Visual Effects Reel by Image Engine Reveals New Details on the Making of ‘The Mandalorian’
If fans can’t get enough behind the scenes action from the Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian series, Vancouver based VFX company Image Engine has got you covered.
Image Engine posted a new breakdown reel of their CGI work for the first season of The Mandalorian on Vimeo.
The breakdown reveals a lot of complicated computer animation went into enhancing the already amazing effects that Lucasfilm achieved through the pioneering Volume effects system. Among the highlights of the nearly five-minute reel include the epic battle from chapter 3, “The Sin.”
Much of the battle was accomplished entirely with CGI, including any time the numerous Mandalorian combatants were flying. Imagine Engine created a seamless environment for the battle as well. The reel shows that pretty much all of the battle between the Mandalorians and bounty hunters took place on a green screen stage that was then lavishly embellished in CGI.
The firm created numerous landscape shots to show the true scope of the battle, building out the city on the edge of the lava fields far beyond what was built for the stage. Several shots of the Razor Crest were also generated as ‘Mando’ escaped off-world with The Child.
Several shots from chapter 2 make up the reel, where the Mandalorian’s attempt to bring in The Child to The Client is frustrated by some pesky Offworld Jawas. Numerous elements of that episode were handled by Image Engine, including CGI models of the Jawa Sandcrawler, Blurrg, and weather elements.
Image Engine also created CGI droids in numerous shots for chapter 6 of the series, where the Mandalorian is tasked with busting out a former associate from a New Republic prison ship. Among the victimized droids were a typical Mouse Droid, floaty drones, and the nifty New Republic security droids.
VFX reels like this tend to come out during award season for the Star Wars feature films, so it’s great to see all the creative work done for the television series as well.
DARBY HARN is a novelist, freelance writer and podcaster. His novels include Ever The Hero, The Judgement of Valene, Nothing Ever Ends and A Country Of Eternal Light. His short fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Interzone, Shimmer and other venues.
