ALIAS GRACE (NETFLIX / CBC)

WORK DESCRIPTION:

STARNO contributed specialized Matte Painting and digital environment work to the critically acclaimed miniseries Alias Grace. Based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood, the production required a meticulous level of historical accuracy to recreate 19th-century Upper Canada.

The core of our mission involved a complex historical reconstitution across several key sequences. This included digital cleanups and the architectural reconstruction of period-accurate environments that were essential to ground the narrative in its mid-1800s setting.

The exceptional quality of the visual effects on this series was recognized industry-wide; the team was notably nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. This intricate world-building was executed by Frédéric St-Arnaud, acting as a Matte Painting Freelancer for the VFX studio Rocket Science.

STORYLINE:

Based on the true story of Grace Marks, Alias Grace follows a young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who is convicted of the brutal murders of her employer and his housekeeper in 1843.

The story unfolds as a psychiatrist arrives to interview Grace to determine if she should be pardoned, leading through a haunting exploration of memory and the Victorian era.