AOTC Chapter 38: Droid Factory DISCUSSION

My opinion won't be popular, but I actually love the Droid Factory sequence, and believe it to be one of the more impressive action scenes in the picture. No, it doesn't "progress" the plot, but does it need to? The addition of this sequence assists with the escalation of pace in the narrative, and serves as a nice transition between Anakin and Padme's arrival on Geonosis, and her dramatic profession of love which preceedes the arena sequence.

Notice the Harryhausen reference as Anakin and Padme enter the corridor which connects to the interior of the Droid Factory - the geonosian bug creatures, who are camoflouged with the wall, slowly emerge to attack our heroes. I love how Lucas slowly builds the tension in this sequence, beginning with two character threads (Anakin and Padme, C-3PO and R2-D2), and then diverging into four concurrent overlapping pieces of respective and immediate character action. What is amazing is that Lucas is able to cross-cut with absolute clarity; never once are we confused by the spatial reality of the sequence and its events - compare this with the disjointed visual kineticism in "The Chronicles of Riddick" and you will see what I mean.

I do have some issues with the top-light in this sequence, which seems less prominent than it should be; perhaps this was the point, but I don't think that it allows us a sense of visual crispness or clarity in the Factory. This scene was added late in post, and I believe that the DP David Tattersall wasn't available to shoot the pick-ups - if that is true, then I am curious as to whether his absence impacted the somewhat lacklustre cinematography. While I wasn't bothered by the digital Jango, the CGI Threepio seemed too fluid and weightless - therefore, it is jarring as it draws unnecessary attention to itself. There is a zoom-in on Padme's face in this sequence which to my mind, represents the low point of camera movement/opticals in the film - it would seem much more suited to a B-grade drive-in picture of the 1960s. These are minor quibbles, in a scene which owes more than a little to Chaplin's "Modern Times", and is funny for many of the same reasons - logic is applied to a situation in which it is essentially irrelevant. Lucas has succeeded in creating a rousing and visionary action setpiece, masterfully contained within the parameters of the pulp aspects of his film.

 

An okay chapter. But it was too long

 

I'm having chapter discussion withdrawls. Where are you Moleman!? We must keep on pace for ROTS.

 

Hey Magistrate: I was on vacation and nowhere near a computer. Don't worry, I'm doubling up at midnight for all three films. So expect 2 chapters simulatneously.

 

I gotta say that I love reading (and marginally participating) in these chapter discussions.

Just nice to have some more structured look at these movies, compared to the usual threads you see...

 

Yes, these chapters are excellent.

I personally think this is one scene that could have been cut entirely, or at least cut down dramatically.

We've already seen the droid factory from Obi-Wan's glimpse a few scenes before; it looked like he was gazing into the depths of hell.

The entire thing reminded me almost exactly of one level from the old NES game Contra. I mean almost literally.

[image=http://www.nes.com.br/tela-contra-3.gif]

I liked the quick zoom on Padme's face, and I think it WAS an homage to those old cheesy B-movies. And I liked Anakin's acrobatics and throwing junk a la ESB Vader, as well as the foreshadowing to his mechanical arm.

But Lucas could have included the scene with Padme's family, or a meeting between Dooku, Anakin and Padme (maybe not necessarily like the deleted scene). Especially because Padme was so sure Dooku was behind the assassination attempts, it would have been nice to see them meet.

I dunno, while it's an enjoyable, video-game-like scene, this, along with the Anaking riding the Shaak scene, would be one for the cutting board.

 

But Lucas could have included the scene with Padme's family

Unfortunately, the home is probably not isolated enough

 

Somewhere on this site, someone awhile back posted an incisive analysis of symbolism in this scene and I must say I was amazed by it. I wish I could remember more details of it, but the essence of it was how everything that happened in the droid factory was actually rather carefully thought out in terms of delineating Anakin's character and foreshadowing his future. Here's a guy (who's great at building machines - remember he built 3PO) who will one day be "more machine than man" caught in a machine that builds machines, and it traps Anakin's arm (which he will soon lose) and it contains the prophetic line "Obi-Wan's gonna kill me" - which indeed he will one day, from a certain point of view. There's more to this scene than meets the eye if you think about themes, subtext and future events.

 

Great one Wesley I also tend to believe that after the events in the factory, it was the impetus for Padme to finally reveal her feelings. She almost perished there.

 

The standard complaint about this scene is that it looks like it was inspired by a video game. I think those who make this charge are getting it backwards; it was this type of scene in the original trilogy that inspired video games. This scene actually strikes me as being one of the more Original-esque of the prequel sequences.

 

Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). AOTC Chapter 39: Love Pledge DISCUSSION will be made available 12:00 AM EST. Although the discussion timeframe has passed, you may still discuss this chapter at your convienience. However, we will be moving on to the next chapter.

-Moleman1138

 

I wish GL had stuck with the idea of having Anakin
and Padme swing from the ledge ala Luke/Leia. The
3PO stuff was funny at first but maybe too much for
a scene so close to the end. Considering it was just
Nat Portman running on a blue belt and dodging blue
pads, it looks great. Still, I think this movie
would have been better served to follow a more linear
story line that didn't involve your characters having
to zig zag their way to the climax. Too many close
calls and spills in the last act of AOTC for me.

'Of course that's just my opinion. I could be wrong'

 

Terrible scene.


Awful CGI. Having the actors as the ONLY tangible thing is always a bad idea. Apart from maybe Toontown in Roger Rabbit.

Really does not drive the story at all.

Sacrifices sorely needed plot and character development for Dooku.

Is there ANY logic suggesting that a Protocol Droid's head is easily fittable to a Battle Droid? Throws up a lot of issues and contradictions.

Anakin. Not funny.

Bendy Threepio. Good Lord.

CG Jango. Oh good. More computer graphics! Thats what Star Wars is about!

R2 D2 flying. Another big mistake by Lucas. More issues.


Too close to the Arena antics = too many CG battles in 10 minutes.

Check out the blooper reel. A completely blue room. GL trying to convince his actress that it will be good. A sad day for Star Wars.

 

I might be in the minority but I really liked the Droid Factory scene.

I'll start with that bad things about it though. Fake JANGO!!! Why o why would they put that fake Jango Fett in there, it looked awful and not realistic at all. The CGI was also a bit heavy.

But there was a lot of good in the scene for me. I'm a big fan of Threepio and found his antics in the scene hillarious. Even when he was being a bit more flexible than you'd like to think I wass amused by what another mess he got himself into.

It was also a scene that showed Padme,Anakin, and Artoo's skills in fighting and puzzle solving.

I'm really glad the scene was put in the final cut because for me it added some laughs, thrills, and insight into what they were getting themselves into.

 

I would assume they used a CG Jango Fett because the Droid Factory scene was one of the last (the last?) scene shot.

Lucas suddenly decided to cut a bunch of stuff (i.e. the DVD deleted scenes) and this scene.

Since it was so late in the process, I guess that Temeura Morrison wasn't around.

 

Yeah, I think that's why: Scheduling issues with the actors.

 

I like the droidfactory scene for its action, but I think it's not put together really well.

As Padme falls off the ledge, Anakin goes after her, but we don't really see him trying to rescue her. He's just chopping up Geonosians left and right, and doesn't really seem to care what's happening to her.
Also, Padme has this cool bit of action when she dodges all those machines and stuff, but then she "disappears" from the scene for a while, only to be "thrown out of it" when she shows up again. There was no tension to her being trapped in the cauldron at all, and we get too many shots of Padme in the cauldron, moving around, looking afraid. The bit where R2 shuts down the mechanism that controls the cauldrons wasn't editted very well either.

I liked most of 3PO's antics during this scene, though they could've cut down on the onelines a bit. I loved it when his head and body were replaced, which played out nicely in the arena scene.