Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/929567
working on, meanwhile the front pages of the local newspapers were covered with Star Wars logos, and we had several 'set visits' from local Darth Vaders and Imperial Storm Troopers! We used a software called Panotour Viewer through an iPad Pro to allow members of the shooting crew to stand in the Dubrovnik high street and view the street in any direction with the full 3D set extensions. This also provided understanding of scale, architecture and points of interest to the camera department as they were framing their shots." Meanwhile, back in London, Art Director Andrew Bennett was madly prepping the casino sets: "The challenge was to design the exterior entrance, the casino and the bar area environments across two large stages (including the 007 Stage) and a backlot, and as a 3D composite model for Rian and the team to discuss shooting requirements. The Panotour viewer was also used to help finesse the actual build prior to commitment of resources. I still chuckle to recall watching twenty people shuffle around a handheld tablet as it panned across an empty stage." In order to stage the epic end-battle between the massive First Order battalions and the shredded remnants of the Resistance, the idea of using a flat white landscape as a graphic canvas was employed. Crait is a mineral planet whose essential visual character is due to a blanket of salt flakes. The underlying geology is an important part of the backstory, informing the action of the scene. Rian wanted the flat white stage to play out the bleak endgame for the massively outgunned Resistance. The largest salt flat in the world was selected to shoot the plates, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, and the environment inspired the Resistance "Mineral Speeders," whose mono-skate allows it to zip along at a rapid pace on the surface of the salt flat. As they skim the surface, they churn up the underlying red mineral surface, raising a ruby "rooster tail" behind them, becoming emblematic of the bloody battle that ensues. The digital workflow allowed the film to be designed as an aesthetic process first, as the practical implications of the production were still making themselves known. Senior Art Director Phil Sims discusses how the mixture of set builds and virtual set extensions at the Crait trenches evolved from this process: "From digital modeling to 3D-printed concept models of the trenches, guns and vehicles, to rapid prototyping and CNC milling from the same files as full-size set pieces, vehicles or props in foam as one-offs or molded hard copies, there were efficiencies and consistencies created by the broadly digital workflow. Those consistencies allowed us to build multiple versions of complicated components to service different shots across the whole show. Cockpit canopies that slide, fold or pop open are always tricky things to make work practically and to look right. Many of those complications were dealt with at the modeling stage on the computer, making it much more cost-effective to reproduce, adding to the level of detail and production value." A. Canto Bight establishing shot. Art by Jaime Jones. Modo model painted in Photoshop. B. Canto Bight street. Maya model by Rodolfo Damaggio. C. Canto Bight street. A B