EPISODE XCV
Join with us on the Light Side and partake in the latest batch of Star Wars news, views, reviews, previews and overviews.
Star Wars and Lego, a match made in heaven
Top 10 F/X Scenes in Movie History
Star Wars takes out the number one spot in Popular Mechanics Top Ten.Motion-control photography, in which a computer is used to control a long, complex series of camera movements, made possible the spaceship battles in Star Wars. It would have taken too long to film the scenes manually, says Anne Thompson, deputy film editor at The Hollywood Reporter.
Source
The Lee Adama Diet
Seeing that the moniker Rebel Pilot can also encompass the likes of Battlestar Galactica and Firefly... and if I put my mind to it I'm sure I kind find some other rebellious flyboys from other sci-fi shows that would easily fit the bill, I thought I could venture off into the occasional rant (or news item) in each of these other franchises.So my BSG rant starts now...
I'm watching Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. Now if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and get ahold of the 2003 movie and then sink your teeth into the ensuing episodes.
I LOVED Battlestar Galactica as a kid. And quite frankly this new interpretation is a hell of a lot better. Taking place some 40 years after the original.
But getting back to the headline: Lee Adama's Diet.
What's with that? He went from one episode to the next having shed something like 40 pounds. It felt like just a few days. At the most couple of weeks. And he goes from having a keg stuffed into his dress uniform to sporting a six pack.
How did he do that?
The obvious answer is that it's just fiction. But unfortunately everything else in this series while on one hand is pure 'from a galaxy far, far away' fantasy it's downright realist and gritty.
I think I'd much preferred to have seen a gradual change over the course of half a season. Not a fingersnap and go from bulk to buff.
Anyway, my new resolution is to get as fit as Apollo. I just wish I could do it as quick as he did. And not over the course of half a year.
Silent Star Wars
It would have been better with some "dialogue", but still, top job by a fellow fan.
Check it out.
Wookieepedia
What is Wookieepedia?Wookieepedia is a free content, freely editable online encyclopedia about everything Star Wars, including the Star Wars universe, fandom and behind-the-scenes details.
When and why was Wookieepedia created?
Wookieepedia was started by Chad Barbry and Steven Greenwood in March 2005 as a project that would provide a more complete coverage of Star Wars than Wikipedia was allowed to by its notability policies. For example, almost every character on Wookieepedia has a separate article, while on Wikipedia, minor characters are grouped into long "List of minor characters" articles. A smaller wiki is also easier to manage, customize and verify (when it comes to factual accuracy and canonicity).
Our first articles were forked from the English Wikipedia, although most articles have since been completely rewritten to the point that almost no Wikipedia material remains as of now, and the material that does remain mostly constitutes imported policies and guidelines.
Worth checking out and bookmarking if you're a keen Star Wars fan. Check it out at http://starwars.wikia.com
Free Download Fun
Can't make a decision? Ask someone with Jedi wisdom. Yoda.OS: Palm 3.0+
License: Freeware
Download Link
LEGO Star Wars Maquettes
Last October, fans got their first glimpse of an all-new line of maquettes based on the unique LEGO Star Wars character designs seen in the bestselling video game series. Darth Vader and Stormtrooper, the first two in the series, each measure six inches tall and include interchangeable heads - a popular feature of the actual LEGO Star Wars II game. The edition size for each has now been set - there will be 1,000 of each produced, with StarWarsShop being the exclusive retailer.Sculpted by the artisans of Gentle Giant Studios, the maquettes have been generating a lot of enthusiastic buzz among insiders. "People here at Gentle Giant love them," says Gentle Giant Studios Account Manager Paulie Schrier, "and as the final sculpts near completion, we're more and more excited about them. All of us are proud to work on this really interesting property."
Gentle Giant Studios, a division of the Gentle Giant company, is often called upon to produce designs and sculpts for pieces not formally part of the Gentle Giant product lines. "Gentle Giant Studios is comprised of departments that handle all different aspects of the business," explains Schrier. "Gentle Giant Studios does a lot of 3-D scanning, prototyping and sculpting for other companies who may not have sculptors or rapid prototyping machines readily available."
Such designing and tooling capabilities were required for the LEGO Star Wars maquettes, a project licensed by Lucasfilm but falling outside the traditional Star Wars Bust-Up, Statue, Mini Bust, and Maquette lines (properties handled by the Gentle Giant Ltd. division of the company).
According to Schrier, the studio's creation of the LEGO Star Wars maquettes was very similar to how Gentle Giant Ltd. handles their regular Star Wars lines. "The process is not all that different from what we do for other prototyping jobs or jobs that Gentle Giant Ltd. has. If we have 3-D data to start off with, we will have a digital modeler clean up the data and send it off to the rapid prototyping machines. Once the sculpt is built in 3-D, it gets put into the hands of one of our many in-house sculptors to clean up all the edges and add all the fine detail that the machine couldn't add. Once the sculpt has been approved it gets sent to our paint department to make it come alive with color."
Coming up with poses for the characters also fell to the Gentle Giant artisans, with input from Lucas Licensing and StarWarsShop. "The biggest challenge was to emulate the dynamics that the characters exhibit in-game - their movement flow, their postures, and trying to find practical ways to match the look and feel of LEGO Star Wars," says Schrier.
With Vader and Stormtrooper nearing completion of the prototype stage, Schrier is looking forward to continuing the unique maquette series. "With the switchable heads that are possible in LEGO Star Wars II, the possibilities are endless for this line. I would personally be pleased to do a Jedi-themed line in this style. Yoda would be great."
The Darth Vader and Stormtrooper LEGO Star Wars maquettes are currently available exclusively at StarWarsShop for preorder, each with a very limited 1,000-piece edition size.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Build Your Own Deathstar
This tool lets you build your own Star Wars Deathstar and outfit it with everything from Ferris Wheels to Garbage Mashers.Unfortunately, Imperial construction and design bureaucracy being what they are, it is very likely that some of your choices will introduce certain vulnerabilities into the design.
Source: DeathstarDesigner.com
Via: Digg
George Lucas to get special San Francisco film award
Filmmaker George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars films, will be honoured with a special award from the San Francisco Film Society next year, the group said on Tuesday.Lucas will receive the Irving "Bud" Levin Award created to mark the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco International Film Festival, which takes place from April 26 to May 10.
"Cinema before George Lucas and cinema after George Lucas are two entirely different things," Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, said in an interview. "You can't say that about very many people when you come right down to it.
"There are lots of wonderful people, but for that specific combination of flair, showmanship, innovation, love of film, very, very few people fit the same mold."
Lucas gained his first big success as writer and director of American Graffiti, and then created a new era of special-effects films as the creator of Star Wars. He later launched the Indiana Jones film franchise with director Steven Spielberg.
The Levin award is named after the man who founded the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957 to compete with the European festivals in Venice, Cannes, and Berlin.
Source
End Credits
Will it take me another 3 years to make a new RebelPilot issue?
I hope not!
I've got a backlog of fun and cool Star Wars stuff in a folder on my hard drive so I should really make an effort to get it off of there and onto the world wild web.
Stay tuned for more. It may be sooner than you expect!*
Use the form below to leave feedback.
RebelPilot Editor aka Glen
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Barkely
My son is an absolute Star Wars Lego freak, I'll have to show him this when he gets home from school. Posted May 21, 2008 |
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ElizabethJeanAllen
My sons are grown now but I remember many Sunday afternoons in front of the TV watching Star Wars over and over again. "May the force be with you!" Posted May 20, 2008 |
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bdkz
Great lens...you've got my Blessing! Posted May 19, 2008 |
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RebelPilot
Miss Bee! I hope you and your son enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. Posted April 17, 2008 |
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beeobrien
My son and I are going to read this together. Posted April 17, 2008 |
Disclaimer
All witty remarks, retorts and repartee are ©2007 RebelPilot unless otherwise specified. Any use of the contents from this ezine without permission is strictly prohibited... and frankly, not a very nice thing to do. If you want to use it, just ask.
