Working on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was a dream come true. I served as the Lead Character artist on the show.
The most prominent work I did for the show was the character Neel. I was privileged to have been a part of the process very early on helping at the start with keyframe tests using a work-in-progress design from Legacy as the character was first getting figured out. We then created the first full performance tests with the finalized design using data captured from one of the actors who portrayed him, Robert Timothy Smith and a full digital double I created of him just to drive the performance tests. Our first tests involved using medusa and facial performance capture to see how much of the performance of Neel could be a direct drive from the actor who wore a head mounted camera. While the initial tests were successful, everyone agreed the task was more to enhance the adorable puppet head vs create a photorealistic creature head. In the end I was in heaven partnering with Animation Supervisor Shawn Kelly and his team to meet that goal.
The most prominent work I did for the show was the character Neel. I was privileged to have been a part of the process very early on helping at the start with keyframe tests using a work-in-progress design from Legacy as the character was first getting figured out. We then created the first full performance tests with the finalized design using data captured from one of the actors who portrayed him, Robert Timothy Smith and a full digital double I created of him just to drive the performance tests. Our first tests involved using medusa and facial performance capture to see how much of the performance of Neel could be a direct drive from the actor who wore a head mounted camera. While the initial tests were successful, everyone agreed the task was more to enhance the adorable puppet head vs create a photorealistic creature head. In the end I was in heaven partnering with Animation Supervisor Shawn Kelly and his team to meet that goal.
I modeled the head and body geometry for the character detailing it in Zbrush, striving to capture all the detail of the practical head and blend it into a similarly detailed body that needed to partially show in the bath tub. The task from there became one of studying the Legacy animatronic head and building a full fledged facial shape library to give Neel a complete range of nuanced expressions that could partially blend over the practical head or replace it entirely with our fully digital head. Every time Neel’s face moves in a shot with digital elements a complex system of shapes I sculpted is being expertly animated by ILM animators. Hopefully the effect is so seamless it’s hard to tell when digital work is present for the viewer. In roughly something like 50% of the shots Neel is either digitally enhanced or fully digital. In addition to his facial shape library I also created flex shapes for his body, again to be used mainly in the bathtub scene for keep alive.
Once we were in shot production and Neel was animated I worked very closely with animation doing shot modeling correctives to get the character looking and performing his best.
Beyond Neel, I worked on many characters and digital doubles. I built the double for Jod in two costume variations and also contributed in various ways to the other digital doubles including KB, Fern and Wim as production progressed.
Another stand out memory for me was working on the Frog Dog that features in a number of scenes. The concept art wasn't fully defined and remained loose, so I got to flesh out the design to it myself creating the final version that is seen on screen. For a Star Wars fan like me, having the opportunity like that to put some of my own ideas into the look of a creature is something I will always cherish. Like Neel I also did the facial shapes and model correctives for this creature.
Another stand out memory for me was working on the Frog Dog that features in a number of scenes. The concept art wasn't fully defined and remained loose, so I got to flesh out the design to it myself creating the final version that is seen on screen. For a Star Wars fan like me, having the opportunity like that to put some of my own ideas into the look of a creature is something I will always cherish. Like Neel I also did the facial shapes and model correctives for this creature.
Another highlight was contributing to the real-time volume content and I’m also very proud of that. I modeled this building with the two red windows, but I won't point out which parts of it are part of the volume and which parts are a physical build on set. I’ll let you try and figure out where the seams might be. A cool element to this is I also modeled the two arm alien dancers in the red windows, that dynamically looped on set and were captured in camera.
I modeled facial shapes of the little rat creature that lives inside of SM-33’s eye.
I also modeled a number of the background aliens and other doubles including a digital version of the Teek, which again intercuts, blends and replaces interchangeably the practical puppet.
Another stand out for me is in these pirate pilot scenes where part of this Quarren alien are my model and sculpture and others parts are practical. Can you tell which parts are digital? Hopefully not!
Overall I hope that our work came across to the audience as seamless in it's integration. This project was a memorable milestone in my career and is among my favorite I've had the opportunity to work on thus far. An awesome adventure.