Happy Life Day Eve!
Tag: starwars
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The ILM magic behind The Mandalorian – this is amazing!
I was going to write about the Industrial Light & Magic’s technology for The Mandalorian in this week’s This Geek in Review, but I was too excited to wait. It all starts with this behind the scene look at the production of Disney’s The Mandalorian. As you watch the videos and look at the pictures, it’s hard to see the tech. The backgrounds are created from the screens, not out on location.Unfortunately, the behind the scenes look isn’t as indepth as I would like, but The Mandalorian: This Is the Way and Forging new paths for filmmakers on ‘The Mandalorian’ has more information behind the technology. In a nutshell, over half of The Mandalorian is recorded on a stage. And not just any stage. This stage has LED panels 20′ tall that circle the stage 270 degrees. That’s all well and good, productions have been using projection behind the actors since the beginning of movies. The difference now is computers and videogames.
Powered by Unreal
Using Epic’s Unreal game engine, the production is able to create realistic looking backgrounds for the actors. The difference between this and using the older projection technology is the ability to change the perspective relative to the camera.
In real life, as a camera moves through a room, the background perspective also changes. This is why you notice pretty quickly if the background is a static image, like a matte painting, or a projected moving image. For The Mandalorian, the Unreal game engine knows where the camera is, and what it is looking at, in 3D space, and can modify the background to match.
Advantages
The sets also used practical effects, adding tables, chairs, etc. to the stage, which helped make the different locations feel real. Using LED panels and Unreal also offer other advantages. The actors didn’t have to imagine where the horizon was or where they should be looking. Since the panels emit light, adjusting lighting on the set used an iPad app. This was a process that was pretty time intensive in the past.
Getting sunrise or sunset shots are tough. Go watch Aquaman if you want to see a lot of CGI generated sunrises. The technology used here allowed the director to take as long as they wanted to record a scene during a sunset.
The director could also change the components of a scene on the fly, adding or removing items from the background easily.
Game changing
As I watched the first season of The Mandalorian, I was impressed by the varied locations and set work. Both gave the impression of a very expensive production. I assumed this was because it was Disney and Star Wars, which one would assume would get as much money as they need. How wrong could I be, it was this new technology.
I can’t wait to see what they can do with this.
I have spoken.
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A bright star in the Star Wars universe
Just a couple of storm troopers working for what’s left of the Empire I finally finished the last 3 episodes of the The Mandalorian and I’m impressed. It’s easy to find fault in the Star Wars Universe, I’m looking at you episodes 1 & 8, and the internet seems to have a habit of magnifying the negative. So, today dear reader, I’m here to celebrate The Mandalorian.
SPOILER WARNING, I may mention specific plot points and characters, so if you haven’t seen all 8 episodes, I recommend you do that post haste!
The premise
The Mandalorian takes place 5 years after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi. Although the emperor is dead, remnants of the Empire still exist. It is in this world where the protagonist of the story, the Mandalorian, take place.For some reason, the group of fighters called Manadalorians don’t have names. Throughout the season, our character goes by the nickname “Mando”, which rhymes with Lando, and that stands for… nothing but a terrible nickname. But we don’t have trouble, just Mando does.
Mando works in his corner of the galaxy, taking on the jobs that are tough and pay well. This is where he takes on the job of delivery “the child”, which the internet has dubbed Baby Yoda all because he looks like Yoda. He doesn’t speak, but he does use the Force. Out here, the Force and the Jedi are still myths. Apparently Luke needs a better publicist. After rescuing the child, most of the season shows Mando on the run.
Season 1 is in the bag
I liked The Mandalorian a lot, minor quibbles about his name aside. It’s a gritty look on the Star Wars universe, where people are trying to survive. The first scene is episode 8 is my favorite scene of the season. If you have a passing interest in Star Wars, then you’ll want to watch the 8 seasons. They are all available now on Disney+, so you can join, watch the episodes, and then cancel. That was my plan, but now I think I’m going to watch The Clone Wars and Rebels first.
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Retro electronics for your TV show and Movie – This Geek in Review for 29 Mar 2019
If you know me, you know I like the 80s. Especially, I like retro electronics. Some may call them antiques, but that word conjures up memories of old lamps and davenports at my grandparents’ houses. Here’s a cool place where TV Shows and Movies get the retro electronics they need.
Whenever I use an emoji instead of typing a response, a little piece of me dies inside. It’s embarrassing to take the easy way out, instead of drafting a witty response, I’ll send a thumbs up. I believe this is how cavemen communicated. Every year picking the right emoji gets easier because new emojis are being added, and 2019 is no exception. Be prepared to start seeing mechanical arms, hearing aids, and wheelchairs.
Our local Family Video closed a couple a months ago, an harbinger of things to come, and now the second to last Blockbuster in the world is closing. There can only be one.
Here’s the story of someone on a higher level than Macgyver, an electrician who converted his wrecked car into a motorbike in the desert and then drove it to civilization.
Bohemian Rhapsody won the Oscar for best editing, but should it have?
And speaking of editing, here’s a look at how editing saved Star Wars:
Now I know why old people complain of people doing stupid things, because here is the story of a company that injects young blood as a fountain of youth cure. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t work.
Someone is a Matthew Broderick fan.
I never knew a ukulele could shred.
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Solo is the Star Wars movie you’re looking for
Last Wednesday Tara and I finally got a chance to see Solo, and I came away pretty impressed. It’s not doing very well at the box office for various reasons, but if you have an even modest liking of Star Wars, you need to see it. Solo and Rogue One are the best Star Wars movies since the original trilogy.Solo reminds me about what makes Star Wars great, a movie that is a blast to watch, much like A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Tons of humor, a few glimpses of foreshadowing, and above all, no question about who shot first. L3-37 is a great character! Woody Harrelson is about as far away from Boston as you can get and Donald Glover imitates Billy Dee Williams’ voice exactl.
It will wash the bad taste out of your mouth left by The Last Jedi (Ugh, spaceships don’t slow down when you remove propulsion) or The Force Awakens (didn’t I already see this in the original trilogy). And no Jar Jar or senate hearings.
