section_path: Design and effects
section_name: Design and effects
paragraph_text: Design and effects
  
  Fargeat used extensive practical effects, prosthetics and makeup, accounting for 70–80% of the final film, resisting the push toward cheaper digital effects. She felt that the use of practical effects was crucial to convey the themes of violence.
  
  The effects were created by Pierre-Olivier Persin and his company, Pop FX, based in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. Leading a team of 15, Persin oversaw the work both at Pop FX's studio and at a second rented workshop. Persin dedicated 11 months to the project, spanning pre-production and shooting. He was hired at the recommendation of executive producer Nicolas Royer (who appears in the film as "guy in the elevator" and previously worked with Persin). Initially, Fargeat had chosen another company to create the designs but was disappointed with their work. Persin later described their designs as good from an artistic perspective, but overly masculine —"a rubber monster for the guys." Meanwhile, Fargeat had always envisioned the film ending with a monster that she referred to as a " Picasso of male expectations."
  
  Persin read the script, made a bid, and, while working on another project, sculpted a small plasticine maquette of his design for the creature at the climax, "Monstro Elisasue" over a few nights. In the script, Monstro Elisasue was loosely outlined, only described as having Elisabeth's face located on its back. Persin aimed to give Monstro some "humility" "gracefulness" and resemble Sue. Fargeat was impressed with his choices, such as the tilted head, backward-facing arm, and the inclusion of breasts, and offered him the position. Fargeat and Persin later spent a month refining Monstro's design. Persin would later remark in an interview: "Coralie wanted her as if the body was put in a shaker."
  
  Persin and Fargeat conducted a technical read-through over several days, outlining the requirements of each sequence. Persin visualized Fargeat's ideas for each transformation, through photoshop, digital sculpture, and regular sculpture. He created designs based on digital scans of the actors, which Fargeat could select, combine, or modify. From there, he created actual prosthetic devices for screen tests.
  
  Elisabeth's transformation process was organized into a series of five stages, following the birth of Sue: a withered finger ("The Finger"), a more aged look called "Requiem" (inspired by Requiem for a Dream), a hunched-backed design referred to as " Gollum ", "Monstro Elisasue", and "The Blob". Fargeat deliberately sought to avoid making the effects look realistic, aiming instead to create a deformed representation of the aging process, shaped by the characters' fear and anger.
  
  Fargeat's vision for how quickly Elisabeth's transformations should occur sparked debate with Persin and the lead makeup artist, Stéphanie Guillon. For the pre-substance scenes, Guillon felt that " had to be beautiful in the beginning... before she has all the prosthetics", while Fargeat wanted her to appear flawed from the start. Similarly, Persin felt that pacing the changes more gradually would enhance their impact, explaining, "It'll be wild and insane eventually."
  
  Prosthetics application ranged between 45 minutes and 7 hours depending on character complexity, sometimes only leaving an hour or two for filming in a given day.
  
  Fargeat described the dialogue-free scene where Moore removes her makeup in front of a mirror as "the most challenging" of the film. Fargeat was stressed on the day of the shoot because she knew she was creating the "emotional heart of the movie" where performance, rhythm and lighting had to be perfect. Fargeat felt if Moore and the crew could pull it off, it would be incredibly powerful. After the 11th take, Guillon intervened to stop filming for the day. "I took the remover pad and I squashed everything, and I said, 'I removed everything, that's over. You have already 11. You cannot have more because tomorrow she will have a red face.' Normally you don't do that! But it was too much because it was very hard on her skin."
  
  For her nude scenes, Margaret Qualley was fitted with custom-made breast prostheses to portray an idealized image of beauty, reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit. Qualley humorously explained the process: "Unfortunately, there is no magic boob potion, so we had to glue those on... me with the rack of a lifetime—just not my lifetime."
  
  Fargeat used extensive practical effects, prosthetics and makeup, accounting for 70–80% of the final film, resisting the push toward cheaper digital effects. She felt that the use of practical effects was crucial to convey the themes of violence.
  
  The effects were created by Pierre-Olivier Persin and his company, Pop FX, based in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis. Leading a team of 15, Persin oversaw the work both at Pop FX's studio and at a second rented workshop. Persin dedicated 11 months to the project, spanning pre-production and shooting. He was hired at the recommendation of executive producer Nicolas Royer (who appears in the film as "guy in the elevator" and previously worked with Persin). Initially, Fargeat had chosen another company to create the designs but was disappointed with their work. Persin later described their designs as good from an artistic perspective, but overly masculine —"a rubber monster for the guys." Meanwhile, Fargeat had always envisioned the film ending with a monster that she referred to as a " Picasso of male expectations."
  
  Persin read the script, made a bid, and, while working on another project, sculpted a small plasticine maquette of his design for the creature at the climax, "Monstro Elisasue" over a few nights. In the script, Monstro Elisasue was loosely outlined, only described as having Elisabeth's face located on its back. Persin aimed to give Monstro some "humility" "gracefulness" and resemble Sue. Fargeat was impressed with his choices, such as the tilted head, backward-facing arm, and the inclusion of breasts, and offered him the position. Fargeat and Persin later spent a month refining Monstro's design. Persin would later remark in an interview: "Coralie wanted her as if the body was put in a shaker."
  
  Persin and Fargeat conducted a technical read-through over several days, outlining the requirements of each sequence. Persin visualized Fargeat's ideas for each transformation, through photoshop, digital sculpture, and regular sculpture. He created designs based on digital scans of the actors, which Fargeat could select, combine, or modify. From there, he created actual prosthetic devices for screen tests.
  
  Elisabeth's transformation process was organized into a series of five stages, following the birth of Sue: a withered finger ("The Finger"), a more aged look called "Requiem" (inspired by Requiem for a Dream), a hunched-backed design referred to as " Gollum ", "Monstro Elisasue", and "The Blob". Fargeat deliberately sought to avoid making the effects look realistic, aiming instead to create a deformed representation of the aging process, shaped by the characters' fear and anger.
  
  Fargeat's vision for how quickly Elisabeth's transformations should occur sparked debate with Persin and the lead makeup artist, Stéphanie Guillon. For the pre-substance scenes, Guillon felt that " had to be beautiful in the beginning... before she has all the prosthetics", while Fargeat wanted her to appear flawed from the start. Similarly, Persin felt that pacing the changes more gradually would enhance their impact, explaining, "It'll be wild and insane eventually."
  
  Prosthetics application ranged between 45 minutes and 7 hours depending on character complexity, sometimes only leaving an hour or two for filming in a given day.
  
  Fargeat described the dialogue-free scene where Moore removes her makeup in front of a mirror as "the most challenging" of the film. Fargeat was stressed on the day of the shoot because she knew she was creating the "emotional heart of the movie" where performance, rhythm and lighting had to be perfect. Fargeat felt if Moore and the crew could pull it off, it would be incredibly powerful. After the 11th take, Guillon intervened to stop filming for the day. "I took the remover pad and I squashed everything, and I said, 'I removed everything, that's over. You have already 11. You cannot have more because tomorrow she will have a red face.' Normally you don't do that! But it was too much because it was very hard on her skin."
  
  For her nude scenes, Margaret Qualley was fitted with custom-made breast prostheses to portray an idealized image of beauty, reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit. Qualley humorously explained the process: "Unfortunately, there is no magic boob potion, so we had to glue those on... me with the rack of a lifetime—just not my lifetime."