While the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards are still a few days away, the Creative Arts Emmys have been going on all week to single out additional exceptional work on the year’s best television, and a big early winner is The Mandalorian. It should come as no surprise that the Disney+ series is doing incredibly well in the crafts categories, as the brains behind the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV series literally invented new technology in order to make the show feasible.
That’s reflected in the show’s Emmy win for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for Episode 2 titled “The Child,” beating out competitors Stranger Things, Watchmen, Westworld, and Lost in Space.
The Mandalorian also won the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) for Episode 7, “The Reckoning,” with Greig Fraser (ASC, ACS) and Baz Idoine sharing the award. Fraser, Idoine, and the Mandalorian team (including showrunner Jon Favreau) worked hard to develop technology that made it possible to render visual effects backgrounds in real-time, allowing for their actors and cameras to capture as much as possible in-camera as opposed to filling the backgrounds in after the fact. I spoke with Fraser at length about this challenging process if you’re interested in learning more.
“I’m honored to have been considered alongside the other nominees: Jas Shelton, Kira Kelly, Ava Berkofsky and Benedict Spense. Their work raised the bar so high this year, the Emmy could equally be shared by all of us,” says Fraser in a statement, who is currently in the United Kingdom shooting The Batman. “I’m humbled to accept this accolade, alongside my friend and colleague Baz Idoine, from the Television Academy on behalf of my crew and the whole team behind The Mandalorian.”
“It’s been a dream to work alongside the talented team at Lucasfilm and ILM to make advancements and improvements to the filmmaking process to help tell stories more efficiently.” says Fraser. “The real kudos need to go to my family, who have supported my crazy filmmaking dreams — from Melbourne, to LA, England and the wider world — by supporting my projects and passions over the past years. I am indebted to more people than can be listed right now, but Jodie and my mum deserve a special shout out!”
In addition to Visual Effects and Cinematography, The Mandalorian also picked up Emmy wins for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation.
via Collider