ST Planets in the ST

Closer to Jedi, surely?

Anyway, can we take stock of the filming locatiosn and possible planets at this point, because I am starting to lose track of them. What I have is as follows:

Abu Dhabi - desert world (possibly Tattooine)

Puzzlewood, Forest of Dean, UK - presumably new planet (forests, caves and rock formations)

Iceland - presumably a new planet (volcanic rock formations, geysers and glaciers)

Skellig Michael (island off County Kerry, Ireland) - presumably a new planet (remote, austere, windswept, Celtic Christian monastery)

Isle of Skye, Scotland - much like Skellig Michael(possibly part of the same planet?)

Are there any other locations I am missing?

 

Wasn't New Mexico rumored to be one?

Also, has anyone determined if these images are legit?:

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/bbe04/

 

I just Googled and, yes, New Mexico and Morocco are also rumoured to be filming locations. Perhaps the will also represent areas on Tatooine.

Is there anywhere else that I haven't mentioned?

 

My completely uneducated guess would be no. Aren't most of the cliff dwellings protected sites? They wouldn't be able to do much besides shoot backgrounds there and would require a lot of work in post to make them not recognizable. The idea that somebody would even consider a location like the second picture makes the whole thing seem suspect to me.

Of course, I have no idea how these things work.

Edit: On second thought, never mind. I'm overthinking it

 

Assuming, for a moment, that the Devin Faraci spoilers are reasonably accurate, I think it would be reasonable to speculate that:

1. Abu Dhabi is the desert world where Daisy finds the lightsabre.

2. Iceland represents the solar-system destroying weapon-planet.

3. Luke is found meditating in a cave in Puzzlewood or the Celtic monastery on Skelling Michael. Either of these would work as they continue on with the "nature/organic" symbolism associated with the Rebels in the OT. They would also show how Luke has now taken on the mantle once held by Yoda or Obi-Wan.

 

Fake, why would the "do not copy" appear above the pixelation? Sloppy photoshop! Nice pics though !

 

Oh, OK thank you; I thought they were pre Christian Celtic Ruins, by the look of them.

 

According to SW7 news rolling updates, filming has started on Skellig and the new actors and Hamill are there (but not Ford):

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/star...ng-has-begun-first-pictures-from-day-one.html

The speculation is they brought filming of this scene forward due to Harrison's accident. This is pure speculation on my part but perhaps Han Solo is dead by then when the youngsters find Luke. Maybe Han and Luke are never reunited...

Baron_Papanerd - no, they are definitely Dark Ages Celtic Christian (I have a strong interest in this era/culture). I hope the film crew are respectful towards the site - I don't think a former Abbey should be a site for gun battles, for instance.

 

Flying people over to Skellig Michael is just wrong.... I was under the impression that they were banned from doing so!

Apart from the disturbance to the nesting birds, the chance of bird strike exponentially increases the closer you get to the island. I wonder how many arms Disney had to twist to get this permission? They are putting lives at risk. At seabird 'cities' during the nesting season, you can barely get a paper dart between the birds in the air let alone a helicopter. Whilst the bulk of the nesting is over, there will still be thousands of birds over the island including Gannets with two metre wingspans. It only takes one to hit the rotorblades or come through the windscreen. A helicopter went down over Cley Nature Reserve on the North Norfolk Coast several months back under similar circumstances killing everyone on board. They were warned not to fly too low due to the large concentrations of birds; yet even when following guidelines they were struck by three birds which took off as part of a flock and collided with the helicopter. This is why use of the helipad on SM is strictly limited during the breeding season.

From the link in post #933:
"While it’s entirely unclear to what extent shooting will occur, IE set pieces etc…, the conservative group Birdwatch Ireland has voiced concerns about the production and its impact on the local bird breeding season as Skellig Michael has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dr. Stephen Newton, while airing his concerns, suggested the current shoot is part of the schedule rearrangement that was necessary because of the Harrison Ford injury":

“I would be quite happy if the filming took place out of the breeding season and I’m led to believe it was originally scheduled for September, which is a much better time of year to be doing this sort of thing.”​

​

I don't care about 'security' or expedience here, I care about the stupid risks they are taking and the damage they will inevitably do by disturbing the birds. They could have used the boats. It's at this point I stop supporting what they are doing. Furthermore Birdwatch Ireland are not a 'conservative' group, they are the Irish equivalent of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and do a lot of great conservation work. Their concerns are entirely legitimate.

 

"No animals or birds were harmed during the filming of this film" I think will be included in the movie credits.

 

I had only vaguely heard of the island until the other day and I didn't know of its significance as a bird-breeding site until a few hours ago. I agree with your comments though - it seems this production is taking risks with health and safety (this, the early helicopter crash in Iceland and Harrison Ford's ankle.) Disturbing the birds is obviously... not good either... especially if they could simply have waited a few months. Are any of the bird species there rare or protected?

 

I do hope they're being respectful to the location and doing things legitimately for the sake of all parties involved.

On a happier note, this Skelllg Michael place has all the fixings to become one of my favorite Star Wars planets!

 

One one hand, I totally dig the Skellig Michael location. Never heard of it until last week, but it looks Star Warsy enough and I could easily see it as being a remote hideaway for Luke should the "Where's Waldo Luke" storyline rumored to be the plot.

On the other hand, I was also totally unaware of Skellig Michael's status as a bird habitat. If fans were to make enough noise about the potential disturbance of the birds' habitat, Abrams, LFL, and Disney just may figure out a way to do something to abate any further disturbance.

All that being said, the fact that they're even shooting on this island goes to show that money (and cinematic immortality) talks and has a much greater weight than most other concerns. One has to wonder just how big of a chunk of change was handed over in order to shoot there and fly helicopters into a place where they aren't usually allowed. Somebody must be laughing all the way to the bank right about now.

 

It isn't just the money and the risk to the birds. What CairnsTony is saying is that they are putting their own film crew at risk and violating OH and S standards, given another helicopter crashed in similar circumstances. The fact that they are rushing into this when they could wait a while until the nesting season is over, or just load their equipment onto boats shows they are also rushing the production to meet deadlines and cutting corners.

As CairnsTony also says, "I don't care about 'security' or expedience here, I care about the stupid risks they are taking and the damage they will inevitably do by disturbing the birds. They could have used the boats. It's at this point I stop supporting what they are doing." I tend to agree with him. They have already had two accidents during production and they are risking a third. In any other industry, this would raise very serious concerns about the company/project involved.

 

Yes, I would love to see it. In fact, I mentioned right back here I wouldn't mind seeing a "Space Celt" culture and we might just get that now. As I said though, I hope they are respectful to the monastery. I definitely don't want to see any space battles or violence at that location. It wouldn't be appropriate.

I am as disillusioned and concerned as CairnsTony about the film crew's apparent practices though.

 

of course they are. you know they had to special permission.

 

That's what my post addressed, I ommitted a few things for the sake of brevity, the point still stands.

 

I'm just hoping that the helicopters seen carrying people around are simply doing the short hop from Valentia Island where everyone is based, to the temporary helicpter landing location near Port McGee. It is easy for passive observers and reporters to get the context wrong here. That's what I hope anyway...

They were originally supposed to film these scenes during September which would've made perfect sense. There would be no nesting birds and it would not be too late for the bad winter weather and inherent hazards that incurs. Then Harrison broke his leg. This is a hasty re-scheduling of the location shoot, which hasn't taken into account the vastly different conditions of filming in July.

FTR the birds would be used to crowds of tourists on the island. Anyone who has been to Holy Island in Northumberland, UK or here on Michaelmas Cay just off the coast of Cairns will know that you can approach to within a metre of nesting terns especially and they'll just sit there watching you or if it's Arctic Terns, probably dive bomb you! The main problem is the helicopter which can cause birds that are not used to seeing this thing land there during the nesting season to panic and take off en masse. I won't be able to relax until this shoot is over...

It goes without saying that one would hope they treat this ancient monument and Unesco World Heritage Site with the respect it deserves, irrespective of the birds. I hope that, helicopter aside. this is still the case.

 

I am MORE than certain that they do not give a single care about the birds and JJ most likely laughs maniacally as they shred the flying rats with their helicopter rotors.

We have a movie to make folks. Birds, shmirds.

(that was all sarcasm btw)

 

I hear terns are great on the grill. Endangered meat is the best meat cuz ya never know if you're going to have it again.

 

Don't worry CairnsTony, they are using boats to get out to the island. The video in this link confirms it.

http://www.independent.ie/entertain...ot-kicks-off-on-skellig-michael-30466106.html

 

Yes, I was just coming back here to mention that. Tony had good points about the helicopters, so I was glad to see this.

 

So, there is obviously being some debate that the planet from TOR that will make an appearance in EPVII is Tython and that Skellig is supposed to be that planet. If true I would be thrilled. Imagine we get to see both the birthplace of the Jedi and the Sith in the ST. Imagine a green/blue Planet for the Jedi and a reddish one for the Sith. I just googled some concept art from TOR and it could indeed be so, I evn think that Puzzlewood has potential as well to be on Tython. I wonder if the birds will appear in the movie, they used real world reptiles on Dagobah, so there is a precedent. Maybe they will use the real birds in backgrounds and then have a puppet/CGI creature that looks more alien for close ups...

 

I was aware of the boats ferrying the crew and equipment over to the island but alas RTÉ have confirmed that the cast are definitely flying over there...



Like I said, I won't be able to relax until filming is over...

 

For better or worse, the impact on the birds is being discussed in the Guardian this morning: http://www.theguardian.com/film/201...llig-michael-filming-bird-population-breeding