Regardless of your thoughts on the recent Star Wars films as a whole, one thing that a majority of people seem to agree on is that it was the right move to go about creating the worlds of the new films the same way the worlds of the original trilogy were created; that being building practical sets and designing real animatronic creatures (for the most part) unlike the more digital prequel trilogy.
The Last Jedi looks to continue that trend as production designer Rick Heinrichs (also known for his work on Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Hulk, Pirates of the Caribbean 2-3, Captain America: The First Avenger, and multiple Tim Burton films) discusses working on the film and how Rian Johnson's original script called for 160 sets, which they eventually worked down to 125.
"The original script had about 160 sets in it, a ridiculous amount of sets. I didn’t say that to Rian, because I figured on something this big he’ll find that out on his own. It’s a 100-day shooting schedule. So there’s more than one set a day you have to prepare for.
The truth is we ended up combining things and trying to be smart about how we’re going to do it. He did do some trimming and cutting. It forced him to actually cut the shoe leather, as they say, and combine things in the script as well and reduce a number of things that way."
Heinrichs says that the overall mission of the film was to treat the many alien worlds seen in the film as real as possible, much like the original trilogy.
"We tried to hew to the original mandate that George Lucas had; treat it as if it’s a documentary somewhere out in space, so you really believe this is happening.
That’s one of the appeals to Star Wars is that it’s not this endless world-building place. There’s a very grounded aspect to it and they always tried to find a place that’s connected to our world."
He also reveals what series creator George Lucas, who received criticism for choosing to shoot a vast majoirty of his prequel trilogy films on a soundstage with an insane amount of greenscreen, said upon visiting the set of the new film.
"We went into Star Wars saying we’re going to do matte paintings and we’re going to be hanging miniatures. That’s the way we’re going to do this cause that’s what George would want. And of course George visited and he’s like, ‘Why are you building all these sets?’ ‘Well, because that’s what you like, isn’t it?’ He’s a cranky guy but his point is that for the big stuff, obviously planets, spaceships flying, when you’re not close enough to see actors in it, there isn’t much point anymore in actually building something."
So what do you think? Do you like that Disney and Lucasfilm have returned to the more traditional way of making Star Wars films or do you prefer the more digital, greenscreen heavy environments of the prequels? Are you excited to see the new worlds and creatures that have been created for The Last Jedi? Sound off down below!