A Gigantic 8 And A Half Acre Set Was Built For Both Seasons Of Andor
Set design is an intricate and often underappreciated aspect of filmmaking. After all, the majority of settings in a movie don't just appear there out of thin air. Most of the time, it takes nearly a village of designers and construction workers to create the best-looking sets for a movie or television show. This is especially true if the sets are for a major science-fiction franchise like "Star Wars."
During a press conference for the Diego Luna-starring "Star Wars" prequel "Andor," showrunner Tony Gilroy took time to describe the work of Luke Hull, the show's set designer. Comparing him to the famous composer Mozart, he praised the designer for his work and teased just how massive in scale the sets for the "Rogue One" prequel will be.
"[Hull and the production team] built an eight-and-a-half acre city for us that we will use for all twelve episodes," Gilroy revealed. "We built a place. We built a whole culture. We built a whole life. We built a whole tradition. We had people care about it. It's a fantastic maximal expression of imagination."
The massive set created for "Andor" does not utilize Industrial Light & Magic's StageCraft technology. However, that doesn't mean it won't look as high-quality or immersive. Gilroy explained that this massive place built for the show is a 360-degree set, meaning that all eight-and-a-half acres of the set spare no expense when it comes to detail.
Walking in like you belong
Unfortunately, one thing that we are still not sure about is what this set is being used for. Perhaps it is used for shots of Ferrix, a newly-introduced desert world which serves as a main setting of "Andor." However, it could also be the titular character's mysterious and desolate homeworld, which was destroyed by the Empire. While this answer is still unknown for now, we do know that the stars of "Andor" remember the set very fondly.
"I remember like ten city blocks; that's how big it felt for me," recalled Adria Arjona, who portrays Kleya in the series. "I think maybe it wasn't, but I just remember the first day, sort of walking around and kind of getting lost in it and exploring. It was so cool."
She also recalled one scene the crew was filming where the director emphasized just how immersive the set they were on really was:
"I remember there was one day where one of our directors told me to run, and I was like 'Well, where do you want me to run?' He's like, 'Anywhere you want,' because everything was filmable."
If you're excited to see this mysterious set in action, watch "Andor" on Disney+ when it premieres on September 21, 2022.