Star Wars: 10 Mind-Bending Effects You Didn't Know Were Practical

2022-09-24 03:13:29 By : Ms. Peity Ho

Through brilliant craftsmanship and revolutionary special effects, ILM was able to achieve the impossible for the Star Wars saga.

From The Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan, the Disney+ series Light & Magic delves deep into the rich history of Industrial Light & Magic, the in-house VFX company of Lucasfilm. Through rebellious filmmakers and genius movie magic, the team at ILM was able to create the impossible for numerous films over four decades.

With the original and prequel trilogies, George Lucas made it his mission to pioneer new film technology: first in 1977 with clever models and matte paintings, then again in 1999 with new digital technology. While many people didn't know, the prequel films used a lot more practical effects than expected.

After being an integral part of The Bad Batch, Kamino has once again become relevant in the larger Star Wars saga. First appearing in Attack of the Clones, Kamino was the home of Jango Fett and the Republic's army of Clone Troopers.

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Fascinatingly, all of Kamino's main area of buildings, Tipoca City, are really just models. Designed by Adam Savage, who would later go on to be known as one-half of the MythBusters, helped build the large-scale models. Many people have openly criticized the CGI of the prequels, but unbeknownst to them, much of what they see in wider shots is practical.

A fun and unique alien that appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Lady Proxima was the crime boss that took advantage of orphans on Corellia, whom she dubbed "scrumrats."

Proxima's design was created by veteran sculptor Ivan Manzella. The creature's movement was operated by a massive team of puppeteers. The final result is just perfect, and considering how intricate she is, it's hard to believe it's an actual puppet.

Anakin's podrace to win his freedom is by far one of the best action scenes of The Phantom Menace, but interestingly, the entire starting track is actually just a miniature. To create an audience in the stands, the team at ILM placed 450,000 painted Q-Tips! For close-up shots of the audience, extras were filmed on a different set.

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All the actors were filmed against blue screens and digitally composited onto the miniature set, while other characters were created through computer-generated imagery. What's really shocking is that more miniatures were created for Episode Ialone than for the entire original trilogy.

Like every background alien and character of the franchise, the unique crystal-furred foxes of The Last Jedi actually have a name. They are known as Vulptices.

Because of their habitat on the salt planet of Crait, "they've taken on the very surface of the planet they live on," said Neal Scanlon, ILM's Creature Effects Supervisior, per Empire. The creatures were actually animatronics carefully crafted by ILM.

Appearing in nearly every Star Wars film, R2-D2 has become an iconic character in cinema history and a fan-favorite droid from the whole saga. Played by Kenny Baker from Episodes I-VII, the droid wasn't always portrayed by a physical actor.

For every single one of his appearances in live-action film and TV, R2 has also been operated through the use of remote control. For scenes requiring the droid to roll on wheels, a remote-controlled version was used. Considering how small and tight the droid is, it's very impressive an actor was able to operate it from the inside.

One of the deadliest conflicts in the entire saga, very few survived the Battle of Geonosis. The battle, which began with the gladiatorial games in the arena, is without a doubt one of the coolest and most unique action sequences ever put on film.

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While all the performers were filmed in front of blue screens, the entire Geonosis Arena was a large miniature where several camera crews worked to shoot the scenes requiring it. Regarding the process, VFX supervisor John Knoll remarked, "We had built the miniature in 45-degree pine wedges, so it could be taken apart for camera access. [...]So, I had to have crews running day and night to be able to shoot all the elements of this" (via SlashFilm).

The Rancor is one of the most terrifying creatures of the Star Wars galaxy. First appearing in Return of the Jedi, the Rancor made a very memorable appearance as Luke faced off the deadly beast in Jabba's Palace.

Originally planned to be played by an actor in a suit, the team at ILM was not happy with the result of the full-scale costume so instead a miniature puppet was created. To create the seamless effect, the shots featuring the miniature Rancor were carefully matted over the footage of Mark Hamill on the set.

Starting with The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm has begun using lightsaber props with actual light sources, which was a huge leap forward in technology. Compared to the old lightsabers, which were just the hilt with a green stick over it as the blade, it's a massive step into creating photorealistic lightsabers.

The sabers are quite similar to the Force FX sabers and the ones sold at Galaxy's Edge in DisneyWorld. Given their bright glow, it doesn't require VFX artists to add a bright light source to the actors in post-production (though obviously the blade itself is given the CGI treatment).

The opening Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back was a thrilling reintroduction to the original trilogy's heroes. With all the creatures and vehicles that appear, many effects had to be prepared.

For scenes involving the Tauntauns, a miniature puppet along with figures of Han and Luke riding it were used and animated through stop-motion for wide shots. Several miniatures were also made for the vehicles, including AT-ATs, AT-STs, and Snowspeeders. To film these scenes, ILM created a miniature set of Hoth using baking soda to double as snow.

The final duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar was an emotional yet epic conclusion to the prequel trilogy. Seeing as the actors could not film in volcanic temperatures, an entire miniature set of Mustafar was created. To make the lava on the miniature, orange resin was used along with a light under the miniature to give it that glowing look.

In addition to the miniature, the other practical part of Mustafar was the volcanoes themselves. As Mount Etna began to erupt in Sicily, producer Rick McCallum traveled there with a second unit to capture the eruptions over the course of a week.

Next: Star Wars: 10 Best Characters In Attack Of The Clones

Aidan Joshua Wagland is a freelance writer for Screen Rant. When not writing articles, Aidan loves to make films, play video games and just being creative in general. He lives in Montreal.