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The opening battle

JediNyt

By JediNyt
in Prequel Trilogy

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JediNyt Newbie

JediNyt

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The latest ep3 hyperspace update from starwars.com is here!

Disclaimer: I did not type this, I simply copied and pasted the text only. The credit goes to Pablo Hidalgo.

 

 

The Opening Battle

January 14, 2004

 

The weekly ILM meetings have moved out of the cramped confines of a viewing station and into a fully functional movie theater that can seat over a hundred. HD footage is projected digitally, at a scale closer to its eventual theatrical exhibition proportions. For a sequence like the opening space battle of Episode III, it makes a huge difference.

Plotting starfighter trajectories and making visual decisions based on a comparatively tiny AVID monitor just won't do. On even the biggest playback monitors, one can stand back and, with some detachment, gauge the action of a sequence. But to fully understand what the movie theater audience is going to experience when they're immersed in the action, you need to project it in a theater.

 

So that's why Director George Lucas has come to the theater at ILM to turn over the opening space battle to the visual effects team. At this scale, the importance of being able to follow the swarm of ships and aerobatic maneuvers is vital. With little preamble, the battle plays through in its entirety (or at least, to the start of the next major action sequence), and then Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll shuttles the footage back, using a laser pointer as he asks specific questions, and as George gives answers and direction.

 

For just a few tantalizing seconds, it seems as if this theater has become a time machine to 2005. The familiar rolling snare drums of the Fox Fanfare leads to the sparkling Lucasfilm logo, and next comes the "A long time ago..." title card. There's the blare of horns that mark the classic John Williams Main Title as the yellow Star Wars text scrolls to infinity. There's the opening crawl that explains the state of the galaxy, complete with the movie title that may or may not be the final one. The camera next moves towards the warships, and its clear we're joining a battle already in progress.

 

It's also clear that we're seeing a work in progress. ILM has yet to add anything to this sequence. It has temporary music, temporary sound, and temporary digital effects provided by the Animatics Department at Skywalker Ranch. The effects themselves have a remarkable sophistication -- many could easily be cut scenes of a videogame -- but they're not designed to be the finished product. As an example, the engine wash streaming from the new Republic cruisers are not hazy cones of volumetric light, but instead are sharp conical spires sticking out of thrusters like luminescent icicles.

 

Geometry plays a vital role in determining allegiances in this space battle. As the camera dives between capital ships, it's easy to become disoriented. Many times, as George gives direction, he refers to the "triangles and the circles." The Republic craft are the rectilinear wedge ships of the original trilogy. The Separatist vessels are more ovoid in shape, with smoother lines and reclined angles. The most familiar vessels amid the Separatist flotilla are the Trade Federation battleships, or the "donut ships" as they are affectionately called.

 

Though ILM has yet to tackle any of the shots in the space battle, they have crafted the digital starship models. Returning spacecraft, like the donut ships and vulture fighters, are getting a paintjob makeover, with colors and insignia further differentiating them from the Republic craft. John seeks to clarify some of the color-coding. He pulls up a ViewPaint example of the battleship with engines that glow an intense blue. In earlier meetings, George had set down the color palette of the laser fire, and John wanted to make sure these rules don't extend to engine glow. In the animatic space battle, there were several shots of the donut ship with glowing red engines.

 

"No, that's just a myth," says George. "It only counts for swords or guns."

 

To further clarify shots, George makes requests to "slow this shot 20 percent," or to make the background ships less prominent. Aside from clarity, his primary directive is for the flight animation to seem natural and graceful. "Plan out any irrational moves to work with the poetry of it all," says George. In other words, trust your feelings. He's such a stickler on maneuvers that he wants to see interim animation from ILM to critique the moves. One thing he keeps pointing out in the animatics is that these ships tend to sag their tails and raise their noses in flight, almost like a speedboat. It's subtle, but George comments on it several times.

 

Another shot has a nose-heavy dive as a new group of Republic starfighters joins the fray. The camera that follows this squadron trails the leading craft from directly behind, giving an unflattering view of its aft. George asks that this deployment shot instead be configured to keep more of the top of the ship in frame, so it ends up being more a proper introduction to the vessel. "Think of this as a Chevy commercial," he says.

 

Physics majors will once again have to come to terms with the idea that the Star War galaxy operates from a separate set of rules than ours does. When watching a missile with a specialized payload fly across the screen, George points out a flicker in the wing's ailerons caused by a rendering error. He likes the feel of it, and suggests a possible way of giving of giving this rocket flapping or fluttering wings. "I'm going to get in trouble for this later," he says with a smile as he describes the so-called "goose missile."

 

It'll be the task of Expanded Universe authors to come up with the technical rationalization of what is ultimately a visual hook, as well as the brand names and characteristics of the missiles. Likewise, another scene has a fantastic explosion with a new look. It was an effect discovered by accident (the explosion was actually rendered for different purposes, but looked so intriguing that George kept it.) So, to justify the cool looking burst, George asks John to have a different, new kind of missile shoot out from one of the Republic cruiser launch bays.

 

At this stage, it's the visuals that count. The technobabble will come later.

 

 

Pablo Hidalgo

 

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BawBag™ Newbie

BawBag™

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Originally posted by JediNyt

Ya the video docs are well worth the $20 a year alone. Cmon, $20 a year is nothing!

Thats true, it's not a lot to ask. But I always think, when all is said and done, when you've seen the movie three odd times at the pictures, and have the DVD at home - will it truly have been worth it? ;)

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