www.slashfilm.com: Even though Disney+ spent a lot of money to get the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian off the ground, they still had to be a little more conservative with the budget than they are with the feature films. Instead of building massive sets, Lucasfilm is utilizing new “Stagecraft” technology that uses a rear-projected LED screen to create a reactive environment that essentially works as an immersive real-time green screen. Now, thanks to new set photos from behind the scenes, we can see the Stagecraft tech at work.
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Having only watched the first episode of the Mandalorian, I was blown away by the environments they created for that one episode. The different sets/settings were incredible and seamless with the camera, and I credited it to the digital artists who create the background on blue or green screens in post. But after reading this article, I am even more impressed. The Stagecraft technology is revolutionary in the area of production design. Digital artists can create the background and sets before production and then have the environment interact with the camera throughout production. It is super cool to watch backstage and even more amazing during the show. I can see how it would cut costs down, however I feel like in terms of production design and the production designer, it cuts out a lot of the physical building of the sets and scouting as well. Though it cut down on costs and time, I feel like it is at the expense of the creative process, limiting the production designer in what they can create, and forcing them to be more familiar with new technology than before.
After reading the article about how Baby Yoda was worth $5 million dollars for a tiny sidekick puppet, I was so stunned by how much money was going into this show. In that article it said as much as Baby Yoda was worth, it only took up 5% of The Mandalorian's budget. It is insane how technology keeps evolving. In this article from SlashFilm, they talk about a new technology called Stagecraft which is ultimately a panoramic screen that can be used to create environments easier. I am curious why they did this rather than create an actual set or use a green screen. I wonder if it has it's limitations creating this confided space but it is great that this technology is being used although it is expensive. If no one was using Stagecraft its technology would be difficult to grow and to understand what they need to do to improve their systems. With a company such as Disney behind this show, it is interesting to see how they are supporting new technologies that will only get more intricate and more widely used in the future.
I love seeing all new tech and techniques being introduced to the film world. Behind the scenes videos are some of my favorite things, especially because they increase the sense of wonder that is conjured when you think, “how on Earth did they get that green lump of fabric to look like THAT?” I wonder if this wraparound projection screen forces them to film at a specific angle, or if it looks different on camera than it does to the naked eye. I also wonder if the pre-rendered material causes them to feel restricted in on-site filming maneuvers or last minute blocking changes for the actors. Nevertheless, this is a really interesting way of filming, and I bet it saves them a lot of editing time. Disney always seems to have really interesting ideas when it comes to entertainment innovation and spectacle. The title “Imagineer” is well earned by those holding it I suspect.
I had the opportunity to watch the entire series over the recent break on my flights going to and from home and Pittsburgh. This show was amazing to me from a production standpoint. All of the Star Wars and space involved productions I usually just assume that everything is a combination of green screen technology and CGI. It is really cool to read about ad see images of the rear projection that they used in the production of The Mandalorian. One part of this article that I thought was hilarious, was when they gave a description of one of the images, they referenced the child as Baby Yoda. He is named Baby Yoda solely by the general public because the timeline of The Mandalorian is far after the death of Yoda in the Star Wars series. The child is not given a name in season one, but who knows what may be released in future seasons.
A “real time” green screen—what an interesting practical effect! Though I have only seen the first two episodes, that is still enough to have seen the final product of this technique. I must say, it is very realistic, and very clean. Now, obviously, whether this technology or standard chroma key green screen, there will obviously be cleanup work done in post-production to make it look as good as possible, and with $15 million budget per episode, Disney will obviously come out with a good product. That being said, I do have one question about the tech—the article did mention that the “real time” green screen was back projected with an LED projector. I know that sometimes when filming LED light, there can be an issue with flickering as the diode illuminates at 50-60Hz. Therefore, my question becomes, how is this issue alleviated? Or is the article incorrect? I know laser projectors are often considered superior to conventional lamp projectors as they are a lot brighter and have dedicated red, green, and blue lasers for maximum efficiency. Perhaps the article meant laser projector. Or, xenon arc projector. Who knows.
I haven't watched the Manadalorian and most likely won't because Im not really into Star Wars, however I will admit that the Star Wars movies and spinoff series' always have such incredible amounts of money poured into them, and thus are very technically excellent. I love to see all of these different environments being created in the mandalorian, and how well executed everything is. I might watch it just to analyze how detailed all the sets and technology are in the show. I love that Disney is always pouring so much money into their movies, and we have such a fraction of that money in live theatre so much of the time. Either way, it makes sense that they spend so much money because they sell so much merchandise and get so many ticket sales when their movies are in theaters. And now they have us all paying for Disney plus. We are all capitalist fools.
The kind of technology used on The Mandalorian show is delightful in that it harkens back to old school rear projection techniques while also being used on a high budget and modern production to increase the reality and flexibility of the shooting scenarios. Instead of relying on a shorter time to generate environments in post production and having actors work on a completely monochrome set, they get the advantage of seeing what it is that they will be performing in. While watching the show, I did not even notice any kind of visual trickery that was taking place. The effects appeared very convincing and well done and the environments looked very well realized. The entire show felt pretty solid and well made and it makes me excited to see what talented people can do with this technology when it is time to make more shows or films that could benefit from the advantages of this new system.
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