When people think of Industrial Light and Magic, they obviously think of great visual effects, as well as the countless classic movies the company has worked on. But what you might not realize is that for many of those films, some of the effects were completely impossible until ILM specifically created the technology for them.
So when someone at ILM says something is “the most powerful toolset we’ve ever created for filmmaking,” it’s worth taking notice.
The toolset in question here is called Stagecraft and it’s the immersive, adaptable environment you’ve probably heard a ton about if you’re a fan of The Mandalorian. Basically, it’s a space that’s surrounded with screens that make a sound stage feel like anywhere you want it to be. It’s why Jon Favreau and his team can make The Mandalorian in California and not have to travel all over the world to find exotic forests and deserts. It saves time and it saves money—and for season two, it got even better.
On season two, ILM rolled out Stagecraft 2.0, and in this excellent video, the filmmakers behind The Mandalorian as well as ILM employees can’t stop gushing about it while revealing plenty of gorgeous BTS footage from the show.
What’s fascinating about this video is it’s probably outdated already. As everyone mentions, Stagecraft is an upgradable, adaptable piece of technology that’s just going to get better and better. So as more and more Star Wars projects go into production, you can imagine Stagecraft will only improve—and that other, non-Star Wars productions will be using it as well.
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DISCUSSION
This is the kind of shit that permanently changes how movies and TV are made.