The Mandalorian Disney Gallery BTS Docuseries

I wonder what “Connections” is about.

 

The really fast internet connection they have on set.

 

Very funny.

But, in all seriousness, I think it could mean the connections to the wider Star Wars Saga, including The Clone Wars.

 

Installment #4 of the doc was a cool behind the scenes look at the technical aspect. Having the budget to offset the costs makes a huge difference. Can easily see how movies lose money using the latest technology.

 

I am finally caught up and let me tell you this, the appreciation, insight and knowledge of Favreau, Kennedy and Filoni is amazing. If I have taken anything out of these first episodes is that it’s a love letter to George Lucas, his imagination, his creation, and his vision.

There are things in these episodes which tell a story about everything good about Star Wars, and it appears Lucas is on set with his insight giving it to directors. This is a series that needs to be continued. This might be some of the best work under Lucasfilm/Disney

 

While I like it so far, I would have loved to have more insights into the series itself and how it developed into what we have now. Maybe in the next episodes.

 

What's remarkable to me is the incredible contrast with the tone and content of ST documentaries, where there is never any prequel era footage referenced. Based on the documentaries on TFA and TROS, one would think that George Lucas died in 1982.

 

I love Favreau's recounting, and the roundtable discussion, of the different visual techniques over the years (even if I don't understand all the jargon). Everything with the Volume was impressive, but what impressed me most was the way Carl Weathers described it.

I was also thinking it may be a second-best scenario compared to being on location somewhere. But in addition to budget consideration, the Mando setup is more flexible. The example that comes to mind most readily is the Iceland filming for Game of Thrones, and the very limited daylight the crew had to work with.

 

Precisely. GoT was extremely expensive having to film in so many locations around the world. Imagine if they'd done a lot of the filming in the Volume. GL's goal was to have his live-action TV series down to $1 million an episode. Not sure if that's realistic, but they've come a long way towards that goal.

 

Did y’all peep my boy Bossk up on the volume in the most recent ep?? He’s for sure showing up alongside Fett in the next season. I can feel it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

In a way, it can beat on-location shooting by giving you the ability to use exactly the natural lighting you want. If you want that gorgeous magic hour lighting before dusk (as we see in chapter 2 with Famuyiwa’s episode), you can have it. Shoot a sunset for ten hours, if you want. It looks so unbelievably real, that it has both the natural benefits of on-location shooting with the control benefits of a studio. I never thought I’d say this, but I think it replaces the need for on-location shooting in a way that green and blue screens didn’t. If it looks exactly like they’re outside in a desert, why go to a real desert? Lucas’ dream of making Star Wars movies in a garage has come true.

 

At the moment, is it only Lucasfilm who are using this technology, or are other production teams and studios now catching on? It is pretty revolutionary, it must be said.

 

The whole combination of the high-def screens, motion control, etc, that makes up “The Volume” was a Lucasfilm prototype setup created for the Mandalorian. But it’s not proprietary. So any shows going forward can use it. But as far as I know, the Mandalorian is the only production to have used such a setup to date. It’s that new. A revolution for TV and filmmaking, and it comes at a perfect time. The covid crisis and its aftermath are likely to force studios to cut costs and do far less expensive location-shooting, while maintaining a “high taste level,” as John Knoll says. The Volume offers exactly that. Biggest breakthrough since George’s/ ILM’s work on the PT, and Weta’s motion-capture work with Gollum.

 

I seem to recall someone mentioning that Mando was shooting in one Volume while one of the Avatar sequels was using another one "next door". I could be wrong because I can't recall the context, but that would be an odd thing for me to have imagined!

 

Avatar would be tough because it has the added 3D to deal with.

 

I keep coming back to what a game changer the volume is for SW. This is probably the most photo realistic SW has ever been and they shot the vast majority of it on what is essentially a sound stage. It’s mind blowing. And it’s not just the screens but the way they layer in aspects of physical set design. As John Knoll said, done with very high levels of taste.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It’s also possibly very expensive to implement. I could be wrong but it may be that you’d need a budget the size of the Mandalorian to justify being able to use it. Like all things I think it’ll be a while before we see other non-Star Wars productions using it.

 

Hopefully we’ll get to see Coruscant at some point. The volume should make it achieveable on a TV budget.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

For now, there are definitely prohibitive cost elements for shows with much smaller budgets. But from what I’ve read, it’s dramatically cheaper than doing the equivalent shooting on-location. But in a few years? This will be standard and affordable tech being used by studios across the board. It’ll change the whole landscape. Literally.

 

I can also see a lot of feature-film productions wanting in on it, not just series'. Particularly blockbuster-level films. Would save studios so much money, surely.

 

Absolutely. It will undoubtedly change filmmaking as we know it. That’s without question.

 

Am I the only one who is supremely irritated that Disney+ is releasing this one episode at a time? I am totally willing to do that with a narrative show like Mando or something... but I don't need to wait a week between episodes of a freaking documentary. They did this with the Imagineering Story too and it drove me nuts.

 

“Supreme Irritation” seems a bit much, but I will say I wish it all dropped at once.

 

I'll go with supremely eager. It might be nice to have the whole thing at once, but it did premiere the same day as Victory and Death. Going with the weekly release gives more time in between TCW ending and (what I hope will be) a Mando S2 trailer. The last part is apparently 'Connections' which could make a good segue.

 

Hyperbolic, I grant you. I just don't see the appeal of drawing out the release of these documentaries. Just drop them all at once. The show itself? Weekly is great with me.