The Rebel Legion group shot at WonderCon.Death Trooper posing for photos? Pint-sized Ahsoka Tano and Clone Trooper hanging out? Jabba the Hutt lurking in the food court? Yup, it’s that time of year for WonderCon in San Francisco. Three full days of comics, movies, TV shows, costumes, celebrities, artists, droid builders and more!
18 Comments » | 
Tags: Ashley Eckstein, Costumes, Dave Filoni, The 501st Legion, WonderCon
Events, The Clone Wars | 
Permalink
Last week fans flocked to digital theaters for a very exclusive screening on the big screen of an all-new Clone Wars villain –- the monstrous Savage Opress!
The Clone Wars screenings began in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre with the voice actors, director Dave Filoni and writer Katie Lucas in attendance, along with celeb Clone Wars fans.
Screenings continued in Seattle, NYC, Philly, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, among others.
Cast, crew and fans alike came out in full Force at Lucasfilm’s Presidio headquarters in the San Francisco to watch this epic screening of The Clone Wars introducing Savage Opress.
StarWars.com was there to report and live tweet the event. Check out the article below for quotes from Clone Wars actor Daniel Logan, CG/FX/Lighting Supervisor Joel Aron, and more!
Why is this story arc amazing to see on a big screen?
Joel Aron: We work on it cinematically. When you’re watching it on television you’re actually seeing just a crop of what we’re doing. Every little inch of the screen we think about — the lighting, the composition, the balance, the shapes, etc. To see it on a big screen you actually feel the cinematic pulse of the show. It’s very different when you watch it at home.
Why do you think fans will get a kick out of this story arc in particular?
Joel Aron: We’re introducing a character that hasn’t been seen on the show before, and it’s a direct tie to the feature films. When that happens people automatically start to associate. There’s something connecting us to Star Wars here. And you’re seeing a long thread. In the past on the show, we’ve had just little segments, but now we’re getting an entire story arc. We have three episodes that are so seamless, you don’t even realize they’re separate episodes.
Why is it important for you to watch something like this with the fans?
Joel Aron: You get to hear what they really like, and what they react to. What Dave [Filoni] and I both do is we listen to what everybody tells us and we put it back into the show. Everything that happened at Celebration V — all the conversations — the fans really drive us to do more.
13 Comments » | Tags: Dave Filoni
Events, Lucasfilm, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Back in November Lucasfilm Ltd. and Cartoon Network invited fans to sign up for a special, limited theatrical screening in selected areas of a big screen sneak peek at an all-new Clone Wars villain – the monstrous Savage Opress! This week The Clone Wars screenings began in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre.
Cast and crew alike came out in full Force to entertain and meet the fans, which also included a few celebrities in the mix. The 501st, Rebel Legion and R2 builders attended as well, giving fans a chance to have their photos taken with clone troopers, Jedi and droids.
StarWars.com was there to report and live tweet the event. Check out the article below for quotes from Supervising Director Dave Filoni, voice actors Cat Taber, Ashley Eckstein, Nika Futterman and Clancy Brown, as well as Clone Wars writer Katie Lucas.
Why do you think theatrical screenings of The Clone Wars for fans are important?
Dave Filoni: It’s just fun. Part of being a fan is seeing stuff like this together. Star Wars has always been on a big screen. I think that George wanting to put this on a big screen for fans to see is really great. It shows how much he actually cares about the fans. And it’s another great opportunity for fans to get together to watch it.
What are you most excited about this story arc for fans to see?
Dave Filoni: I’m excited for them to see this. I know this is what they want. It’s action and adventure and dark. I have a lot of friends that I worked with in the animation industry in Los Angeles and they’re all here to see it, and that makes it extra-special for me. I’m also excited for Katie [Lucas] to be here and see the fan reaction probably for the first time ever for something she’s created. So there’s a lot of positive things about this screening.
6 Comments » | Tags: Ashley Eckstein, Cat Taber, Dave Filoni, Her Universe, Q & A
Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Fans attending “Inside Star Wars: The Clone Wars” at WonderCon on Saturday were treated not only to a sneak peek at Season 2 of The Clone Wars season finale but also a panel discussion with Supervising Director Dave Filoni, Clone Wars actors Jaime King and Daniel Logan, moderated by Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo.
Here are a few highlights from the panel:
Geektastic power couple Fanboys director and actress Jaime King are all smiles before the panel.
The logo for the 30th anniversary of the release of The Empire Strikes Back welcomes fans before the panel began.
Lucasfilm Director of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet says hello from JediCon in Germany.
Starwars.com Managing Editor Pablo Hidalgo chats with Supervising Director Dave Filoni who says to stay tuned to for special Godzilla shout-outs during the upcoming Zillo Beast episode of The Clone Wars
Excited to be back, actor Daniel Logan talks about reprising his role as young Boba Fett in The Clone Wars.
Actress Jaime King chats about her role as bounty hunter Aurra Sing, and young Boba Fett’s mentor, in The Clone Wars.
5 Comments » | Tags: Costumes, Dave Filoni, WonderCon
Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Mandy from TheForce.net chats with Clone Wars Director Dave Filoni about Season 2 and 3 challenges, goals for The Clone Wars, EU, wolves and football!
Excerpt:
Tell us about the average Dave Filoni day.
I get to work around 8:00 am. I use that time to work on various projects related to Clone Wars, future designs, script revisions, shooting a scene. By 9:30 the day gets going normally with Design dailies, then after that I might review a rough episode, watch a color episode, look at revisions, animation, color/lighting, color correct, music review. It all depends where any given episode is at and what has come in. There are also various items to troubleshoot everyday like how to deal with a large amount of characters that require cloth sim, or what language should be used on a particular view screen. No two days are the same, that’s for sure.
You’ve been terribly diplomatic regarding the various arguments over supposed continuity and the Expanded Universe. Are you pleased or have you enjoyed the tie-in work for The Clone Wars (The Karens, Dark Horse, Republic Heroes, etc.)?
I understand the fans’ passion and respect the fact that they have invested a lot of time studying the EU and have grown fond of many characters in it. However, at the end of the day this is George’s universe; he created it, and he has the right to set things the way he sees them. As someone working in the Star Wars Universe I have had incredible access, and time with George, to make sure this series lines up with his universe the way he wants. It’s like when he makes a Star Wars film and produces it, he’s that involved with The Clone Wars.
I do my best to make George aware of existing EU material when I know we are crossing into territory that has been covered, like the Mandalorians, and we debate what might stay and how things can fit, but we can never limit what we are trying to do creatively because of existing EU material. I am aware of a lot of the tie-in work with Clone Wars, and even though there is not a lot compared to other areas of Star Wars, it is almost impossible to keep up with it all. It doesn’t really effect what we do on the series, because our production schedules are so different. If there is a character we like, they may make it into the show in the background possibly, similar to how Aayla appeared in AOTC.
Read the entire interview here:
TFN Interview: Dave Filoni
18 Comments » | Tags: Dave Filoni
In Pop Culture, The Clone Wars | Permalink
(L to R: Tom Kane, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Dave Filoni)
At San Diego Comic-Con International, Lucasfilm Director of Fan Relations Steve Sansweet chats with Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice actors James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi and Plo Koon), Dee Bradley Baker (all the clone troopers), and Tom Kane (Yoda, Clone Wars announcer) — as well as supervising director Dave Filoni — about their process, character building and why it’s so much to act like more than two characters at once. The cast also talks a little about their support of the original voice cast of Futurama reprising their roles during salary disputes.
How important is it to cast the right voice for an animated series?
Dave Filoni: At the end of the day we need actors to bring the characters to life with dimension and emotion. We’re not trying to mimic previous actors, but instead take nice notes of things from Ewan McGregor or Alec Guinness, but ultimately you have to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. For Dee with the clones, he had to invent how you do that kind of role and not just mimic a certain sound or tone.
What’s harder to do — voicing an established character like Obi-Wan Kenobi or coming up with a voice for a character that’s never spoken before like Plo Koon?
James Arnold Taylor: Well, there’s more pressure because you’re doing Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness and you combine them both and hopefully get something that the fans like. And if I’m doing it right, you’re not hearing me, or Ewan or Alec, you’re hearing Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Plo Koon was great though because it’s Dave Filoni’s favorite, and he was great to do the voice for. And I have to give Matt Wood a lot of credit too because he takes it and turns it into this whole other thing. There’s also more freedom in playing Plo Koon.
Dee, your clone voices are all alike and yet they’re not alike. You have to come up with individual personalities. An excellent example of this is in the season one episode “Rookies.” How do you make all of these characters seem different?
Dee Bradley Baker: It was very important for us to try and maintain distinct personalities and feel for each of the clones — which is something we try to do in all of the episodes. So we recorded each of the clones, straight through on their own — giving them different status, different ages, personality quirks. Giving them slight adjustments from the basic voice — a little younger, or a little gruffer. Then when you piece them all together they feel like they are distinct humans — which adds humanity to these heroic soldiers.
James Arnold Taylor: I always wonder if the clones sit around and do imitations of each other. Or have them talk to each others’ girlfriends. (laughs)
9 Comments » | Tags: Celebrities, Comic-Con, Dave Filoni, SDCC 2009
Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Over the scope of 22 episodes plus a feature film, The Clone Wars series has visually expanded the scope of the Star Wars galaxy immensely. We’ve gone to about 20 planets in the whirlwind that was the first season, and met a variety of alien cultures and creatures. Season two promises to be even richer, and Comic-Con International hosted some of the key members of the artistic team that help put that together at a panel early on Star Wars Day. On hand were Dave Filoni, Supervising Director; Joel Aron, CG Supervisor; Kilian Plunkett, Lead Designer; Danny Keller, Story Artist and Animation Consultant; and moderating the panel was StarWars.com’s own Pablo Hidalgo
“The goal was to create 22 minutes of the best movie to you each and every week,” said Filoni, describing how creator George Lucas kept pushing the envelope on the scope of the story. “If there are 10 clones on the screen, he wants 20. We put 20, he wants 100. Once we get around 100, he wants a thousand. It’s a goal that you simply don’t see every week on an animated series.”
Filoni contrasted the leaps and bounds made by the production team. When the feature film and season one began, Lucasfilm Animation was still being constructed from the ground up. “One simple way to illustrate it very easily, we had Plo Koon — a new character we had built for that. We had three clones that we redressed with different formats. That was largely all we had to build for that episode. No, for the season finale, we had new models of Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Robonino, a modified pirate for a bounty hunter, a whole bunch of new Senators and background characters. So, just as far as character models, we’ve multiplied what we’re capable of.”
Pablo chimed in – “With that said, is there any temptation to revisit any of the designs done for season one?”
“It’s unavoidable,” said Filoni. “Just because we built Anakin Skywalker, he’s was the first model we built, so he’s needed some of the heaviest redesign that we’ve had to do. The Anakin you see now in Clone Wars, even though he looks relatively the same, is not the same model we used in the movie. In fact, he’s substantially better than the one. We redid the rigs, we redid some of the surface textures.”
To show an example of how confidence in execution has changed the approach of designing the characters, Kilian showed an image of the original concept maquette of Anakin Skywalker next to the concept maquette for Bail Organa. Whereas the original explorations of Anakin were hard and geometric, Organa was a much more subtle yet still stylized design.
12 Comments » | Tags: Comic-Con, Dave Filoni, Pablo Hidalgo, SDCC 2009
Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
Catherine Winder, producer of the Clone Wars movie and TV series began the second of the Star Wars day panels, focusing on the 3-D storytelling techniques of Clone Wars. “When I first took on the role of producer, George said to me I want you to produce something that no one had ever seen before. We have to produce fantastic stories, but they need to be truly cinematic. He talked to Dave [Filoni] and I, and one of the things he said to us was: you need to get rid of storyboards. Dave and I looked at each other, and we thought, ‘what is he thinking?’ It took us a while for us to figure out what to do.” The result was the development of 3-D story.
10 Comments » | Tags: Comic-Con, Dave Filoni, SDCC 2008
Events, The Clone Wars | Permalink
