UPDATE! Have Lucasfilm Already Started Motion Capture for Star Wars: Episode 7?

star wars

StarWars.com writer and editor Dan Brooks posted an interesting image on Twitter. It looks like he was visiting Lucasfilm’s motion capture set. Could this be our first look at the Episode 7 initial pre-shoots? …



The tweet has been removed by the request of Dan Brooks. He said once again that this is not Episode 7 related. Move along… 🙂

The set in the background definitely looks like the one Lucasfilm used for Star Wars: 1313. Even the Artoo unit looks the same.

Here’s the video Lucasfilm posted a few months ago showcasing the mo-cap technology:

Now the question is: “Are they using the same technology for Episode 7?” If yes then this definitely is a picture from some initial mo-cap tests for the new movie. Remember that few months ago Lucasfilm themselves said that they will be using video game engines in the film-making process:

Lucasfilm’s chief technology strategy officer Kim Libreri announced that the developments in computer graphics have meant Lucasfilm has been able to transfer its techniques to film-making, shifting video game assets into movie production.

Real-time motion capture and the graphics of video game engines, Libreri claimed, will increasingly be used in movie creation, allowing post-production effects to be overlayed in real time.

Or maybe Brooks visited the Star Wars: 1313 set but as we know that game was cancelled so I doubt that all the equipment is just sitting there and not used.

UPDATE!

Dan Brooks posted a clarification:

To clarify, the photo of me and R2 has absolutely nothing to do with Episode 7. Just having some fun at work.
— Dan Brooks (@dan_brooks) January 22, 2014

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54 thoughts on “UPDATE! Have Lucasfilm Already Started Motion Capture for Star Wars: Episode 7?

  • January 22, 2014 at 8:40 am
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    You mean to tell me this film is going to attempt something technologically innovative?!? So far I was under the impression they were going to stick with stop motion effects because stop motion looks so much more realistic, *right*?

    • January 22, 2014 at 9:20 am
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      All indications are that there will be a MIXTURE of live action effects and CGI.

      When I first saw that motion-capture video I thought they would use it for Ep7. Don’t forget that the prequel movies each had around 2 years for post-production. These new movies will have considerably less time. So, they will need to use new innovative techniques as a matter of necessity.

    • January 22, 2014 at 9:56 am
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      They never said stop motion. Quit being hyperbolic and misinformed.

    • January 22, 2014 at 12:43 pm
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      “stop motion looks so much more realistic, *right*?”
      Oh don’t be so sarcy. It depends on the cgi you’re comparing it to. But real effects have much more movie magic about them and are much more impressive.

    • January 22, 2014 at 2:04 pm
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      So the same folks who complained about the CGI in the prequels are now complaining about the practical effects they’re going to use in the new ones? LOL…gotta love fan boys. Let’s also remember that motion capture is used to create characters like the apes from Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Great stuff.

    • January 22, 2014 at 2:27 pm
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      I’m very excited to see how the classic Star Wars film techniques mash up with digital manipulation and mo-cap; it’ll be a great visual balance. I’m hoping for something along the lines of the LOTR trilogy in terms of special effects, where CGI and mo-cap’s placement was necessary, but makeup, prosthetics and scale models were also used to capture an element of reality. That’s where the prequels and Hobbit movies went wrong in my book.

    • January 22, 2014 at 5:26 pm
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      @Octoberist

      They are going back to using old film. They are using so-called “practical” effects, real sets, and it looks like they are going to even reuse the OT cast and screenwriter. I’m sorry if you can’t connect the dots and think they are going to be using minisatures but everything points to it.

      Star Wars has become the franchise that makes the 70’s generation happy, and not the innovative films to be enjoyed by all. Disney is catering to a niche audience. And don’t get me started by how they are dissing the generation who grew up with the prequel trilogy/clone wars.

    • January 22, 2014 at 5:35 pm
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      ^ and that word I meant to say was “miniatures,” not “minisatures.”

    • January 22, 2014 at 5:55 pm
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      You’re a complete fool if these are your legitimate thoughts…

    • January 22, 2014 at 7:58 pm
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      I agree with @Anonymous to an extent. think about it in the 90’s when CGI was starting to be big Lucas used it in Episode I which for its time seemed pretty cool. he still used miniature figures like ALL of the fly by shots above Theed Palace, and he even catered to the OT fans by keeping yoda as a puppet. what I mean is I do hope that in making these new movies that JJ and the production team don’t under utilize the awesome kick ass effects that CGI can bring.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:04 pm
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      I just want to see balance. Not too much of one or the other.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:15 pm
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      Yea I can agree with balance. I just hope they have better lightsaber battle choreography and effects like in the prequels, unlike where we last left off with Luke taking a fencing style stance to cut off his fathers hand haha

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:16 pm
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      “Star Wars has become the franchise that makes the 70’s generation happy, and not the innovative films to be enjoyed by all.”

      In what way has Star Wars become a franchise that only the 70’s and 80’s generation can enjoy, because episode VII takes place after episode VI and we’ll most likely be seeing OT characters return to the screen for the purpose of continuity? I’m not sure how that makes sense at all…
      What about all of the video games, TV series and toys that have been released specifically for the younger generations?
      Where is your evidence?

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:35 pm
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      No matter how much practical effects they use (practical effects evolve over time as well as digital effects), they are still going to need cg. People forget that TOT used lots of green screens and such; they just used it where they were needed, not just because Lucas was too lazy to get out of his chair like the Prequels.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:50 pm
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      Where are people getting the idea that they won’t use any CGI at all? That was never said in any article…

  • January 22, 2014 at 12:46 pm
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    I hope they only do stop-motion if it’s for the things they are unable to do otherwise. If it’s going to be used for stormtroopers and c3po then I’d much rather an actual suit. It’s rather weird seeing r2d2 at a stop-motion set though, considering they announced they had a team of droid builders making him.

    • January 22, 2014 at 12:47 pm
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      stop-motion/ motion capture*

  • January 22, 2014 at 2:14 pm
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    People, please. They are NOT using stop-motion. Do you not know what motion-capture is? It’s where a person uses a special suit to act out the motions of a CGI character, like they used for the Planet of the Apes and Lord of the Rings. Man, Star Wars fans are ridiculously paranoid. Oh, and they also used motion capture for JAR JAR BINKS. Maybe Jar Jar is coming back! Let the flame wars begin!!!! 🙂

    • January 22, 2014 at 3:09 pm
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      Thank you! Nearly everyone above seems quite confused.

    • January 22, 2014 at 3:19 pm
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      Yeah, not sure why everyone is making this mistake.Those are two very different techniques. I doubt they’d use stop-motion with mo-cap readily available these days and their enormous budget. It’d just be unnecessary and time-consuming.

    • January 22, 2014 at 5:34 pm
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      I know why most people are making the mistake. It’s because most people who visit this site are OT fanatics and many probably haven’t even heard of “motion capture.” They’re so old-school the only closest term they are familiar with is stop motion. Welcome to the year 2014 guys. (I just hope Disney realizes what year it is too when they film this movie.)

    • January 22, 2014 at 5:52 pm
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      Prejudice much?
      I’m an OT fanatic and I 100% embrace this idea for visual balance between old and new techniques in episode VII. While we do have to keep up with the times and mo-cap does offer a much more efficient and realistic element to the film; prosthetics, scale-models, makup and such do have their place.

    • January 22, 2014 at 6:41 pm
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      @anonymous jan 22 5:34 PM – It must be nice being such an up to date, sophisticate such as yourself. Did it occur to you that maybe people just made a mistake in reading? I am an OT fan and I do know the difference between stop motion and motion capture. I’ve played many a video game that used the motion capture technique and have seen many a movie that used toe stop motion technique. Monster House comes to mind as using motion capture in a movie. So, I am not an idiot and would you please dispense with the unplesantries! There is a balance between using graphics and models. One of the problems with the PT is that it relied too heavily on CGI’s and looked fake. That and the acting looked fake. So you had fake looking acting combined with fake looking CGI and you would up with fake-looking movies.

  • January 22, 2014 at 2:22 pm
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    probably Pre-Viz stuff right now, since the screenplay has just been printed.

  • January 22, 2014 at 3:57 pm
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    would be cool if Rebels was shot like this. All very interesting and exciting! I love this website!

  • January 22, 2014 at 5:30 pm
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    Wow, it looks like Episode VII is going to embrace 21st Century technology. Darn! I was hoping they pull out that rickety old taun taun puppet, you know, the one that moves like an old man with Parkinson’s disease (and OT fanatics still think is more realistic than the best CG in the prequels, btw.)

    • January 22, 2014 at 6:02 pm
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      Isn’t it actually more realistic (being an actual thing)? I honestly do have trouble equating CGI with reality. And no, I’m not even that old.

    • January 22, 2014 at 7:06 pm
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      Let me ask you something: What looked more real – the inside of the Millennium Falcon or the Naboo ship? Better yet, which one looked more real from the outside? What looked more real – the death star or the city planet of Coruscant?

    • January 22, 2014 at 7:55 pm
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      Yep.
      Chewbacca or Jar Jar? Hoth or Fields of Naboo? Taun Taun or those pigs in AOTC? The Rancor and gamorrean guards or geonosis flying “whatever”? Bib Fortuna or that fat alien spoken with Obi-Wan? A stormtrooper or roge-roge robots? Or………………………………………………………………………………………..

    • January 22, 2014 at 7:58 pm
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      Chewbacca or Jar Jar? I’d like to see Chewbacca rip the arms of Jar Jar out of their sockets! Comparing Chewbacca to Jar Jar is like comparing pudding to poop.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:11 pm
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      Okay the PT fans get it! But one thing that CGI does do is save you a lot of time and money. Instead of building a Rancor in a months time or Jabbas barge or extras costumes who only have 5 seconds of screen time any way, it is more cost effective to just generate it on a computer screen! I find it interesting that they are going to be using 35mm film mainly bc I think its gonna take them a lot more time to actually build all these sets and costumes when you can just make them on a computer program in half the time.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:15 pm
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      @ annonymous jan 22 8:11 PM – What! A PT fan who gets it? I didn’t know that was possible! BTW, I do agree with you that CGI is the cheap and easy way out.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:17 pm
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      That’s the way I like my women, cheap and easy. Not my movies. 🙂

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:22 pm
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      Star Wars is a film that deserves the time and effort put into it. I’d rather notice the workmanship than be disappointed with all of the CGI and feel like they half-assed the job by going the quick and easy route. This isn’t Star Trek people 😉

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:26 pm
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      Well said, dopeyjoe. I hope JJ knows that!

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:30 pm
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      @Anonymous jan22 8:15- haha yes there are die hard PT fans who do appreciate the OT fans POV’s bc well without them there wouldn’t be a Star Wars in the first place. That and we sympathize with Lucas for his lack of technology available to him at the time, so in order for him to make a great movie he had to use old fashioned movie magic and midgets

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:32 pm
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      Ohhhh Trek fans need some ice for that burn!

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:37 pm
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      @anonymous jan22 8:30 – Lucas made three great Star Wars movies when he had to roll up his sleeves and work with models. While he was doing it, he longed for an easier way to do it. So, when he did the PT he enjoyed the ease of making a movie without getting his hands dirty. However, it’s like today’s mass produced plastic toys. They are super sophisticated but are made like crap. They are more expensive but break easily. Just like the PT.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:49 pm
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      @anonymous jan22 8:37 – well thats why I kinda agree with OT fans the PT could’ve been done soooo much better if he had people helping him make them. his ideas are great in the mind but terrible on paper when he’s writing the script and directing his actors. had he not run the whole prequel franchise things could’ve been so much better. however he did achieve his goal in telling the story of what he wanted the prequels to be, politics and kick ass lightsaber battles

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:49 pm
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      AnonymousJanuary 22, 2014 at 8:37 PM
      Very well said. Also, Lucas had to come up with a lot of his own ways to make his vision reality. That’s part of why the Star Wars OT is such a revolutionary masterpiece.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:57 pm
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      Which is why even as a PT fan I enjoy the originals because they are just that, original. and for their time extremely unique

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:58 pm
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      Best qoute from Star Wars OT “I love you” “I know”

      Best qoute form Star Wars PT “Nooooooooo!!!!”

  • January 22, 2014 at 6:37 pm
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    Cool, will make one awesome video game, but leave it out of Episode 7, thanks.

  • January 22, 2014 at 8:32 pm
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    This footage is really old news. And it is being reported as something new. I thought this site was above that sort of thing.

    Of course they are going to use new technology! Lucasfilm invented most of the stuff other people use.

    • January 22, 2014 at 8:55 pm
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      Sorry but you missed the whole party. There was a certain post on tweeter with an image of Artoo on the mo-cap stage. The image is removed now because of the authors’ request, who confirmed that it’s not Episode 7 related.

    • January 22, 2014 at 10:56 pm
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      I saw the video that included that image months ago. It was a public presentation.

    • January 22, 2014 at 10:59 pm
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      @R3GARnator
      They’re referencing a different picture that was up when this article was first posted.

      “There was a certain post on tweeter with an image of Artoo on the mo-cap stage. The image is removed now because of the authors’ request, who confirmed that it’s not Episode 7 related.”

    • January 23, 2014 at 7:25 am
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      Rest assured that I’m not trying to milk old stories guys. 🙂

  • January 23, 2014 at 2:46 pm
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    I know it’s fun to speculate and I know it’s fun to argue about what filming technique is better than the others. All I can say is lets wait until 2015 when the film is released and look back on all of the shite that has been posted and either laugh out loud at all the mistakes we made or agree with all the stuff we wrote that was right..

    • January 23, 2014 at 7:06 pm
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      Everyone who’s a fan wants the best for Star Wars. We just all have different ideas of what is the best for Star Wars.

  • January 24, 2014 at 8:17 am
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    This image is from a special effects lecture given by Lucasfilm to a select few at BAFTA in London last year showing how real time effects can be used to produce feature films and video games.

    AND HERE’S A LINK ON YOU TUBE
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEOLhX4X6pM

    (I’m waiting for Dopy to jump in and give everybody his opinion…yawn!)

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