<P> Storyboard artists Simon Duric said, "The security on the film was a challenge . That script was locked in a safe . Most of the time on a film you can sit at your desk with a copy of the script next to you . On this, you couldn't . That's fine but it was tricky in places . We had people flying drones over Pinewood studios trying to take photographs . It was nuts . If a prop was being moved we had to have them covered in a big black sheet . We were told in an email to be (wary) of drones ." </P> <P> In July 2014, filming took place over three days at Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, with a cast including Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley . Landscape shots for the planet Takodana were shot in July in the Lake District in the northwest of England . Production was halted for two weeks in early August 2014 so Abrams could rework shooting in Ford's absence and resumed with a fully healed Ford in mid-August . In September, the former RAF Greenham Common military base in Berkshire was used and featured set constructions of several spaceships from the Star Wars Universe . Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean was used for forest scenes . Principal photography ended on November 3, 2014 . </P> <P> Cinematographer Daniel Mindel said The Force Awakens would use real locations and scale models over computer - generated imagery to make it aesthetically similar to the original Star Wars trilogy . Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi, reiterated that Abrams would use little CGI and more practical, traditional special effects, saying: "I think people are coming back around to (practical effects). It feels like there is sort of that gravity pulling us back toward it . I think that more and more people are hitting kind of a critical mass in terms of the CG - driven action scene lending itself to a very specific type of action scene, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick ." Abrams's intention in prioritizing practical special effects was to recreate the visual realism and authenticity of the original Star Wars . To that end, the droid BB - 8 was a physical prop developed by Disney Research, created by special effects artist Neal Scanlan and operated live on set with the actors . </P> <P> In February 2014, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) announced plans to open a facility in London, citing Disney's Star Wars films as a catalyst for the expansion . ILM's Vancouver branch also worked on the special effects for the film . </P>

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