Movies - TV
Star Wars: Rogue One’s VFX Tech Struggled With A Small Peter Cushing Tic
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Gareth Edwards' 2016 film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was a prequel to the original 1977 “Star Wars,” highlighting how the Rebels obtained the Death Star blueprints.
To maintain continuity with the original saga, the film used CGI technology to revive familiar characters, particularly those portrayed by elderly or deceased actors.
The central villain of “Rogue One” is Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), who answers to Grand Moff Tarkin, the character played by Peter Cushing in the original films.
While wholeheartedly embraced by fans' nostalgia for the old villain, the special effects supervisor, John Knoll, struggled to recreate Cushing's lip movement tic.
While embraced wholeheartedly by fans' nostalgia for the old villain, the special effects supervisor, John Knoll, faced a struggle in recreating Cushing's lip movement tic.
He explained the difficulty to Vulture, “When Peter Cushing made an 'ah' sound, he mostly moved his lower lip and exposed his lower row of teeth. Guy didn't really do that.”
Expressing his frustrations with trying to match Henry's likeness of the character with Cushing’s, Knoll admitted, “The uncanny valley is definitely a pitfall.”