Creating the sprawling and historically rich world of Ghorman in Andor Season 2 called for an ambitious set build stretching over 500-feet-long for the outdoor elements alone.
In reality, the newly-realized planet was fabricated on the same Pinewood Studios backlot that once introduced the Jakku village that launched the sequel trilogy, and the city of Jedha on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and other spectacular builds throughout the modern era of Star Wars storytelling.
Read on for even more interesting trivia and fun facts from the making of this week’s Andor episodes.
Episodes 204-206
1. (Above) Greenham Common, the shooting location for Saw Gerrera’s base in Andor Season 2, was once a Royal Air Force airfield and station.
2. (Above) Sections of the roast massiff prop that Saw’s rebels are cooking on a spit were actually edible, placed on the prop by a food stylist.
3. (Above) The camouflage pattern on Saw Gerrera’s Partisan X-wings was updated for Andor Season 2 from how they appeared in Rogue One.
4. (Above) The ISB’s operations room was shot in the OKX Thought Leadership Center within the McLaren Group’s Technology Center in Woking, England, the same complex where Coruscant’s transportation hub was filmed for Andor Season 1.
5. ILM’s pop-up StageCraft screens were utilized once again for Andor Season 2, specifically outside the windows of the Coruscant safe house. Sprinklers placed between the LED screens and the windows simulated a rainy day on the city planet.
6. (Above) Helen Player, one of the set decoration department buyers, started purchasing hundreds of items to stock the shelves of the Coruscant bodega a full six months prior to the set’s scheduled shoot date.
7. (Above) Airline and travel agent graphics from the 1970s inspired the look of the Niki-Bon travel agency on Coruscant for Andor Season 2.
8. The main party space for Davo Sculdun’s party was filmed in the one-thousand square meter Vestíbul Principal, designed both for entertaining and as an entrance to the Sala Principal performing arts and event space in Valencia, Spain.
9. ILM visual effects supervisor Mohen Leo overlaid the Valencia, Spain shooting location for Coruscant onto the Star Wars prequels’ layout of the Senate District to make it physically fit into what was previously established.
10. (Above) Emperor Palpatine’s podium in the Imperial Senate, referred to as the “taco shell” by the art department, was recreated for Andor Season 2.
11. (Above) The round sofa in Mon Mothma’s senate office was a reupholstered sofa from the Chandrilan Embassy in Andor Season 1.
12. (Above) The over 500-foot-long outdoor Ghorman set was built on the same Pinewood Studios backlot that once housed the Jakku village and Maz’s castle ruins sets for The Force Awakens, Jedha City for Rogue One, and the Kessel landing area for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
13. Ghorman was a complex build, encompassing the IOC lobby, hotel lobby, and café interiors, as well as the plaza, streets, hotel and Imperial balconies, and heist escape tunnel exteriors.
14. (Above) The Ghorman truck heist escape tunnel set was built into Pinewood Studio’s paddock tank, where a little over four years earlier, the climatic duel between Rey and Kylo Ren on the wreckage of the second Death Star was staged for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
15. The signature green color of Ghorman was inspired by 1970s Italy and the avocado green bath suites of the era.
16. (Above) Dialect coach Marina Tyndall created the Ghor language, but unlike other Star Wars written languages, like Aurebesh, based on Galactic Basic, Ghor is only translatable if you understand its spoken component.
17. Two versions of the written Ghorman language were created, Ghorelle, or High Ghor, and Dixian, or Low Ghor, named after graphic designers Elle McKee and Lauren Dix.
18. (Above) The architecture and culture of Ghorman were inspired by Turin in Northern Italy, as well as Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
19. Costumes for the freedom fighters of the Ghorman Front were inspired by World War II French and Italian Resistance fighters.
20. The art department created a collar for the animatronic dog-like creature outside of the Ghorman Front headquarters, adding the name “Elvis” to it in Dixian, one of the Ghorman written languages.
21. The tables in the Palmo Plaza set included designs on their surfaces for the playing of different board games.
22. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson was inspired by the fashion of Northern Italy and France of the 1930s and ‘40s for the people of Ghorman.
23. (Above) Drone photography of Valencia, Spain’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía was filmed for the aerial establishing shot of Davo Sculdun’s residence on Coruscant.
