A group of Spanish animation professionals accepted a challenge: to create a Star Wars short film in less than a month, with no budget or official support. Directed by José Ucha, the project was born between daily jobs and stolen hours of sleep. The result is Star Heist, a piece that proves the strength of local talent doesn't need million-dollar licenses.
Animation with few resources and a lot of patience 🚀
The team used Blender and After Effects to model and compose each scene. Without access to official assets, they designed ships and characters from scratch, drawing inspiration from the visual style of the classic trilogy. Lighting and particle effects were manually adjusted to achieve a cinematic finish. The entire process, from storyboard to post-production, was completed in four weeks of nighttime work.
The budget: a coffee and a lot of faith in the galaxy ☕
While Lucasfilm spends millions on digital effects, these animators achieved a short film with personal computers and the promise of paying for the team's pizzas. José Ucha said the biggest expense was the electricity from having the PCs running 24 hours a day. If the Force is with them, perhaps Disney won't send them a legal notice, but a job offer. Or at least, a coffee voucher.