Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Paula Walters
5 years ago
Views:

1 PRESENTS

W ith Star Wars TM : The Clone Wars TM launching its third season, it s a great time to look back at how far we ve come since the series first debuted in 2008.

And we keep getting better with both our stories and our production pipelines so that even some of the show s early detractors are beginning to take notice.

Our goal has always been to deliver a Star Wars mini-movie each week, with all the action and humour that have become the hallmarks of the live-action films.

3 W ith Star Wars TM : The Clone Wars TM launching its third season, it s a great time to look back at how far we ve come since the series first debuted in Our teams at Big Rock and overseas have continued to do the impossible, bringing a new level of quality to TV animation. And we keep getting better with both our stories and our production pipelines so that even some of the show s early detractors are beginning to take notice. In addition to connecting with a whole new generation of young fans, we are gradually winning over the diehards who were initially resistant to the new format. Our goal has always been to deliver a Star Wars mini-movie each week, with all the action and humour that have become the hallmarks of the live-action films. Ultimately, it is the input of executive producer George Lucas that keeps us on track, ensuring that the series always stays true to the spirit of Star Wars. In conjunction with Sky Movies HD, we d like to invite you to take another look at our show in the hope that you too will find yourself caught up in The Clone Wars. Dave Filoni, Supervising Director Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Three From Saturday 23 October Sky Movies Premiere/HD 3

You fought in the Clone Wars? Luke Skywalker, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope W ith this one line, Star Wars creator George Lucas sparked the imagination of an entire generation.

4 You fought in the Clone Wars? Luke Skywalker, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope W ith this one line, Star Wars creator George Lucas sparked the imagination of an entire generation. Spoken in the original Star Wars film back in 1977, this fleeting reference to a bygone conflict would become a subject of schoolyard debate for years to come. As a catalyst for the events that made Obi-Wan Kenobi an exile and Darth Vader the most evil man in the galaxy, it s no surprise that the mysteries of the Clone Wars held such a grip on young minds. Of course, it would be 20 years later that the secrets of the Clone Wars would be revealed in George Lucas prequel movies. As a result, many of the first generation of Star Wars fans would experience these climactic events while accompanied by their own children. Part of the magic of Star Wars has always been its cross-generational appeal and for the latest wave of fans, award-winning animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars is their first contact with that galaxy far, far away. Now beginning its third season on Sky Movies HD, The Clone Wars is winning over hardcore Star Wars fans and critics alike with spectacular visuals and engrossing storylines, while further delighting youngsters with its thrilling set pieces and endearing humour. I feel that The Clone Wars is the torch bearer that s taking the franchise into the future, says producer Cary Silver. George always says that there s a group of fans who grew up with the originals and that s their Star Wars. And then the kids who grew up with the prequels and that s their Star Wars. And now we ve got a whole new generation for whom The Clone Wars is their entry point. With each season consisting of 22 feature-quality episodes, however, creating The Clone Wars is anything but child s play, as the team of highly skilled artists at Lucasfilm Animation can attest. Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 4

5 5

Top Left: Big Rock Ranch Below Left: Yoda keeps watch at the entrance of Big Rock Ranch T he headquarters of Lucasfilm Animation can be found at Big Rock Ranch in Marin County, Northern California, a

Originally set to house Lucas special effects company Industrial Light & Magic, Big Rock is now the hub of Star Wars: The Clone Wars activity.

6 Top Left: Big Rock Ranch Below Left: Yoda keeps watch at the entrance of Big Rock Ranch T he headquarters of Lucasfilm Animation can be found at Big Rock Ranch in Marin County, Northern California, a state-of-theart production facility constructed by Lucas in Originally set to house Lucas special effects company Industrial Light & Magic, Big Rock is now the hub of Star Wars: The Clone Wars activity. Led by supervising director and diehard Star Wars fan Dave Filoni, the tight-knit crew brings not only a remarkable amount of experience to the project, but a shared love of both the TV series and the franchise that informs all their work. Situated in the rolling hills of Nicasio, just down the road from the Victorian splendour of George Lucas workplace, Skywalker Ranch, Big Rock is an equally tranquil setting that tastefully mixes Craftsman architecture with a smattering of vintage movie posters and the occasional piece of Star Wars artwork. In Silver s office, which overlooks a man-made lake that local fire departments occasionally draw from in emergencies, the animation veteran is buoyant about the show s rising profile. It s been pretty mind blowing, he says. After the feature and Season One people were like, We re going to wait and see. After Season Two we could feel people coming around but now with Season Three it feels like it s been almost fully embraced. As many fans anticipated, when George Lucas returned to the Star Wars universe to make his prequel movies, the Clone Wars were a central aspect of the sweeping story, although the details of the conflict were largely absent from the screen. With Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones showing the 6

Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved.

outbreak of the Clone Wars and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith depicting its final throes, it was perhaps no surprise that Lucas chose to set his subsequent animated adventure in the

9 outbreak of the Clone Wars and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith depicting its final throes, it was perhaps no surprise that Lucas chose to set his subsequent animated adventure in the fertile story-telling ground between both movies. As a result, Star Wars: The Clone Wars sees the young Vader, firebrand Jedi Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter), fight alongside his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) in a galaxyspanning conflict in which they command a legion of cloned soldiers (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). Also thrown into the mix is Anakin s own apprentice, sassy Jedi teenager Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), as well as classic characters such as Yoda (Tom Kane) and Chancellor Palpatine (Ian Abercrombie). A typically ambitious venture for Lucas, The Clone Wars is his first major foray into television since the ground-breaking Young Indiana Jones TM Chronicles series in the early nineties, a big budget adventure that used fledgling digital trickery to great effect. Well-received and the recipient of multiple awards, Young Indy saw Lucas invest a huge amount of money, time and resources into a risky project for which an audience was by no means guaranteed. To some extent Lucas has repeated the manoeuvre with The Clone Wars, which saw him assemble a fully-functioning animation department and commit to producing 100 episodes before the series had even been sold to TV networks. Having worked on every kind of cartoon from Bratz to GI Joe, Silver is well aware of the unique place Star Wars: The Clone Wars holds in the animation market. Admittedly I m biased, he says. But 9

honestly I don t think there s anything out there that s even close in terms of the scope, the complexity, the visuals, the story-telling, the attention to detail.

Aimed at a young audience but with crossover appeal for older viewers - much like the original Star Wars movies - The Clone Wars is unusually complex, the stories becoming increasingly dark as the

George doesn t see animation as something he should cater to and I think he can t distance himself between making a feature and making The Clone Wars.

11 honestly I don t think there s anything out there that s even close in terms of the scope, the complexity, the visuals, the story-telling, the attention to detail. I just don t see it in any other animated show. Aimed at a young audience but with crossover appeal for older viewers - much like the original Star Wars movies - The Clone Wars is unusually complex, the stories becoming increasingly dark as the conflict deepens. We re only limited by George s imagination and the stories he wants to tell, says Silver. George doesn t see animation as something he should cater to and I think he can t distance himself between making a feature and making The Clone Wars. We ve gone into more complex arenas and the content really lends itself to that. Lucas is surprisingly hands-on in the production of the show, creating many of the plotlines and overseeing its long journey from page to screen. All stories emanate from George, says Silver. We assemble a team of really great writers and hole up at Skywalker Ranch with him for two weeks and beat out every single story for the season. We then go on to design and asset creation. Using 3D software that allows the film-makers to shoot animation in a digital environment, rough versions of scenes are sent to facilities in Singapore and Taipei to be finessed before being returned to the US for post production work and final approval. It s incredibly challenging, says Silver. You have different time zones and different languages. But the advantage is that it allows us to have a 24-hour production cycle. We can set things up for them to work on at the end of the day and then come in the next morning and see what s there. It adds a lot of complexity, but the machine s really cranking now and I think you see that in the level of quality. 11

George Lucas should always be involved in the creation of Star Wars Dave Filoni, Supervising Director W hile Silver s office is wreathed in Star Wars memorabilia, it looks positively staid next to

12 George Lucas should always be involved in the creation of Star Wars Dave Filoni, Supervising Director W hile Silver s office is wreathed in Star Wars memorabilia, it looks positively staid next to that of the series supervising director Dave Filoni, whose inner sanctum is decorated with scores of Star Wars figurines, vehicles and artwork, mostly depicting his character of choice, Jedi Plo Koon. Sporting the fedora that has become his trademark, Filoni s contagious enthusiasm for the show has made him a hit with hardcore Star Wars fans who see him as one of their own. I've definitely promoted the idea that liking something is a good thing when you get to work on it, says Filoni, who was hired following his stellar work on the hit animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender. As film-makers we are now in a very strange position where we have the opportunity to work on so many things that we loved when we were kids, he continues. Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings is just one example of someone who really liked the subject matter and got a chance to direct it. I think you can definitely see the results on screen of the care and compassion that he had for the story. Despite being a huge fan of Star Wars, getting the tone right for The Clone Wars was no easy feat, especially given the fact that it doesn't really have much in common with its peers. Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 12

13 13

When you think of animation in the United States, it s usually thought of as children s programming and not something that people take very seriously, he says.

15 When you think of animation in the United States, it s usually thought of as children s programming and not something that people take very seriously, he says. That s why a lot of the action adventure shows are based on school kids who are part-time superheroes or things of that nature. What we eventually realised with The Clone Wars is it s just Star Wars. It s just what you re used to seeing up on the big screen but for 22 minutes. As Season Three of the series delves into many areas of the Star Wars mythos that are likely to leave fanboys frothing at the mouth, Filoni has worked closely with Lucas to get the stories right, likening their relationship to that of Jedi Master and Padawan apprentice. I think George Lucas should always be involved in the creation of Star Wars, he says. I think you can tell the difference. As long as he s around I m going to ask him questions. It doesn t mean that I m afraid to make decisions; it s just out of pure respect for the guy who created Chewbacca. At Big Rock Ranch, the key phrase on the team s lips is Season Three s catchphrase Secrets Revealed, and taking a sly look at some of the striking production art that adorns the walls it s clear that the show is going to contain some major revelations. It is exciting that George wants to do stories that are more revealing, agrees Filoni. When we were trying to pick things to put in the trailer it was hard because everywhere we looked we were like Well, we can t show that because it gives that away. Dealing with such big Star Wars themes as the nature of the Force, the so-called Chosen One and the creation of the clones, Season Three also promises the crowdpleasing arrival of Darth Maul s brother Savage Opress, a character guaranteed to bring some extra edge to the show. Although there s plenty of intense action, The Clone Wars also has an admirable moral core. Each episode begins with a proverb that sets the scene for the events to come - such as Revenge is a confession of pain in Season Two's Lethal Trackdown - and acts as a guideline for the themes at the heart of the story. As much as myths and fairy tales always carry some sort of moral message there is something to glean from Star Wars, says Filoni. Even though it has a massive fanbase, it always tells stories that have meaning and that a general audience can understand and relate to. Right: Savage Opress 15

Our show is the Star Wars that s in your head Joel Aron, CG Supervisor N ot every room at Big Rock is drenched in sunlight from the ample windows that overlook hills where deer bounce and bald eagles

16 Our show is the Star Wars that s in your head Joel Aron, CG Supervisor N ot every room at Big Rock is drenched in sunlight from the ample windows that overlook hills where deer bounce and bald eagles circle. In the murk of the design room, lead designer Kilian Plunkett is busy hammering out new concepts for upcoming episodes of the show. The single biggest challenge is time, says the Irish-born artist who heads the 12-strong design team. It isn t even the scale or the complexity. There are people here who have worked on everything from The Matrix to The Lord of the Rings and Transformers so there certainly isn t a lack of know-how. But we re designing dozens of things every single time, so it s tricky to get it all finished in time. Fortunately for Plunkett and his team, the identical nature of some of the show s main stars Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 16

17 Below: Design artwork for Jedi Master Shaak Ti 17

makes life a lot easier. The clones were a lifesaver, he says. We d still be making the first episode if the clones all looked different. It s the same face over and over again.

18 makes life a lot easier. The clones were a lifesaver, he says. We d still be making the first episode if the clones all looked different. It s the same face over and over again. The hair makes them look different and it doesn t take us too long. It gives you hundreds of characters from the one model. Tasked with creating a look that recalls the original movies, while providing a visual bridge between Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, Plunkett has his work cut out but there s plenty of help on hand. As well as being encouraged by Lucas to borrow from the brilliant design work that didn t make it into previous Star Wars films, Plunkett is also able to head down to Skywalker Ranch where an immense climate-controlled barn holds many of the surviving props from the movies. We ll them and say we desperately need to look at object X and they re very nice about it, he says. They let us go in and it s actually sorted out a few arguments. Also part of the impressive talent pool is special effects veteran Joel Aron, who worked at Lucas legendary special effects house Industrial Light & Magic on a variety of films, including the last two Star Wars prequels, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. A consummate problem-solver, Aron s job involves finding elegant solutions to a wide variety of design issues while also making sure that the graphics never drift too far away from the original films. Stylistically it helps to be influenced by those movies but to not take them literally, says Aron, who advises his staff to watch the Star Wars movies as often as possible. What I like to say is that our show is the Star Wars that s in your head. So whenever you think of R2-D2 you think of the Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 18

19 19

21 shape and the colours, but if I asked you to draw the shape that was on the front of his chest, you couldn t do it, unless you drew R2-D2 all the time. Our show is really just an essence of what Star Wars is. Interestingly, although the standard of animation is extremely high, Aron must advise his team against making their work too photorealistic in order to maintain a consistent look and feel that is unique to the show. We had a recent episode featuring kids that looked very soft and not chiselled, says Aron. George said Careful, because when you start to make something look soft or smooth without any style then you re going to be compared to the other studios like Pixar or DreamWorks. And that s why I steer the team towards always, always, always, chunky, chunky, chunky. As well as bringing a bag of tricks from ILM, Aron also brings tremendous enthusiasm and energy to his role, an attitude that is reflected throughout Big Rock. What I love about this show is that you re fried, but the energy everybody brings is awesome, he says. If you can just bring people in that have the right attitude, you can accomplish anything. 21

Supervising Sound Editor Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm

22 I call George Lucas the most ordinary, average, everyday billionaire you ll ever meet Matt Wood, Supervising Sound Editor Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 22

Right: Skywalker Ranch B ack in Cary Silver s office - where rosettes for champion egg tossing at the annual Lucasfilm barbecue hang - the producer is taking in the remarkable views from his window.

You can say, Aw man, if we could just get a better this or that, boy, we d do a good job then.

You've got to bring your A game and there are no excuses any more.

23 Right: Skywalker Ranch B ack in Cary Silver s office - where rosettes for champion egg tossing at the annual Lucasfilm barbecue hang - the producer is taking in the remarkable views from his window. I feel like I m working in the middle of a national park, he says. In any company there s always easy cop outs. You can say, Aw man, if we could just get a better this or that, boy, we d do a good job then. It s easy to hide behind, whereas here you've got all the resources and you re in some of the most beautiful environments in the world. You've got to bring your A game and there are no excuses any more. George Lucas has always longed to create a collegiate working atmosphere since his formative days as a film student at the University of Southern California. In the hills of Marin County he seems to have gone one better, however, creating a family-friendly working environment where employees are constantly challenged but never to crisis point. This might be just as well as one of Lucas own daughters, Katie, is a writer on the show, contributing a whole story arc to Season Three. What s more, Lucas and his whole clan (daughters Katie and Amanda and son Jett) will be seen in Season Three where Lucas very brief cameo in Revenge of the Sith is fleshedout into an action-packed episode, as his blue-skinned doppelgänger, Chairman Papanoida, tracks down the group of bounty hunters who have kidnapped his daughters. 23

Above: Skywalker Sound Although he s one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, the impression of George Lucas given by employees is not that of the traditional movie mogul, as supervising

He s a really great guy to work for. It s George s show, and he knows it inside out.

25 Above: Skywalker Sound Although he s one of the most successful filmmakers of all time, the impression of George Lucas given by employees is not that of the traditional movie mogul, as supervising sound editor Matt Wood explains. George will rarely say, We re staying late! We re going to go to midnight! he laughs. I call him the most ordinary, average, everyday billionaire you ll ever meet. He s a really great guy to work for. It s George s show, and he knows it inside out. A protege of Academy Award winning sound designer Ben Burtt, Wood works with sound editor Dave Acord, the duo forming the entire sound team for The Clone Wars. Based at the internationally revered audio facility Skywalker Sound, situated just a stone s throw from the main house at Skywalker Ranch, Wood and Acord must also contend with the serious time constraints imposed on the show. We treat these like little mini features and we try as best we can to give them the same treatment acoustically as we would the movies, says Acord. But the challenge is time. Fortunately, the digital technology that Lucas has been developing in earnest since the early nineties on projects like Young Indy and the Star Wars prequels allows the duo to work wonders. One of the things that s fun for me is that I watched the technology sort of grow, says Wood, who has worked for Lucasfilm for 20 years. The fact that we can now do this show with two people is born out of the level of technology we have developed. We re not having to reinvent the wheel every time. Wood and Acord also worked on the Star Wars prequels and lent their voices to a number of characters, sharing vocal duties for the battle droids, with Wood providing the voice for one of Revenge of the Sith s central villains, General Grievous. It s fun with The Clone Wars to see these young kids who are so into the show and when you do the battle droid voice for them they just love it, says Wood. It s fun to see the imagination light up in their eyes and I can relate being totally into Star Wars at that age. 25

The voice cast and director of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Left to right: Cat Taber (Padmé), Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), Tom Kane (Yoda), Dave Filoni (Supervising Director), Matt Wood

26 The voice cast and director of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Left to right: Cat Taber (Padmé), Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker), Tom Kane (Yoda), Dave Filoni (Supervising Director), Matt Wood (General Grievous), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Dee Bradley Baker (Clones), James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. 26

We ve really tried to make sure that viewers are getting 22 minutes of a Star Wars feature film every week Dave Filoni, Supervising Director W edged in amongst an incredible array of Star Wars

27 We ve really tried to make sure that viewers are getting 22 minutes of a Star Wars feature film every week Dave Filoni, Supervising Director W edged in amongst an incredible array of Star Wars merchandise - including a Darth Vader helmet painted with a yellow stripe in tribute to his hometown football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers - Dave Filoni certainly looks like a contented man. Watching the first two episodes of Season Three, Clone Cadets and ARC Troopers, it s easy to see why. On the surface Star Wars: The Clone Wars is hugely gripping, action-packed children s entertainment, but there s also enough depth to capture the imagination of grown-ups. There s always going to be that attitude that animation is for kids but I think that people have learned, says Filoni. You look at Pixar and the wonderful films they make. People argue they re for kids. But are they? They tell beautiful stories and they re really well done artistically and I think we aspire to that same thing. Whether it s animated or live action is irrelevant, it s just the medium we re using to work. If you ve yet to enlist for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, then Dave Filoni believes Season Three is the perfect place to begin, whether you first saw Star Wars in the seventies or are new to the adventures of Anakin and company. I think the stories are very strong and you'll enjoy them whether you are a fan of Star Wars or not, he says. We start to see things more from the side of the villains and we ve never really seen that in the past. There s definitely some connection with classic Star Wars elements and we have such a visually striking series now. I m very proud of everybody and the effort they put in. We ve really tried to make sure that viewers are getting 22 minutes of a Star Wars feature film every week. With Season Four in production, it looks like there s no end in sight for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which suits Filoni down to the ground. I get asked a funny question now and again, he says. Why more Star Wars? and I m like, Why not? It seems as popular today as when I was a kid and that blows my mind. 27

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Three coming to From Saturday 23 October 17.30 Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Movies Premiere HD Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved.

28 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Three coming to From Saturday 23 October Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Movies Premiere HD Star Wars 2010 Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorisation. Chris Prince Programme Information Editor Laura Mottram Senior PR Manager Megan MacLeod Assistant Publicist

Star Wars: Heroes And Villains: 2003 Calendar (Star Wars) By George Lucas READ ONLINE

Star Wars: Heroes And Villains: 2003 Calendar (Star Wars) By George Lucas READ ONLINE If you are searched for the book by George Lucas Star Wars: Heroes and Villains: 2003 Calendar (Star Wars) in pdf form,