One of the most important facets of the production of Episode VII is how Abrams manages to balance computer-generated imagery with practical, old-fashioned effects. Such was a major criticism of his prequel trilogy, that by allowing the action and drama to unfold in such a heightened, digital arena, much of the soul of the original movies had been lost. From what we've seen so far, though, Abrams will be employing heavily practical effects, and this sneaky snap of a monster (creatively referred to online as a mixture of a rhino, a pig and bulldog) certainly makes that point clear. Though we have absolutely no idea how greatly this creature and others like it will feature in the movie (perhaps it will feature in a few shots, or maybe it'll figure in a major plot point), we can already tell it has an organic, real look that is extremely difficult to replicate with CGI. Furthermore, on-set sources told TMZ that the creature requires 5 men inside its stomach to operate the puppetry, and they suggest it will be used in two scenes in the movie.
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