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While Andor largely keeps things old school in terms of its sets, VFX producer TJ Falls has revealed that the show actually does use Lucasfilm's revolutionary StageCraft technology, which has been made famous by other Disney+ series set within the Star Wars universe.
"We melded a lot of technologies, really," Falls said in an interview with /Film. "There were a lot of sets that were practically built that we then augmented and extended upon and finding the best way to extend them, creatively shoot them to have the most fulfilling result, to our traditional all-CG approach for our spaceships and the way that we deal with things. And then still utilizing things like our StageCraft technology that [Industrial Light & Magic] uses. And for Andor, we didn't use one of the standing StageCraft sets, but we still used the StageCraft technology."
The VFX producer elaborates, "We built a specific LED screen around the embassy where Mon Mothma works, and so they're having their party and you've got wonderful screens. And it's like, well, now we've got a wonderfully practically built set. We're immersed with our environment of people, we're utilizing new technology in terms of StageCraft and blending everything together."
Developed by the fabled Industrial Light & Magic (Lucasfilm's visual effects division), StageCraft -- also known as "The Volume" -- uses LED video walls to create virtual sceneries. The technology was first used in the production of Disney+'s first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. It was subsequently used in The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Star Wars: Andor Has a Distinct Visual Style
This past August -- a month before Andor's premiere -- series creator Tony Gilroy seemed to suggest that the Rogue One prequel would not use StageCraft in any form or fashion. "Yep, we're old school," Gilroy said of Andor's production, "We didn't use StageCraft at all." However, Falls' comments reveal that Andor actually did use StageCraft, albeit as more of a supplementary tool than anything else.
Having premiered in September, Andor is currently nearing the end of its 12-episode debut season. Season 1's penultimate episode is due to drop on Disney+ this coming Wednesday, Nov. 16, followed by the season finale on Nov. 23. Production on Andor's second and final 12-episode season is due to begin on Monday, Nov. 21 in the United Kingdom.
New episodes of Andor stream Wednesdays on Disney+.
Source: /Film