It turns out that Han Solo was not alone whiling away the hours as “art work” in the halls of Jabba’s Palace…
Spotted in a reference photo is none other than a mounted tauntaun head!
Can you say “tauntaun taxidermy” three times fast? We can!
Be sure to check out this awesome fan-made Tauntaun Taxidermy craft too!
All just in time for the brand new Wampa vs Tauntaun soundboard at Starwars.com.
Happy Friday!
7 Comments » | 
Tags: Humor
Behind The Scenes | 
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At E3 this year, LucasArts and BioWare gave not only their first live demos of The Old Republic to press, but also released what has quickly become a fan-favorite trailer for the game. The reception has been fantastic. And as more information came out, fans got more excited. It should be no surprise – Knights of the Old Republic is one of the better loved Star Wars videogames, and it came out of this same partnership. Today, Jake Neri from LucasArts moderated a panel to give fans even more insight into exactly what goes into making a game that continually breaks boundaries.
On the panel were some of the senior people from the development team - Hall Hood (senior writer, BioWare), Alexander Freed (managing editor, BioWare), Dallas Dickinson (senior content producer, BioWare), and Jeff Dobson (art director, BioWare). Jake wasted no time jumping directly into the questions – starting with Dallas who didn’t shy away from a few jokes. “Star Wars: The Old Republic is a Story-Driven Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game – that’s SDMMORPG for those who are Twittering right now. It’s set 3,000 years before the movies and 300 years after the events of the original Knights of the Old Republic.”
52 Comments » | Tags: Comic-Con, E3, LucasArts, SDCC 2009, Star Wars: The Old Republic
Behind The Scenes, Events, Video Games | Permalink
Here’s a round-up of interviews about the upcoming video game that everyone is all a buzz about: Star Wars: The Old Republic.
From MMOgamer.com:
Daniel Erickson (Lead Writer on The Old Republic):
Because we did all class-specific stories for The Old Republic, we’ve allowed ourselves to basically make, Knights of the Old Republic: The Smuggler, its own game. Everything in there, when you’re playing a Smuggler, you feel like a Smuggler. The adventures are crazy, and madcap, and you’re flying by the seat of your pants, and there’s romantic stuff, and you’re spouting off crazy one-liners, etc., etc.
Then, when you’re playing as a Sith, it’s a completely different game. Everything is from that perspective, you come from a very dark world, you’re on Korriban, you’re dealing with Sith politics, you’re dealing with some very, very dark people who are allowed to do anything they want. It completely changes the way we do storytelling.
VIDEO: Giant Bomb Interviews Star Wars: The Old Republic Devs
2 Comments » | Tags: Interviews, LucasArts, Star Wars: The Old Republic
Behind The Scenes, Video Games | Permalink
The Architect’s Journal takes a look at their favorite architectural works in Star Wars from the Ewoks’ Bright Tree Village on Endor to the Death Star itself. The article also explains where you can see its influence in buildings on our own planet.
Here’s what Architects Journal had to say about the buildings of Cloud City:
The simple and elegant 16-kilometre wide Cloud City sits high above the planet Bespin. Proprietor Lando Calrissian oversees a well-appointed luxury resort district on its upper levels, complete with hotels and casinos. Echoes of the saucer-shaped structure can be seen on Earth in John Lautner’s Chemosphere House.
Read the full article here:
Top 10: The architecture of Star Wars
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Behind The Scenes | Permalink
Not all fans find Jar Jar to be “jarring.” In fact, some people think the klutzy Gungan is pretty endearing. Bryan Young at Den of Geek takes a closer look at why Jar Jar is not only important to the story, but worthy of your affection.
Bryan Young writes:
Jar Jar Binks is the clown of the Star Wars films. And it makes sense to have him feature prominently in the first act. Looking to Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, we see Lancelot the Clown featuring prominently in the early act of the play, providing useful commentary, lessons, and above all, laughs and largely disappearing later in the body of the work. Jar Jar works the same way, providing those laughs in the first movie, moving on to another purpose until disappearing completely by the middle of the saga.
Clowns aren’t anything new to drama. They’ve appeared back as far as our history of theatre goes. Why should George Lucas be demonized for remaining consistent with his use of classic myth, drama, and archetype? Jar Jar is the sad bunny you help on the side of the road who gives you the magic beans to slay the dragon at the end of the journey.
As far as in The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar is supposed to be annoying, and funny to the kids. That’s the point. We need to see past people for their annoyance and look at their inherent worth. Jar Jar saved the day and brought two nations of people together because just one person saw through the fog of annoyance. It’s a valuable lesson that would be well learned by those who seem to have the most hatred for Jar Jar.
Read the full essay here:
In defense of Jar Jar Binks (via Den of Geek)
IF Film chatted recently with supervising sound editor and voice actor Matthew Wood about his sound design work on The Clone Wars TV series.
Talk about the process, who does what for sound?
We still divide the labor: One persona does dialogue. Another does foley, which is all the sound effects which as too specific to be found in our library, like footsteps and clothing movement and utensils and things like that. And then we have a sound effects person and a music editor. I think you have a lot more opportunities to create better sound design with the computers, ’cause you have everything data-based at your fingertips and also the manipulation of the process.
No Comments » | Behind The Scenes, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Our friends at Lightsabre.co.uk have posted a rare interview with Star Wars costume designer John Mollo about his work. Here’s a snippet from the interview:
Which of the myriad Star Wars characters do you feel the most affinity for?
I find I am very self-critical when I see my work on the screen. In Star Wars I was quite pleased with the officers, guards, pilots, ground crew etc, both Imperial and Rebels, for which we had no input from the States, especially with the Imperial officers. In Empire, I thought the Snowtroopers worked pretty well.
4 Comments » | Tags: John Mollo
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(photo by Gregg Segal)
Los Angeles Times reporter Geoff Boucher visit the famed Skywalker Ranch in Marin, Calif. and reveals what mysteries lurk past the security gate. And no Ewoks do not tend to the property like Oompa-Loompas, but we do have an Ewok Lake!
Here’s what he discovered:
Walking through the Main House, with its inlaid brass, amber lights and honeyed glow, is to stroll through a stately past. It’s very different, though, at the busiest site on the ranch, the Technical Building, the sleek home of Skywalker Sound, a highly regarded brand in Hollywood postproduction. There, I watched digital artisans work in sound-effects studios, on a huge scoring stage and in mixing suites outfitted with state-of-the-art gear. Because the ranch has a pastoral, summer-camp setting, these workspaces make Skywalker a favored spot for filmmakers who yearn for Walden Pond but with the computer power of the Pentagon.
6 Comments » | Tags: George Lucas, Skywalker Sound
Behind The Scenes, Lucasfilm | Permalink
Word out of Variety this weekend is that Star Wars-alum Joe Johnston has been picked to replace Mark Romanek as director of the forthcoming Wolfman, slated for a 2009 release from Universal. Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt will star.
Star Wars fans should know Johnston as one of the key concept designers for the original Star Wars trilogy, serving as Visual Effects Art Director at Industrial Light & Magic for the three films and other classics such as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Among his often cited Star Wars creds is the development of Boba Fett. Lesser known, for some reason, is his Adventures of Teebo storybook.
He’s also directed Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, Hidalgo, October Skies, and the Princeton episode of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.
6 Comments » | Tags: Joe Johnston
Behind The Scenes, In Pop Culture, News | Permalink
Lightsabre fan site interviews actor Billy Dee Williams about his role as Han Solo’s backstabbing (then redeeming) pal Lando Calrissian.
Excerpt:
When I wrote down the questions for this I was reading the making of and there’s a page in there where you were rehearsing a scene with Carrie Fisher. In the original script she was annoyed with Lando and slaps him around the face. But she didn’t telegraph it, she actually slapped you round the face. And you said ‘You’re supposed to telegraph it!’ and she replied ‘What’s telegraphed?’
Where did you read this?
It was in Alan Arnold’s making of book (Once upon a Galaxy).
Amazing what people make up.
Was that was made up? I’ve always loved that story.
If that happened, I swear to God I don’t remember it.
Read the full interview here:
The Lightsabre Interview — Billy Dee Williams
2 Comments » | Tags: Billy Dee Williams, Celebrities
Behind The Scenes | Permalink
