S-02 Filming Miniatures_2 | My Walker Project

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Mini Walkers

Filming Miniatures (II)

In the distant horizon scene, five little silhouettes were to announce the imminent arrival of the giants Snow Walker.

For the introductory shot—where the Walkers are barely distinguishable in the distance—five small, static models, each about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) tall, were built. Since the action required for this scene was minimal, these tiny, unarticulated models were chosen over the larger 19-inch (49.5 cm) stop-motion AT-ATs. The full-sized articulated models, which appear in most of the film’s major sequences, were simply too large and too costly to use for such a brief and subtle moment.

Of the small number made for the production only five of these static models were finished and just four were finally used during the extreme distant shot.

For a later scene in the film, George Lucas made a last-minute request: he wanted the lead fifth miniature walker to show slight movement in the shot. In response, an articulated version of the 1.5-inch model was quickly built and manually animated. As a result, one of the original static mini walkers was removed from the scene.

Since these miniatures were viewed from a great distance, the static models had little to no surface detail. Only the newly articulated lead walker received a more refined finish—though, in the final shot, even those extra details were barely perceptible on screen.

Articulated 1,5" model with defined details and joints at the shoulders.

Another scene of The Empire Strikes Back where the small 1,5" miniatures were used.

Animator Sam Comstock doing test shots on tiny walkers.

Measuring only 1.5" long, this size was the smallest scale AT-ATs made for the production.

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