gaboman
What Would Jack Do?
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Registered: Aug 2003
Local time: 11:31 AM
Location: The land, the land down under.
Posts: 12713
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- Actors auditioning for the part of Anakin included Ryan Phillippe, Paul Walker, and Colin Hanks.
- Australian actress Claudia Karvan was cast as Amidala's (Natalie Portman) sister and shot a scene involving the whole family, but the scene was cut.
- Like Ewan McGregor in Episode 1, Hayden Christensen made "lightsaber noises" the first time he was handed one in rehearsal. After chuckling at the young star's antics, George Lucas informed him that they probably had people in Sound Effects who could do a better job in post production.
- This was the first film to have an "on-location" film shown once a week to document the shooting process. After the success of this feature, other films adopted the same process.
- Shoot onto Digital Video using a new 24 frame High Definition Progressive scan camera, developed by Sony and Panavision Inc. The cameras worked flawlessly even in temperatures of 125 degrees (F)
- Was shot on exactly the same stages as Moulin Rouge! (2001) , also starring Ewan McGregor
- C-3PO was originally to have made his first appearance still in skeletal form. In post-production, Lucas decided to have C-3PO be complete throughout the film.
- Liam Neeson was to make an appearance in this film as a spirit just as Alec Guinness had done in Episode V and VI, but injuries sustained in motorcycle accident in early 2000 prevented him from working. Instead his voice can be heard in Yoda's thoughts right after Anakin kills the tribe of Tuskin Raiders.
- Instead of creating a new C-3PO suit for the film, the designers repainted and "aged" one used in the original trilogy.
- There is no mystical significance in the color of Mace Windu's lightsaber. Samuel L. Jackson, after a jokey conversation with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, asked Lucas if he could have a purple lightsaber and Lucas agreed. In an interview on UK TV, Jackson said he "thought it would be cool".
- This is the first "Star Wars" film in which Yoda (Frank Oz) is entirely computer-generated. Oz was only required on the set to help the actors with the voice of Yoda.
- According to visual-effects supervisor John Knoll, a big cow-like creature that Anakin and Padmé frolic around in the fields with, can be seen in the asteroid belt that Obi-Wan flies through. One asteroid has legs.
- Samuel L. Jackson is reported to have "B.M.F." engraved into the handle of his lightsaber. B.M.F. is short for "Bad Mother F***er" and was written on Jules' (Samuel L. Jackson) wallet in Pulp Fiction (1994).
- When Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) enter the bar on Coruscant to search for the assassin known as 'Zam Wesell' (Leanna Walsman), several actors from the Star Wars movies (whose faces are not seen due to costumes make-up or CGI) can be spotted, including Ahmed Best, (voice of Jar Jar Binks) whom Anakin touches on the shoulder and Anthony Daniels (C-3P0).
- The final shot of Padmé and Anakin looking out on the lake in Naboo with R2-D2 and C-3PO to their right is a reproduction of the final shot of "Star Wars: Episode V - Empire Strikes Back (1980)" , where Luke and Leia are looking out into space from the ship with R2-D2 and C-3PO to their right.
- Anakin Skywalker says the line "I have a bad feeling about this" while tied up in the arena. This line is also in episode I, IV, V & VI.
- Just before Anakin goes to search for his mother on Tatooine, he has a conversation with Senator Amidala. The camera pans to their shadows as they talk, and Anakin's resembles that of Darth Vader.
- The yellow speeder that Anakin and Obi-Wan use while chasing Zam Wesell, appears to be inspired by the yellow '32 Ford coupe from Lucas' American Graffiti (1973)
- George Lucas' daughter Katie appears as a dancer in the nightclub scene. George Lucas' son Jet appears as a young Jedi in the Jedi Archive scene with Obi Wan Kenobi and the librarian.
- Every movie in the series closes with a scene with no dialogue. This movie ends with a ceremony with the main characters looking at one another, then out over the lake.
- In the final battle nearly 90% of the music heard is temp-tracked from John Williams' score of Episode I. The music originally written for the battle between the clones and the droids was not used, but can in parts be heard on the Soundtrack. The Bonus Track 'On The Conveyor Belt' on the Special-Edition-Soundtrack was meant to be heard in the scenes around the droid factory, but also didn't make the final cut.
- Despite Animation Director Rob Coleman's pleas to the contrary, not a single clone trooper suit was ever built. Every single clone trooper seen in the film is computer generated, with motion capture performed by ILM employees.
- 'Lee, Christopher' did not do all his own stunt work, although he was able to do much of his own sword work. At times they used a stunt man whose face was replaced digitally with Lee's own.
- While on location in Tunisia, Lucas made one shot intended for Episode III. He claimed he would not be returning, and if he needed another shot, he wouldn't get it. The nature of the supposed shot is unknown, although it is widely rumored to be the so-called 'Harry Potter' scene, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi delivers the infant Luke Skywalker to his aunt and uncle.
- Director Trademark: [George Lucas] [1138] The LED lights on the back of the clone trooper helmets display a serial number. Although illegible, they all read "THX 1138".
- When Jango Fett gets into his ship after his fight with Obi-Wan, he bangs his head on the partially open door. This was intentional, and is a reference to a famous goof from Star Wars (1977), where a storm trooper accidentally bangs his head on a door.
- Some of the stunt work was computer generated and was performed by "digital stand-ins".
- The CG models of the Republic attack gunships had to be extremely detailed to withstand viewer scrutiny during closeups. ILM even crafted a version with a fully decked out interior, which was used as the background for new bluescreen elements of the actors aboard the gunships shot during additional photography in London. The real life gunship interior sets were left in Sydney, so these new shots required digital gunship interiors.
- To efficiently deliver a realistic explosion for the gunship that gets shot out of the sky, ILM built a mandrill of the vessel. A mandrill is an all-blue practical miniature. It was rigged with pyrotechnics and blown up. The properly shaped explosion was digitally extracted, interacting with the properly shaped wreckage, and digital artists replaced the blue gunship with the computer-generated one.
- Many of the explosions of the final ground battle were real ones rather than digital fireballs. They were shot in the backlot at ILM. Explosions were such in demand that the compositors dipped into the library of explosions built for the Naboo plains battle from "Episode I - The Phantom Menace" to fill out the shots.
- Yoda's command center was a 1/6th scale miniature.
- Though the Republic AT-TE walkers were computer-generated, at least one 1/10th scale miniature was constructed for pyrotechnic purposes. The walker that gets blown apart by an armor-busting Hailfire missile was first shot as a miniature against greenscreen. This provided valuable reference for the animators, though the scale of the resulting miniature explosion proved unusable as a final element. Also, the miniature was shot with a static camera while the finished shot had a swooping camera move that followed the rocket: a CG walker was needed to properly move with the perspective of the shot.
- A number of subtle visual clues were incorporated into the design of the shots to help audiences keep track of who's who. The good guys - the Republic clones - always move from screen right to screen left, while the Separatist forces moved from screen left to screen right. The sun is behind the clones, resulting in a gloomier sky behind the Separatists. Finally, the missile contrails were color-coded to denote allegiance: the Republic rockets leave clean white trails, while the villains launch missiles that leave noxious black exhaust.
- To efficiently communicate the damage sustained by the Trade Federation core ship blasted out of the sky, two versions of the computer-generated vessel were made. One bore its standard paint job. The other was the "distressed" version, with carbon scoring damage painted across the surface. Both were animated performing the same movement, and the compositors used animated mattes to gradually reveal the damaged ship from "behind" the intact one, covering the transitions with composited fire and explosion effects.
- Most of the clone troopers wear plain white armor; some of the more senior troops' armor has added colored trim on the helmet and arms. The colors denote rank as follows: Green = sergeants, Blue = lieutenants, Red = captains, Yellow = majors and colonels (the Jedi serve as the Clones' generals).
- Cans (containing reels) were shipped to theaters under the code name "Cue Ball".
- The shot of Anakin and Padme walking and talking about her serving as senator when they first arrive on Naboo is shot in the same way and outside the same building as the last conversation between General Allenby and Dryden before the intermission of Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
- Jango Fett bumps his head when he enters his ship. This is an homage to "A New Hope," in which a Stormtrooper does the same thing as he walks down a corridor, since this trait was cloned into them from Jango.
- Since the FX model of Boba Fett's Slave I was on loan to the Smithsonian at the time of filming, a computer-generated version of the ship (with a different color scheme) had to be created.
- The design for Anakin's lightsaber was based on Darth Vader's lightsaber prop as seen in Star Wars (1977). Count Dooku's lightsaber prop is curved and is based on a rapier, with an Arabian flare. Obi-Wan Kenobi uses a lightsaber prop that is a duplicate of the one he lost in battle at the end of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)".
- Where Luke Skywalker's T-16 Skyhopper sat in the garage of the Lars homestead in Star Wars (1977), a smaller ship with a similar design sits parked there in this film. Also, Luke's landspeeder is visible in the garage in this film.
- The speeder that Anakin steals to rescue Obi-Wan is similar in design and color to a car featured in George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973).
- Due to much of the animosity aimed towards Jar-Jar Binks in Episode I, the working title of Episode II was "Jar-Jar's Big Adventure".
- In this movie, Hayden Christenson became the only actor in any Star Wars movie who didn't get to choose the design of his light sabre. It had been a tradition, but Christenson was stuck using a sabre of the same design that Obi-wan gives Luke in "Star Wars."
- During the scene set in the Lars homestead dining room, Owen Lars asks Anakin "Where are you going?" as he is the first one to leave the table. This is a reference to a similar scene in A New Hope when Luke becomes anxious to leave and Aunt Beru asks where he's going.
- If you highlight the THX logo in the Language Selection page on the DVD and press 1138 with the remote you will access a hidden blooper reel.
- The battleships seen in the final sequence are Acclamator-class Star Destroyers, which precede the Imperial- and Super-class Star Destroyers from the original trilogy; just like the AT-TE's are earlier versions of the AT-AT's from Empire Strikes Back (1980).
- In the Jedi Archives, many of the busts you can see are actually of members of the Star Wars staff, including George Lucas.
- During the Speeder chase on Coruscant when Zam heads straight down the cityscape in the bottom left of the shot you can see an X-Wing being chased by 3 Tie Fighters.
- The Senate votes to give the Supreme Chancellor full war powers. This is the same ploy Adolph Hitler used to gain dictatorial power in 1930s Germany.
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02-16-2004 05:57 AM
