StarWars.com sit down with ILM-ers Todd Vaziri and Hal Hickel to discuss their work on the films and some beautiful, iconic shots from the three trilogies and Rogue One.
StarWars.com: Out of all the shots you worked on, which ones are you really proud of?
Hal Hickel: I supervised all the animation work in Rogue One, so that film is near and dear to me. I love the shot in Rogue One where the two Star Destroyers crash into one another. Not only did that shot materialize super late in the game, but the idea behind the movie was conceived by one of our own here at ILM [Editor’s Note: It was the legendary John Knoll.]. We created the Star Destroyer crash because we wanted the rebels to have a victory. We didn’t want to just make it all about retrieving the plans for the Death Star.
The whole series of shots where the Death Star blasts Jehda is incredible, too. They’re beautiful, but terrifyingly so. Our London studio did those shots.
Todd Vaziri: Rogue One was one of the highlights of my career. I worked on the shot where we see the Death Star for the first time. It’s a cool shot because it adds so much information in a short amount of time. As the shadows melt away from behind the Star Destroyer, you suddenly realize you’re seeing the station lights from the Death Star.
[lasso box=”B07TPYY3H1″ ref=”amzn-sw-rogue-one-us-ec-bd” id=”169732″ link_id=”16096″]
