Darth Vader emerges from the fog

Anakin Skywalker makes a surprise appearance in “Ahsoka” reuniting with his former Jedi apprentice (Rosario Dawson) to teach her a lesson. What unravels in “Part Five: Shadow Warrior” is an endeavor that is as appealing on a philosophical level as it is visually. Cinematographer Quyen Tran looked to the 1980 Akira Kurosawa film “Kagemusha” for inspiration. “The color palette is very different from ‘Star Wars.’ The tones are red sunsets and heavy filters,” she says. “I pulled screen grabs of the silhouettes for when it came to creating the ‘Clone Wars’ scenes.” Her thought was to produce the vibrant silhouettes practically as opposed to using visual effects. “We did a very extensive test and landed on gray screen. What you can do with gray screen is place LED tracking markers down [on a path] and fill the stage with smoke. That was very important for the look of those sequences.” A strong collaboration among departments helped stage the menacing moment where Anakin walks into the fog of war and flashes into Darth Vader. “We had Hayden Christensen walk along the path. Then we locked the camera off and had Darth Vader walk the same path so it was seamless. Then we timed the explosions of the fire at the exact moment.”