Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Todays set Diary is now up

looks like the inside of the ship from ep4.

Hazards of Space Travel
August 24, 2004
Compared to the luxury of seven stages to shoot on and a schedule lasting months, the Shepperton pick-up shoot feels more crowded than the Sydney shoot, crammed into the confines of two stages and two weeks. As a byproduct of this scale, Video Village --- the playback monitors and chairs where Director George Lucas watches the action -- is in an odd place: aboard a Naboo star skiff.

We've switched stages today. Our new locale is once again lined with curtains, one half surrounded in greenscreen, the other in blue. The action is on the green side, with Video Village sitting in the blue half, inside a still-under-construction set depicting Padmé's new personal vessel.

During principal photography, we all got used to the sound of carpenter tools between takes, but they were always coming from the shadows, from sets being built on the other side of the stage. We never were actually sitting on a set being built while shooting another. Until today, that is.

The insides of the Naboo skiff are very reminiscent of the interior of the Naboo yacht seen in Episode II. Its hard details were designed so late in the game that this ship's innards will be absent from the forthcoming Episode III cross-sections book --- which will be a mixed blessing to those fans who like their Star Wars reality as objective as possible.

"This set is about twice as big as could possibly fit inside the ship," notes Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll. George shrugs. It's not the first time something like this has happened.

"I even had them take two feet out," he notes with a smile. To allow proper camera and crew access, though, the interior is far roomier than possible, thus avoiding the Das Boot feel of shooting in cramped quarters. When it comes time to actually shoot here (tomorrow, if all goes as planned), George plans on shooting it tight, so as not to allow these exaggerations to appear too obvious.

So in between the times when he directs the action on an adjacent set, the crew adds the greeblies, lights, switches and other little details of the ship. From parts unseen, the sounds of drills, hammers and shuffling echo through the floors and walls. "Mice," George deadpans. Then he stops and thinks of where we are.

"Mynocks," he amends.

Mynocks may be a deep space hazard, but there are other dangers of working on an incomplete set, as witnessed by Natalie Portman today. When the actress came to confer with George, her intricately and beautifully designed green dress designed by Trisha Biggar came into contact with fresh white paint.

Tragic. But salvable, thanks to quick reparations by the Costume Department. Though repaired enough to continue filming, it looks like incident has unfortunately irreparably damaged the dress.



Despite the spacefaring surroundings of Video Village, all of today's setups are grounded on a planet. It begins on Coruscant, in Padmé's apartment. The set has been only partially resurrected -- a fresh balcony edge and surrounding rib-like arches have been built to represent the environment.

There, Anakin and Padmé share a quiet, tender moment together. The young Senator naively discusses plans for her, Anakin and a family on Naboo, unaware --- or perhaps in denial -- of the inevitable darkness that will occlude her future.

The details of this scene will have to wait till next year, but I can share some of the more practical challenges. Both Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman wear long flowing hair for this scene that is to be cut into footage shot last year in Sydney -- and not all of it is really their own.

Hair can be a continuity nightmare, especially for pick-ups that have to splice together with year-old footage. The use of wigs in this case is a real saver. Hair and makeup artists Shane Thomas and Pip Lund could work with the same wigs used in Sydney last year.

"We actually made a full wig for Hayden, just in case he had cut his hair," says Shane. "His hair is mostly the same. It's a bit shorter in the back, where we weave in the wig. The front of the hair is all his, so we just had to cut his fringe a bit to get it to match."

Complicating the shot is Padmé actively fidgeting with her hair, and drawing attention to it. As Anakin walks to the balcony to join his wife, she is absently brushing her hair while speaking, drawing a silvery brush (which, I believe, is a first for a Star Wars prop) over her chestnut curls.

Script Supervisor Victoria Pike (picking up where Jayne-Ann Tenggren left off in Sydney) keeps a careful watch on each take, noting the continuity of her hair. "I'll make it work," assures George, aware that there is an audience who cares deeply about such tiny matters.

To that end, Shane wasn't too surprised when I explained to him there's no small contingent of fans worried about the status of Ewan McGregor's beard for the pick-ups. These eagle-eyed viewers can easily spot each pick-up shot of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II due to the differences between his false beard and his real one. For these folks, there's good news. Ewan's beard this time is all natural, and his clean-cut Episode III look is the easiest to match up for this round of filming. He shot two scenes today, both with Hayden.



For fans squinting at the tiny webcam image, wondering if every shadow is Natalie Portman, or every blur might be Jimmy Smits, I can offer some insights into the cast schedule.

The actors who will most often be on set are Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid. As this trio has the bulk of Episode III's screen-time, it should come as no surprise that they too have the majority of the pick-up schedule. Ian and Hayden started yesterday, and Ewan started today. They are all scheduled to run through next week, with Ian wrapping up first on September 1st.

Natalie Portman only has two days of pickup shooting, today and tomorrow. Also with similar short but intense schedules is Anthony Daniels, who wraps up tomorrow; he donned his golden droid form today to film a scene with Natalie on the apartment balcony set. Jimmy Smits has a single day of shooting next week, as does Christopher Lee and Silas Carson. Samuel L. Jackson will come in later this week and be in front of the camera for three days.

Any pictures from the set diary?

not from me......you'll have to get those on your own......I'm laying low

nothig much to see anyway.......only character is 3P0

I was wondering did GL give anything out to how big padames ship was going to be? just wondered

***star struck***

I wonder when she' ll use that....
Don't recall hearing of that tidbit previously.

there were some early picture captions referring to the naboo skiff....but from memory all you could see was the boarding ramp and struts....

The insides of the Naboo skiff are very reminiscent of the interior of the Naboo yacht seen in Episode II.

what yacht?

beats me.

OH WAIT, they were on a gondola-type boat, could that be what they mean?

thats all i can think of

that was pretty low in the water........I dont thnk a dog would have fit below deck on that baby.

well...there WAS no "below deck"

beats me then

The yacht was the ship Anakin & Padme took to Tatooine, not a literal boat.

oh ok, so GL has completely gone bat s*** has he?
they are all ships anymore, now we have yachts.

Padme is probably rich from her retirement package from when she was queen. Nothing but the best for her......

there was never mention of a yacht in ep II before.....lucas has flipped and jar jar will be back in a starring role in ep III....

crazy senile lucas wins.....

GL: my vision of star wars has always been that it is the story of jar jar.

Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PVS your sig is my sig in another forum...did you copy it?

i would like to see it
and no, i am not a biter

give me the address and lets have a look see

Ghetto Goblin, that you?

corn

LOL, im not going down that road again.

but hey, maybe he's telling the truth.
im sure i wasnt the only one to make the connection there.

but lay off the angry bit SOLRAC SATDIAL, its kinda rude

*ahem* well???

EDIT: i think im being f'd with again, what do you guys think?

he was on the forum long after i posted my replies, then he's gone.

i donno...

You're a magnet for trouble, it seems.

thanks for confirming that.
i was just about to have myself commited for
irrational paranoia...but since you can see it too...
it must be true. is it my handle? my avatar? perhaps my sig?

or maybe its GG, but i thought we resolved that whole issue.
perhaps that memphis troll? oh well

Maybe they're not fans of Dragonball....
The pic is OK.
Your trolls are usually, uhhh...... more intense, than that.

lol "my trolls"

collect the whole set

One in every Happy Meal......

I wonder if this "yacht" of Padme's is how she gets to Mustafar.

That's a good suggestion, Dropkick.
I'd heard she stows away on Kenobi's vessel but that makes more sense-
Obi would know she was there....

might be how she gets to naboo....then anakin and obi wan visit her there....that's my choice for now til i hear otherwise....