We’ve already seen some splendid work of L.A. photographer Mitchel Wu. Whether it’s Kermit the Frog or the Toy Story crew, Mitchel’s photos are always humorous and they put the toys in all kinds of silly situations.
For this article, the photographer has prepared a special treat for all the Star Wars fans out there. The official premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is approaching, and this set of photos will be a perfect warm-up. Just like his previous work, this set is also rich in great ideas, and Mitchel pulls off most of them in-camera. He also sometimes merges Star Wars toys with those from other movies, so expect the unexpected!
“This is probably the closest you’ll see me come to recreating a scene from a movie. Little known fact (even to Mr. Lucas) Sarlaacs actually had suction cups on their tentacles. (I just included that last bit to diffuse any hardcore fans that were about to comment/scream ‘Sarlaacs DON’T HAVE SUCKERS on their tentacles!’)”
As Mitchel tells DIYP, Star Wars has been a part of his life since Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope was released in 1977.
Seeing that movie for the first time opened up entire worlds and galaxies – fueling already overactive imaginations.
If you follow toy photographers, you know that most of them include Star Wars toys in their portfolio. Mitchel points out that this doesn’t have anything to do with age or the part of the world – it seems like Star Wars saga is loved equally by all generations, from all parts of the globe.
“‘Order 66 Up!!’ Okay, so this one might not be completely authentic to the movies. But then again, I created this one well before Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out, so maybe there’s a chance there’s a scene like this in it? My kitchen is pretty dark without its CFL lights on (who’s quality and color of light I didn’t want in my image) so this was an instance where my Manfrotto Lykos Bi-Color LED continuous lights really helped nail the lighting I was after.”
However, what separates Mitchel from most toy photographers is that he doesn’t attempt to recreate the scenes from the Star Wars movies we all know and love. Although many photographers do it (and they’re great at it), he chooses a different approach:
I tend to use the toys as a jumping off point to other stories, adventures and humor. The Star Wars toys have been a way for me to tell a variety of stories, and to have fun with by combining them with toys totally unrelated to Star Wars. A bloodthirsty Rancor with Simba from The Lion King? Yes please (and sorry, Simba)!
“This is the first true mashup of the article, a mashup being a combination of characters from different films. Inspiration can come from almost anywhere. In this case it came from that Rafiki and young Simba toy. I originally bought that little figure to create some Lion King images. You can’t pose them at all, what you see is what you get. I was determined to get at least one more image out of that toy and I realized it looked like Rafiki was holding up Simba as if to give him to someone or something. And that’s how this concept with the Rancor was born. The drool coming from the Rancor’s mouth was created with clear liquid soap. It allowed me to give the drool some shape, and had just the right consistency to drip slowly.”
Mitchel tells us he loves presenting iconic characters in unexpected ways. After all, that’s what you could have seen in his previous collections, too. Because of this, he points out that hardcore Star Wars fan “would do well not to expect images from him that are accurate and faithful to the original movies and characters.” Nevertheless, through his photos, he celebrates one of the greatest adventures ever told in film, the adventure that has inspired him and many other toy photographers for their work.
I find it especially interesting that Mitchel mainly uses practical effects in his photos. But as he tells DIYP, ultimately he’s open to using any technique that will help him tell the stories and get him to the desired visual results. In this context, he doesn’t mind whether it’s practical or digital. After all, he uses Photoshop to create lightsabers. Still, the “levitation” and similar effects in his shots are mainly achieved with wires and cables, which are later edited out.
As for the gear, Mitchel uses a Canon 5D Mark III paired with the Canon 135mm f/2L for most of his photos. He uses Lowepro bags to get his gear around safely and Manfrotto tripods on virtually every single shoot. He’s not willing to allow available light to dictate and control his shoots. So, when the available light isn’t ideal, he uses one or two Manfrotto Bi-Color Lykos LED lights to provide and shape his desired light.
Although Mitchel’s photos are not faithful recreations of Star Wars movies, I believe the unusual contexts are precisely what gives them the charm. They’re fun, dynamic and really well done. And as Mitchel puts it, “there’s one thing about them we can all agree on: it’s dangerous being a Stormtrooper!”
I now leave you with more of Mitchel’s fun Star Wars toy photos and the accompanying titles from the artist. I hope you’ll enjoy them just like I did.
“Visit new planets,” they said, “Interact with exotic new life forms,” they said. This is our first example of why it’s dangerous to be a stormtrooper. These guys rarely catch a break in the Star Wars films, and the same can be said for them in my images. The dirt and debris you see flying around was created by me throwing it into the frame from just off camera. I work alone, so to do this I use an infrared shutter remote to fire my camera while I’m creating my effects. This also allows me to keep my camera a safe distance from all the dirt and action.
Because even Sith Lords and villains need a bit of rest and relaxation between evil-doing. This was one of a series I created to present iconic villains in new and unexpected ways. I have some of the most fun creating these types of images.
“Eat some s’mores I will, mmmm?” Considering that this Yoda toy is just a few inches tall, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is one of the smallest campfires ever intentionally made. Real fire and smoke, I had a lot of fun creating this image.
It seems that over the years I’ve unintentionally created a series of characters meditating. From Kermit the Frog, to Alien, to Darth Vader – apparently everyone needs to find their center sometimes. Needless to say, this pose requires that an action figure has pretty decent articulation.
My second mashup of this series. Now that Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars this scene may not be as farfetched as it seems.
“Dang, gravity really brings me down!” Yet more proof of the hazards of being a stormtrooper. The details often help tell the story, like the rocks and debris falling alongside the stormtrooper. I was again just off camera throwing those small stones into the scene.
What does Darth Vader do when the fish aren’t biting? Why he force chokes them out of the water, of course (NOT a Dept of Fish & Game approved fishing technique). I had just returned from a salmon fishing trip in Alaska when I created this image.
Once in a rare while I’ll venture into some LEGO photography. There are some photographers that shoot LEGOs exclusively, and many do amazing work. No matter what type of toy I shoot I’m always thinking about the story I want to tell – that’s the foundation to toy photography, and pretty much every other visual art.
Rust never sleeps! At least that’s what I imagined C3PO was thinking as he tried to get onto dry land. I love creating water splashes – they’re one of the most unpredictable types of practical effects. To get a splash like this you can just blow air through a straw, or use a can of compressed air.
When fighting stormtroopers always go for the juggler! Get it? I always love a good play on words!
Another fun mashup combining a couple of my favorite properties. I’m a huge fan of the Alien series, so combining the two properties was a no-brainer for me. Just as the Alien is about to make a no-brainer out of that unfortunate stormtrooper.
A frequent guest star in my images is this T-Rex. I’ve featured him in my Toy Story images as well, doubling as the Toy Story dino, Rex. And the peril to my stormtroopers continues…
My stormtroopers often meet their demise at a nearby park which bears an incredible likeness to the planet Tatooine. In fact, an old episode of Star Trek was filmed there, as was numerous other movies and tv shows.
I love NYC – it’s definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. This was my small way of paying homage to one of the greatest, most resilient cities in the world.
I know what you’re thinking – do my mashups have no bounds!? Well, I guess they don’t. The Stay Puft character from Ghostbusters is such an iconic character that I just had to give him an opportunity to destroy some stormtroopers. The scaling between them is obviously wrong, as Stay Puft is more of a Godzilla-sized character (mental note – Stay Puft vs Godzilla for a future image!)…but the scaling is dramatic nonetheless.
This is a good example of two types of effects – practical and digital. The smoke is real, which I created by placing a burning stick behind the bounty hunter droid, IG88. And Yoda’s light saber was created entirely in Photoshop. That little Yoda can be a challenge to pose. I was pretty happy with his posing in this image.
A moment of silence please for yet another stormtrooper who met his demise in one of my images. This was a pretty simple setup. I knew that I wanted the top of the stormtrooper to extend out of the photo’s frame, so it was a simple case of my holding him in the desired position by his head, so that my hand was also out of frame. Notice the stormtrooper’s helmet in K2SO’s other hand – I’m always looking for ways to add to the story.
My homage to the venerable dog fight. Everyone loves a good dog fight in the skies, whether it’s in an old WWII movie or in Top Gun. Star Wars carries on that tradition beautifully with each new movie it releases.
The idea of lost droids is an appealing one to me, and one I’ve visited more than once. Being lost alludes to wanting to be found, which is not something you’d associate to non-feeling droids. But that is exactly why the droids featured in Star Wars capture our hearts and are so memorable, and are every bit as important to the story as the human characters alongside them.
This is a case of making lemonade out of lemons. In Southern California we’re very prone to extremely destructive brush fires. So it’s ironic that our most beautiful sunsets occur during and because of these brush fires.
Another fun take on a stormtrooper massacre, courtesy of an Alien Xenomorph. Posing is critical in images like this, for both the Alien as well as the two stormtroopers. The slightest awkwardness of a pose can take away from the believability and story.
The new dynamic duo! Sometimes it’s fun to reimagine relationships between characters. This one proves to be especially lethal to…you guessed it…stormtroopers!
This is one of the only times you’ll see a stormtrooper hit his mark. This image might actually be too preposterous to believe because of that.
The smoke ring created by Commander Cody’s propulsion pack was created with flour. By the way, would you consider Commander Cody a good guy or a villain?
Small, old, wise and mighty – Yoda reminds me of me. Well, maybe minus the wise part, but I’m working on that. Yoda is arguably the most iconic character of Star Wars. Definitely top 3.
From acorns to evil, murderous oak trees. Everything about this iconic character is perfect – down to his name. Could George Lucas have come up with a more iconic name to match this character? Would Darth Vader be as scary and villainous if his name was really Ernest Binkelton?
By now it’s pretty well known that Kylo Ren made his own light saber. Lesser known is that it took him several tries before he got it right.
About the Artist
Mitchel Wu is a Los-Angeles based professional toy photographer. He creates stories and alternate universes through toy photography, capturing the illusion of motion, and emotion, where none exist. His photos bridge the gap between sculpted pieces of painted plastic and the stories in one’s head. For more of his awesome work, give him a follow on Instagram, like his Facebook page and check out his website.
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