WiC Watches—Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian
Chapter 6. Mark Boone, Jr. is Ran Malk in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+
Chapter 4: “Technology”
In chapter 4, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni discuss the groundbreaking technology that made The Mandalorian possible, sitting at the table with the cast, the directors, and the pros from Lucasfilm and ILM (Industrial Light & Magic).
This episode explores “Volume,” which is the name given to the state-of-the-art virtual set built almost entirely out of light-emitting diodes (LED) that can change as needed to reflect what is being filmed. For instance, in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner,” Mando agrees to help some old bounty hunting pals free someone aboard a New Republic prison transport ship. The scene in the cargo bay where he meets his old buddies is filmed entirely on a “Volume” set; most of what we see is just shown on a screen behind the actors, reacting dynamically with their movements so our immersion is never broken.
Favreau, Filoni and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy talk about losing themselves on some of these new cutting edge sets, and Gina Carano (Cara Dune) mentions not being able to tell where the seams are.
This is huge stuff. It basically means that location shooting could become a thing of the past, which has all kinds of implications for the film and television industry.
And the new system is very versatile. Director Rick Famuyiwa talks about helming his first episode, “Chapter 2: The Child,” where Mando has to slay the Mudhorn in order to retrieve its egg, considered a highly coveted prize by the jawas. The giant Sandcrawler was actually only a large set of tank-like tracks, with the rolling city built on a Volume set.
Chapter 2 Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian in THE MANDALORIAN, exclusively on Disney+
This was an interesting episode, especially if you’re into discovering how the magic happens and great television or film is made. It was neat to listen to both Filoni and Kennedy talk about George Lucas’ part in pioneering the green-screen visual effects in the prequel trilogy, an innovation that paved the way for systems like Volume. Knowing that Lucas mentored both of them made their sidebar discussion much more interesting.