Elysium

Neil Blomkamp wanted the Raven crash sequence to be done practically with models. Unlike almost all films; he decided to shoot the model crash before shooting the scenes with the actors. He felt it would be easier to match whatever way the model crash ended after the fact, rather than trying to get the ship to crash in a very specific way to match pre-shot sets with the actors.

The Raven wings were a challenge similar to the Galaxy Quest Protector, and we were able to use similar techniques. The Director needed the ship to “survive” the crash, so the fuselage had be very strong, and then break-away parts could be mounted to that. We weren’t going to get many chances to get it on camera.

We built a 100 foot long set for the ship to crash on. It was populated with buildings, trees and lawns with miniature dirt for the ship to crash through. The Raven was mounted on a track that controlled its decent and plowed it through the terrain.