10 Movie Special Effects Nobody Believed
2. BB-8 - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Special Effect
To make the instantly lovable droid BB-8 a tactile and free-standing entity in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams relied on a number of (mostly practical) special effects solutions.
The movement of BB-8's football-like body was achieved by wheels within the inside of the unit, which were counter-balanced by weights to ensure smooth movement, while a gyroscope maintained a continuous sense of direction.
As for keeping BB-8's head atop the body? Magnets worked in tandem with a centrifuge to ensure it could maintain a consistent position regardless of what the body was doing.
Seven different BB-8 props were made for The Force Awakens, and more complex action beats required them to be attached to a mobile "trike" unit, or even be pushed by a performer in a green leotard who was painted out in post-production.
Why Nobody Believed It
J.J. Abrams put it best himself, "There were a lot of discussions about how having a CG BB-8 would be so much easier."
We're so conditioned to expect complex mechanical objects like this to be rendered digitally that there was never any expectation from fans that BB-8 would be a practical, tangible object.
And so, Lucasfilm was able to have a ton of fun trotting out various versions of BB-8 on The Force Awakens' red carpet premieres worldwide, confirming that he wasn't simply a very, very convincing digital prop.