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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Carrie Fisher Dies: Mark Hamill 'Devastated,' Plus More Reactions

Andy Swift
Tue, Dec 27


In the wake of Carrie Fisher’s death on Tuesday, the iconic actress is being remembered by those who loved and worked with her.

Four days prior to her death, Fisher suffered a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles.

Mark Hamill, who famously co-starred opposite Fisher in the Star Wars films, initially had “no words” to express his grief, but later described her passing as “downright heartbreaking”:
    "It’s never easy to lose such a vital, irreplaceable member of the family, but this is downright heartbreaking. Carrie was one-of-a-kind who belonged to us all- whether she liked it or not. She was OUR Princess, damn it, & the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent & ferociously funny, take-charge woman who took our collective breath away. Determined & tough, but with a vulnerability that made you root for her & want her to succeed & be happy. She played such a crucial role in my professional & personal life, & both would have been far emptier without her. I am grateful for the laughter, the wisdom, the kindness & even the bratty, self-indulgent crap my beloved space-twin gave me through the years. Thanks Carrie." I love you, mh

Fisher’s other main Star Wars co-star, Harrison Ford, released the following statement:
    "Carrie was one-of-a-kind…brilliant, original. Funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life, bravely…My thoughts are with her daughter Billie, her Mother Debbie, her brother Todd, and her many friends. We will all miss her."

Star Wars creator George Lucas, meanwhile, noted that, “Carrie and I have been friends most of our adult lives,” before adding, “She was extremely smart; a talented actress, writer and comedienne with a very colorful personality that everyone loved. In Star Wars, she was our great and powerful princess — feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that was more difficult than most people might think. My heart and prayers are with Billie, Debbie, and all Carrie’s family, friends and fans. She will be missed by all.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams posted a handwritten tribute to Fisher on Twitter, calling her “just as brilliant and beautiful, tough and wonderful, incisive and funny as you could imagine.”

Fisher’s The Force Awakens co-star Daisy Ridley said in a statement, "Devastated at this monumental loss. How lucky we all are to have known her, and how awful that we have to say goodbye."

Anthony Daniels said, "I thought I had got what I wanted under the tree. I didn't. In spite of so many thoughts and prayers from so many. I am very, very sad."

Peter Mayhew said, "There are no words for this loss. Carrie was the brightest light in every room she entered. I will miss her dearly."

Billy Dee Williams said, "I'm deeply saddened at the news of Carrie's passing. She was a dear friend, whom I greatly respected and admired. The force is dark today!"




Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Rogue One: Every Star Wars Connection

By Andrew Dyce

Potential spoilers may follow below...

Telling the tale of the brave Rebels who stole the plans to the first Death Star out from under the Empire’s nose, the film had the challenge of filling in a blank in the Star Wars timeline, while also delivering enough nostalgia – and enough innovation – to entertain fans both old and new.

For the devoted followers of the galaxy far, far away, that means a TON of cameos, impossibly small details, and substantial connections to A New Hope and the films that preceded it.


Saw Gerrera
The legacy of ‘Saw Gerrera’ preceded him thanks to an appearance in the fifth season of the animated Clone Wars, in which Saw’s already-extreme methods established him as something of a loose cannon. That was decades earlier in his freedom-fighting career, long before his organs or limbs had been replaced, or he had anchored himself as a figure of legend on Jedha.

Jedha
Edwards doubles down on the new setting of “Jedha” by littering the horizon with what is clearly a massive, crumbled statue of a Jedi, lightsaber extended. Shockingly, no mention is ever made of the feature, or why such a monument once stood on what appears to be a backwater world. Thankfully, the answers were made available in other releases tied to the film. Established as one of the very first worlds on which the nature of The Force was explored, Jedha became a site of great spiritual significance for Force Users. That millenia-old tradition drew pilgrimages from any who sought the wisdom of The Church of The Force – but it was the moon’s abundance of lightsaber-powering kyber crystals that made it important to the Empire.

General Syndulla
Despite being set in the same period of Star Wars history, the links between Rogue One and Star Wars Rebels aren’t too numerous. During one of the many exchanges between the Rebel leadership, radio chatter can clearly be heard making mention of “General Syndulla.” That gives the fans two distinct possibilities to debate: the namedrop could be a reference to Cham Syndulla, a leading Twi’lek resistance fighter whose path crossed that of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Clone Wars. But even better is the chance that it’s a nod to his daughter, Hera Syndulla, star of Rebels – who has apparently worked her way up to the top of the Rebel Alliance’s leadership.

Tarkin
In Rogue One, one of the biggest twists is the presence of Grand Moff Tarkin – considering that Peter Cushing, the actor who first played him passed away in 1994. The same trick had been pulled off in Revenge of the Sith, though limited to a single shot of actor Wayne Pygram in heavy prosthesis.
This time around it’s CG (and voice overs) to thank, grafting Cushing’s facial features onto the body of actor Guy Henry, longtime veteran of the stage and screen who may be best known to wide audiences for his performance as ‘Pius Thicknesse,’ the Death Eater/Minister of Magic in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Ponda Baba and Dr. Cornelius Evazan
the pair of troublemaking patrons in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Even die-hard fans won’t know that the two are actually named Ponda Baba and Dr. Cornelius Evazan, but Rogue One shows they had an even crazier month than fans ever realized. Jyn bumps into the two on Jedha as she and Cassian are picking their way through the crowd. Barking out what is apparently his catchphrase, Evazan (here played by Michael Smiley) and his pal go on their way, avoiding the destruction of Jedha City by a matter of hours…

Guardians of the Whills
the enigmatic duo of Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus. The two are given a bit of backstory by Cassian, observing Jyn’s interaction with the apparent Force-sensitive Chirrut and explaining that the two men as ‘Guardians of the Whills’ – protectors sworn to safeguard the ancient Temple on Jedha. That name is actually much more important than fans will recognize, since the true history of ‘the Whills’ goes back to the very first concept George Lucas ever had about the story that would become Star Wars. In the beginning, he imagined the entire Skywalker story being told to the audience from a ‘Journal of the Whills,’ recorded a century later by the mysterious beings (hence “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”). It’s a deep reference to the earliest days of Lucas’ creation – and it’s not the only one delivered in the same scene…

“May the Force of others be with you.”
Before Jyn is actually called to by Chirrut directly, he can be overheard giving well-wishes to the people passing by – uttering a modified version of the famous blessing: “May the Force of others be with you.” It might sound like a small tweak, or be missed entirely, but the “The Force of others” goes back to the first drafts of Lucas’s original Star Wars screenplay. It originated as a saying or expression of good luck in the first versions of the story, when the Jedi were simply noble warriors, not superpowered monks. At that time, the idea was simply that “the force of others” recognized a larger, unifying bond between living things. That would eventually be expanded into a literal “Force” that could be manipulated by a select few,

Dejarik
Colloquially known as “space chess” – The game appears in Rogue One to illustrate just how much rougher some parts of the galaxy were hit by the rise of the Empire. When Jyn and Cassian are brought into Saw’s fortress, a group of his soldiers can be seen playing a version of Dejarik with actual carved figures. Hard evidence that Han Solo was a seriously devoted fan of the game.

Vader’s Palace
the burning lava of  Mustafar cooking his skin… yikes. Apparently, it’s a trauma that Vader has internalized, as Rogue One includes a sequence set in the fallen Jedi’s own palace. The idea of Vader having a castle-like stronghold of his own was tossed around in the original plans for the original trilogy films, but the location is the key: Anakin Skywalker built his home on the very site he was dismembered, burned, and left for dead.

Rian Johnson Cameo
Rogue One‘s firing of the Death Star sticks painfully close to the procedures, camera shots, and sounds of the original film – right down to the flipping of switches and pressed buttons that lead to the super weapon’s discharge. The strangest moment of all is when a pair of Death Star technicians must lean away from the green laser, covering their eyes in lieu of protective goggles (or a railing, for that matter). Rogue One includes that very same shot for both firings of the weapon, giving fans two chances to see Star Wars Episode VIII director Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman in a cameo role. A cameo that, due to the connected timelines, cements the two filmmakers as certified supporting characters in the original Star Wars.

General Jan Dodonna
Audiences will see Mon Mothma debating the strategies of the Rebel Alliance alongside a bearded, white-haired man and simply think that… it feels right. But the character in question isn’t just anyone, and it isn’t a new character, either.
The Rebel leader is General Jan Dodonna, portrayed in the original movie by Alex McCrindle (he’s the one who aids Leia in placing the medals on our heroes at the movie’s close).
He’s brought to life not through CG, like some other returning faces, but by actor Ian McElhinney. McElhinney will be best known to fantasy fans for his role as ‘Barristan Selmy’ in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Bail Organa
Mentioned in A New Hope, we never got to meet him because he died when Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star. Smiths debuted as the character in Attack of the Clones.
Despite retaining his position as a Senator in the Empire, Bail helped found the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a.k.a. the Rebel Alliance. Rogue One takes place directly before A New Hope, so that means he's been spending almost 20 years secretly fighting the Empire.

“I Have a Bad Feeling About This”
it turns out in the galaxy far, far away, people have been having “bad feelings about this” even before Luke, Leia and Han joined forces. The catchphrase has been uttered in every film as a means of practically inviting misfortune – a detail that the cast of Rogue One seems to know all too well.
This time, it’s K-2SO who voices the concern as he, Jyn, and Cassian begin to make their way into the archives tower on Scarif. Before he can say it, however, both Jyn and Cassian silence the droid. It’s a knowing wink to the films that came before, while managing to make a meta joke of its own.

Returning Squadron Leaders
As the Rebel Fleet arrives at Scarif to offer support to Jyn’s team, fans are treated to a roll-out of fighter squadrons just days away from the biggest battle of their lives (and for some of them, their last). Aside from using radio chatter lifted from the first movie to bring this film’s Red and Gold Squadrons to life, the filmmakers restored footage of the squadron leaders themselves, most notably actors Drewe Henley (Red Leader Garven Dreis) and Angus MacInnes (Gold Leader Jon Vander). The shots aren’t difficult to spot, and help complete the sensation that for these veteran pilots, Scarif and Yavin were just another day at the office.

Rebels’ Ghost & Tantive IV
there’s the obligatory shot of a Rebel Blockade Runner/Tantiv IV, the same design of ship that Princess Leia first entered the Star Wars universe aboard (the very first one seen, period). But the presence of said ship actually makes sense, given that it’s present at the end of the battle – the other easter egg is a bit more intentional. Keep an eye out for the signature alignment of rear lights, and you’ll be able to make out the Ghost – the home of the Star Wars Rebels cast.

Ingvild Deila as Princess Leia
Rogue One is brought completely to a close when the final sequences of the film see the Death Star plans escape the clutches of Vader by a matter of inches, and be hand delivered to Princess Leia on the bridge of the Tantive IV. More CG is used to portray a young Carrie Fisher, but even though the shot is just one word and a few seconds long, an actress was used to ground the performance.
Audiences may not know actress Ingvild Deila by name, but this is technically her second blockbuster role for Disney, having appeared alongside Robert Downey, Jr. as an internet “Hub” tech in The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Read original post here.

Rogue One: Edwards Confirms Unused Star Wars Footage

By Jasmin Mohamed

Director Gareth Edwards talked about just how big of a role the film that started it all had on Rogue One.

A visit to Skywalker Ranch ahead of filming lead to discovering actual 35mm film from Star Wars: A New Hope. The footage provided the perfect opportunity to satisfy fans of the iconic franchise. Edwards describes the additional X-Wing scene as follows:

“We got the neg documents and found the clips from A New Hope that hadn’t been used. And there’s pilot photography and lines that were never featured in A New Hope. Through the magic of [Industrial Light & Magic], they cut round them and manipulated them and stuck them into our cockpits,” he said. It’s the sort of thing you think, ‘how many people will notice?’ Do you know what I mean? It’s like, is this a lot of effort for very little reward?”



Needless to say, the addition did not go unnoticed. Edwards saw the payoff during the film’s LA premiere when fans in the theater erupted at that sequence. “It was the only time during the premiere where I actually punched the air,” the director admits. Using old footage isn’t the only time Rogue One pulls in familiar elements of the Star Wars universe.

As if giving fans Darth Vader and the Deathstar weren’t enough, there has been quite a bit of chatter about including a 100 percent CGI version of Peter Cushing’s Tarkin character; a feat Edwards was nervous about from the beginning. While there was an actual stand-in (Guy Henry) and different voice actor (Stephen Stanton), Tarkin’s role in the significance of the Deathstar meant an appearance in Rogue One was too crucial to not be included.

Read original post here.

Rogue One: Stars Don’t Have to be Alive


By Kyle Smith

Potential spoilers may follow below...

The greatest special effect in “Rogue One” isn’t a planet being wiped out or the whizzing dogfights of the rebels’ X-wing fighters. What’s really breathtaking about the new “Star Wars” movie is the way its technical wizards show they’re close to conquering the final visual effects frontier: the human face.

Casual viewers may not even notice, but one of the chief surprises in the movie is the unexpected reappearance of one of Darth Vader’s top officers, Grand Moff Tarkin, played by Peter Cushing. Cushing, who first appeared in 1977’s “Star Wars,” has lots of screen time, pages of dialogue and interactions with other actors such as Ben Mendelsohn, who plays fellow Imperial officer Orson Krennic.


Which is remarkable considering that Cushing died in 1994.

What you’re seeing is a digital performance, a visual effects (VFX) achievement that dazzles precisely because it’s seamless. This isn’t a cheesy, pasted-in effect that repurposes old footage, but a living, breathing, resurrected Cushing. The slender 6-foot-4 British actor Guy Henry (he played Pius Thicknesse in the final Harry Potter films), who does bear a resemblance to the gaunt Cushing, was hired to play the role on set, in part to avoid the dead-eye effect that plagues simulations of actors. Then the VFX team magically transformed him into Cushing.

This, it turns out, is what the entire VFX industry has been building up to for all these decades. All those explosions and space chases were just the throat-clearing before the grand statement: Today they are bringing actors back from the dead. We always knew movie stars were gods. Now they’ve become immortal.

The technology isn’t quite finished yet, but it’s close; Cushing looks a little eerie, a little uncanny. But in another five years, the VFX wizards might have figured out the last details of how to resurrect deceased actors. If they can recreate Peter Cushing, they can bring back any other dead actor.

Cushing in “Rogue One” is the culmination of work that has been developing for quite a few years.

More impressive are the VFX in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.” The strapping Chris Evans went on a digital diet: For the early scenes in which he plays the hapless pre-transformation weakling Steve Rogers, his tree-trunk arms were shrunk into twigs, his Tarzan chest reduced to the dimensions of the average sparrow. Filmmakers had to shoot the scenes three times: Once with Evans, once with a skinny stand-in and once with no one playing Steve in the shot.

The progress is clear — the actors look less and less plastic, less and less artificial.

‘It is a similar process to Photoshop that uses some similar tools,” Lola VFX supervisor Trent Claus told The Hollywood Reporter, “but unlike Photoshop, which is done on a single image, we have 24 frames per second of footage. Every feature of the face and body needed to be addressed in some fashion.” For instance, “One thing that happens to all of us is that the skin of the face gradually lowers in certain areas and needs to be ‘lifted’ back to where it was at the age in question.”

Read original post here.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Design of 'Rogue One': A Look at the 'Star Wars' Film's Concept Art


An alternate vision of the film can be seen in The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Josh Kushins. A collection of sketches, renderings, and other concept art, documenting the creation of the film from initial ideas to final production. Along the way characters and settings came and went, while some, like K-2SO and Saw Gerrera, were dramatically transformed.

K-2SO



Kushins: “K-2SO was a great example of a design that evolved from an original conception, more along the lines of the droid seen on the original Death Star in A New Hope.

Vader’s Chamber





Kushins: “Even though Mustafar had been seen in Revenge of the Sith, Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept of the lava planet as Vader’s private lair isn’t something that had ever really been explored on screen. The concepts for Rogue One built on McQuarrie’s designs, expanding and adapting them for Vader’s place in this story.”

Saw Gerrera’s Throne Close-Up


This image conceives the fearsome freedom fighter perched atop a throne of Stormtrooper helmets.


While the helmet-throne didn’t make the film and the character (played by Forest Whitaker) was toned down, the screen incarnation did retain the mechanical legs.











Monday, December 12, 2016

What To Learn From ‘Star Wars: Life Debt’




The newest novel continues to dig into what remains of the Empire following the Battle of Endor, the state of the fledgling New Republic, and the lives of key characters.
It lends some much-needed background to a whole host of mysteries in The Force Awakens, while teasing at what’s to come in Episode VIII.

By the time Life Debt picks up, the Empire has been shattered by their defeat on Endor.

Han and Leia tied the knot on Endor
Han and Leia were got married pretty much after the final scenes of Return of the Jedi. Leia is already pregnant with the couple’s first child, although many of their friends and colleagues in the New Republic are unaware of that fact yet.



Leia is very much attuned to the Force
Leia never did formally train to become a Jedi with Luke in The Force Awakens. But that doesn’t mean that she lacks the ability.
In Life Debt, we see her meditating while pregnant, trying to stretch out and feel the Force. During this meditation, she connects with her child, knowing immediately that she’s going to have a son.
She becomes filled with joy and hope at the prospect of this, making our knowledge of Ben Solo’s eventual fall into darkness that much more tragic.

The liberation of the Wookiee homeworld
Most of both Death Stars were built on the backs of Wookiee labor. Back on their home planet, they were imprisoned in camps while the Empire strip-mined their lush forests for resources.

There are still pockets of Imperial power still fighting off a New Republic that’s spread all too thin.
That left Kashyyyk under the yoke of one of those factions.
It’s not long before Han and Chewie catch wind of an opening, and make for the planet’s surface to liberate the Wookies once and for all. For Han, this is a personal mission—he resigns his commission and goes off with Chewbacca to liberate his partner’s home.

The identity of Supreme Leader Snoke?
We see the rise of an enigmatic and mysterious fleet admiral, Gallius Rax (better known as The Operator in the first Aftermath novel). As a child, Rax was taken under the wing of Emperor Palpatine himself. He now works behind the scenes to build a stronger, less bloated Empire in his own image.

The clues all seem to point toward Rax as Snoke: He spends considerable effort rescuing Brendol Hux from the clutches of the New Republic, setting the table for Hux’s son to rise through the ranks by the time TFA picks up.
After discovering a young Rax stowed away on his shuttle, Palpatine notes that he senses a purpose and destiny in him.
The vision of the Empire that Rax holds is all too similar to the one Snoke seems to have for the First Order.
Rax was the one who eventually leads the Empire’s final stand in their defeat on Jakku (which could explain Snoke’s horrible scars).

The Shadow Council has big plans for children—mainly through Brendol Hux, who Rax orders rescued from the beseiged Arkanis Academy, where he was in charge of training young Imperial minds.
Rax also orders the safety of Brendol’s illegitimate son, Armitage on the logic that “the Empire must be fertile and young.”
This is presumably a predecessor to the younger Hux’s own belief in training loyal soldiers from childhood to adulthood rather than breeding a clone army, which leads to kids like Finn being taken from their families and brainwashed into being adherents of the First Order.

General Hux in his younger years
Gallius Rax expended considerable resources rescuing Brendol Hux, a man known for his talent in training Imperial soldiers. It was a move that seemed like a precursor to the First Order’s legions of brainwashed Stormtroopers, taken at birth, given a number designation, and trained as weapons.
In order for that timeline to logically shake out, that means the First Order would have had to begin this program right around the time Life Debt takes place, and offering even more evidence in support of the “Rax = Snoke” theory.

Brendol’s son, Armitage, eventually grows up to be General Hux, the de facto military leader of the First Order in The Force Awakens.
He wasn’t always the intimidating, albeit inexperienced, force we saw in TFA though. At a dinner with the rest of Rax’s Shadow Council, Brendol describes his son as “a weak-willed boy, thin as a slice of paper and just as useless.”
Clearly young Armitage exceeds his father’s low expectations, eventually rising to heights that no one could have predicted.

Maz Kanata goes on a search
Maz Kanata makes an appearance in Aftermath: Life Debt. Her castle/bar allows everyone in it, so long as they don’t fight.
“ALL ARE WELCOME (NO FIGHTING)” is on the wall, and she even has a prison for brawlers.

An Imperial and a Rebel get into a fight, and they end up locked up. Maz releases them, but says to a droid that predates even her,

“Peace has not returned to my heart. Something is off balance. Some stirring in the Force has made the water turbid. Hard to see. But I think it best we be prepared.” And Maz gets in her ship to travel around and “See just what I can see.”

(This could be the journey that ends with Luke and Anakin’s old lightsaber moldering in her basement.)

A Dark Side Cult is in open rebellion
On Corellia, a group called the “Acolyte of the Beyond” is active, calling themselves devotees of something “greater than the Empire.” One is captured by the police while (essentially) spray-painting “Vader Lives” and says that, in this group, you have to “earn your mask.”
After shooting up a police station, the acolytes raid an evidence locker, and come out wielding a familiar red-bladed lightsaber. Upon their exit, they ominously describe their movement as “the revenge of the darkness,” laying the groundwork for what sounds an awful lot like the Knights of Ren.

Luke’s training
Luke’s presence in Life Debt comes through the meditation training he’s been giving Leia to help hone her Force sensitivity. She uses that training to guide her to Han after he goes missing, and notes how powerful that feeling is—a precursor to her feeling his loss through the Force 30 years later in The Force Awakens.

By the end of the book, Kashyyyk is safely in New Republic hands—thanks to the help of Leia, who chases after Han in the Falcon when he goes missing.

Han and Chewie decide to forge paths alone
Even though we know they eventually get back to their smuggling ways, Han promises that Chewbacca will play a big role in his future son’s life:

    “No. No! You have to stay here. We fought like hell for this and now. . . this is yours. Okay? All yours.
This is home. You got people here and I want you to find them, You hear me? That’s my last demand. No arguments.”

Chewie rumbles but Han reiterates, more firmly this time: “I said no arguments. You be with your family.
I have to go start mine”


    “I’ll be back. We’re not done, you and I. We’ll see each other again. I’m gonna be a father and no way my kid won’t have you in his life.”

    One more bark and yip as Chewie pets his head.

“Yeah, pal. I know.” He sighs. “I love you, too.”

Star Wars: Life Debt 'Epilogue'

Potential spoilers and plot leaks thinly veiled may follow below...

The newest novel hints that Jakku may be more important. The final chapter of Life Debt takes us through the story of a young Gallius Rax first meeting Emperor Palpatine.

Epilogue 
Set 30 years before the events of the novel (just after the events of The Phantom Menace) the epilogue reveals that Rax was born on Jakku.
Jakku was introduced in The Force Awakens as a junkyard planet, having played host to a vicious battle between the New Republic and the Empire decades ago.
Rax (who could be Snoke) actually grew up on Jakku as an orphan.
Upon their meeting, Palpatine tasks Rax with staying on the planet to stand guard over something “precious.”

Chancellor Palpatine's grand plan
In an attempt to escape the dusty world, Rax sneaks aboard a Republic ship that lands on the planet one day... and finds himself face to face with none other than Chancellor Palpatine, who’s visiting the planet for undisclosed (and presumably nefarious) reasons to excavate a piece of land.

After a short chat with Rax, Palpatine offers the boy a choice: die, or swear loyalty to him and become part of a grand plan:

   I give you a new life. A better one. I give you a task that, if you manage, will lead you to greater things. Not some thing so mundane as a job, but a role. A purpose. I sense in you potential. A destiny. Most people have no destiny.

Rax agrees to join Palpatine
Palpatine gives the child a mission: return to Jakku, and guard the area that Palpatine’s droids were excavating with his life. Why? Palpatine espouses that the area, whatever it is, will have a major part to play in the future of the galaxy:

    “You will go back to Jakku. The spot there in the dirt where my droids were operating is precious. Not just to me, but to the galaxy at large.” 

He sweeps his decrepit hand as if to the greater universe.

“It is significant. It was significant a thousand years ago and it will be significant again. You will go back there and you will monitor my droids excavating the ground. Then I will send more droids and they will build something there below the ground. I want you to guard this space.”