Contains mild spoilers for the Mandalorian in this post and a major spoiler at the end (there will be a warning before this part).
The Mandalorian (Seasons 1 and 2) brought joy to so many people. It made Disney (DIS) shareholders happy by resuscitating a franchise that ran into issues with the divisive Star Wars sequels (7, 8 and 9). Along the way it introduced us to Baby Yoda and returned Star Wars back to it's "Space Western" roots, attracting fans' interest back to the series.
For fans of the original trilogy (A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi), it brought them immense joy in another way..... which I will get into at the end of this post.
Another one of it's achievement is much lesser known but may have a just as big, if not bigger impact.
Let's step into.... The Volume
What is the Volume?
The Volume, officially called Stagecraft by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) comprises of a 20 foot (roughly 6 metres) high, 270 degrees semi-circular, 75 foot (about 23 metres) diameter wall of LED screens. This forms a cylindrical shape where the walls and the ceiling is basically a gigantic LED screen and allows digital images to be created and displayed on the walls and ceilings (only the floor is not a LED screen).
This video presentation by Disney (DIS) on their Investor Day shows you what it looks like:
The Volume/Stagecraft is more than just LED screens on the wall. It is a different way of producing special effects, relying on cutting edge computer programs such as Unreal Engine (by Epic) and others (Helios), advanced equipment and new techniques. Why is this better than the existing method of using green or blue screens?
1) Overcoming the limitations of using green screens
- Time consuming work
Green screens, while very realistic, come with their own set of problems. For one thing, somebody has to remove the green screen in post-production, by essentially replacing the green screen with the desired CGI effects. As you can imagine, this can be a very laborious process.
- "Spill"
The armor of the Mandalorian comes with it's own special challenges. A problem with green screens is that it shows up on costumes and parts of the set which are reflective. The armor of the Mandalorian is very polished and reflective.
An example here: note the reflection on the silvery parts of Captain America's shield. This problem is called "spill" |
| Steve Rogers is afraid of the colour green |
This greenish tinge needs to be removed in post-production. The Stagecraft technique gets around this by actually providing the lighting and reflection from the LED screen.
So in the case where a greenish tinge would show up on the reflective armor, now the armor simply reflects the light from the desert/swamp/city or wherever the Mandalorian is supposed to be.
- Actors hate working with green screens
For actors working with green screen, it is very difficult as well, because they have to rely on their imagination to fill in what is supposed to be in the environment and often times, this takes a toll on them, as Sir Ian McKellen experienced on The Hobbit.
With Stagecraft, the actors actually see what the environment is supposed to look like and allows them to deliver a better performance
- Directors can adapt faster
Special effects are usually added after filming has completed, which means they will need to review it after the special effects are completed, or even worse, reshoot a scene if they do not get the quality they want.
In the Stagecraft production process, the team creating the effect is actually on the set itself. Directors can now see the effects before shooting starts and ask for tweaks on the spot. This saves time and money.
3) A more cost effective process (maybe)
The cost of Stagecraft is not cheap. However, there are advantages to using digital creations instead of actual live environments that may offset this initial cost.
- You do not have to build costly sets
Instead of having an entire background created live with actual props (in cases where green screens are not required), you can actually create the background you want, digitally.
In this scene, only the actors, the desk and some columns are real. The rest are images from Stagecraft.
- You do not have to fly crew and equipment to faraway locations
Much of The Mandalorian 1 and 2 are set in the desert and other exotic locales. Rather than fly everyone to Tunisia, for example, these can simply be recreated using Stagecraft.
- Sets can be easily recreated
An additional advantage is that if production is affected by Covid, the whole scene doesn't need to be dismantled and rebuilt when filming resumes. If reshoots are required, the whole background can be recreated digitally
Stagecraft is apparently so successful that new studios are being built in London and Australia, in addition to the existing one in Los Angeles.
To be clear, Disney and ILM are not the only ones using this technique. The creators of the amazing Netflix series Dark is using the same process in their new show 1899.
The facility is being built in Germany and will become available for other shows once the first season of 1899 is completed. It looks we have just begun to scratch the surface of this technology and it will revolutionize film making for years to come.
Major Mandalorian Spoiler ahead...
Do not proceed beyond this point if you have not watched the Mandalorian
For fans of the original Star Wars trilogy, it is hard to see the evolution of Luke Skywalker in Episode 8. The mature, centred Jedi Knight at the end of Return of the Jedi has become a bitter old man who has forsworn use of the Force.
I do not hate or fault the filmmakers for taking a bold and daring story-telling step but it was hard to stomach the direction the story has taken.
So it was an absolute joy to see this scene in the Mandalorian. If you are still here reading this, I am sure you know which scene I am talking about.
Let's enjoy it again...
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