Page 23 - Star Wars Insider - The Last Jedi 2018

AHCH-TO

THE PORGS
cute critters

Sweet little creatures that observe the drama on the island,
porgs are miniature masters of mischief.

7 /

PORG LIFE
By necessity, evolution on Ahch-To
has led to species that live in the
island to be water-based or at least
amphibious. The bird-like porgs
gain their sustenance from the sea,

feasting on fish that they share with
their porglets.”

mong the many new creatures created array of different porg puppets throughout the
The Last Jedi, the porgs—a species shoot, from which the cameras garnered many
native to Ahch-To that resembles a cross practical shots, but during postproduction the

Abetween a puffin, an owl and a baby filmmakers decided to extend some of the comedy

seal—have proved one of the more popular, both and performances featuring the porgs. This entailed
with fans and with the crew on set. According to ILM building perfectly matching CG versions of
creature designer Neal Scanlan, he and his team the characters, allowing them to create a broader
were pointed toward puffins by Rian Johnson as a and often more complex range of movement as

basis for the porgs. “But as we learned more about required. Taking care to match the real feathers

7 / A bunch of porgs the film and found out that they have specifi c on the puppets, ILM groomed thousands of
huddle together. moments, it very much informed the process. The corresponding CG feathers and soft facial fur onto
design has to be a certain way, otherwise it won’t the porgs. The result was an approximately 50/50
8 / A curious pair of
porgs take in the drama have the ability to communicate or emote. So it split of practical and CG porgs in the fi lm, often
unfolding on Ahch-To. leads you in that direction.” having both techniques seamlessly integrated into
(See opposite page) Scanlan’s team built and performed an impressive the same shot. a

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