While in character as Maz Kanata, Nyong’o speaks with members of the rebellion, sending them on a mission to recruit a master codebreaker. Throughout the conversation, she is engaged in a pitched firefight against off-screen foes in what she casually refers to as “a union dispute.” Although Maz appears exclusively as a hologram, the scene required Nyong’o to maneuver through a precisely blocked stage, constantly ducking and dodging unseen weapons fire while simultaneously reacting and responding to the characters of Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) – all of whom were able to be on set during the shoot thanks to Audiomotion’s mobility.

Before Nyong’o even stepped onto the set, Audiomotion spent two days building its ad hoc motion capture studio inside Pinewood. It began by installing Vicon cameras to determine the capture volume – the three-dimensional mocap space. After the initial setup was complete a stunt double then spent two more days helping to determine Nyong’o’s movements, giving the team a clear indication of exactly what data it would need. On the fifth day, Nyong’o took to the stage in a full motion capture suit, running from mark to mark while delivering her lines.

Once the shoot was complete Audiomotion quickly broke down its setup, left Pinewood Studios and returned to their headquarters outside of Oxford, England. From there the team cleaned up and processed the data using Vicon’s Blade software. The footage was then sent on to Lucasfilm, while Audiomotion moved on to its next major production.

Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi went on to receive several accolades for its visual effects, including nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards for “Best Special Effects,” Visual Effects Society nominations for “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature” and “Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature,” and a nomination by the Academy Awards for “Best Visual Effects” along with many others.