Page 130 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2020)

big podrace starting line, there was the There was a lot of creature stuff that effects were, Gawley insists there’s nothing
announcer booth, and there was Jabba’s they did, too. They had whole creature that beats the sun for lighting the models
viewing room. Because the scale of these departments for all three of the films. they built. “A lot of our models were

things was so vast, the amount of people We had practical on all the films.” environments, and sunlight on a miniature
was more.” outside looks very real. For Episode I,
more time marrying physical models and THE BEST OF BOTH we built a mini set, so to speak, on a
The digital effects team spent much
backlot, and it was on wheels so we could
actors on physical sets together than WORLDS shoot motion control outside any time of
creating environments out of the digital the day. The reason we could do that was
ether. Bies explains that, “the only set that we could rotate the set to the sun. So we
was completely digital, with a model Over the course of their time building could keep that similar—the same light
environment and actors shot against blue models, the team discovered that the best setup for that particular shot.”
screen, was Tipoca City. And even some of effects came about with collaboration That lighting technique is something
that, such as Jango Fett’s apartment, was a between the model shop and their digital that dates back to the dawn of cinema.
real set. We had other elements, such as the counterparts. “In the past we had to find Thomas Edison’s movie studio, “Black

landing platform with Obi-Wan’s ship—that ways to hide the rigging,” Gawley says. “We Maria,” operated on the exact same
was a full-sized practical set. had to be able to hold the model on all six principle. It was a full-size set with glass
“When we were doing Episode III, we axes: bottom, top, port side, starboard side, ceilings built on a turntable to get the most
shot for days on the bridge of General front, and rear, to hide those model mounts. out of the sun over the course of the day.
Grievous’s Invisible Hand,” he says. “That But the digital department could just erase it One model maker whose specialty
was a great set to be on. There was so we could actually do more and more was lighting is another name you might
bluescreen outside of it—but there was things. We used to spend a lot of time hiding recognize: Grant Imahara. Imahara was

bluescreen on The Empire Strikes Back with things. Now they have just wonderful tools seven years old when the first Star Wars

a lot of those ship sets as well. For the that they can use in computer graphics.” film came out and, from that moment on,
prequels, there was a lot of practical stuff. No matter how primitive or advanced became a lifelong fan. Before he became

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