Adventures across the thrilling worlds and characters of Star Wars continue in The Book of Boba Fett from showmakers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni on Disney+! Follow the gripping backstory of bounty hunter Boba Fett and elite mercenary Fennec Shand as they navigate the galaxy’s underworld amongst the sands and tribes of Tatooine.
Work by The Third Floor (TTF) continued to support the show’s virtual shot design and blocking process, used by directors, cinematographers and visual effects teams to visualize the action, characters and environments they want to film during a first pass at production. Within a 3D previs version of the stage or backlot, shots across each scene or episode can be explored with a virtual camera, with performances of characters and creatures represented through motion capture. TTF artists also worked closely with the Virtual Art Department as environments were visualized and optimized for use in filming on Lucasfilm and ILM’s StageCraft LED screens.
The Third Floor also produced techvis, liaising with Production VFX Supervisor Richard Bluff and teams from multiple departments to diagram setups and equipment required to achieve and shoot the envisioned action on set. This also included techvis and motion control virtual production to help facilitate plate and motion rig shoots for CG creature and vehicle shots, as well as operating and integrating simulcam capabilities used with the film camera and on handheld displays.
“One really cool thing on the show was working on shots with the Rancor, a rare beast fans will remember from The Return of the Jedi,” said The Third Floor Virtual Production Supervisor Steven Tom. “In order to tie in plates of Boba riding and controlling the creature with the CG animation, creature motion was played back on a Rancor motion base, with the motion designed around his distinctive stature some 5-meters high and the reaching and clawing movements he would make with disproportionately long arms. Via NCAM through the viewfinder, we could simultaneously have a view of the CG character moving around and animating in the context of the live-action actor and set. We also had a comprehensive shooting plan that included marking out camera locations and worked with the special effects motion base team to dial in the motion per the action and effects at hand.”
Simulcam via NCAM was also run via the film camera to visualize other key digital components in context with the backlot set, including Scorpenek Annihilator Droids unleashed on the heroes in the battle for Mos Espa. The Third Floor’s Cyclops hand-held AR app provided additional flexibility across the season for creatives and crew to pick up an iPad and quickly view digital effects, set extensions and characters in context while on set, at a location or during production discussions. These real-time views allowed for quick checks of size, scale and position for digital assets, characters and parts of the set builds relative to the environment.
