ILM has posted a new video showcasing the visual effects behind the second season of The Mandalorian following their success at the Emmys, including how they created Banthas for the series. The Mandalorian's second season won 7 awards during the ceremony, including Outstanding Music Composition For A Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series, and Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Series Or Movie. It follows similar success in 2020, where the first season won Outstanding Special Visual Effects for "Chapter 2: The Child" of the first season.
Across The Mandalorian's first 2 seasons, Din Djarin has visited many varied worlds, from Navarro's volcanic landscapes to Tython's mountain peaks, coming across creatures such as Krykna spiders and Mudhorns. The series has also returned to familiar locations, such as Tatooine in episodes "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" and "Chapter 9: The Marshal," revisiting the cantina from A New Hope and bringing novel character Cobb Vanth to the small screen. As such, the series has offered the crew behind the show to revisit these iconic worlds and fauna with today's current special effects, such as one of Tatooine's most recognizable creatures.
Uploaded to the ILMVFX YouTube channel, "THE EMMY-WINNING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS OF THE MANDALORIAN: SEASON 2" is a video narrated by ILM's Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Bluff, as he breaks down many of the special effects used in the second season. The video features the creation of the series Banthas, which were realized as ridable practical puppets. A glimpse behind how each puppet was made shows parts being cast and fur being added to the piece, before showing off the final piece in the workshop ridden by a crew member. The clip also shows how large groups of Banthas and Tusken Raiders were created through VFX. Check out the video below:
The Mandalorian's visual effects have been praised as revolutionary since the series debut in the Fall of 2019 due to the use of the Volume. The Volume's high-tech virtual stages allow the cast and crew to view the digitally created 3D assets during filming rather than having to rely on green screens. The animatronic work for Grogu also took both audiences and the cast alike by storm, with Werner Herzog calling the crew cowards when they tried to substitute the puppet for CGI when filming a scene in season one.
ILMVFX's video is a good showcase of the detail put into bringing the world of Star Wars to life on the small screen. Despite recent divisiveness over the de-aged Luke Skywalker effects used in the finale of season 2, it cannot be denied that there is a great deal of care placed into crafting many elements of the show. With audiences now given a glimpse at the incredible process to create a realistic, almost lifelike Bantha for television, many fans may be curious as to how the team at ILM can top what they've done for future seasons of The Mandalorian.
Source: ILMVFX/YouTube
