I recently posted a ten-part series examining the latest trailer for Shadow Lord in detail, and one thing I want to get into in more depth is the show’s art style.
In examining the trailer together with @watercolor-alien, she noticed that the shot posted above appears to be hand-painted in multiple layers that are compiled together with digital and animation effects overlaid to create the final scene. I have also seen speculation from the Eckhart’sLadder youtube channel— who did their own trailer analysis— that the ship itself is possibly the same full-fidelity imperial star destroyer model asset made for the filming of Rogue One.
“Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director Joel Aron really took it up a notch with going back to the practical ways of capturing brush strokes by painting them on glass, shooting them then strategically placing them in shots,” says Executive Producer and Vice President of Lucasfilm Animation Athena Portillo. “He even went back to establishing matte paintings on canvas. There's always different challenges with every show that we do, but this one in particular raised the bar.”
—Kristen Baver, starwars.com
Seeing so many different techniques, especially techniques used in the filming of the original trilogy, all coming together to create shots like these is extremely cool, and makes me very excited for the final project.
One thing that did stand out to me as a positive about the sequel movies was the unique visual design of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber— the blade itself made to look violent and unstable. It seems that idea has been introduced to the red sabers of Shadow Lord as well. Maul and Marrok’s blades have a hint of instability to them, an excellent visual metaphor for the nature of dark side power, and those who choose to wield it.
The two blue lightsabers we see, held by Devon Izara and Master Eeko Dio-Daki, both seem to burn with a steadier light. That said, Devon’s, at least, doesn’t appear to be entirely steady. You can see some wavering to the core of the blade. It’s difficult to tell with the very brief shot we got of Master Dio-Daki’s saber, as it remains in motion throughout, but it would be a neat touch if his lightsaber burns most steadily of all.
So many of the effects look like brushstrokes— the lightsaber trails, the smoke and fog, the motion blurs. Really stunning design choice. I’m having a terribly hard time picking which screenshots to use.
At this point I’d like to turn this post over to the wonderful @watercolor-alien, who can speak with far more knowledge than I can about how freakin cool the design of these effects is!
Things like smoke/steam, muzzle flare on blasters and miniguns, fire in explosions and flamethrowers, and saber clashes have a distinctly hand-painted look with visible brushstrokes in these trailers. Whether that's the paint-on-glass technique mentioned above or a digital painting technique, it looks incredible. (Make sure you click to see the brushstroke detailing--tumblr fucks with the quality otherwise.)
Even in moving shots, subtle shifted still layers can make effects look dynamic, like with this steam which appears to be statically painted but still adjusts as the depth of the shot shifts
This thick plume of smoke on a crashing ship looks like it was applied with a sponge, either literally or with a digital brush to recreate that effect
Two other examples of what appears to be hand-painted smoke can be found in these shots
Flame effects seem to be composed of a series of hand-painted frames, which look to be done digitally by hand (possibly traditionally on glass, but given the number of frames used per flame effect, that would be exhaustive).
A few frames from a sequence of a kom'rk being blown up
And from Rook's flamethrower
An example of what I'm referring to with the muzzle flare can be seen in the shot of Deemis included in the original post, but here are some other great examples
Another cool place that seemingly hand-painted brushstrokes show up is in smear frames. Not to be confused with the literal motion blur effect applied via video editing, though they are often used in tandem.
I'm not sure if this is a treatment applied to the impact frames or if some of them literally have a single frame that is fully painted over, but the frame shown in the original post of Maul mid-bolt deflection and this nightbrother group shot both look like the moment of impact is a single 2D painting, making for a very striking effect!
A lot of the lighting in impact frames looks hand-applied, be it via painting or just manual lighting manipulation for a single frame or two whenever things explode, clash, flare, or otherwise hit with a bright instant of light. These frames of Devon evading gunship fire are super cool, and are presumably either painted on or heavily treated to produce the effects shown
These split-second moments of seemingly over-the-top color and blinding light sell the force of the impact, and are used in both 2D & 3D animation. I am wondering how the impact frames were made for Shadow Lord, because most of them have a distinctly bespoke/done-by-hand quality that looks so beautiful in the trailers. (Note that none of these screenshots have been edited except for cropping.)
There's even a fantastic example of subtler impact frame lighting used in this physical kick Devon pulls off here, in which her saber, her opponent's saber, and even the tunnel lighting glow a little brighter and reflect off of as much of the surface of her as possible in the moment that her foot connects.
Many of the backgrounds, especially in wide shots, are a single matte painting (or, in some cases, a few layers that pan and scale at different rates to provide parallax). This is a fantastic return to techniques used in the original trilogy, and also provides this cool concept-art-y feel to the world in the show.
Some sort of painterly effect has been applied to the rendered animations that helps blend the hand-painted aspects with the 3D-modeled aspects. In addition, the color on the 3D models of characters and foreground structures are done in a distinctly painterly fashion, with visible brushstrokes and bold color use to create complex color palettes and texture. These color applications change for each new environment and lighting setup the model is found in. The following screencaps of Devon and Maul are great examples--she has purple and periwinkle swatches applied on certain areas of her face, and Maul has soft pinks and turquoises mixed in with his red!
Sometimes the model coloring can change mid-sequence, such as this shot of Eeko-Dio in which he's illuminated briefly by lightning. These gorgeous purple highlights show up that are missing (or, at least, invisible) the rest of the time.
Sometimes foreground elements are also static paintings that get a lighting layer applied overtop, like the ship framing the upper half of this shot of Maul descending from the gangplank:
If anyone knows more about this stuff, feel free to correct me, but I thought I'd share what I've noticed :)
I recently posted a ten-part series examining the latest trailer for Shadow Lord in detail, and one thing I want to get into in more depth is the show’s art style.
In examining the trailer together with @watercolor-alien, she noticed that the shot posted above appears to be hand-painted in multiple layers that are compiled together with digital and animation effects overlaid to create the final scene. I have also seen speculation from the Eckhart’sLadder youtube channel— who did their own trailer analysis— that the ship itself is possibly the same full-fidelity imperial star destroyer model asset made for the filming of Rogue One.
“Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director Joel Aron really took it up a notch with going back to the practical ways of capturing brush strokes by painting them on glass, shooting them then strategically placing them in shots,” says Executive Producer and Vice President of Lucasfilm Animation Athena Portillo. “He even went back to establishing matte paintings on canvas. There's always different challenges with every show that we do, but this one in particular raised the bar.”
—Kristen Baver, starwars.com
Seeing so many different techniques, especially techniques used in the filming of the original trilogy, all coming together to create shots like these is extremely cool, and makes me very excited for the final project.
One thing that did stand out to me as a positive about the sequel movies was the unique visual design of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber— the blade itself made to look violent and unstable. It seems that idea has been introduced to the red sabers of Shadow Lord as well. Maul and Marrok’s blades have a hint of instability to them, an excellent visual metaphor for the nature of dark side power, and those who choose to wield it.
The two blue lightsabers we see, held by Devon Izara and Master Eeko Dio-Daki, both seem to burn with a steadier light. That said, Devon’s, at least, doesn’t appear to be entirely steady. You can see some wavering to the core of the blade. It’s difficult to tell with the very brief shot we got of Master Dio-Daki’s saber, as it remains in motion throughout, but it would be a neat touch if his lightsaber burns most steadily of all.
So many of the effects look like brushstrokes— the lightsaber trails, the smoke and fog, the motion blurs. Really stunning design choice. I’m having a terribly hard time picking which screenshots to use.
At this point I’d like to turn this post over to the wonderful @watercolor-alien, who can speak with far more knowledge than I can about how freakin cool the design of these effects is!
Things like smoke/steam, muzzle flare on blasters and miniguns, fire in explosions and flamethrowers, and saber clashes have a distinctly hand-painted look with visible brushstrokes in these trailers. Whether that's the paint-on-glass technique mentioned above or a digital painting technique, it looks incredible. (Make sure you click to see the brushstroke detailing--tumblr fucks with the quality otherwise.)
Even in moving shots, subtle shifted still layers can make effects look dynamic, like with this steam which appears to be statically painted but still adjusts as the depth of the shot shifts
This thick plume of smoke on a crashing ship looks like it was applied with a sponge, either literally or with a digital brush to recreate that effect
Two other examples of what appears to be hand-painted smoke can be found in these shots
Flame effects seem to be composed of a series of hand-painted frames, which look to be done digitally by hand (possibly traditionally on glass, but given the number of frames used per flame effect, that would be exhaustive).
A few frames from a sequence of a kom'rk being blown up
And from Rook's flamethrower
An example of what I'm referring to with the muzzle flare can be seen in the shot of Deemis included in the original post, but here are some other great examples
Another cool place that seemingly hand-painted brushstrokes show up is in smear frames. Not to be confused with the literal motion blur effect applied via video editing, though they are often used in tandem.
I'm not sure if this is a treatment applied to the impact frames or if some of them literally have a single frame that is fully painted over, but the frame shown in the original post of Maul mid-bolt deflection and this nightbrother group shot both look like the moment of impact is a single 2D painting, making for a very striking effect!
A lot of the lighting in impact frames looks hand-applied, be it via painting or just manual lighting manipulation for a single frame or two whenever things explode, clash, flare, or otherwise hit with a bright instant of light. These frames of Devon evading gunship fire are super cool, and are presumably either painted on or heavily treated to produce the effects shown
These split-second moments of seemingly over-the-top color and blinding light sell the force of the impact, and are used in both 2D & 3D animation. I am wondering how the impact frames were made for Shadow Lord, because most of them have a distinctly bespoke/done-by-hand quality that looks so beautiful in the trailers. (Note that none of these screenshots have been edited except for cropping.)
There's even a fantastic example of subtler impact frame lighting used in this physical kick Devon pulls off here, in which her saber, her opponent's saber, and even the tunnel lighting glow a little brighter and reflect off of as much of the surface of her as possible in the moment that her foot connects.
I recently posted a ten-part series examining the latest trailer for Shadow Lord in detail, and one thing I want to get into in more depth is the show’s art style.
In examining the trailer together with @watercolor-alien, she noticed that the shot posted above appears to be hand-painted in multiple layers that are compiled together with digital and animation effects overlaid to create the final scene. I have also seen speculation from the Eckhart’sLadder youtube channel— who did their own trailer analysis— that the ship itself is possibly the same full-fidelity imperial star destroyer model asset made for the filming of Rogue One.
“Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director Joel Aron really took it up a notch with going back to the practical ways of capturing brush strokes by painting them on glass, shooting them then strategically placing them in shots,” says Executive Producer and Vice President of Lucasfilm Animation Athena Portillo. “He even went back to establishing matte paintings on canvas. There's always different challenges with every show that we do, but this one in particular raised the bar.”
—Kristen Baver, starwars.com
Seeing so many different techniques, especially techniques used in the filming of the original trilogy, all coming together to create shots like these is extremely cool, and makes me very excited for the final project.
One thing that did stand out to me as a positive about the sequel movies was the unique visual design of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber— the blade itself made to look violent and unstable. It seems that idea has been introduced to the red sabers of Shadow Lord as well. Maul and Marrok’s blades have a hint of instability to them, an excellent visual metaphor for the nature of dark side power, and those who choose to wield it.
The two blue lightsabers we see, held by Devon Izara and Master Eeko Dio-Daki, both seem to burn with a steadier light. That said, Devon’s, at least, doesn’t appear to be entirely steady. You can see some wavering to the core of the blade. It’s difficult to tell with the very brief shot we got of Master Dio-Daki’s saber, as it remains in motion throughout, but it would be a neat touch if his lightsaber burns most steadily of all.
So many of the effects look like brushstrokes— the lightsaber trails, the smoke and fog, the motion blurs. Really stunning design choice. I’m having a terribly hard time picking which screenshots to use.
At this point I’d like to turn this post over to the wonderful @watercolor-alien, who can speak with far more knowledge than I can about how freakin cool the design of these effects is!
Things like smoke/steam, muzzle flare on blasters and miniguns, fire in explosions and flamethrowers, and saber clashes have a distinctly hand-painted look with visible brushstrokes in these trailers. Whether that's the paint-on-glass technique mentioned above or a digital painting technique, it looks incredible. (Make sure you click to see the brushstroke detailing--tumblr fucks with the quality otherwise.)
Even in moving shots, subtle shifted still layers can make effects look dynamic, like with this steam which appears to be statically painted but still adjusts as the depth of the shot shifts
This thick plume of smoke on a crashing ship looks like it was applied with a sponge, either literally or with a digital brush to recreate that effect
Two other examples of what appears to be hand-painted smoke can be found in these shots
Flame effects seem to be composed of a series of hand-painted frames, which look to be done digitally by hand (possibly traditionally on glass, but given the number of frames used per flame effect, that would be exhaustive).
A few frames from a sequence of a kom'rk being blown up
And from Rook's flamethrower
An example of what I'm referring to with the muzzle flare can be seen in the shot of Deemis included in the original post, but here are some other great examples
Does anyone have any clue (or theory?) as to what this metal thing Echo wears above his left ankle is? It’s on him after tbb s1 [images from official character model sheets found on starwars.com]
Looks to be worn over his pants, which makes it less likely (but not impossible) for it to be part of his cybernetic legs
“You don't dare bring this character back unless there's something interesting to say.”
—Sam Witwer, Star Wars Insider #236
A new interview with Sam Witwer by Star Wars Insider, published today in their latest issue, reveals a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Shadow Lord’s production, details on Maul’s emotional journey and struggles through the show, and some of Maul’s thoughts on his former Master’s new Empire.
Star Wars Insider: You've played Maul through so many stages of his life-rage, loss, obsession. Where does Shadow Lord find him emotionally?
Sam Witwer: He's confused, and a little apprehensive. We pick up after The Clone Wars. The Empire has taken over, and Maul's reassessing everything. There were plans in place that were supposed to insulate him from the changes when the Empire came to power, and a lot of the people that were supposed to be there for him were not. He's getting back on his feet, the dust is clearing, and he's looking around at the Empire the thing he and his master had been working toward since he was an apprenticeand thinking, "Is this what Palpatine had in mind? How do I feel about this?”
Star Wars Insider: He was once the puppet, but in The Clone Wars, Maul started seizing control for himself and becoming the puppeteer. Does that energy carry into this series?
Sam Witwer: Definitely. In the opening episodes, you see him pulling strings, trying to build a new power base. His plan is ambitious, but he struggles with whether he's the puppet master or the guy who goes and takes care of things himself. He doesn't delegate well. He's so used to being the one who handles everything personally that he often still goes off to do it when maybe he shouldn't. Delegation is very difficult. He doesn't trust easily.
He does have a few people he relies on to an extent. Rook Kast is his first lieutenant, and their relationship is interesting because Maul actually listens to her. He's learned that people have valuable points of view and that, unlike Palpatine, he needs to hear bad news sometimes. So, he's figuring out what it really means to be a shadow lord.
Star Wars Insider: We've seen different facets of Maul's personality through moments of trauma— like what happened to his brother, Savage Opress, being discarded by Palpatine. What new aspects of him did you get to explore this time?
Sam Witwer: You don't dare bring this character back unless there's something interesting to say. There are traits and emotions we're digging into.
He's very angry at Palpatine. He understands now that that guy is the root of his suffering. He got that by the time of Rebels. In Shadow Lord he sees it even clearer. Everywhere he looks in the Empire, he sees Palpatine's hand. If Maul's going to shake his fist at him, he has to believe he's somehow superior to Palpatine. If he's not, then he deserves everything that happened to him. That's the starting point: he's exploring who he is and also thinking about his brother, Savage Opress, his first apprentice and family.
Did he treat him as well as he should've, considering how loyal Savage was? No. But now he's finally assessing that and realizing, "I failed him."
Star Wars Insider: That's a heavy idea for Maul to consider at all.
Sam Witwer: It is. There's a grand reassessment of every part of his life. He was trained to hate and destroy the Jedi without ever questioning it. Now he's looking at the galaxy going, "Boy, we could sure use a Jedi Knight or two." At least with the Jedi you knew where they stood. There's something to respect there. This Empire, he sees no values there, just the naked grab for influence, power, and money. Principles are gone. And he looks at that with a certain level of distaste. He may not have agreed with the Jedi Knights, but at least they had principles. You knew who you were dealing with and you could reason with that. There's no reasoning with the Empire.
This show is bad guys versus worse guys, and Maul's on the bad-guy side of that equation.
Star Wars Insider: In the past, you've mentioned parallels between Maul and Anakin Skywalker. How do you see their paths diverging?
Sam Witwer: Vader bought into Palpatine's plan completely. Even if he had doubts, he was all in. Maul never was, not really. Maybe in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but everything that happened afterwards changed him. He's still the same ruthless, dangerous figure in the new show— if you cross him, you're done— and he still manipulates people. But he's drawn new lines he won't cross. There are new behaviors that might make a viewer think, "He kind of has a point."
One of the magical things about Maul is that he tells the truth a lot. He told the truth to Ahsoka. Everything he said was true, and he was the only character who had a workable plan when the Empire was about to come to power. He just blew the pitch.
Star Wars Insider: His "join me" moment with Ahsoka didn't go quite as planned.
Sam Witwer: [Laughs] No! He assumed that because they'd both been cast out by their orders, she'd share his hatred. He told her, "Good news: we get to kill your old master." And she was like, "That's my best friend." Huge miscalculation. In Shadow Lord, he's more aware of that mistake. He's learning how to say things in ways people can actually hear. He's figuring out how to filter his message. He's more aware of how badly that went down and how not to repeat it.
The other thing is that their duel on Mandalore, that was a tough fight for Maul. He didn't know how to pitch that battle because he was trying to preserve Ahsoka's life. He knows how to create chaos. He doesn't know how to get this person on his side. When he finally lets the dark side take over— when he decides nothing matters— he's unstoppable. In this new series, he's learned to fight in other ways, too. He's learning to use words, manipulation, persuasion. He's realizing there's responsibility behind every action. That's new territory for Maul.
Star Wars Insider: It's been a little while since you last played the character. What clicked-or didn't when you stepped back into the recording booth?
Sam Witwer: I know how to play Maul, but we didn't want to go easy on ourselves. Brad Rau and I wanted to experiment. Brad's a genius. He was the brilliant showrunner of The Bad Batch and a wonderful collaborator. We had a few go-arounds before we hit the right tone. People will say, "Oh, that's Maul," but every time he's returned, he's been a different version. He's different in The Phantom Menace, different in The Clone Wars, different again in Rebels. This one is distinct but closest to how he was at the end of Clone Wars.
Star Wars Insider: You got to reunite with many of the same collaborators from the previous animated series. Did it feel like getting the band back together?
Sam Witwer: Definitely. Matt Michnovetz has been writing this stuff forever. I would bring up an idea and he'd go, "Well, remember Clone Wars Season 3, Episode 17..." and pull some deep cut.
There are producers, and then there are nuclear producers like Athena Portillo, who was so devoted to getting things right that she wouldn't let us fail. She built in contingencies and gave us time to experiment before we had to send any episodes out. She locked several completely but kept the early ones open so we could go back and revise them once we had learned how to make the show better. She's the kind of leader who solves problems before anyone else knows they even exist.
Keith Kellogg in animation, Joel Aron in lighting— they've given the show a new look that's more in line with how Maul sees the galaxy: dangerous and extreme. David Collins, who I've worked with for 18 years, has created the soundscape. It's unlike anything we've heard in Star Wars before. Closer to THX 1138. It sounds like a weird feature film, not a TV show. Dave Filoni gave us the mandate to do everything better: acting, scripts, story, cinematography, sound. He told us to push everything further. We built this subplot that wasn't in the scripts and what came out of it is one of my favorite things we've ever done with the character. It's strange, emotional, and absolutely Star Wars.
Star Wars Insider: That sounds like an amazing creative environment.
Sam Witwer: It really was. Everyone has been pushing the boundaries. We've tried things you wouldn't imagine, like me shooting reference footage for complex, emotional scenes, so the animators could see how my eyes and expressions worked. We've even used some practical photography tricks that no one will recognize because it all looks painted, but they solved problems in old-school fashion, like the guys at Industrial Light & Magic back in the day.
These are people I've worked with for almost two decades. We trust each other completely. If someone has a note, you listen. We all wanted to make this the best thing we've ever done.
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