Page 30 - Star Wars Insider #195

MAKING THE MANDALORIAN

Jones Chronicles and the Star
Wars prequels, the Unreal Engine
allowed the minds behind The
Mandalorian to drop in LED panels
that were tied to the position of
the camera. As the camera moved,
the scene on the panel shifted,
creating real-time, in-camera special
effects. It’s a modern blend of
old-school matte-painting effects
and post-production background
replacements. And since it
compressed the time between
production and post-production,
it made shooting a television show
like The Mandalorian much more
cost-effective, and also afforded it
the movie-quality effects Star Wars
fans are accustomed to seeing.

Much To Learn
Both of these experienced executive
producers came to The Mandalorian
with skillsets honed in different
mediums: Favreau was a Hollywood
veteran of highly successful
live-action movies while Filoni’s
critically acclaimed animated series’
have introduced many fan-favorite
characters into the Star Wars saga. 04
Within this dual creative dynamic
in mind, what did each bring to
the dejarik table, and what did they forward-thinking with regards to someone who worked in a similar
learn from one another? technology and using tools to help vein while really being challenged,
“Working with George on The enable greater storytelling; I saw and Jon has challenged me.”
Clone Wars, he would always speak that in The Jungle Book (2016), “A lot of what’s wonderful about
in terms of live-action, so I was which was just incredible and so working with Dave,” Favreau adds,
familiar with the terminology but very inspirational, and with the “is that continuity of vision passed
I didn’t always understand how to work that he’s done in The Lion down by George Lucas. That has
apply it,” Filoni explains. “Working King (2019). For me, it was a great been a really special thing for me.”
with Jon is really natural. He’s very opportunity to collaborate with Filoni also likens the process to
a boot camp in the world of live-
action filmmaking. “It defi nitely has

05
affected the way I look at what can I
accomplish in a day,” he elaborates.
“That’s a big difference for me,

filmmaking-wise. When we arrived
on the back lot, Greig Fraser [the
director of photography on Chapter
One] was like, ‘Well the sun is up,
we gotta get going.’ And I thought,
‘Oh, right! Because it’s gonna go
down!’ In animation we don’t really
have that problem,” he laughs.
So, while Filoni credits Favreau
with mentoring him in live-action
filmmaking, when it came to the

ways of the galaxy far, far away, the
roles were somewhat reversed. “I

30 / STAR WARS INSIDER