One of the first things fans saw from The Mandalorian was a seemingly simple shot of a ship flying across space. What we soon found out, though, was the shot was not simple. In fact, it was much more detailed and complicated than it even needed to be, just to pay tribute to the way things were done a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
The original 1977 Star Wars was only possible because of the amazing miniatures and groundbreaking motion control camera shots created by Industrial Light and Magic. However, in the decades since, computers have made that very intricate process more or less obsolete. For The Mandalorian, though, producer Jon Favreau decided he wanted to have some of that original trilogy flair and tasked the new ILM to give him a miniature and shots done just like the first film, but with some new modern upgrades.
The result was a shot of the Mandalorian’s Razor Crest flying across the sky which debuted to fans at last year’s Star Wars Celebration. And now, a new video details exactly how that shot, and 14 others like it, were made.
The thing I love the most about this video is how insanely unnecessary all of this work was. The team could have very, very easily just kept everything CGI. But because it’s not, because creating an actual Razor Crest was so much work, everyone is so hyped up about it and it made all those CG shots even better. It’s a true throwback to what makes Star Wars, Star Wars.
You can see all of The Mandalorian season one on Disney+ right now. Season two starts October 30.
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