The Mandalorian is one of the most visually impressive TV shows I’ve ever seen, as the production design and special effects are on par with the big screen Star Wars movies, albeit helped by the fact that the show’s scope for action is smaller. But despite a $15 million budget per episode, it seems that there’s at least one classic movie-making goof in the latest outing: a visible boom mic.
This was spotted by YouTuber Hulkules 187, who’s clearly extremely amused by it. To be fair to director Bryce Dallas Howard and the rest of The Mandalorian‘s production staff, the mic is only visible for a few seconds and is in a rather busy background. I suspect that this will be quickly and efficiently CGI’d out of the version available to stream on Disney Plus, so if you want to check it out in person I’d do it now – either via the screenshots below or the link at the bottom of the page.
Of course, the Star Wars franchise has long been known for its adorable mistakes. In Return of the Jedi you can famously see the actor’s eyes through an Ewok mask. During the carbonite freezing scene in The Empire Strikes Back, meanwhile, Han has a jacket that disappears and reappears depending on the shot (this was somewhat fixed in the special editions). And, most famous of all, in A New Hope a Stormtrooper bonks his head on a doorway (which would later become a running gag).
Also, it sounds like Howard had a really nice time working with Jon Favreau on the show. In an interview back in September, she said:
“Getting to be a director, part of The Mandalorian, it’s been like…Jon [Favreau] didn’t even know that about me,” said Howard. “It was a dream come true on so many levels. He’s a brilliant filmmaker, but a better mentor — he just wants to share in the excitement and passion of filmmaking and what’s possible. Nothing about it that’s proprietary. It’s let’s push this forward and see what else can happen. I was doing Dads at the same time I was shooting Mandalorian and the stuff I was learning from Jon Favreau was completely applicable to a documentary.”
I don’t know about you, but while Ron Howard might be the more accomplished director in the Howard family, I’d watch Chapter 4 of The Mandalorian over Solo any day of the week.
