From the Movies
On the outskirts of Mos Espa was an immense venue for watching the popular Boonta Eve Classic Podrace. Over one hundred thousands beings filled the Mos Espa Grand Arena to capacity during the annual event. They filed into the grandstand seats, crowded into broad viewing platforms or clustered into the upper tiers to catch a glimpse of the high-speed spectacle. For a modest fee, spectators could rent hand-held viewscreens which displayed images recorded by fast-flying Podrace holocams tracking the race. From a distance, the arena's seats looked to be a flowing tapestry of color, as race-fans from all throughout the Outer Rim Territories congregated. Alien food vendors roamed the crowds, offering exotic wares, bands both amateur and professional tootled race themes and popular melodies to cheer on their favored pilots, fans brandished flags bearing their racer's emblems.
The wealthier of Mos Espa's residents and guests could afford private viewing boxes separated from the rest of the rabble. The Toydarian junk-merchant Watto hosted viewing parties for his friends and gambling partners. The most opulent of viewing boxes was reserved for the ruling Hutts, particularly Jabba the Hutt, who hosted the Boonta Eve Classic.
From the Expanded Universe
Located several kilometers outside Mos Espa proper, the Grand Arena straddles the junction of the Xelric Draw and the Northern Dune Sea. Sixty slaves died erecting the massive structure in record time for their Hutt masters. The shrewd Hutts have turned a love of speed and crashes into a massive influx of truguts for their coffers. Admission to the arena costs five truguts; a seat in the stands costs another five truguts; a box seat costs 15, and viewscreen rental is another five -- and this doesn't even cover refreshments and shade awnings. Nonetheless thousands of spectators fill the seats hoping to score big after the hitting the betting windows and playing the odds.
Years after Podracing's popularity waned, the Mos Espa Grand Arena lay vacant and in disrepair, populated only by vermin or the occasional scum seeking shelter from the elements.
Behind the Scenes
Industrial Light & Magic used multiple methods in creating the Mos Espa Grand Arena for the screen. Sections of arena seating were shot on location in Tunisia with costumed extras. These elements, shot on high-def video and not on film, were then cloned and repositioned in ILM's computers to make the crowd even larger.
The arena itself was a huge miniature built and filmed at ILM. Extending the miniature were a number of digital matte paintings. To fill in the crowds in the miniature, ILM ingeniously used multi-colored cotton swabs blown by a fan to form a bustling audience.
To create the sound of a raucous crowd attending a Podrace, Sound Designer Ben Burtt turned to a suitable real world equivalent. He attended a nearby San Francisco 49ers football game, and recorded over three hours of audience cheering which became the foundation of the Podrace arena sounds.
