If there’s one thing that isn’t only consistent with the Star Wars franchise, but pushes the boundaries, is the visual effects. The visuals for the galaxy far, far away have been ground-breaking from the moment it first hit the big screen way back in 1977, and it’s no surprise that Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi continued that quite amazing feat.
As per usual with a Star Wars film, The Last Jedi has been nominated for visual effects at this year’s Oscars. While it’s expected, it’s still a great honor to be recognized at one of the year’s best looking films. In preparation for the 2018 Oscar’s, ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) has unveiled two beautiful featurettes that focus on the creation of two major aspects of Johnson’s film: Supreme Leader Snoke and the climactic battle on the salt planet Crait.
We’ve known since the early days of The Force Awakens that motion-capture legend Andy Serkis would be offering his talents for the role of Snoke in the series. While most of us we’re holding out just a bit for old school practical effects, after finally seeing him in The Last Jedi, it made complete sense as to why ILM was put in charge of his creation. The video below, while too short for a bts junky like myself, does a great job of quickly detailing just how the character came to life. I could watch a 40 minute video on just this. It’s fantastic.
The second video, just as with Snoke’s, isn’t nearly long enough. It’s just enough to quench the thirst that some of us have to see what kind of awesome behind-the-scenes cuts the blu-ray will have come next month. I for one am hoping to see at least a few hours of incredible bts footage like these two videos on the blu-ray, and hopefully it includes more of both Snoke’s creation and the Battle of Crait.
Check out the way too quick videos below, and make sure you leave your thoughts in the comments! Do you enjoy these type of videos? How did you like the effects in The Last Jedi? Will you be scrolling through the special features on the blu-ray? Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be available on blu-ray and DVD on March 27th.