Lit A/V The Force Awakens and the EU [TAGGED spoilers.]

Well, they already did it to Brian Blessed, so...

 

Talking Sheev just now, I realized one thing: isn't it funny that Luceno gets a Lucasian hint for Palpatine's first name this time around which obviously hadn't been offered when he wrote the way more Sidious-centric Darth Plagueis novel? Which, as we know, has been in the writing stage twice - relatively shortly after ROTS, and around the time of the Maul revival/3D saga revival? Suggesting for a moment that this is not due to miscommunication or closed vaults or something, why would Lucas suddenly have an idea about the first name of the character (and if you go for the Shiva analogy, a surprisingly deep one)? Now that he's spent time on developing concept for stories after Episode 6?

 

If Plagueis was in it, I admittedly wouldn't be entirely shocked if they threw out the Muun thing, though if they did keep that, I expect they'd avoid using CGI and go with some form of latex, prosthetics, etc, so that the actor's real face was the main focus.

And heck, who knows what condition he'd look after his "death" -- if his spirit still even inhabited his original body.

 

...And isn't it funny that all we know about the original plot of the sequel trilogy (before it was slapped onto Ep. VI) is that Luke goes after Palpatine?

 

Wasn't there also that story once that Lucas had originally thought of Luke putting on Vader's helmet, going "Now I am Vader" or something like that, and saying he was going to go and kill the fleet? (Rebel fleet, Imperial fleet? I forget how it went...)

Honestly, Lucas had some really weird ideas.

Although I suppose if he'd stuck with the Revenge of the Jedi title, maybe he wanted Luke to go hunting down and wiping out the last of the Empire... though maybe it's the EU-depiction of Luke that makes that feel weird more than the films themselves. (Still, old ideas like that do make me wonder what the heck Lucas could actually have ended up intending to do for the ST...)

 

I'd never heard of the Vader helmet one before. But Luke going after Palpatine is certainly credible.

 

He was joking. Though Kasdan actually seemed to want to run with it, which is not exactly reassuring for EVII.

 

So this GIF might actually be from the teaser trailer, according to Making Star Wars.

Spoiler

 

Whether it's real or not, it's pretty kriffing sweet.

 

Peter Sciretta ‏@slashfilm 3h3 hours ago
We will see @starwars #TheForceAwakens trailer this week.

For those of you that don't know, slashfilm is a pretty good source, i'd say 70%+ chance we'll have a teaser this week.

Oh, and as soon as I read this the Throne Room Theme (from ANH) started playing on my shuffled music list, which is clear proof that this is accurate.

 

One fairly solid thing we've known for years about the ST was "Luke searches for his sister, the 'other' aka Not Leia" but I'm fairly certain that Lucas for at least the plot of Episode 7 in his ST treatment took that and changed it to "new _____ characters search for Luke".

 

Spoiler

The Falcon's guns look like they're about as accurate there are they were in Rogue Squadron.

 

If that GIF is really part of the teaser, I love it. I like that the Falcon has a different dish. Damn you Lando!

--Adm. Nick

 

I didn't catch the different dish at first. That's a rather clever nod to ROTJ.

 

Iiiiiiinteresting. If it's real, where did it come from? Its not like they'd just have it sitting online somewhere. And if it isn't, where did it come from? It looks pretty professional for a mockup.

 

It does look very professional... it even has the new red markings on the front. That's quite a detail for a fake.

 

So's the rectangular sensor dish replacing the OT round one.

 

It's almost certainly a fake, doesn't look like a blockbuster movie level of CGI to me. The model is really plain, almost no detail (look at the cockpit for example, no lights). The lens flare is a dead giveaway as well, I doubt even JJ Abrams would put a lens flare there. I'd guess someone with too much time on their hands found an existing model of the Falcon, added the new dish, animated it, and added the lens flare as a joke to get attention. If they really had access to the trailer why would they post something that's 1) easy to fake and 2) a scene that several sources are reporting will be in the trailer? Why not pick a scene with some actors in it that hasn't been reported? You'd get a lot more attention that way.

 

Yep, because the dish got knocked off in the Death Star during the Battle of Endor. Han apparently got a different model to replace it. Nice touch.

 

There are a number of things that popped up in Tarkin that I felt like might be clues, if not for the ST, then at least for other upcoming projects. The Imperial Palace for example, or the sudden emphasis on a completely-new criminal empire (the Crymorah), which really felt like it was something that was being put in as a nod to it appearing in Rebels or elsewhere. Not so much that Luceno knows anything about them, but I could imagine someone at Lucasfilm telling him "here are some details for the new canon."

 

The Falcon in that gif is so low quality that it's obviously a fake. Come on, guys.

At the very least the incredibly garish use of lens flare should have given it away. The only way this is a real leak is if J.J. is messing with us.

 

Here's it stretched out. That doesn't even look like "proper" lens flare at this size, it looks like a messy reflection, like someone's smudged the lens. Also, the Falcon's guns don't fire in that order, do they?

The sensor dish is movie accurate, though, see the dish in this picture:



It is a pretty good fake if it's not real, someone put a decent amount of effort into having three motions in one three-second shot (the Falcon, the flare and the starfield backdrop) and the model doesn't look that crude.

 

Do you guys think that CGI work is completed in moments and the product goes from nothing to a movie-ready result instantaneously?

If you've seen much in-progress CGI work, it looks very much like that gif, and that would be toward the end of the line with just some final steps to be undertaken. It's not at all surprising that a leaked gif is not a finished product, for obvious reasons.

 

They changed the Falcon's design? SACRILEGE!



OK, so a new dish is needed - so Solo buys a bog standard block from Del Boy Galactic Independent Traders? Yeah, that'll fly!

 

Maybe it's the other way round - the original dish Fell Off The Back Of A Freighter (as opposed to getting knocked off by Lando, which happens later ) - but now Han's a galactic hero, he can afford a top of the line one?