Page 132 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2020)

using the laser cutter
for their own projects,”
Imahara says. “I laser “MOST PEOPLE THINK SEBULBA’S CRASH WAS DIGITAL.
cut the entire floor of
Theed City. Theed was IT WAS A PRACTICAL SHOT.”—STEVE GAWLEY
a huge project. There
were lots of parts of
buildings and other
details, small railings, things like
that, that are ideal for the laser.”
In addition to their fascinating insights
into the model making process, Gawley
and Bies were also keen to highlight
some moments that audiences might be
surprised to discover were created using
clever physical effects.
One of Gawley’s favorites came from
the podrace, which was shot with more
practical effects than audiences would
guess. “One of the things that I liked most
was a shot in The Phantom Menace where
Anakin and Sebulba were racing,” he
says. “Sebulba’s bolts broke loose and
he skidded on the ground, flipped up, and
landed, and so forth, and we did it a couple
times. We added this little piece of wood
on the set floor on the outside shoot and
disguised it as a rock. We catapulted the
132 INSIDER
model to flip it up, and people think that’s
all digital. But that was a practical shot.” little, sharp, pointy things were actually
“Remember that podracer that goes
into the pit and the pit droid gets sucked
into the engine and shot off?” Bies asks,
with a hint of glee in his voice. “That was
a practical effect.”
Perhaps one of the most surprising
practical effects was Darth Vader’s mask
coming down on Anakin Skywalker’s
face at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
It was actually a 1:1 model built by
Bies himself, who’d campaigned to do
it physically rather than digitally. “When
I was at the archives, Vader’s helmet that
Luke removes in Return of the Jedi was one
of my favorite props. We’d never seen the
inside of it before, and I got to do that.
That’s probably my proudest thing that
I got to do. I remember very clearly
discussing with Ryan Church: It should
look like it goes
on, but it doesn’t
come off easy. So
we had a lot of
pointy things in
there. Some of
it was found
objects. Those
hard drive leaders. There were these little
connectors we used in electronic plugs
called Molex connectors, and they look like
little prongs and barbs, so we put those in
there. And we laser cut some stuff in
there. It was a lot of fun to build. I knew
I was building something iconic.”
A SENSE OF WONDER
Talking to these model makers, there is
a sense of wonder and nostalgia in their
voices. Each of them has a story about
being awed when BB-8 rolled out onto the
stage at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim,
and Imahara actually confesses to be
currently working on one in his garage.
“Of course I miss it,” Imahara says.