Mandalorian Season 3: Effects and Opinions

Illustration by Roger Peralta / @flameboy.arts

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Season 3 of The Mandalorian!

The Mandalorian is one of the top shows streaming on Disney+, with weekly action-packed fights and a little green alien cute enough to melt even the toughest of hearts. But despite its popularity, The Mandalorian is not exempt from the notoriously strong opinions of Star Wars fans. In this article, I will share some of my thoughts, as well as those of other Star Wars fans, concerning the VFX of The Mandalorian.

Virtual Production

The Mandalorian has been one of the most dominant players in the virtual production world, being one of the first to incorporate XR technology into television- as well as being one of the best at it. The artists always do amazing jobs integrating the stage with the live actors and set, ensuring the immersion is mostly seamless and hardly broken.

However, I try to break the immersion for myself anyways. I enjoy playing a game of “Guess Where the LED Starts”, where as you can assume, I try to find the precise line where the ground ends and the screen starts. In some shows (especially The Mandalorian), this can be hard. However, one scene in Season 3 Episode 7 stood out to me when playing this game, and I am going to go over why:

Now, the scene certainly looks pretty, but in my opinion, if you stare at it for too long, it feels like a set. The debris perfectly creates a clearing for them to stand while covering where I can only assume is the bottom of the LED panels. It quite literally makes a stage for them. This scene certainly looked cool, and the layout could arguably make sense with the plot, but once you see it, the overall feeling of it being on a stage interrupts the immersiveness.

Granted, it is also possible that this scene was not shot on an XR stage and was created in some other way. If that is the case, I recognize I could sound quite silly. But I really do think it is an XR stage.

Virtual production is a dangerous tool if relied on too heavily. Compared to other shows and even earlier seasons, The Mandalorian is doing a pretty great job with it. But, with its popularity and how capitalizable this show and franchise is, I do fear the possibility of sacrificing the attention to detail and immersiveness to produce episodes more quickly. However, I believe that the passion the creators have for filmmaking is one of the key things holding the quality of the show together. Because let’s be honest- it’s Star Wars. People are going to watch this show even if the VFX is shoddy.

VFX

Speaking of shoddy VFX, Star Wars (and Disney overall) are consistently criticized for the quality of their CGI. Viewers seem to have conflicting opinions on The Mandalorian, as usual.

After rewatching a couple of scenes to focus on the VFX, I have come to my own personal conclusion: It’s good!

That’s all…brief and to the point! I think it is a pretty good VFX. Could it be better? For sure, but I think critics have to keep in mind that this is a TV show, not a movie. I agree that it is appropriate to expect a certain standard from one of the most prominent companies in the industry, but I also think what we are receiving is pretty satisfactory considering the circumstances.

I discussed the CGI briefly with fellow SCAD bee Amelia McPartlin, who had a similar reaction. “It’s okay”, she shared, bereft of enthusiasm. We agreed that it was not necessarily breathtaking, but it certainly could have been a lot worse. She brought up that what stood out to her more than the VFX was the color grading-which I truthfully had not even been focusing on. The beginning underground sequence was hard to comprehend, with the combination of dim lighting. Perhaps this was a stylistic choice, intending to amplify the chaos that the Mandalorians felt as they fled from the callous invaders of their once beloved homeland. All we know is that we couldn’t see Bo Katan, and we want to see Bo Katan. 

Below is the powerful reveal of Gideon’s mysteriously stunning, stark black Empire X Mandalorian armor. Did they have to do this against a dark background?

As I watched the last episode, one thing that stood out to me was the dynamic between the CGI and the iconic puppet. This combination of puppetry and CGI is definitely being tested out this season. They are pushing the limits on how mobile the Grogu puppet can be as he flexes his force skills. That being stated, this is an interesting and expansive subject and something I will be covering in a future article.

Regarding the grand finale overall, Amelia and I concluded that it was not all we were hyped up for. It was not necessarily disappointing, but personally, I was looking for some more twists and turns, maybe a Mythosaur appearance besides an eyeblink. “I don’t know, I was expecting a bit more,” Amelia remarked. Admittedly, I have to agree, although a crushed Darksaber and a whole bunch of hero knee-sliding was kind of cool (even Grogu got to slide!). However, I do believe they are saving some of their tricks for later seasons. With all the plot lines established this season (a bit overwhelming at times ), there is certainly a lot in store for the future of The Mandalorian.