at Niell's specific request.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

( More pictures on my blog )

Going through this artbook reminded me of The Art of District 9. Director Neill Blomkamp teams up again with his District 9 production designer Phil Ivey and Weta Workshop for the concept art and models. Elysium is no sequel to District 9, but the art does feel like they could have come from the same world, except in Elysium, it's year 2154.

The content can be roughly split into two main parts, that on earth and on Elysium. There are designs for the Exo-Suit, robots, spacecrafts, weapons, environments and other concept paintings. Designs for everything that appears on Earth would be more weathered, showing signs of prolong usage, as compared to those on Elysium which are cleaner and sleeker. The contrasting style is interesting.

The robot policemen look pretty cool. Designs involving Max and his Exo-Suit can be gruesome because Blomkamp doesn't like to be constrained by PG-13 ratings.

For the Elysium, Syd Mead has contributed several pieces of artwork that are in the book. You get to see the detailed sketches and the final renders of Elysium that took 10 months to finish building.

Overall, the art is great and there are lots to read about the designs and on how they film certain scenes.

It's a fantastic art book companion to the film.

[Ro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The odd thing for me about this beautiful book was that I hadn’t seen the movie at the time I read the book. I kept it sitting on my desk, waiting until I got a chance to see it because I knew there would most likely be spoilers in it. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to open the book. Then the desire to see the movie was stronger than ever, even though yes, there are spoilers!

First off, the mansions of Elysium, amazing. There is a depiction on page 126 of this beautiful atrium with glass walls, a waterfall with a gorgeous rainbow running through it and two people sitting looking out on greenery with the city in the distance. Contrasting against this is an illegal, with a gun, standing in the atrium with a trail of blood behind him.

It was eerie at times how much the art actually looked just like the photographs. A pic of Max crawling from a vehicle compares with the drawing of Max dragging someone out of a vehicle and the talent in the art is obvious.

Visually, the section depicting the Surgery, the implantation of the data port and the attachment of the Exo-Suit, oh my. Bloody brains, peeled faces and just wow. That whole section, gory as it is, is my favorite.

The weapons, the vehicles, scenes and ideas are all here, alone with forward about the movie’s director and stars (Matt Damon, Jodie Foster , William Fichtner, etc) and the story arc make a great introduction to the art of the film.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book delivers exactly what the title promises though there are spoilers, including the end of the film. So if you want to be surprised, don't open the book until you have seen the film.