Page 47 - Star Wars Insider - The Last Jedi 2018

CANTO BIGHT

PLACE YOUR BETS

CASINO

CREATURES

Neal Scanlan and his team were tasked with creating the
space oddities drawn to Canto Bight by the allure of fun and profi t.

10 /
CREATURE CREATORS
Of all the various departments
director Rian Johnson needed to
keep an eye on during the making
of The Last Jedi, his favorite to
review was creature designer
Neal Scanlan’s workshop. Scanlan
had a huge task, as the number
of creatures he and his team had

to design for the film was vast.
Johnson likens the workshop to
Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,
recalling how the design process
would begin with sketches, which
would be turned into sculptures,

and finally working puppets. “You
could get six inches away and look
into its eyes, and it looked like a
real, living creature. It was just
absolutely extraordinary.”
Calling Scanlan and his team
“superstars,” Johnson states:
“Their reverence for the art of
creature creation is present in
every single one of their works,
and it was an honor getting to
collaborate with them.”

s the designer of the special creature The creatures Scanlan and his team created
effects for The Last Jedi and the man for the casino ranged from ones with animatronic
in charge of all the practical creatures, heads, to mechanical puppets, to hand puppets,
A Neal Scanlan had his work cut out to remote controlled puppets dangling from the
when it came to the scenes at the casino in Canto ceiling, and the results were remarkable. Scanlan
Bight. Not only were there a huge number of himself recalls the experience of stepping into the
new creatures to create, but these patrons of the casino as “breathtaking” and “a delight,” adding:

casino had to reflect the glitz and glamor of their “It is the fi nal confi rmation at every level. That’s

surroundings. the first time we got to step back and see not only
“We’re used to seeing the skullduggery and the our department, but all the other departments’
grungier side of Star Wars,” says Scanlan, “but aspirations and vision for the fi lm come together.
less used to seeing the high rollers of the galaxy. There can’t be many people who didn’t walk on
It was quite a trick to hold on to the Star Wars that set and take a breath. From the set to the
DNA while taking it to a place we hadn't been props, everything about it was incredible. And you
to before.” played a part in that.” a

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