|
This from Bill Hunt - thedigitalbits.com - October 02 2005
[hr]
We've got a surprise treat for you Star Wars fans today to close out the week. Sarah and I made the quick plane hop up to San Francisco yesterday, to attend the Episode III DVD press event at the Skywalker Ranch. As today marks my 38th year on this planet, it was quite the nice way to spend an afternoon. I'll tell you more about it all (and post some pictures Sarah took) on Monday.
One interesting note from the event: Producer Rick McCallum and ILM animation director Rob Coleman confirmed that Lucas has continued to digitally massage the other Star Wars films.
Specifically, Coleman indicated that the puppet Yoda from Episode I has been replaced with a digital Yoda that matches the character as seen in Episodes II and III. The CG performance was specifically tailored to match to Frank Oz's puppet performance.
You'll be pleased to know that Coleman also told me, in no uncertain terms, that Oz's puppet work in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will NEVER be replaced with CG. So you fans can rest easy. You'll get to see the new changes on a future, as-yet-unscheduled box set release of the entire Star Wars saga on DVD and/or HD.
One other interesting item to report from the event: McCallum expects there to be 22 Young Indiana Jones Chronicles DVDs in all, 3 of which have been completed. The discs will include some 66 historical featurettes, now in production. Work has been ongoing for about 18 months on the Young Indy DVDs, with about another 18 months worth of work yet to be done. If all goes well, the plan is to tie the DVD release to the theatrical debut of Indy IV (the script for which Lucas is expected to finish this Sunday).
Anyway, as you're probably hoping, I've just posted my in-depth review of the 2-disc Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith DVD, which streets on 11/1. If you thought the video and audio quality on the previous Star Wars DVDs was impressive, just wait until you get your hands on this.
[hr]
[hr]
SW TV SHOWS RAMP UP
Rick McCallum, who served as producer on the recent Star Wars films, revealed to Now Playing Magazine some of the details of the two upcoming TV series based on the franchise created by George Lucas.
"The live-action television series is something we're planning for just at the beginning of 2007," McCallum said in an interview while promoting the upcoming DVD of Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch in northern California. "We're just starting to interview writers and trying to really figure out which direction [to go]."
McCallum added that the series will have a different tone than the features and will introduce characters that weren't seen on the big screen. "It is going to be much darker, much grittier. It's going to be character-based. [Lucas] envisions somewhere like 100 hours, [set] between Episode III and Episode IV, with a lot of characters that we haven't met, but [who] have been developed in some of the novels and other things. We're really excited about that, because I think finally we're going to have the opportunity to answer everybody's questions once and for all by the time we finish the series."
McCallum also revealed that the live-action series is likely to be based in Sydney, Australia, and will be filmed in hi-def, while production on the animated series is already underway at Skywalker Ranch. "The animation is being done as we speak," he told the magazine. "It's starting to prep. That's being done here at the Ranch. A lot of the effects are being done in Singapore. ... I think it's just now in the conceptual work and script work [phase]. I think George is trying to get 13 scripts done first before we really start to get into the pipeline of it. But that'll start happening probably at the end of March."
[hr]
|
