Gservo
14th May 2002, 01:42 AM
Rob Coleman, animation director on the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones, told SCI FI Wire that Industrial Light & Magic made huge leaps in digital technology between Episode I and II--changes that manifested themselves in the character of Yoda. "There were two digital shots of Yoda in Episode I," said Coleman, who also directed animation for Episode I, during a press conference. "There's one high shot near the end of the movie, when Obi-Wan [Ewan McGregor] is on his knees talking to Yoda, and there's another high shot in the funeral sequence, when he's next to Sam [Jackson]."
Coleman added, "Between Episode I and II, I was interested in seeing if we could, with my team, create a truly believable performance with a digital Yoda that could be intercut with a puppet [operated and voiced by Frank Oz]. At that time we didn't know what the [Episode II] script was. Once we saw what was in the script and saw that there was a lot more Yoda onscreen and a lot more movement for Yoda, it became very clear that we were going to have a [totally] digital Yoda. Even while shooting in Sydney, they hadn't fully committed to whether he'd be all digital or puppet. After the first round of animation that we produced, George felt comfortable enough that we had honed in and found the essence and the spirit of the wonderful performances that Frank had achieved with the puppet. He felt confident that my team could handle this--not only the digital animation, but the clothing and skin. I specifically studied The Empire Strikes Back, which was the first time the older audience saw Yoda. So I made it a point of studying how he moved, what his facial expressions were, what the clothing and hair looked like. We needed a thread between what Frank had done in 1980 and what we were doing now." Attack of the Clones opens nationwide on May 16.
Coleman added, "Between Episode I and II, I was interested in seeing if we could, with my team, create a truly believable performance with a digital Yoda that could be intercut with a puppet [operated and voiced by Frank Oz]. At that time we didn't know what the [Episode II] script was. Once we saw what was in the script and saw that there was a lot more Yoda onscreen and a lot more movement for Yoda, it became very clear that we were going to have a [totally] digital Yoda. Even while shooting in Sydney, they hadn't fully committed to whether he'd be all digital or puppet. After the first round of animation that we produced, George felt comfortable enough that we had honed in and found the essence and the spirit of the wonderful performances that Frank had achieved with the puppet. He felt confident that my team could handle this--not only the digital animation, but the clothing and skin. I specifically studied The Empire Strikes Back, which was the first time the older audience saw Yoda. So I made it a point of studying how he moved, what his facial expressions were, what the clothing and hair looked like. We needed a thread between what Frank had done in 1980 and what we were doing now." Attack of the Clones opens nationwide on May 16.