INTERVIEW: Lucasfilm VFX supervisor Ben Morris on bringing Snoke and digital Porgs to life in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”

in Disney, Entertainment, Movies, Movies & TV, Star Wars

supreme leader snoke close up

Credit: Lucasfilm

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

The benefit of having the practical puppets is we attempted to film every Porg shot in the film with a practical [puppet]. Whether we used it in the actual cut, or whether it went digital, was something that played out through [post-production]. But it meant that we could match something. So we had beautiful lighting reference, we had a beautiful physical object there that Rian felt comfortable with, but then we could expand on that.

So in the CG shots, for example, the one where he screams at Chewie, which has been in a trailer, that was originally shot as practical. But the range and emotion [of the] triumphant cheer that the little guy’s giving just didn’t come through in the practical, and Rian said to me, “Do you think we can enhance it?” And I said, “Well, we could have a look at it.” Then we looked at it and I thought, “Can we do just a little augmentation?” Then actually we just did a very quick animation test, and he just bought it and went, “No no, okay. We’ll go full CG.”

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

So that happened, and we’ve ended up at about 50/50. I think in terms of a success rate for a character like that, we’ve got the best of both worlds. And Rian very definitely kept us to look exactly like the puppets. I think with any character where you have both a practical and a CG [version], you have to go through that process where you hit the same feeling between the two mediums. Once you’re there, you then have a choice that’s purely creative and aesthetic. It’s entirely subjective– there’s no “Oh, it always looks a bit CG, or it looks a bit practical.”

I think [the Porgs] was a great success, and Neal has done some other [creatures] in the film as well. And then there are other characters like Snoke, who was in “The Force Awakens,” but he is a piece of work that I and our team are very proud of as an entirely digital creation. He’s pretty compelling, and I think he’s sitting up there will the believable full-digital human characters that have been attempted in the past, which is quite exciting.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Q:  What was it like working alongside Rian Johnson on a personal level? Everybody I’ve talked to or read interviews with can’t seem to say enough nice things about him, but what was the experience like from your department’s side?

A:  Straight [off] the bat, he’s a fantastic, incredible talent. I’ve worked with lots and lots of great directors and writers, [and] Rian is absolutely up there. He understands story, he understands [the] passion of the Star Wars world. He grew up with it and he’s made an incredible Star Wars film. Going into the film, he hadn’t done a project with so many visual effects in it, and I think he would be the first to admit that. He was highly cautious of it, and felt that he wanted to attempt everything practically. And that’s absolutely fine.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Coming from a practical world myself, I completely get it. And I think what happened during the process of working with me and the teams at ILM and the other companies involved is, it was great to see that Rian suddenly realized that those artists [whose] trade is to work on a computer, we go through all the same processes that the practical artisans and technicians will go through. And I think it was really great for Rian that he could sit and see how the processes worked, he could see the benefits of certain things. He could also see the limitations.

It was a great learning curve for him, and I think if you were to ask him how he felt [from] the beginning of the film to the end of the film, my hope is, and I believe it is, that his eyes have been opened. And [that] he’s really enjoyed working with the visual effects team because we’ve loved working with him. He’s a great people person as well. He likes chatting straight [with] the artists who are actually doing the work, which is always fantastic when a director’s willing to give their time to the artists so they know exactly what the [goal] is. He’s a fantastic guy.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Q:  Finally, without giving too much away, what was the greatest challenge faced by the visual effects team on “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”?

A:  That’s a hard question. I think there are some highlights in the film, some of the conceptual challenges that are very new and haven’t existed in the Star Wars world visually [before]. I can’t go into detail on that, but they’re great because they’re a design challenge. The tools are secondary to the design. There are a few of those.

I would say Snoke is something that we’re very proud of. Rian was very clear that the sort of gelatinous hologram, shadowed look that we had in “The Force Awakens,” he wanted to get rid of that completely [and] return him back down to a photo-real human, and actually play the character as a far more menacing, tall, but real, human. Rian was concerned about that at the beginning and he came to me and said, “Can we do this, Ben? Is it going to work?” And I said, “Hell yeah.”

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

It’s the most exciting challenge, in many ways. It’s like Tarkin in “Rogue One.” We were thrilled to do that [with Snoke], and I think he’s come out very well. Rian has just been hugely complimentary, having been through the year-and-a-half of building and making those shots. That’s been great. I think the other thing that I would say is, it’s just the sheer diversity of [the techniques utilized]. It’s diversity and it’s also grounding it in reality, and that’s something the Star Wars films are all about.

Rian did not want to create a CG-fest if you know what I mean. He wants this film to feel grounded, and we worked very hard with Rian, with the producers Kathy [Kennedy] and Ram [Bergman] to try and film stuff in real places, do things for real, and bring together the best of all of the departments to keep the film as [real as] a Star Wars film should look. I think that’s the challenge.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens this Friday, December 15th in theaters nationwide.

in Disney, Entertainment, Movies, Movies & TV, Star Wars

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