Triple-Digit Countdown
Triple-Digit Countdown
December 10, 2004
The December 9th session of ILM dailies includes a special guest: Director of Photography David Tattersall is in Northern California, watching this week's allotment of finished visual effects shots.
George Lucas proudly shows David a modern incarnation of a common editorial trick. On the surface, it's just a shot of Anakin peering out from under his heavy hood. "It's a flopped shot," explains Lucas, noting that the shot is backwards horizontally, "so, we added in the scar digitally onto that eye."
After the dailies, Producer Rick McCallum screens for him a reel of finished shots from throughout the movie. "It's shocking," says the soft-spoken Tattersall. "Just fantastic."
"It's a completely different movie," chuckles Lucas. "It's like, remember back when we talked about editing a movie without knowing the final picture? Well, Sydney was shooting like that. But now, you can see where it's all going. Remember that stretch of hallway, with [Anakin and Obi-Wan] walking down. The set where we built just a little bit of it because someone didn't want to spend the money on a huge set," he eyes McCallum with a smile.
"Yeah, but it turned out great," Rick answers.
"It looks fantastic. It looks huge," finishes Lucas. This is the shot seen in the teaser trailer, with its reality revealed in a recent KnollVision shot.
"The sense of scale..." marvels Tattersall. "Particularly Padmé's verandah. Seeing what she sees from there. And the close-up of Natalie [in the other shot]... that's almost too sharp."
Rick notes that none of the shots have been timed yet. "And once it'll get down to film, there'll be an amazing loss of resolution," he says, echoing a common frustration at the disparity between what we see here in the perfect screening room, and what the majority of filmgoers will see in theaters.
"Is the darkness a concern?" asks Tattersall, though he's not talking about the content or events of Episode III. Rather, he's worried about how dark the film frame is, the density of the shadows. "Will that be a problem when it gets down to film?"
"No," assures McCallum. "But who knows when it gets to theaters."
It's a constant concern, having to compensate for poor theatrical conditions. With only about 200 digital theaters in North America, McCallum and Lucas realize that most people won't be able to see Episode III as they intended it.
"It's scary, but it'll get there," says Rick optimistically, before adding, "Say the movie opens at midnight on a Friday. By Saturday night, the picture's gone. The experience is gone." Such is the fragility of film and the relentless erosion of exhibition.
As Lucas moves onto animation dailies, McCallum and Tattersall stay in the ILM theater. Rick continues his digital showcase - which includes shots of Episode III matte paintings. One of them is the entrance to the Chancellor's offices, an environment that Anakin Skywalker runs through on his way to meet with Palpatine. It features the same red and gray tones, but is entirely digital.
"The carpet alone would have cost us seven grand. So, maybe 70-80 grand to build this as a set, and all for a three-second shot," says Rick, thinking as a producer.
"In four or five years, there'll be a convergence of technologies where it will be unmistakably photo-real. I think some of the resistance to these techniques will disappear once someone starts doing a contemporary movie with these tools. I think the cinematography gets mixed up with the art direction. But if you do a film set in San Francisco, or New York using this, it'll gain further acceptance," says Rick.
Part of Rick's reel includes footage he gathered around the world for Episode III. Location photography that will become various planets seen in Revenge of the Sith includes an erupting volcano in Italy, strange tree covered peaks jutting from lagoons shot in Thailand and China, and the snow-capped mountains and green valleys of Switzerland.
Exotic locations mixed with the absolute control of studio shooting and digital postproduction make for an ideal cost-effective way of expanding the worlds of Star Wars. It's a method that uses the best of reality mixed with digital's strengths. Sure, the principal photography took place entirely in soundstages, but the ultimate palette encompasses the entire world.
A group of Gungans is now visiting the Galaxies Opera House. They're not the only aquatics present. At the director's request, some of the background extras may sport digital Mon Calamari heads. Given that it's a Mon Cal show, "they're the ones most interested in it," says Lucas.
The clone turbo-tank (known as the Juggernaut to those schooled in the expanded universe) has a featured shot of it tearing down a Kashyyyk beach, bursting with missiles and cannon-fire. But the first pass of it by Roger Guyett's effects unit met with hesitation from Lucas due to one stylistic decision - its massive wheels left the ground while cresting a sandy peak.
"You can have the flying sand and everything, but keep it on the ground. Otherwise, it works against its size. You have to figure this thing weights 16 tons or something. It's huge," says Lucas.
On the lava fields of volatile planet, harvesting platforms must somehow withstand the blast furnace-temperatures to allow the wiry natives to gather valuable ores from the molten rivers. Lucas examines artwork depicting a hazy blue phosphorescent shielding enveloping the ventral side of a platform.
"You have to be careful with this, because it's like the twinkling of stars: a little goes a long way," says Lucas. This corona of blue energy limns the edge of the platform. "It's reactive to the heat," explains Lucas. "Think that there's probably a generator under there making this thing, and its strength depends on how much heat there is."
Other views of the heat-drenched facility are examined in digimatte shots, which Lucas embellishes to evoke precisely the mood he's searching for, even if it comes at the expense of the "real world" layout of the locale. "They're never going to figure out the geography anyway," he says to Roger. "And if they do, they'll write John [Knoll] letters."
"I'm banking on that," laughs Roger.
The shot counts are getting much more specific. What was once a vague "2,300 effects shots" has been zeroed down to 2,138 shots in this current edit. This week, the shots left to go has dipped down to triple-digits, another significant hurdle that brings the 2005 horizon into focus.
Total No.of Shots: 2,138
JAK Finals: 1,177
Final Omits: 189
Weeks to Go: 15
Shots Left: 961
Shots Turned Over: 2128
Pablo Hidalgo