Part 8/20:
ILM’s innovations included a revolutionary motion control camera—allowing multiple passes of models to be captured with precise repetition—crucial for the complexity of space battles and ships zipping through asteroid fields. Every element—spaceships, planets, explosions—had to be filmed separately and composited in meticulous layers, often involving expensive, groundbreaking techniques. Notable contributions included designing the Millennium Falcon’s iconic look after an initial design was abandoned due to similarities with Space 1999 and creating the detailed, textured ships and planetary backgrounds.