Page 131 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2020)
P. 131
STEVE GAWLEY:
“These behind-the-
scenes photos represent
a small fraction of the
miniature photography
models, sets and charac-
ters that the ILM model
shop made for The
Phantom Menace. I’m
very proud of the work
that these talented men
and women of the ILM
model shop completed
for the film.
“A few years later,
several practical model
makers made the transi-
tion to the digital model
shop. Today, many of
the remaining practical
model makers work for
a company near the
old ILM. They produce
practical, working
life-size ‘training trauma
mannequins’ for the
United States military.
The mannequins are
used to train military
medics on how to
treat severe trauma
injuries sustained in
the battlefield. The
mannequins simulate
very impressive
injury actions that would
be sustained during
battle… Not for the
faint-hearted.”
Opposite page:
“This is the ILM Model
Shop crew photo from
The Phantom Menace,
taken on the miniature
on to light the models set of Theed City. There
on Coruscant, even were about 20 people
GRANT IMAHARA PERSONALLY RIGGED THE NEON LIGHTS personally rigging the missing from the photo
that day. Group photos
neon lights for the
FOR THE EXTERIOR OF DEX’S DINER. exterior of Dex’s Diner, are often not planned
in advance, hence the
and the whole street it missing people.” (From
sat on. the personal collection of
a star on shows like Mythbusters, my favorite because it was one of the Steve Gawley)
he spent ten years working in the biggest ships we’d done in the model CITY BUILDING
model shop at ILM, and worked on all shop. It was between eight and ten This page, from top:
of the Star Wars prequels. “The feet in diameter. It was massive.” “This is the battle droid
ILM model shop crew
realization that you’re creating Making these models would be Digital technology helped advance
photo. We built 10 of
something that will be part of this even easier today, according to the model building in other ways these full size droids.
film legacy is a whole different level Imahara. “You can go on Amazon as well. Laser cutters, precursors in
They were white when
of excitement,” he reveals. now and order a string of LED lights some ways to 3D printing, were on we sent them to England
Imahara took a special pleasure for less than $12,” he explains. “If the cutting edge of technology and for the shoot. After they
in working on the Trade Federation you wanted to, you could even have required computer aided design arrived, George Lucas
battleships, which he viewed as the it arrive the same day. I would have (CAD) to manipulate. As one of the changed the paint
prequels’ version of a Star Destroyer. killed for something like that in younger engineers in the shop, scheme to a tan color
“I did that with a combination of neon 1999. When I was working on The Imahara took it upon himself to help that appears in
the finished film.” (From
lights around the outer perimeter, Phantom Menace, if you wanted a the other, more old school, model
the personal collection of
fluorescent lights that feed into fiber string of LEDs, you had to wire makers learn this new digital skill, as
Steve Gawley); Dex’s
optics for the main body, and then them one by one by yourself.” well as hone his own models with it. Diner, a practical model
I started to incorporate a lot more Imahara used the best “Eventually, I ended up teaching a lit by Grant Imahara.
cold cathode tubes. It was probably technology he could get his hands class, and most of them ended up
INSIDER 131
