ned, 25. rujna '05 u 00:35
Set Diary: A Shifting in the Force
September 21, 2005
The Set Diaries from the summer of '03 described in detail the practical technology required to achieve the effect of a cruiser tumbling through space, with ceilings and floors swapping places around the hapless characters. It was an enormous, well... hamster wheel that housed the set inside. The set and camera would spin in the wheel together, with the actors appearing to walk on walls and ceilings as the orientation changed. All the revolve scenes were shot on Stage One.
For all the effort that went into creating this effect, only a couple of shots in a single sequence ended up being used in the finished feature. It's the escape into the elevator shaft following the death of Dooku and the liberation of Chancellor Palpatine. Scenes of the elevator lobby inside the revolve were shot on Thursday, July 31, 200 with some elements of the interior shaft gathered on Wednesday, August 13, 2003.
In the shooting script, the Jedi and the Chancellor emerge from the canting elevator shaft and head towards the hangar bay. In scenes cut from the final edit, the bay is a chaotic mess. The script describes: "It is extremely windy as bits and pieces are continually sucked into space. The hangar bay doors are closed, but great stresses are being exerted as the ship twists, re-entering the atmosphere of Coruscant."
With the bay tipped on its side, the trio must shimmy their away across a set of pipes spanning a precipitous drop. Anakin affixes a precautionary tether onto Palpatine from his handy utility belt. R2-D2 rejoins the group, rocketing up to their height and giving the Chancellor a boost during a particularly slippery moment. These pipe sequence were shot on Friday, August 22, 2003, with stunt doubles Nash Edgerton, Ben Cooke and Bob Bowles performing Kenobi, Skywalker and Palpatine respectively. They escape into an adjacent corridor but are suddenly snagged in a ray shield.
Much of the ray shield sequence happens as seen in the finished movie, but with one crucial difference. In the scripted version, and the version first shot in Sydney, Artoo-Detoo is with the fugitives. During editing, when the pipe-crossing was cut, there was no way for Artoo to have rejoined the humans, so this required some replacement dialogue shots and the digital removal of the practical droid from the scene.
Those with keen eyes can spot the difference between the footage shot in Sydney on Tuesday, August 19, 2003, and the pick-ups shot in London on Wednesday, September 1, 2004. In the gap that spans over a year, Hayden Christensen had shed much of the bulk he put on during the summer of '03. If you look, Anakin looks thinner for a couple of shots during this exchange.
Here's how the scene was originally scripted.
OBI-WAN: Wait a minute, how'd this happen! We're smarter than this.
ANAKIN: Apparently not, Master. This is the oldest trap in the book... Well, you're the leader, I was distracted.
OBI-WAN: Oh, so all of a sudden it's my fault.
ANAKIN: You're the Master, I'm just a hero.
OBI-WAN: I'm open to suggestions here.
PALPATINE: Why don't we let them take us to General Grievous? Perhaps with Count Dooku's demise, we can negotiate our release.
The Jedi then look at each other in disbelief at Palpatine's absurd suggestion. This is the point that Anakin advises patience, but rather than noting that Artoo will be by any minute (since the little droid is with them), he notes that a droid patrol should be by the release the ray shields, and then they can wipe them out. "Security patrols are always those skinny useless battle droids," he notes. But, instead, eight destroyer droids, 16 super battle droids and two bodyguard droids emerge. Time for plan B.
Next is the bridge, where the Jedi confront General Grievous. Of course, as scripted, this is the second time they've come face to face with the cyborg tyrant, since they've watched him kill Shaak Ti earlier. As a result, there's not as much dialogue and there's some more action. The tumbling ship effect happens again, and the pilot orders everyone to magnetize. The battle droids would magnetize in place on the floor, so the Jedi would be on ceiling, fighting at the droids suspended above them.
The spectacular crash on Coruscant differs slightly in the shooting script, as the fiery fragment of the Invisible Hand is flanked by a Republic gunship carrying Mace Windu and several clone troopers. In the finished movie, Mace and the Chancellor have their greetings in the Senate landing platform, but as originally scripted and shot, it took place on the debris strewn landing strip filled with the cooling wreckage of the cruiser. Anakin confesses to the death of Count Dooku, while Obi-Wan notes that the dangerous General Grievous is still at large.
Obi-Wan has an interesting line of dialogue in this scene, illuminating the concerns of the Jedi when it comes to the mysterious Sith. "What if Master Yoda's feelings are correct, and Count Dooku was merely the apprentice to the Sith Lord?" he asks.
"That's a question only time will reveal," answers Mace. "A more interesting puzzle is General Grievous. He could have killed the Chancellor... but he didn't."
"My Jedi friends," offers Palpatine, "don't underestimate the deviousness of the Separatists. I fear this war is only one more step in a greater game."
Discussions about the Chancellor arise again shortly in a scene cut from the film but included among the Deleted Scenes of the DVD. We have to jump forward a bit, past the Senate landing platform, past Grievous' arrival on Utapau, and past Anakin's nightmare and verandah scenes. In the finished movie, the scene that next occurs is set in Yoda's quarters, as he counsels the troubled Anakin. This was added in pick-ups. What was originally going to be in that space was much different.
In scene 56, Mace Windu, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi gathered in Yoda's quarters. They each sit on what John Knoll describes as a "wheels of cheese" -- the thick disked pads that pass for furniture in the Spartan Jedi décor.
"The scene of Yoda, Mace and Obi-Wan was designed to show the concern they were having the Chancellor's grab for power, and that there was a lot more intrigue going on with the Council over what was going on in the Senate," says George Lucas. Much of the dialogue in this scene was reworked to appear in the Jedi War Room scene, and it was reshot with Ki-Adi-Mundi instead of Obi-Wan. Mace voices his misgivings about the Chancellor, with almost the same dialogue he uses in the war room.
"There is a shifting of the Force, all of us feel it. If the Chancellor being influenced by the dark side, then this war may be a plot by the Sith to take over the Republic," says Obi-Wan in the script.
The intriguing aspect about this is that the trio of the Jedi Masters do not take this before the Council, fearing they do not have enough proof. So it becomes a conspiracy among them, to monitor the Chancellor's actions and reactions to the capture of Grievous. By clipping this scene and moving much of its dialogue later, to once Obi-Wan has engaged Grievous, it gains an immediacy. The audience is much more aware of this conflict coming to a head. But by appearing this early, it adds shades of plotting and treason, as the Jedi are moving into a position to take over stewardship of the galaxy.
This scene was shot on July 21, 2003, on an all-bluescreen environment, with only the seats as practical set and a slatted wall providing the noiresque shadows. The edited footage was turned over to ILM on Friday, October 31 2003. The scene required extensive ILM work, since the bluescreen was replaced with the miniature environment of Yoda's quarter, and Yoda was animated into the scene. Despite all that work, the scene was cut in March of 2004.
But such hardships are easily weathered, as it allowed the animation department to test out the new Yoda model. Even before Episode III sequences were turned over to Rob Coleman's team, he had them working with the new Yoda, replacing the puppet footage from Episode I with the new model. Some of that test animation is also available on the DVD.
Slike:
DVD Deleted Scene: "A Plot To Destroy the Jedi?"
DVD Deleted Scene: This scene contains some of the first Yoda animation to be completed for Episode III.
DVD Deleted Scene: Obi-Wan and Yoda discuss the strange shift in the Force as the galaxy continues to be consumed by darkness.
DVD Deleted Scene: Shot on in July of 2003, it was cut from the film in March of 2004.
The Episode III DVD contains a snippet of test animation that replaced the Episode I Yoda puppet with the Episode III digital model.
"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow.
Like fragile, tiny shells,
Drifting in the foam.
Little soldier boy, come marching home.
Brave soldier boy, comes marching home."
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