Star Wars: Skeleton Crew continues the legacy of Star Wars visual effects through a blend of digital techniques and practical effects. Neel, an elephantine character, stands out among the protagonists, showcasing a unique combination of traditional puppetry and CG animation. DNEG, the visual effects company, played a pivotal role in creating Neel’s expressiveness and handling head replacements for practical challenges faced by the performer. This approach not only honors the franchise's roots but also captures the innovative spirit, utilizing cutting-edge technology while relying on time-honored practices.
For the puppets and the very traditional style of animation that we were producing, we always had pretty good reference. The two main animated characters that we worked on were Neel and the security droids.
We did quite a few head replacements for Neel. Not because showrunners were unhappy with the animatronic head, but because in some cases Kacie Borrowman couldn't see completely clearly through that head.
We made sure that our animation rig and our asset exactly matched the capabilities of the animatronic head. We didn't want to compromise on Neel’s expressivity.
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