John Knoll

Building a world as vast as Star Wars requires more than just a big budget; it demands a deep respect for the physical artifacts that ground a fantasy. When Jon Favreau took Adam Savage through the production sets of The Mandalorian and Grogu, he highlighted a surprising intersection of mid-century aviation history and bleeding-edge computing. The production utilizes historical Quonset huts in Los Angeles—the same structures that once housed the hot rod and aviation pioneers who inspired George Lucas. These spaces now serve as a bridge between the tactile past and the digital future. Gaming hardware drives cinematic innovation The reliance on NVIDIA hardware marks a significant shift in how visual effects are rendered. During the early development of the series, the team faced the daunting task of achieving a 24-frame refresh rate on massive LED volumes. They turned to gaming-grade GPUs, which provided the necessary horsepower to drive the "Volume" and deliver final pixel effects directly in-camera. This tech allowed the production to move away from the traditional green screen, providing The Mandalorian with real-time reflections on his Beskar armor. It turns the set into a giant VR environment where the lighting is interactive and the environment reacts to the camera's movements. Kit bashing the physical world Jon Favreau maintains the Star Wars tradition of "kit bashing"—taking parts from diverse sources to create something new. The production team, including Doug Chiang and Andrew Jones, sources aircraft parts like Rolls-Royce Derwent engines to serve as set dressing and bar equipment. This philosophy extends to the sets themselves. By filming inside authentic aviation hangars, the production effectively kit bashes the real world, blending historic architecture with alien props to create a lived-in aesthetic. This approach ensures that even when digital extensions are used, the immediate environment around the actors remains tangible and grit-covered. Puppet mastery and the Herzog effect While the industry often leans on CG, The Mandalorian and Grogu relies heavily on practical puppetry. Grogu was originally intended as a mere reference miquette for the digital team. However, the artisans at Legacy Effects packed the puppet with so many servos and nuances that it became a primary performer. Favreau notes that Werner Herzog, while acting on set, famously called the filmmakers "cowards" for even considering a clean plate without the puppet. This push for practical performance forces the digital models to stay within the physical constraints of the puppet, preserving the "wonky" but lifelike charm that defined characters like R2-D2 and Yoda. Scale and the future of Star Wars Transitioning from a streaming series to a feature film allowed the crew to utilize "the Big Bertha" of their creative toolkit. With a longer production timeline, they could build expansive sets, like a neon-soaked "Neon Noir" downtown L.A. location, that offer deeper immersion and more complex lighting. This evolution reflects a mastery of craft where the team no longer simply performs "reps" but pushes the boundaries of what is possible in practical filmmaking. The result is a machine that feels both high-tech and hand-built, capturing the essence of the original trilogy while leading the charge in modern production technology.