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Galactic News
Tuesday September 18, 2001
Whose idea was it to use colored Q-tips as fans in
Phantom's Podrace Arena Grandstand scenes?
This report comes from the Official Star Wars Site!
Answered by: ILM Visual Effects
The idea for using cotton-tipped applicators as race fans was mine (Michael Lynch). I was in charge of the Mos Espa Arena model and we needed a quick and cheap means for filling the arena. I tried several other methods including laser-cut silhouettes undulating by a cam but this did not hold up to high camera angles. We did a camera test with the cotton-tipped applicators and they held up for middle and background fans. Over 390,000 swabs were used in the model.