Jedi Priestess
Insert Jedi Here
August 26, 2004
Though Producer Rick McCallum told the audience at Comic-Con International that Hayden Christensen would not have to re-shoot the epic lightsaber duel between him and Ewan McGregor, there still was opportunity to revisit this lengthy sequence during pick-up photography. In the current edit, there are a handful of shots where Hayden and Ewan disappear, and are instead replaced by placeholder animatics providing close-ups, jumps or short bridging material.
These kind of pickups are captured very quickly, and made up much of this morning's shooting. Against backdrops of blue or greenscreen, Ewan and Hayden would perform relatively simple tasks. Nothing on the scale of memorizing the hundreds of moves required for the duel. Think of it more like landing in combat-ready stance, or leaping off a plank.
It's child's play, to pros such as these. Of great benefit is being able to see the current edit of the movie, pulled up with a few keystrokes from Video Operator Demetri Jagger. On a smaller playback monitor nested beneath the twin plasmas, the duel plays out in context. Though there's no finished shots, Ewan, Hayden and the crew get the big picture, something that was unavailable last year.
Given that the subjects are the actors in wardrobe, it brings up a question as we move from the blue half of the stage to the green half this morning: Since the clothes are the same colors throughout, and that often dictates the background color, why switch from blue to green?
"Whenever we have a roll of shots, cut together, we don't like jumping from greenscreen to bluescreen within the sequence," explains Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll. The color suppression techniques used to extract the blue or green work best if they're consistently applied to a sequence, and suddenly cutting in a blue shot into a scene that was shot entirely on green may discolor the subject in the shot.
In this case, the choice of color is determined by what was shot in Sydney. So as Anakin or Obi-Wan clings to a green-painted set fragment, performing a determined close-up, we're reminded that the fully constructed set piece for this sequence was shot against greenscreen last year. "That had to do with stage availability," John recalled. The only set available to film that sequence last year was Stage 3, the one entirely lined by greenscreen.
Outside of the duel, there are other action-based snippets to fill out the edit today, from the beginning and end of the movie and focusing on Anakin and Obi-Wan.
One curious shot reworks a scene already revealed to Hyperspace viewers in the form of a recent webdoc. It's Obi-Wan and Anakin leaving a turbolift aboard the Trade Federation cruiser.
There was nothing wrong with the performance, captured on the first day of principal photography last year on a full set. But the whole elevator sequence has been re-edited, so that the door no longer is sliced through by a lightsaber (as seen very clearly in the first KnollVision image).
Instead, Obi-Wan and Anakin emerge from a perfectly functioning elevator door. The background plate is easy enough to replicate from the principal photography, but an unobstructed doorway requires Ewan and Hayden to reshoot their walk.
The set for this? Nothing, except a rectangle of grated light on the floor. And plenty of imagination.
It's the little things that define character. While young audiences forever remember Darth Vader strangling a Rebel officer, older fans instead savor the way he holds his arms behind his back as he surveys his assembled fleet. The little nuances are just as memorable, perhaps even more so.
Anakin Skywalker stands at a railing, looking at the world around him. Right now, of course, it's all blue. Heck, there isn't even a railing. But George gives Hayden a simple yet memorable directive.
"Think about how terrible a place the universe is and how you can fix it."
After seeing bits and pieces of the rough cut on the playback monitor, George Lucas treated the cast and crew to the current cut of the opening of the film. Rather than use the small monitor, he had Demetri run it through the larger plasmas. If you were wondering why the webcam suddenly pointed away from the screens this morning starting at about 09:43:40, that was requested by George.
The video started at the opening crawl, but Ewan asks for a few seconds of rewind, to deliver an ideal experience. "No, no, you have to start it from the start. You've got it there, don't you? With the barr-ump bump, arr-ump bump, barr-rrrr-um bump?"
So, with the snare drum Fox Fanfare transitioning to the Lucasfilm logo, the screen goes black for a moment, then the triumphant blast of John Williams' Main Title theme starts, and yellow lettering disappears into infinity.
Hayden Christensen is drawn to the screen as words REVENGE OF THE SITH float in the darkness of space. "I'm telling you, these DVD releases are getting closer and closer everytime, aren't they?" jokes Camera Operator Calum McFarlane.
The massive Republic cruiser fills up the screen, and two tiny Jedi starfighters buzz into frame. This is the final ILM shot, just as it will appear in theaters next year. "Look at that..." says Ewan, turning to Hayden. "That's me and you, pal!"
There are a few instances of animatic footage, and low-res ILM layouts rather than finished shots. And occasionally, Ben Burtt's voice interjects in the place of Ewan, Hayden or Temuera Morrison. But even in this incomplete stage, it works. The assembled audience can't take their eyes away, and they laugh when they're supposed to laugh, and gasp when they're supposed to gasp.
"I'm not so bad a pilot there, am I?" asks Ewan, watching Obi-Wan's starfighter avoid a massive explosion.
We watch up until a scene of Obi-Wan and Anakin surrounded by battle droids... fittingly, it's a scene slated for a re-shoot, to re-word some of Ewan's dialogue.
"Now, we're right up to where we are," says George.
"Let's stand by for a take," announces 1st Assistant Director Colin Fletcher. But before everyone resumes positions, there's a round of applause from the crew.
Spotted on the Set Today: Samuel L. Jackson and Orli Shoshan have arrived and underwent costume fittings today, but that was listed on the Call Sheet, so it came as no surprise. What was a surprise was the afternoon appearance of Jeremy Bulloch, who dropped by to say hello. Even more unexpected was Robert De Niro, who was just paying a visit.
August 26, 2004
Though Producer Rick McCallum told the audience at Comic-Con International that Hayden Christensen would not have to re-shoot the epic lightsaber duel between him and Ewan McGregor, there still was opportunity to revisit this lengthy sequence during pick-up photography. In the current edit, there are a handful of shots where Hayden and Ewan disappear, and are instead replaced by placeholder animatics providing close-ups, jumps or short bridging material.
These kind of pickups are captured very quickly, and made up much of this morning's shooting. Against backdrops of blue or greenscreen, Ewan and Hayden would perform relatively simple tasks. Nothing on the scale of memorizing the hundreds of moves required for the duel. Think of it more like landing in combat-ready stance, or leaping off a plank.
It's child's play, to pros such as these. Of great benefit is being able to see the current edit of the movie, pulled up with a few keystrokes from Video Operator Demetri Jagger. On a smaller playback monitor nested beneath the twin plasmas, the duel plays out in context. Though there's no finished shots, Ewan, Hayden and the crew get the big picture, something that was unavailable last year.
Given that the subjects are the actors in wardrobe, it brings up a question as we move from the blue half of the stage to the green half this morning: Since the clothes are the same colors throughout, and that often dictates the background color, why switch from blue to green?
"Whenever we have a roll of shots, cut together, we don't like jumping from greenscreen to bluescreen within the sequence," explains Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll. The color suppression techniques used to extract the blue or green work best if they're consistently applied to a sequence, and suddenly cutting in a blue shot into a scene that was shot entirely on green may discolor the subject in the shot.
In this case, the choice of color is determined by what was shot in Sydney. So as Anakin or Obi-Wan clings to a green-painted set fragment, performing a determined close-up, we're reminded that the fully constructed set piece for this sequence was shot against greenscreen last year. "That had to do with stage availability," John recalled. The only set available to film that sequence last year was Stage 3, the one entirely lined by greenscreen.
Outside of the duel, there are other action-based snippets to fill out the edit today, from the beginning and end of the movie and focusing on Anakin and Obi-Wan.
One curious shot reworks a scene already revealed to Hyperspace viewers in the form of a recent webdoc. It's Obi-Wan and Anakin leaving a turbolift aboard the Trade Federation cruiser.
There was nothing wrong with the performance, captured on the first day of principal photography last year on a full set. But the whole elevator sequence has been re-edited, so that the door no longer is sliced through by a lightsaber (as seen very clearly in the first KnollVision image).
Instead, Obi-Wan and Anakin emerge from a perfectly functioning elevator door. The background plate is easy enough to replicate from the principal photography, but an unobstructed doorway requires Ewan and Hayden to reshoot their walk.
The set for this? Nothing, except a rectangle of grated light on the floor. And plenty of imagination.
It's the little things that define character. While young audiences forever remember Darth Vader strangling a Rebel officer, older fans instead savor the way he holds his arms behind his back as he surveys his assembled fleet. The little nuances are just as memorable, perhaps even more so.
Anakin Skywalker stands at a railing, looking at the world around him. Right now, of course, it's all blue. Heck, there isn't even a railing. But George gives Hayden a simple yet memorable directive.
"Think about how terrible a place the universe is and how you can fix it."
After seeing bits and pieces of the rough cut on the playback monitor, George Lucas treated the cast and crew to the current cut of the opening of the film. Rather than use the small monitor, he had Demetri run it through the larger plasmas. If you were wondering why the webcam suddenly pointed away from the screens this morning starting at about 09:43:40, that was requested by George.
The video started at the opening crawl, but Ewan asks for a few seconds of rewind, to deliver an ideal experience. "No, no, you have to start it from the start. You've got it there, don't you? With the barr-ump bump, arr-ump bump, barr-rrrr-um bump?"
So, with the snare drum Fox Fanfare transitioning to the Lucasfilm logo, the screen goes black for a moment, then the triumphant blast of John Williams' Main Title theme starts, and yellow lettering disappears into infinity.
Hayden Christensen is drawn to the screen as words REVENGE OF THE SITH float in the darkness of space. "I'm telling you, these DVD releases are getting closer and closer everytime, aren't they?" jokes Camera Operator Calum McFarlane.
The massive Republic cruiser fills up the screen, and two tiny Jedi starfighters buzz into frame. This is the final ILM shot, just as it will appear in theaters next year. "Look at that..." says Ewan, turning to Hayden. "That's me and you, pal!"
There are a few instances of animatic footage, and low-res ILM layouts rather than finished shots. And occasionally, Ben Burtt's voice interjects in the place of Ewan, Hayden or Temuera Morrison. But even in this incomplete stage, it works. The assembled audience can't take their eyes away, and they laugh when they're supposed to laugh, and gasp when they're supposed to gasp.
"I'm not so bad a pilot there, am I?" asks Ewan, watching Obi-Wan's starfighter avoid a massive explosion.
We watch up until a scene of Obi-Wan and Anakin surrounded by battle droids... fittingly, it's a scene slated for a re-shoot, to re-word some of Ewan's dialogue.
"Now, we're right up to where we are," says George.
"Let's stand by for a take," announces 1st Assistant Director Colin Fletcher. But before everyone resumes positions, there's a round of applause from the crew.
Spotted on the Set Today: Samuel L. Jackson and Orli Shoshan have arrived and underwent costume fittings today, but that was listed on the Call Sheet, so it came as no surprise. What was a surprise was the afternoon appearance of Jeremy Bulloch, who dropped by to say hello. Even more unexpected was Robert De Niro, who was just paying a visit.
