Moff Gideon's Cruiser Scenes In 'The Mandalorian' Used A 5-Foot Long Model
The history of camera tricks and filming secrets utilized in the galaxy far, far away is long, with many different tricks used to make the magic of the original movies and every subsequent installment. The Mandalorian has been breaking a lot of new ground with the things possible within Star Wars now, but it also seems intent on keeping with all the normal Star Wars traditions to keep Star Wars...well, Star Wars. While the photos of the mic operators wearing pink shorts have been making their rounds, long time fans will be happy to know that this is not the only tradition behind the camera that is being kept. Moff Gideon's Light Cruiser 5 is actually filmed by using a 5 foot shooting model, very much akin to the shooting models used during the original trilogy.
The Mandalorian has made full use of a lot of effects that were not achievable during the production of the original films, or even the prequels, often showing off just how great they can make Star Wars look now as we start looking into the 2020s. Even with all the tools at their disposal and their willingness to use any technology available to make a convincing universe, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau still want to capture the magic that made the originals so magical. That includes shooting models, and yes, it also includes bright pink shorts worn behind the camera.
The Mandalorian really set itself apart from all other Star Wars productions by using a groundbreaking virtual production technique during its first two seasons. The technique, commonly referred to as The Volume, allows the crew to render environments on a soundstage, effectively transforming it into any set, no matter how different the environments may need to be. The Volume has been revolutionary for The Mandalorian and led to some of the most breathtaking visuals Star Wars has seen to date. In fact, it is so revolutionary that movies like Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder and even Disney +'s own Obi-Wan Kenobi series have been confirmed to be using the technique to improve their own visuals as well.
While CGI may be the mainstay in movies today and has proven effective on The Mandalorian, ILM's own Twitter put out a tweet to show off the shooting model. They showed off the very detailed model at length, going to show viewers that no matter how modern Star Wars gets, it never forgets where it came from.
This may look like a small touch, but still using shooting models like in the originals can really help preserve the look and feel of Star Wars that was captured all the way in the beginning. George Lucas really did a lot of amazing things when he created Star Wars, creating visuals no one thought possible at the time, it created a unique feel for the Star Wars universe and one that would not be possible without its roots. CGI can do a lot of things, but capturing a feeling made over 40 years ago and persisting to this day is a difficult task. While difficult, The Mandalorian has pulled it off, nailing the feeling and aesthetic of a galaxy far, far away. First with the look and feel, then with the amount of nods to the universe as a whole, appearances of people not before seen in live action and even the return of some incredibly popular people from the original trilogy, The Mandalorian really strives to maintain the feeling Star Wars has had from the beginning. With the use of this shooting model, and assumedly others, it's just one step their taking in preserving the feel and wonder of the whole Star Wars universe.
Source(s): The Direct