The Filmumentaries Podcast
· Season 1 · Episode 157 · Latest episodeEp 157 | ILM’s John Knoll on The Mandalorian and Grogu — motion control, stop motion and gaussian splats
John Knoll is Chief Creative Officer at ILM and visual effects supervisor on The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first time Mando and Grogu have been on a cinema screen. He describes two forces pulling against each other. It had to feel like it came from the same group of people who made the series, which meant keeping the handcrafted approach — puppets, creatures in rubber masks, motion control miniatures, stop motion.
But roughly forty-five per cent of the film is IMAX, and you compose and cut differently for a hundred-foot screen. Fewer quick cuts, more headroom, room around the frame for peripheral vision. IMAX had sent ILM a document about all this years ago. John decided simulating the room beat following the notes, so they built an Apple Vision Pro app that puts you in an IMAX auditorium, seats and all, looking at the live feed off the video taps.
They used it on set to check composition, and later to check animation and action scenes before they were finished. The stop motion went to Tippett, who spent the better part of a year animating a two-minute fight between Mando and two droids. The Razor Crest is a forty-eight inch miniature, double the size of the one built for the series, and John finally got to shoot it in an LED volume — built in part from panels salvaged off a decommissioned StageCraft stage.
He’d been chasing that since season one, when he tried building a foam core enclosure and projecting onto it. It sort of worked, right up until Favreau wanted the flight path changed. We also cover Rotta the Hutt, who turned out to be the hardest thing in the film. A Hutt who moves fast reads as funny on the page and is difficult to put on screen. Does he move like a snake, an inchworm, a snail? They landed on elephant seals, and then on a barrel roll.
Plus the cameras — a Sony ILX-LR1 for daylight exteriors at the Ranch, and a Canon 5D Mark IV out of ILM’s equipment cupboard for the interiors. Gaussian splats for the Razor Crest interior, shot in twenty minutes and used from any angle he wanted. Keeping a coherent look across five vendors with Doug Chiang riding the designs through post. And two shots containing an original 1976 Y-wing, on loan from the Lucas Museum for a single day, with two museum staff watching the whole time.
This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning
Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries
All my links
But roughly forty-five per cent of the film is IMAX, and you compose and cut differently for a hundred-foot screen. Fewer quick cuts, more headroom, room around the frame for peripheral vision. IMAX had sent ILM a document about all this years ago. John decided simulating the room beat following the notes, so they built an Apple Vision Pro app that puts you in an IMAX auditorium, seats and all, looking at the live feed off the video taps.
They used it on set to check composition, and later to check animation and action scenes before they were finished. The stop motion went to Tippett, who spent the better part of a year animating a two-minute fight between Mando and two droids. The Razor Crest is a forty-eight inch miniature, double the size of the one built for the series, and John finally got to shoot it in an LED volume — built in part from panels salvaged off a decommissioned StageCraft stage.
He’d been chasing that since season one, when he tried building a foam core enclosure and projecting onto it. It sort of worked, right up until Favreau wanted the flight path changed. We also cover Rotta the Hutt, who turned out to be the hardest thing in the film. A Hutt who moves fast reads as funny on the page and is difficult to put on screen. Does he move like a snake, an inchworm, a snail? They landed on elephant seals, and then on a barrel roll.
Plus the cameras — a Sony ILX-LR1 for daylight exteriors at the Ranch, and a Canon 5D Mark IV out of ILM’s equipment cupboard for the interiors. Gaussian splats for the Razor Crest interior, shot in twenty minutes and used from any angle he wanted. Keeping a coherent look across five vendors with Doug Chiang riding the designs through post. And two shots containing an original 1976 Y-wing, on loan from the Lucas Museum for a single day, with two museum staff watching the whole time.
This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning
Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries
All my links
About this show
Twice monthly conversations between film historian Jamie Benning and the craftspeople that helped create the movies we love. From visual effects and editing to sound design and art direction.
Hosts
- Jamie BenningHost
All episodes (165)
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50:27Season 4 · Episode 4141 - John Walsh - Author of Escape from New York - The Official Story of the Film
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1:10:41Season 1 · Episode 4040 - Jay Glennie - Author of amazing movie books on Raging Bull and Trainspotting
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1:15:17Season 1 · Episode 3939 - The $3M Dune Book Sale - With Frank Pavich, Soby and Dan Lanigan
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48:45Season 1 · Episode 3838 - Howard Kazanjian - Producer of Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Return Of The Jedi
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1:21:06Season 1 · Episode 3737 - Dune Sound Designers Mark Mangini and Theo Green
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1:37:41Season 1 · Episode 3636 - Sean Barton - Editor of Return of the Jedi, Quadrophenia, Jagged Edge
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2:17:20Season 1 · Episode 3535 - Colin Goudie - Editor of Monsters and Rogue One
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1:09:12Season 1 · Episode 3434 - Gabriel Hardman - Comic Book and Storyboard Artist - Logan, Interstellar, Inception, Aliens Dust to Dust
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1:16:18Season 1 · Episode 3333 - Gary Rydstrom - Oscar Winning Sound Designer - Jurassic Park, T2, Saving Private Ryan
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1:23:09Season 1 · Episode 3232 - John Patrick Shanley - Writer / Director - Joe Vs The Volcano, Moonstruck, Doubt
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45:11Season 1 · Episode 3131 - Walter Murch on Return to Oz
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1:18:03Season 1 · Episode 3030 - Walter Murch - Sound Designer / Editor / Director / Legend of Film
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1:30:54Season 1 · Episode 2929 - Dan Perri - Titles Designer - Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Exorcist
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1:26:20Season 1 · Episode 2828 - Roger Christian - Set Decorator / Art Director - Star Wars, Alien
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1:08:39Season 1 · Episode 2727 - Jon Lefkovitz - Walter Murch Documentarian
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1:14:48Season 1 · Episode 2626 - Jim Maxwell - Digital Matte Artist - ILM, Vikings, Wolverine
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54:34Season 1 · Episode 2525 - Helen O'Hara - Film Journalist And Author of Women Vs Hollywood
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1:29:01Season 1 · Episode 2424 - Peter Macdonald - Second Unit Director, Cinematographer, Director - TESB, Superman
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1:18:37Season 1 · Episode 2323 - Madelyn Most - Second Assistant Camera - Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back...
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1:15:46Season 1 · Episode 2222 - Ivor Powell - Associate Producer of Alien and Blade Runner
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1:47:11Season 1 · Episode 2121 - Pat McClung - Visual Effects Supervisor - TESB, Aliens, Ghostbusters, The Abyss
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1:20:28Season 1 · Episode 2020 - Gavin Rothery - Director of Archive (2020). VFX on Moon (2009)
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1:13:08Season 1 · Episode 1919 - Joe Alves - Legendary Production Designer on Jaws and Close Encounters
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57:53Season 1 · Episode 1818 - The Blade Runner Workprint Chat - With Charles de Lauzirika and Bruce Wright
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1:34:30Season 1 · Episode 1717 - Nilo Rodis-Jamero - Industrial Designer of Star Wars and Star Trek
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