Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has shared a short video with a behind-the-scenes look at the varied special effects used to bring Season 2 of The Mandalorian to the screen for the Disney+ streaming service. It packs several dynamic processes and shots from each of the show’s eight episodes into just under three and a half minutes.
The video begins with the Razor Crest, Din Djarin’s ship, flying through space and coming in for a landing on Tatooine from “Chapter 9: The Marshal”. Then the curtain is pulled back and several shots of Tusken Raiders riding their bantha mounts are shown in various stages of development, from rough digital drawings all the way up to a finished look with live actors. A krayt dragon appears as a 3-D model, then gets fully fleshed out as it chomps down on another unsuspecting bantha.
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The video continues with a shot of running Tuskens in front of a blue screen, which turns into them being pursued by the dragon. Modeling of the dragon’s acidic breath interacting with Sand People mock-ups morphs into real shots of actors reacting to the digital spray. Then it’s back to the Razor Crest as it flies off to the next episode of the show and more secrets are revealed.
It follows this engaging sequence for each of the season’s eight episodes, hopping from the ice planet featured in “Chapter 10: The Passenger”, to Nevarro in “Chapter 12: The Seige”, Tython and its ancient temple in “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” and many more, all while showing some of the thousands of different effects used to bring those worlds and the alien races on them to life.
ILM used all five of its international studios as well as outsourced vendors to complete this mammoth task. The video gives a feel for the huge amount of work required as well as all the many processes used, from traditional to groundbreaking. That extensive work has garnered the visual effects studio multiple nominations within its industry as well as helped the show itself gain worldwide acclaim.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian ended with Mando saying farewell to Grogu, as Luke Skywalker took the Child away to begin Jedi training, and Boba Fett taking out Bib Fortuna back on Tatooine with Fennec Shand’s help.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Season 3 has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: YouTube
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