A few weeks back LucasArts had me over to their gaff; to have a play around
with their new video game 'Star Wars The Force Unleashed' and to have a
small glass of wine...or two. Well I had planned on just staying in on that
particular weekend, but on the '
possibly-the-best-ever-opportunity-ever-ever' meter, this was way off the
scale. Perhaps there is no better time for a bit of sci-fi fantasy to take
our collective minds off the dismal news of falling house sales, the
depressing end to a poor summer, the advent of Hockey Moms and another
series of The X Factor.
So, with that in mind I offer you a behind the scenes, insider’s guide to
what's AWESOME at LucasArts
10) The Presidio: There's more to The Presidio than just a dodgy 1988
Sean Connery movie. The creative epicentre of all things Star Wars is
situated in The Letterman Digital Arts Centre, in San Francisco’s Presidio
National Park – a former post of the U.S. military It is here that George
(yes, we're that close) has brought together the creative worlds of games
and movie production under one roof - well, quite a few roofs, with pleasant
walkways and perfectly manicured gardens in between. It's also where the
very best creative minds in cinema and visual effects arrive each morning
for their working day. The place is dripping with movie-related treasures -
models, artwork, costumes and other assorted memorabilia - it would reduce
the most casual of Star Wars fans to a quivering, salivating gelatinous
blob. Is that the real Han Solo frozen in Carbonite propped against that
wall?! One of several used in the films, I was told…
9) The Yoda fountain: Upon arrival at the Letterman Arts Centre you're
greeted by a charming Yoda fountain - unless you've been naughty boy, in
which case you'll be frogmarched to a cell by Stormtroopers and left there
to think about your behaviour. However, there master Yoda sits; calm,
contemplative, supremely confident, gurgling out water through four little
outflows. Standing there looking into the Jedi master's wise, all-knowing
eyes I wondered if I could maybe get my hands on one of these water features
at B&Q. Unfortunately, stock them, they do not young padawan....
8) The Cinema: There it was: 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far
away...' . It lit up the screen of the in-house, state of the art
digital-projection cinema at LucasArts’ mission-control: A brief fade to
black and then the glorious, all too familiar fanfare; the
hairs-on-the-back-of-neck erecting ‘BA-RAAH’ - striking a brassy chord - an
intro which still awakens the inner child. Were those tears welling up or
just my over-tired eyes compensating for the jet-lag? I like to think that
George might sneak down here when there's down time, when there's no-one
around and watch re-runs of Home & Away in glorious digital surround
sound....
7) Shower doors: There are lots of pictures hanging around the
passageways of the Lucas complex. There's one particular corridor which has
a whole load of landscape pictures. Beautiful, hand painted works which
measure approx six feet across. Look closer: wait a minute - I recognise
that seaplane from Raiders of the Lost Ark! These beautiful works are in
fact matte paintings which pre-CGI used to show establishing shots and
special effects moments which couldn't be created on set. As it turns out
the artists, rather than using canvas or board, preferred to paint on shower
doors - yes, actual glass shower doors - the reason being that they could
just scrape off the paint when they were done filming and start on the next
shot. ARGHGHGH! Such wanton destruction! The highlight: one of the only
remaining screens from the Akira Kurosawa film 'Dreams'. A genuine cinematic
treasure.
6) The Coffee shop: As you would expect of any geographical location on
planet earth, there are a couple of Starbucks dotted around the grounds at
the Lucas complex - but deep in the bowels of one of the buildings there's a
little gem of a place - the staff coffee shop. It's name? Java the Hutt. See
what they did there? Don't try ordering anything too fancy lest you get the
Mos Eisley treatment: no-one likes having to lose an arm. They do however
serve droids - hey, robots have rights too, man....
5) Motion Capture: It's not often you're asked if you'd like to be
motion-captured in front of a blue screen to appear in a Tie Fighter
construction facility - unless of course you're Ewan McGregor - and all he
seems to do is complain about it anyway. Well listen up McGregor: I feel
your pain. I had no end of trouble trying to source my motivation for the
scene - I thought my improvising lightsaber sounds would help. They laughed,
how they laughed. If only I'd been allocated a trailer to go off to and huff
in...
4) Movie posters: Apart from the posters of all the films Lucas'
industries have had involvement in, the bearded one (no not that bearded
one, the other guy) collects lots of vintage movie posters from all over the
world dating back to the dawn of cinema. The picture framing job alone would
keep an army of Ewoks working away for, say, a month or two. Hey, those guys
have got little tiny hands - give them a break. They're also heavily
unionised, which is a little known fact...
3) The Shop: If you're ever lucky enough to get a tour of Lucas'
facility, make sure you take your wallet - and better arrange that extension
of your overdraft - toys, toys toys and more toys. Some hats too - and the
occasional hooded top. Can a grown man have too many lightsabers or Lego
Death Stars? The shop's best seller? The Ladies of Star Wars set of playing
cards. All very well if you have the Queen of Hearts, Princess Leia in her
Return of the Jedi slave bikini, but don't get stuck with the the two of
clubs, Aunt Beru from Tatooine. Damn it, I knew I should have doubled down.
2) Paper, Scissors, Stone, Cameras: Over the hills and far away...
well, about a 45 minute drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, way up into
Marin County, Lucas' reknowned Skywalker Sound is housed in the grounds of
Skywalker Ranch. It's a beautiful spot. Made all the nicer by enjoying a
glass of the locally produced organic wine. Okay, maybe two glasses. Fine,
I'll have the bottle. The plantation-style building overlooks Ewok Lake (no,
really) and there are AT-ATs patrolling the area. Ok, maybe no AT-AT's but
there are other, more subtle security measures. Where are all the cameras?
Well maybe they're hidden in some of the fake boulders placed at strategic
points around the grounds. But those rocks look real! Yes, well the guy does
have the best special effects team in the world at his disposal.
1) The
Force Unleashed: The point of the whole trip, Star Wars - The Force
Unleashed. How does it feel to wield a lightsaber and do some serious damage
against an agent of the Dark Side? Well apart from the RSI and rotator cuff
injury I sustained after being a little too impetuous while playing the
Nintendo Wii version, the game is a blast. Does it adequately fill the space
in time line between episodes III and IV? Find out for yourself when the
game hits the shelves on Friday 19th September. May The Force (and a couple
of ibuprofen) be with you. ...
