Yesterday I wrote a bit about arriving at the Big Rock facility at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, on the junket for the upcoming "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated feature. As mentioned, we shot some footage for our upcoming Special, "Inside Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (this Friday Aug 8th, 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT), and were generally blown away by the nature-postcard surroundings and the overall vibe of support for creative-types.
Meeting the Animators
Later on during our first day at Big Rock we got to hang out with some of the artists behind The Clone Wars film & series. The Lucasfilm folks set-up a bunch of work-stations in the lobby, so while we asked questions about animation approach, process & execution, they could basically answer by showing us how they put it all together.
I've got some buddies who are illustrators & animators, but I'd never been close-up when guys as talented as The Clone Wars artists demonstrate their chops (which are formidable, to say the least).
The thing that really hit me was watching them noodle-around within the 3D-CGI realm. Even for a total layman like me, you really see how the technology blew the animated world wide-open in terms of visual possibilities.
The first two artists we talk to are Carlos Sansonetti and Alec Fredericks (both animators on Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Carlos pulls up Anakin's image and starts messing around. With agile clicks of the mouse he alternately contorts his face into a rage-filled scowl, then with adjustments to a seemingly infinite matrix of controls, Anakin's smiling his Jedi ass off.
Alec gives us a similar demonstration, but with new character Ahsoka Tano as his canvass. He takes her from standing-still into a run by programming the preliminary movements then repeating the series (a sort of visual 'cut-copy-paste'), while adding varied tweaks & facial movements. Very cool stuff.
We then talk with Pouchon Venerin, a Texture Artist on the film. To be honest, I wouldn't have known there was a separate designation, but watching Pouchon work (also on Ahsoka), it quickly became obvious how his job is different. He works on a big tablet and basically paints colour and visual texture onto the characters provided to him by Modelers and Animators. He tells us that, though he's given general direction in terms of overall look, he actually has a sizeable degree of creative freedom when it comes to brush-strokes and details.
Lastly, we move on Jon Farmer (or "Jono" - see his pic up top). Jono's been with Lucasfilm for over 15 years and is one of those guys who seems to define the term "salt of the earth". He's a Modeler, and watching him create a character on his monitor from a blank spherical blob of cyber-clay is amazing. He also pulls up the template for one of the ships in The Clone Wars and shows us how he adds pieces & functionality (ex, an extension on a retracting walk-way).
Jono waited in line to see "A New Hope" back in '77, and after "Return of the Jedi" came out in '83 he said he was hell-bent on working for Lucasfilm.though he wasn't sure if he'd ever get a chance to be part of a Star Wars team. But the Special Edition re-issues of the original trilogy in '97 gave him the opportunity he'd always hoped for, and he finally got to dig his creative-incisors into the franchise. He later worked on Attack of the Clones (Episode 2) and Revenge of the Sith (Episode 3). Talking with him was great because he could really speak to the changes in technology from '97 onwards, and how it affected the process of modeling in the 3D-CGI universe. But, most of all, it was a blast to chat about how he went from being one of the original fans to one of the guys who helped create the Star Wars universe we saw in the prequels (and now, in "The Clone Wars").
Back in SF at the Letterman Digital Arts Centre
Later that night we're taken back into San Francisco to screen the film at the Letterman Digital Arts Centre. As you might know, the LDAC is the new home for Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArt and Lucasfilm Ltd, and it's housed in a former military hospital on the grounds of the Presidio.
In the lobby we check out some great Star Wars paraphernalia: the light-saber used by Anakin/Darth in Episode 3, along with an actual Vader costume from the original trilogy, and tons more. We're ushered into a full-sized theatre and, after Lucasfilm's head of publicity gives a quick chat about the genesis of the project, the film starts.
I'll let you check it out for yourselves once it hits theatres on Aug 15th, but the part of the movie that really stood out for me was the vertical battle scene. I literally felt vertigo at certain points, and it was tough to tell which end was up and which was down. The filmmakers did a really good job of conveying confusion and upward-moving chaos. Jabba the Hutt's uncle is a funny touch as well, and the first ground battle toward the start of the film has some amazing visuals and sweeping 360 degree sequences that'll definitely draw you in.
After the screening we head to the hotel - we're scheduled to drive back to Big Rock first thing in the morning for interviews with The Clone Wars' Producer, Director and, of course, the man himself.
I didn't sleep very well that night.
