Set Diary - The Circle is Incomplete

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Brosnan
Here abit of todays Set Diary:

Here's today's filmmaking challenge: take the Jedi Council, shrink it down to tabletop size, make that tabletop a Lazy Susan, and spin the Council around. Oh, and you have to do it with an incomplete set of chairs, meaning that you'll have to shoot multiple passes to complete a full circle of Jedi Council seats.

The scene calls for the Council to appear entirely as a hologram, projected in a distant war-room. The tricky part is that the war-room has a crabbing camera move that turns the hologram in a partial circle. The speed of the camera move has to be scaled appropriately, since the subject matter will appear shrunk down in scale. There are a lot of variables here, but the solution is surprisingly low-tech.

darktim1
cool I wonder when that sequence will take place maybe at beginning of the movie during the war.

Indy_Knight
Possibly the scene were Anakin kills some Jedis and the Hologram is then later viewd by Yoda and Obi Wan or Windu.

queeq
Why is that?

NoMeN
Possibly? why? did we miss something?

Gangularis
AAAAAHHHH SCARY YODA!!!

can you imagine that at the end of your bed??

oh yeah.. sounds like an awesome scene..

NoMeN
LOL stick out tongue

queeq
We haven't seen the Jedi COuncil together in urgent times of need. they appear to respond slow, so why would they suddenly gather at a moment of crisis.

zutalurs
Kinda like the Superfriends?

mauler
Cool

queeq
THey'd go: "great effects, but who the heck directed this. Not GEroge I hope..."

Indy_Knight
Just an idea is all, ok ?

bobafett81
would anyone have the full article? Pls share!

Thank you! smile

queeq
That'd be nice. We could even keep this on topic if someone did.

scramba2000
The Circle is Incomplete
===============
Here's today's filmmaking challenge: take the Jedi Council, shrink it down to tabletop size, make that tabletop a Lazy Susan, and spin the Council around. Oh, and you have to do it with an incomplete set of chairs, meaning that you'll have to shoot multiple passes to complete a full circle of Jedi Council seats.

The scene calls for the Council to appear entirely as a hologram, projected in a distant war-room. The tricky part is that the war-room has a crabbing camera move that turns the hologram in a partial circle. The speed of the camera move has to be scaled appropriately, since the subject matter will appear shrunk down in scale. There are a lot of variables here, but the solution is surprisingly low-tech.

"It's poor man's motion control," describes George Lucas. Key Grip Pete Myslowski turns the TechnoCrane as precisely as possible for four seconds, as counted on John Knoll's watch, ticking off the beats as Silas Carson and Samuel L. Jackson exchange dialogue. The four-second timeframe is pretty tight, considering the move has to be smooth enough to replicate multiple times.

With an incomplete set of chairs, the Jedi performers are filmed in wedges, with chairs set up against the blue backdrop. Supervising Art Director Peter Russell has a diagram of the chairs pinned to the center of a cardboard backing. Attached to that center-pin is a length of string. By laying the diagram at the center of the imaginary Jedi Council chamber set, he is able to plot out where the chairs should be by pulling the string out in a straight line at the appropriate angle. Old fashioned geometry to the rescue.

The Jedi Masters assembled include principal cast members, with Silas Carson reprising his Ki-Adi-Mundi role. For Yoda, the old Episode I puppet was hauled out from mothballs to provide an eyeline. All that time in a crate has left the old Jedi Master with a rather odd look on his face, "Something is very wrong in the universe if Yoda has that expression," says John Knoll.

For the Jedi Council extras -- performers with no lines of dialogue -- it's a mixed bag. Tux Akindoyeni was brought over from Australia to once again play Agen Kolar. "His face is pretty much Tux's, the makeup rests atop his head, leaving his face exposed, so we had to get him," says Creature Shop Creative Supervisor Dave Elsey. Tux will be needed for more than just the holographic council, as subsequent scenes require his presence.

Stass Allie will only be seen as a shrunken hologram, so her role was re-cast with Tace Bayliss donning the tentacled headdress. Kit Fisto, Plo Koon and Saesee Tiin have makeup that completely obscures the performer, so they are recast locally for their scenes. James Corlis is the fourth person to play Fisto (there were actually two different Fistos in Episode II if you know where to look). Under the Plo Koon mask is Philip Wade. Beneath the Tiin makeup is Dee Chudasama.

The timing of these highly repetitive sequences has to be managed for the comfort of the alien performers. While Kit Fisto's eyes can stay in indefinitely, Saesee Tiin's contacts can only be worn for three hours, before having to come out for 20 minutes. Silas has similar considerations with Ki-Adi-Mundi's alien eyes.

The repeated hand-operated camera move could never properly create a steady enough series of takes to piece together a composite without some postproduction computer assistance. In this case, though, ILM matchmovers and compositors will have a break. The fact that the Jedi Council is holographic in this scene is very forgiving. Should the composite need some fudging, a holographic fritz or flicker will help conceal the seams.

That's not the case with the next setup of the day, begun in the afternoon. It's a brand new sequence added to the script, an exchange between Anakin and Mace. Originally set in the Jedi Council, the scene was transplanted to a totally new environment to get us out of the same old set.

Sure, it's shot against the same blue stage, but it will become the never-before-seen gunship hangar bay of the Jedi Temple. It's perfect testament to the flexibility of the digital backlot that a late change like this can be realized. It's this production methodology that allows the prequels to have such rich visual diversity.

Though August is winding down, we had what felt like one last blast of summer in Shepperton. Not that the outside temperature was very toasty -- it's the inside of the stage that was balmy. These old stages don't have the luxuries of central air conditioning. Instead, the air conditioning is piped in through large yellow plastic air tubes. Unfortunately, the blessedly cool air needs to be shut down on each take that requires sound, so the hot lights start to quickly cook the air again.
The placement of my on-set "office" is of some benefit. In Sydney, my Internet connection "behind-the-curtain" was on the floor. Here, I have a tiny wooden shelf to allow me to type standing up. That is, if I can reach the laptop. You see, I'm in the thick of the air conditioning ductwork.

But at least it's cool.

Indy_Knight
Cool. Thanks Scramba.

queeq
Yup.

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