How I realized I was over Star Wars completely

[jjreason]

I would eat furry Demi. All day.

[Jargo]

Finished reading the making of ESB. First impression is that it's a very thorough book. Second is that nearly all involved with the movie were/are total douchebags. I realise starting in the middle is a bit odd and I don't have the full picture until I read the ANH book to get the background of the Dykstra affair and understand the complexities of certain working relationships. One big downer in the book is the constant reporting of finances. Yeah you sort of need that for total understanding of the beast but it just seems endless at times. So too the in depth descriptions of the camera equipment and processes using a language only camera operators will understand. Really tried to read every word but had to skim through Dennis Muren waffling about the optical printer specs and equations for aligning the matte composite shots.
The book itself is unwieldly. Very hard to hold while reading. Also the printing is quite small and my eyes are fucked so it's not so good. GL's early notes for ESB do show he was riffing heavily on Flash Gordon though.

I'll be back...

[Jargo]

I read the making of star wars cover to cover. I'm of the opinion that Lucas is a dick. A creative dick but a dick all the same.

I'm actually being a bit hard on GL calling him a dick. His dismissive comments relating to the ILM staff, the actors and everyone who worked on SW after the release of ANH were made in a state of fatigue and exasperation so they shouldn't be taken too literally. However he should have had more tact and not said such things in interview. The biggest fault in the delays and problems facing the production were down to him not starting the project with a more complete script. he delayed and procrastinated so long it fucked up everything else. If ANH doesn't look and feel how he wanted (he made much of this fact on the films original release) it's his own fault. he failed repeatedly to communicate effectively with crew and designers and this lead to many wrong turns in the work done which then had to be redone. Something he continued to do though to a lesser degree when they made ESB. He keeps tinkering because he's incapable of making a decision and sticking with it. Or he makes a decision then doesn't explain it effectively and is then disappointed when things don't turn out how he wanted. He's a better producer than he is a director. He's a better editor than he is a producer. I think if analysed and tested, GL would prove to have Aspergers.

Midichlorians were in his vocabulary in 1977 as was the fact that there were female Stormtroopers aboard the first death star and elsewhere in the Imperial forces. Also in 1977 he'd got the basic plot of the prequels down. He sems unsure of Vader being Anakin but he names Luke's father as Annikin.

The Death star had many trenches going from the equator up to the northern pole. Presumably they all terminated in thermal exhaust ports as that thing only having one exhaust port would be pretty dumb.

There was zero mention in the book of that extra Jawa camp scene shot in Death valley. Very little actually on that period of filming. I felt certain areas of the film making process were glossed over a bit too carefully. It reads like a love letter to GL. It certainly hasn't hurt J W Rinzler any.

The blockade runner corridor set was only added at the last minute. The original set was just the darker hallway section where Leia is captured and the droids enter the escape pod. That set was a re-dressed Falcon interior. Which is why it has the same door frames and the ceiling is angled. Amazing that John Barry pulled that corridor set out of the hat at such short notice.

During the cell block rescue scene where the Stormtroopers blast through the elevator door, so much explosive was used that it blew apart the whole set which then had to be rebuilt.

For the death star chasm swing across, Peter Diamond the stunt guy tried it first and the safety harness snapped. He didn't tell Hamill or Fisher but when they filmed it there was only one take done and any further takes might have resulted in Hamill and Fisher being injured. Subsequently on ESB when Hamill is hanging upside down on the cloud city weather vane, he's thirty feet in the air with a safety wire that would never have taken his weight if he fell. Hamill had no safety wire when he inched out backwards on the reactor vane set at the culmination of the cloud city lightsaber battle. It was fifteen feet to the floor but the safety precautions were inadequate to prevent injury. GL really had it in for Hamill.

Begun reading the making of ROTJ. Guinness described his contribution "It's a horrid, dull little bit, but it would be mean not to do it." Which is fairly accurate considering how large Ben's role was in the first draft and what it ended up being. Ben, Yoda and Anakin were going to return to the corporeal world from the netherworld of the force once the Emperor had been destroyed. Ben would have been there as solid flesh during the battle between Luke, Vader and the Emperor when it was set in the Emperor's subterranean lava pit throne room on Had Abbadon the Imperial planet.

Ralph McQuarrie advocated making the Ewoks more savage and primitive and hated the teddy bear look of them. He refused to design any more Ewoks once they became cute. Lawrence kasdan and Richard Marquand also hated the Ewoks. The feeling was they were superfluous to the plot. Han and Leia's roles in the story were diminished because Lucas insisted on keeping the Ewoks.

[Jargo]

Ok, here's one thing that's been bugging me since I started reading these making of books; Throughout all three there are pages given to reciting numbers relating to costs. This effect cost blah dollars, that set cost bah dollars etc. What the books never do is break it down to real cost. Parts and labour, soundstage floorspace rental, electricity. So Rinzler states that for example the death star 2 hangar set cost 800,000 dollars. Howard kazanjian states that the hangar set cost three quarters of a million dollars. Yet even given the expanse of that set you look at it and wonder where the money went. It's essentially painted plywood and softwood timber. Ignoring the cost of the soundstage rental which was separately budgeted, you have something that is repeated sections and therefore made from patterns. You have lighting which on a large production is rented in bulk and therefore cheaper. and you have a construction crew working at basic union rates. So, then you look at the shuttle. Again constructed from plywood and soft wood timber over a welded metal frame. Not complicated stuff. They consulted a structural engineer to get the weight distributed and the right amount of support for it but all told it wouldn't have cost the earth. I struggle to see how 800,000 is a justified costing.

As Howard Kazanjian says, the rebel hangar was the shuttle, an X-Wing complete and an X-Wing nose section, some computer consoles and a painted cloth with the rest matted in in post-production. which would have worked just as well for the imperial hangar. That said, even the rebel hangar cost 250,000. It's mind blowing.

Then there's the sail barge. I already mentioned earlier that i thought they could have got away with building half what they did. Turns out GL thought it could have been achieved on the soundstage at Shepperton or Elstree or Pinewood. So basically millions was wasted on needless construction.

I'm sitting here reading these numbers and thinking how can a model that's three feet long and made from plexiglass and bits from cheap styrene plastic model kits off the shelf cost 250,000? Were these people away with the fairies when they worked on these projects? This is 1982 we're talking about, nothing should have cost that much. LFL were haemorrhaging money and then moaning because Fox and the banks wouldn't give them any more.

The three books go out of their way to condemn Fox but frankly Fox would have been totally justified in pulling the plug on SW. Even more so on ESB and ROTJ should never have got off the table.

The more I read the more my opinion of the ILM people lowers. Lucas appears more and more like someone who needed a straitjacket and padded room.

An unbelievable clusterfuck from start to finish.

[Jargo]

"Now this is podracing!"

Jake Lloyd arrested after high speed police chase

http://uk.eonline.com/news/668912/jake- ... topstories

Dumbassclown.

[anarky]

In Charleston.

Couldn't have chosen to be an assclown in any of the thousands of cities that aren't in the news for a massacre, could you?

[Ran]

Just listened to Weird Al's "Yoda". Some of the lines from that song ended up being quite true. For example, "I know Darth Vader's got you annoyed, but if you kill him now you will be unemployed" and "You'll be playing this part 'til you're old and gray".

[anarky]

"The longterm contract I had to sign said I'll be making these movies till the end of time...."

Yup.

[Ran]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movi ... /29830333/

Disney announces Han Solo spin-off

Han Solo, the spotlight is yours.

Disney announced on Tuesday that a Han Solo spin-off is in the works, with The Lego Movie directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord behind it.

The new Star Wars chapter will focus on Han Solo's pre-Princess Leia days. "This is the first film we've worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with," said Miller and Lord in a statement released by Disney. The directors have also helmed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street.

According to Disney, the prequel will focus on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley. (No word on whether Harrison Ford will cameo.)

"We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us," said Miller and Lord.

"This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you're late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you've loved since before you can remember having dreams at all."

The Han Solo movie is slated for release on May 25, 2018.

Guess we need to prepare for an incoming spin-off tsunami.

I've been sick since the end of last week and therefore have been home watching way too much tv. The other day I was flipping through the channels and saw the Disney Channel had some Star Wars Droids show. I didn't expect it to be the original cartoon. It was actually a Lego Star Wars animation. It took place after the battle of Endor. R2 gave C-3PO his memory back so he could tell stories about Anakin and the Clone Wars. The first 20 minutes ended up being a review of TPM and ATOC. The last few minutes had some mysterious hooded character steal R2 and Ackbar's new spaceship. It ended with Ackbar and C-3PO going after him. Since this is Lego, I'm going to assume it has nothing to do with the rest of the Star Wars universe.

[Slicker]

I just saw the pictures from Comic Con. The more I see of this movie the more it looks like a pice of carp. It'll probably be the biggest movie ever at the box office but don't forget that the much reviled TPM utterly dominated the box office too...and the fans of TFA loathe the prequels. Maybe in 15 years they'll realize that it's the same situation and that TFA sucks worse than TPM (which I actually really like).

[jjreason]

The "behind the scenes" video they posted was carefully crafted to hit all the right emotional notes with wistful old men such as myself (just like the first teaser), and I'm only mildly ashamed to admit it worked.

[anarky]

I haven't bothered to watch. I probably won't. I'm more excited about Ant-Man.

[Jargo]

There's some interesting visuals. I'm just not sure the whole movie could sustain my interest. 'fan' reactions to the footage on various sites is hysterically funny. "unless Lukes uses his lightsaber at least twice my childhood is ruined!!!!" sort of thing. I still maintain that Adam Driver looks like he was made from the parts of several people. Dude is fugly.

[Tom Foolery]

Holy shit. Agreed.

[Ran]

Saw this link on Yahoo. http://io9.com/star-wars-aftermath-reve ... 1718260971

It is about the first new book that will bridge ROTJ with The Force Awakens.