Movie Magic and the Painted Sky
A sweeping look at how shifting skies and bold color palettes reshape cinematic landscapes with gentle artistry and a touch of atmospheric wonder…
24th July 2026
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Q: The underwater scenes of Otoh Gunga had a beauty all their own. Were these particularly difficult to create, and what parts were live action vs. miniatures vs. CG?
ILM: The Otoh Gunga Boardroom scene was challenging as we needed to create an otherworldly environment with a backdrop which was underwater. We wanted everything to have a magical feeling, with warm rich colors; that in itself presented problems as we still had to convey that water, which is inherently cold, was beyond the transparent walls. Generally the only live action parts were the actors Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor; they were shot on a partial set, but even that, along with various miniature model elements of the environment, was brought into the CG world and manipulated, before being composited together with other entirely CG elements (the board members, Boss Nass, JarJar, the fish, the exterior spheres and bubbles).