Chris

He didn’t start from scratch though did he - absolutely everything about that scene was already established. Lighting, camera angles, movement of the body double and every other decision was taken and all Shamook has done is the final mapping of a young Mark Hamill face onto the scene, with the added advantage of having seen it done already, allowing him to reflect on where improvements could be made before starting work.

Had he been working for ILM at the time, four whole days of his time contracted out to Disney/Lucasfilm would not have come cheap. The fact is, it *is* a TV show on a budget and talented though this guy is, had he been bound by the timescales, editorial decisions and budget at the time, and asked to create the effect from scratch rather than improving on someone else’s take on it, there’s no guarantee he would have done better. This hiring by ILM, wise though it is, does not in itself mean that he is vastly more talented than those already on staff and it can’t be taken as an admission by ILM that they screwed it up.

Incidentally, I think they could have done better, and probably should have given the emotional impact it was supposed to have. If it was a time or budget issue, then that’s bad production planning. But it really didn’t ruin the episode as some have claimed. Such histrionics are unnecessary.