PT Practical Effects in the Prequels- Sets, Pictures, Models, etc.

I like practical effects because they're practical.

Digital effects are the digitalis of Star Wars.

 

Been re-reading this great thread, and I've noticed something about the AT-TE model, compared to the digital scan.

Here is the model AT-TE:


And here is a picture from the finished film:


It may be a bit hard to see in the second image, but the front and back legs of the walkers seem to have been redesigned between the model being made, and the digital recreation being finalised. The practical model seems to be 'crouching' more than the digital model. This to me is a great example of how scanning the model allowed changes to be easily made to the design before the final film, without necessitating the building of a completely new model.

Here are some more images to illustrate the difference:

 

I think that might just be the flexibility of the prop, and someone not positioning the parts properly in the display. I hope my rough-edit image explains what I mean (lines couple with correspondingly coloured dots for each part of the leg):


The extra upper limb is probably so it can rear up to climb terrain, so it's mostly hidden/folded up in the film. We get to see that in action in the Clone Wars movie I guess!

 

I don't think the extra limbs appear in TCW, but I agree that they may just be for the stability of the model.

 

Deleted footage in the Geonosis hanger from AOTC...

...hopefully they're all in the right order.
Originally the hanger-bay duel was around 75% longer than the sequence that made it into the final edit.
Credit:http://whenanangelfalls.tumblr.com/post/160741856990/attack-of-the-clones-deleted-scene-anakin-vs

 

Lies!.. DECEPTIONS!

 

Demented Meerkat is correct. The walker model is just posed that way on display but is articulated and can assume that AOTC easy.

 

Creature Shop, and a couple of sets...
,
and this guy...

Credit:http://runakvaed.tumblr.com/post/37202614837/behind-the-scenes-of-star-wars-the-prequel

 

Does anyone know whether the Naboo fighters were built in miniature, and how much they were used in the final battle in TPM? I recall seeing a miniature of one of the ships attached to a wire, but can't seem to find it.

 

My impression is that miniatures were used primarily or solely for shots of Naboo fighters getting blown up. Explosions are notoriously hard to create convincingly in CGI.

I know exactly the image you're thinking of but it's surprisingly hard to find with a quick Google search. Maybe someone can trawl through the early part of this thread and find it again.

 

Ah, that makes sense. I was sure that most of the action shots of the fighters were CG (composited against the minature TF battleship), but that image stuck out in my mind. It being used for explosions makes a lot of sense, like the AT-TE explosion in AOTC, which was only a model for when it blew up.

Edit: Ah, found it:

 

I'm probably just reposting old pics but oh well












For contrast, here's blue screen from the OT (specifically ROTJ)

 

Those old Knoll-vision pictures are truly mind-bending.

 

Most of the fire in TPM and AOTC is practical.

One shot in TPM where they tried early fire sims was when the hallway explodes inside the TF command ship after Anakin destroys the reactor.


But, ILM was unsatisfied with the results so they spiced up the CG explosion with practical explosions. They also did some CG fire for the pod race but the vast majority was practical pyro. At the time of TPM, fire was still more convincing practically than in CG. Same with AOTC and, to a lesser extent, ROTS. Today, most vfx fire is digitally simulated.

 

i noticed some months ago that the explosion in the middle of the screen at 0:23 seconds is a practical composite directly from tpm. so they still have all their effects available to use.

 

great eye!

 

32 Ten, the old ILM model shop, worked on Rogue One, so no surprise if some of the pyro was practical.

 

Sure. On Rebels they used explosions from ANH.

Lucas kept pretty much everything that was filmed hence why they could insert the X-Wing leaders into R1 or put the Han Jabba scene into ANH or digitally recomp all those shots for ANH from the original film elements.

 

I second that! Good work, no, AWESOME find there there TJT!

Cheers!

MJ

 

double post

 

How could you spot that?

 

i have eyes.

 

"Lucas told me it was all gonna be digital..."