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Archived News-September 2010
Week 5
Thursday September
30, 2010 |
Daily Video
Clip |
Today's video clip is John Knoll
talking converting Star Wars to 3D. He is leading the team in painstakingly
converting Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace to 3D (or stereo, as it's
called in the visual effects business). Enjoy!
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Thursday September
30, 2010 |
Empire
Chronicles: Probot |
The Official Star Wars Site has
returned to their Empire Chronicles series with an entry for one of the
most sinister-looking droids designed for the Star Wars galaxy, the
Imperial probe droid, or "probot."
The probot, you'll remember, is the reconnaissance droid sent by the Empire
to Hoth's frozen surface to root out the Rebel's presence there.
Newer fans of the prequels and even The Clone Wars will recognize
several familiar visual cues found on Empire's probe droid, such as the
black metallic finish and large globe-like eyes found on Revenge of the
Sith's buzz droids and Clone Wars' recon droid and spider-like
assassin droid. Even Darth Maul's Sith probe droids from The Phantom
Menace and the dwarf spider droids from Attack of the Clones seem to
have been informed by Empire's distinctive probe droid aesthetic.
Be sure to read the entire article for more great pictures and
information.
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Wednesday September
29, 2010 |
Daily Video
Clip |
Today's video clip is in honor of
the upcoming 2012 release of The Phantom Menace in 3D. It is the Tone Poem One
Truth. Enjoy!
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Wednesday September
29, 2010 |
The Star Wars
Saga In 3D! |
The Official Star Wars Site has
announced the live-action Star Wars Saga will be converted to 3D! There
are few movies that lend themselves more perfectly to 3D; from the Death Star
trench run to the Tatooine Podrace, the Star Wars Saga has always
delivered an entertainment experience that is completely immersive. Presented by
Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm Ltd., the cutting edge conversion will take
that immersion to the next thrilling level, with Industrial Light & Magic
supervising the project.
Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is expected to be
released theatrically in 2012. A release date has not yet been
determined.
"Getting good results on a stereo conversion is a matter of taking the time
and getting it right," said John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor for Industrial
Light & Magic. "It takes a critical and artistic eye along with an
incredible attention to detail to be successful. It is not something that you
can rush if you want to expect good results. For Star Wars we will take
our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to
bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience."
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Wednesday September
29, 2010 |
Star Wars Insider
#122 |
The Official Star Wars Site has announced that to mark the 30th
anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, Titan's December edition of
Star Wars Insider magazine includes an exclusive limited edition
collector's cover and large size pull-out poster drawn by original Star
Wars comic book artist, Howard Chaykin!
Chaykin, who drew the first limited-edition Star Wars poster in 1976,
has now created a special Empire Strikes Back image exclusively for
Star Wars Insider, the official magazine of the Star Wars saga.
This limited edition collector's cover of Insider is only available
through comic stores and the large size pull-out poster comes free with the
regular Insider newsstand edition.
This issue of Insider explores the making of the original Star
Wars comic book by Chaykin and writer Roy Thomas and includes a never before
published transcript of a meeting between George Lucas and Chaykin regarding the
adaptation of Star Wars for a Marvel comic series.
Chaykin on the Star Wars characters: "I feel that kid who plays
Luke is a little soft in the face so I'm going to harden him up a little bit.
He's got a great cleft and that's fine, but he looks like he's 16. It'll make
him more heroic in the picture. Han Solo is perfect. He looks like I drew him.
He looks my cliché mercenary hero. He looks like [classic comic book hero] Cody
Starbuck. Chewbacca will be no problem. Same thing is true of Darth Vader... He
looks like a comic book character -- Doctor Doom."
The magazine also features interviews with the team behind The Clone
Wars series, remarks from the Mark Hamill panel at Star Wars
Celebration V and an Endor location guide. Plus, there's much more must-have
material for all Star Wars fans.
Retailers can order this special Star Wars Insider with exclusive
Howard Chaykin cover and large size pull-out poster from October's Diamond
Previews. See Star Wars Insider "Featured Item" listing within the Books
& Magazines section in Previews for more information.
Star Wars Insider #122 goes on sale December 14, 2010. |
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Tuesday September
28, 2010 |
Daily Video
Clip |
This video clip is George Lucas
and Robot Chicken's Seth Green & Matthew Senreich discussing the upcoming
comedic Star Wars animated series. Enjoy!
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Tuesday September
28, 2010 |
Fanboy's Guide to
the Galaxy-Episode 18 |
Today I have updated the Galactic Escape Pod section with
the latest podcast episode of the "Fanboy's Guide to the Galaxy" with hosts Ryan
Zasso and Eric Boggs.
This Week's Topics Include:
Special Guest Aaron Goins from jedidirectory.com and Mark Newbold from Jedi
News/Lightsabre talk about The Clone Wars episode, Supply Lines.
E-mail the show at galaxyfanboy@yahoo.com or visit the Facebook Fanpage or Twitter page. You can now also download the podcast at iTunes. Enjoy!
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Monday September 27,
2010 |
Daily Video Clip
#2 |
This video is a preview for
Episode 4 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 3 and is entitled "Sphere of
Influence." The show will be airing Friday at 9:00pm ET/PT on Cartoon Network.
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Monday September 27,
2010 |
Fanboy's Guide to
the Galaxy-Interview 01 |
Today I have updated the Galactic Escape Pod section with
a special interview podcast episode of the "Fanboy's Guide to the Galaxy" with
host Ryan Zasso.
Ryan attended the Sacramento Sci-fi and Horror Show this past weekend where
he met with Billy Dee Williams, and sat down for an interview with C Andrew
Nelson. C Andrew Nelson has worked for ILM as a Visual Effects Artist, and
LucasArts playing the roll of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn, and
more!
E-mail the show at galaxyfanboy@yahoo.com or visit the Facebook Fanpage or Twitter page. You can now also download the podcast at iTunes. Enjoy!
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Monday September 27,
2010 |
New Star Tours
Droids |
The Official Star Wars Site has
updates with some news about the newly reimagined Star Tours attraction due out
next year. Tom Fitzgerland, Executive VP and Senior Creative Executive for Walt
Disney Engineering, writes about the ride and unveils two new droids that are an
integral part of the show -- the Starspeeder 1000 pilot Ace, and the spokesbot
Aly San San. Here's an excerpt of what he had to say.
The existing Star Tours show we internally refer to as "6.5," since
it takes place time-wise after Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Story
development for the new show began "a long time ago," back in 1998, and a story
treatment from that year carries the title "Episode 7 -- A Star Tours Classic"
-- referring to the Boonta Classic race that was to be the main feature of the
show.
But by the time Episode I hit the screens, we were all anxious to know what
would surface in Episode III that we might build on for the show. Naturally, we
were then curious how Episode III would complete the series. In the end, after
numerous discussions, we decided to place our storyline between the two sets of
Star Wars trilogies, giving the project the working title "Star Tours
3.5"
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