"Skeleton Crew", Neel and Misinformation

The cycle of downplaying or mischaracterizing digital effects is becoming distressingly predictable. I wrote about it at length, using the marketing of "Gran Turismo" — a film I didn't work on — as my example. 

When the misinformation comes for a project that I worked on (which has happened many times in the past), it becomes particularly infuriating.

In the lead-up to the release of "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew", Slashfilm wrote a piece on December 1st that loudly and proudly proclaimed that one alien character on the show was not created with digital effects. The headline "The Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Character Who Surprisingly Isn't CGI" isn't exactly leaving any wiggle room. The piece says "The elephant-like design of main character Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) may look a whole lot like a fully CGI creation, but that's actually quite far from the truth."

In reality, Neel was brought to life using a combination of techniques, including digital effects. Clayton Sandell documented this on Bluesky, based on interviews with "Skeleton Crew" ILM VFX supervisor Eddie Pasquarello and ILM animation supervisor Shawn Kelly.

From Clayton's reporting:

"Neel is a beautifully-creative mix of practical AND digital techniques: the voice & physical performance of young actor Robert Timothy Smith and a stunt performer; digital animation; and puppetry... Kelly says that in about HALF of all shots, however, the Neel puppet was either augmented digitally or replaced entirely, depending on the storytelling needs. In this shot from episode one, for example, Kelly says Neel’s head is 100% digital."

I was the compositor on this shot. (I was a lead artist on "Skeleton Crew" at ILM). Imagine my shock when I read the Slashfilm headline that invalidated the hard work our team put into a character, and saw a false mythology form right in front of our eyes.

On Bluesky, I politely asked Slashfilm to correct or amend their headline and article based on Clayton's reporting. And they did.

The new December 10 headline is "One Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Character Is A Stunning Blend Of Incredible Visual Effects" which is much better, and extremely accurate. A key sentence was added to the piece, as well:

"Neel was made using a stunning, seamless combination of practical and digital effects."

(Hilariously, the Slashfilm URL remains as it was originally published, which includes the string: 'star-wars-skeleton-crew-character-neel-not-cgi'.)

I humbly yet forcefully ask media outlets not to fall into the false mythology trap. Do not proclaim that a certain set piece, stunt, or effect from a movie was done "completely" with any one technique without having absolute certainty of the facts. Making movies is a team effort, and there isn't a "war" between the practical effects teams and the digital teams. We're all working together to make the best movie we can — we are in a symbiotic relationship, and anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you a false mythology.