We're a boutique film studio creating original features, providing VFX & art services, based in London & Montreal.

Working with clients internationally in Film, TV & Stage.

ORIGINAL FILMS

Our award-winning films feature beautiful cinematography, striking visuals and a poetic approach to the fantasy genre.

PRODUCTION/on-set

We produce films in-house and support client projects with services in VFX supervision, art, and cinematography.

VFX & ART SERVICES

From storyboards and pitches visuals to full feature VFX and compositing, we provide powerful artistic backing across a range of media.

In addition to creating top-notch visual effects and artwork for clients, we’re developing our own unique film productions, fueled by stories we’re passionate about.

THE BOOK OF BIRDIE

FEATURE | UK 2017

THE BOOK OF BIRDIE is award-winning fantasy feature film full of religious ferver and hallucination, with an all-female cast. The film is currently represented for sales with REEL SUSPECTS, Paris.

The World Premiere of The Book of Birdie took place at the  prestigious GÖTEBORG Film Festival in January 2017: Scandinavia's premiere film event. The film won 'Best Feature Film' at STRANGER WITH MY FACE in Australia. At FANTASPOA Fantastic Film Festival in Brazil - The Book of Birdie was the featured opening night film in May 2017, WINNER: Best cinematography at  Brooklyn Horror Film Fest 2017.

More festivals: SITGES, UNDERWIRE, FINAL GIRLS BERLIN, MONSTERS OF FILM 

BEST FEATURE FILM WINNER /STRANGER WITH MY FACE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY WINNER/BROOKLYN HORROR

BEST FEATURE FX WINNER /FKM FESTIVAL DE CINEMA FANTASTICO DA CORUNA

THE WINTER  

FEATURE | UK/GR 2014

Now out on DVD in the USA, THE WINTER/Ο ΧΕΙΜΩΝΑΣ  is an independent feature film, shot in Greece and London. A company project, directed by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, written with Elizabeth E. Schuch, this visually-driven film earned a nomination for Best Scenography at the Greek Academy Awards.

NOW SHOWING: THE FEAR OF LOOKING UP

FEATURE | UK/BRAZIL 2019

WORLD PREMIERE: CLOSING NIGHT FANTASPOA Fantastic Film Festival

A grieving cop in a small town is chasing vengeance when the barrier between dreams and reality dissolves, and monstrous visions loom in the sky. Shot on location in the USA. Co-Produced by FANTASPOA PRODUCAO, Brazil.

NEXT PRODUCTIONS

PRODUCTION | ON SET SERVICES

WHAT WE DO

With our network of talent, we can provide direction, design teams, and crew for commercials, music promos, shorts, and for independent features.

Client Services on Set: VFX Supervision, Cinematography/ 4K Blackmagic Production Camera and Ursa, Producing, Direction, Design, Edit, Trailers

Clients include: Promos for Wunderman, Magnet Media, School of Thought. UK Feature Films 'Eat Local', 'Tango One', 'Stanley A Man of Variety' and a handful of TV and commercial shoots.

VISUAL EFFECTS SERVICES

WHAT WE DO
With an artistic eye, we produce top-notch VFX and CGI for Feature Films, Promos/Music Videos, Idents, Titles, Commercials and more. Our strengths lie with our passions: the dark, fantastical, and the dramatic. Melancholy Star is a studio capable of handling feature-length VFX, and we give added value to commercials, promos, and titles with our unique visual sensibility.

Alien worlds, realistic vehicles and luxury products, unusual creatures, explosions, logo graphics, green screen & tracking services, compositing, set extensions and matte painting: these are just the beginning of what we can provide in house.

The VFX Department is under the supervision of Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, an animator/VFX supervisor and director known for his all around quality, speed, and versatility across a range of media. Kostas brings extensive experience to the table, with a collaborative manner and unbeatable work-ethic. His passion for the poetic and artistic vision sets the tone of all of our work.

ART DEPARTMENT SERVICES

WHAT WE DO
Our tool belt is packed with award-winning design services for perfecting the creative side of your film or project.

We can help you through Script development stages with Storyboards and Concept Art, then take it further with Production Design and VFX supervision on set, or just add the explosive finishing touches with CGI and post production comps.

The Art Department is under the direction of our in-house designer Elizabeth E. Schuch, who specializes in pre-visualization for 3D, and works closely with the VFX department in the design and development stages.

STORYBOARDS

FROM DRAMATIC SCENES TO OUTER SPACE, AND FROM INSIDE THE BODY TO INSIDE HISTORICAL EVENTS, WE CAN VISUALIZE ANYTHING YOUR IMAGINATION CAN STIR UP. 

We work with you to find just the right style for your project, taking your timeframe, budget, artistic needs and presentational format into account.

Specializing in pre-visualization for 3D, we're known for using unique, hand-drawn storyboard in addition to photo-real.

Work Includes: TV Series 'Barbarians Rising' (October Films/History Channel) ‘Inside the Human Body’ (BBC), ‘Gettysburg’ (Ridley Scott/Scott Free/History Channel), ‘The British’ (Nutopia), 'Supersize Earth' (BBC), 'The Continents' (BBC) and ‘Mankind’ (Nutopia).

PROJECTS WE LOVE:

Feature Film Storyboards, Storyboards for Live Events, Storyboards for Science, Anatomy, History, Drama, Psychological/Difficult Subject Matter, Abstract, Fantasy, Film Pitch Packages,  Script Development, TV, Documentary, Mega-Docs, Factual, Commercials, Promos, Idents, Graphic Novel Styles, On-set Revisions, Revisions during the Edit, Last Minute Miracle-Working

STYLES AVAILABLE

• Full Colour Watercolour: Rich colour and organic texture. Great for film pitches and concept art.

• Monochrome Watercolour: Tinted to suit the scene, or using a single colour tone for continuity. Best for bulk work, or where final grade and colour is still evolving.

• Pen & Ink/Black & White: Loose and sketchy or bold/clean line.

• Pencil: Technical, precise and shaded, or quick and simple sketching. Monochrome Tint is also available for pencil.

• Digital Colour/Photoreal: Line work first by hand or fully computerized, with digital background and colour. Fast and consistent in style. Can incorporate 3D elements. Full colour, Monochrome, or Black & White. Realistic, Painterly, or Stylized Finishes available.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bringing real-world scenes to life for stage and screen, with an eye for architecture, texture and detail. 

As a design-lead company, our in-house art department brings rich visual quality and practical know-how to all of our projects. Production Design and Art Department services are available in association with all of our productions. In our arsenal, we have a network of experienced artists in Costume Design, Hair & Makeup, Puppetry, Props, and Circus/Aerial Arts to pull onto projects as needed. The goal is always to provide the most creative, impressive, intriguing and fitting design on time and on budget, every time.

PROJECTS WE LOVE:

Design For: Feature Films, Film Noir, Fringe Theatre, Underground Circus Events, Mad and Memorable Scripts, Music Promos, Live Events, Opera, Foreign Features, Photoshoots, Animations, Projections, Installations, Musicals, Dance, Period Pieces

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

Meet the award-winning duo behind MELANCHOLY STAR. 

The company is the vision Konstantinos Koutsoliotas & Elizabeth E. Schuch: a creative studio providing top quality VFX, uniquely styled art services, and producing highly visual films - always with an intense passion for aesthetic quality. The beautiful, the fantastical, and the eccentric are always in the forefront of our imaginations, and we foster a creative environment that thrives on collaboration.

Officially founding the company in 2011, the dynamic duo have been working together since 2004, on projects spanning commercials, titles, 2D-3D shadow play backgrounds for films, live circus design, music videos, theatre projection, scripts, and other adventures. Both trained in CGI at the Glasgow School of Art, Kostas comes from a traditional arts background, and Elizabeth from theatre design.

Using our network of brilliant freelance animators and associates in music, circus, and theatre, we can provide powerful artistic backing to Film & VFX projects. Kostas’ Greek heritage has given company a vested interest in the stories and cinema of Europe, growing stronger with our first Greek feature film production underway. 

Collaborators

Our studio may be small, but we're agile, with an international network of collaborators we love working with to bring projects to life.