The latest Homing Beacon has arrived, and today we get to talk about
the opening sequence in Episode III. For those who do not have a
subscription to Hyperspace, this article will provide you with an
in-depth look at some things you can expect to see. If you do have
Hyperspace, then be sure to go to the Official Star
Wars Site to see actual animatic shots from the scenes they
are about to describe. Enjoy!
Spoilers
- Highlight
to read: Episode
III starts with a bang. The starfleets of the Galactic Republic and
Confederacy of Independent Systems are locked in a jumbled brawl of
lumbering capital ships and swift starfighters, exchanging fire high
in the Coruscant atmosphere.
Hundreds upon hundreds of ships are engaged in this high-stakes
battle of the Clone Wars, but the audience will only really follow
two small snubfighters into the thick of battle. As Obi-Wan and
Anakin dive into the heart of the conflict to carry out a most
important mission, they'll be the camera's guide through the chaos.
Designing
the motion of the revealing opening shot fell to Animatics Artist
Euisung Lee, but filling the enormous background battle in the
entire scene is a group effort. "We had a brainstorming session
about possible cool background battle stuff that can happen,"
he says. "We have a list of ideas. I don't know how many of
them are actually in the movie, but we had come up with some modular
background action so that we can pop them into place."
One of Lee's most intriguing contributions may be missed upon first
glance, tucked away as it is in the backdrop of the action. Spoilers
- Highlight
to read: A
triangular Jedi cruiser is locked in a deadly embrace with the much
larger Trade Federation battleship, occupying the gap between the
battleship's forward arms and pointing its dagger-like nose straight
towards the huge central sphere.
"My
thought was that maybe the clones were actually boarding the donut
ship," explains Lee. "There's an opening in the waist of
the Jedi ship. The middle sphere is falling apart. The idea is that
they took over the whole thing, and the middle sphere is drifting
away from the center."
A dry-erase board hanging in the Animatics Department serves as a
recipe list for other possible mini-dramas playing in the background
of the scene. Note that not all may not be in the final film. This
list instead just represents some of the tantalizing possibilities:
Spoilers
- Highlight
to read:
- Colliding
/ scraping starships
-
Sacrifice ship to break through blockade
- Diving
formation of assault frigates to save cruiser from swarm
-
Shockwave causing havoc from large explosion of ship
- Shockwave
bombs across surface of larger ship causing damage
-
Shockwave bomb on droid fighters
- Tractor
beams picking up ships to repair / collision
-
Pockets of intense debris caused by explosion that heroes fly
through
- Reinforcements
dropping out of hyperspace to help less-than-fortunate ship
-
Launching and docking tri-fighters / clone fighters
- EMP
bomb causing loss of power to large ships, out-of-control
collision
-
Vulture droids landing on large ships and attacking
- Leaking
fuel ignited by ship passing
-
Combined ray attack
I know that this opening
sequence is going to grab us from the start! I just hope that after
such a bang in the beginning that we do not feel let down during the
middle. We all know how this movie has to end, so I am positive of a
strong finish. Let's hope that the rest of the movie will be worthy
of it's beginning and end.
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