New Thor 4 Set Photos Show Off The Mandalorian VFX Production Tech
"The Mandalorian" is groundbreaking in a number of ways, not least of which is that it's the first, true, live-action "Star Wars" television series. However, one of the other ways the show helped break ground lies in the way its production is handled.
Most shows and films utilizing heavy VFX rely mostly on the use of green screens. If you've never heard Sir Ian McKellen's stories of how distressed he became acting to tennis balls rather than people in "The Hobbit," suffice to say green screens represent a significant challenge for actors. "The Mandalorian" represents a major leap forward in production precisely because it improves how actors interact with the digital worlds we, as the audience, see in the final product.
Industrial Light & Magic created StageCraft LED precisely to bring digital worlds to the soundstage. Not only does it make the actors' lives easier, but it also helps the rest of the team light performers and real-life sets better, among other benefits.
"Thor: Love and Thunder" is utilizing ILM's technology, as Taika Waititi revealed recently on Instagram.
Our first sneaky look at Thor's StageCraft world
On April 29, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder director and co-writer Taika Waititi took to Instagram to show off one of the pleasures of his job — directing his own daughter. Both of Waititi's daughters, Te Hinekaahu, 8, and Matewa, 5, were on set, with Matewa acting and Te Hinekaahu seemingly acting in a directorial capacity. But there's something else happening behind the family that's also exciting — ILM's StageCraft LED screens.
We may not be able to see much, but we can see what appear to be either asteroids or a planet blown apart. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's something almost a little "Guardians of the Galaxy" to the background we see in Waititi's images.
We'd heard that "Thor: Love and Thunder" would be utilizing StageCraft, but this is our first visual confirmation that it's actually happening. It'll be interesting to see the other MCU actors in more fully realized fantastical worlds as more behind-the-scenes images begin to find themselves out in the world.
"Thor: Love and Thunder" is currently set for a May 6, 2022, release.