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Republican_Man
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 Sun Apr 03, 2005 9:17 pm Star Wars [Episode III] News Updates: PG-13, TV Series... |
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| Star Wars.com wrote: | The Star Wars M-Pire Invades Television
March 24, 2005
The M-Pire is coming soon to your galaxy, and director Jon Nowak is bringing it to a television near you.
With the debut of the new dark chocolate M&M's this spring, television stations around the world will be airing a new ad campaign that crosses the popular M&M's characters with the Star Wars universe. Jon Nowak, a 28-year old self-taught director from Minneapolis who grew up on the Star Wars phenomenon, has been charged with cinematically capturing the fall to the dark side--M&M's fall to the dark chocolate side, that is.
To many, Nowak's story may read like the ultimate fanboy pipe dream. Growing up a huge fan of the films and books, his home-grown Star Wars smarts ultimately rewarded him the chance to direct iconic Star Wars personalities within a bona fide Star Wars setting. Nowak says he owes much of his inspiration to his childhood love for the Star Wars saga. "I've been a fan my entire life," he explains. "I always had all the toys and all the magazines, all the books, everything. I was not only fascinated with the characters but how they created this world as well."
This behind-the-scenes fascination led Nowak to pursue a different form of enthusiasm for Star Wars early on. "I started out my career thinking that I was going to be a model builder at ILM. It wasn't until I got to the university and took my first film series class that I realized, wait a minute, I've been a director my whole life. What am I doing building models?"
Resolving to direct instead, Nowak decided to teach himself the technical aspects of the trade while pursuing an English degree in college. Why an English degree instead of film school? Nowak feels an essential aspect of filmmaking is missing from the modern day film school curriculum. "When Lucas and his whole gang of people went to film school, it was at a time when they were teaching them to be storytellers before they were teaching them to be technically savvy. Now it's to the point where film school is almost a trade school. It's so technical that people are forgetting the fact that you need to tell stories."
Opting to engage the age-old axiom of learning by doing, Nowak began making shorts to get noticed, which earned him small promo and commercial work. Money earned from these in turn funded his own shorts and documentaries, which eventually won him a spot in last year's Sundance Film Festival. "I've really been jumping back and forth between shorts and medium form and feature film script writing. There's been quite a variety, and my shorts tend to be a bit darker than my commercial work."
Finding Nowak's background and unabashed passion for Star Wars perfectly suited to the task, he was signed on to direct the ad that would finally turn M&M candies to the dark side. Revenge of the Sith would be the perfect backdrop to play against the launch of the dark chocolate M&M's.
Not just any backdrop would do, however. On a soundstage in Buenos Aires, the expansive interior of the soon-to-be-seen Mustafar conference room was exhaustively recreated in full, all the way down to the patterned floor tiles. "The set designers were just blown away by the amount of information that they had to work with as far as reconstructing this thing," explains Nowak.
For added authenticity, prequel trilogy Director of Photography David Tattersall was even on hand to shoot the footage. Nowak was excited to be working with the Star Wars veteran. "I understand why George has done as much work with him as he has," explains Nowak. "I mean, he's one of the most charming, collaborative, down to earth guys that I've ever worked with. You look at his body of work and you'd expect a serious ego-maniac to be walking out on set, but that wasn't the case at all. He's very informative and very funny. It was a blast."
Nowak discusses the collaborative effort shared with Tattersall on the shoot. "When I was picking angles, I would run it by David and ask if this was something in line with what Mr. Lucas would have done for the scene. He'd say, 'Yeah, this is probably the way George would have done it.' To be able to have one degree of separation to someone you've been reading about your entire life is surreal."
Fans will not only get to see an entire Star Wars interior recreated, but also the return of Star Wars' most iconic personality. Darth Vader will return in the commercial, and he wants to bring M&M's to the dark side.
Nowak recalls first seeing the costumed character on set. "The day before the shoot, we were doing a fitting with Darth Vader, and I had been talking to the actor who plays him beforehand and had kind of gotten to know him a little bit. I really did not anticipate the reaction I was going to have when he walked out on the set as Darth Vader. It was like my childhood immediately erupted up and I was very giddy. The first assistant director was a native Argentinian and he said to me in very broken English 'You are like a kid in a candy store.' And I said, yes, you're absolutely right."
Nowak is confident that fans will recognize the commercial as made by a fan for the fans. "Unlike the other Star Wars commercials that have come more recently, this one pays the most faith to the language of Star Wars, the world of Star Wars. This is the only one as far as I know that exists within the Star Wars universe. It's kind of a fish-out-of-water story that has a bunch of ridiculous little characters enter this very serious environment. It's funny because there's a lot of little Star Wars inside jokes -- enough to really keep the fans salivating."
The potential for film fans to create works of their own within the medium they so admire has never been greater. Nowak credits at least part of his success to the ability for him and others to easily access the materials and equipment needed to get their films made. Due in no small part to the digital revolution, Nowak also credits George Lucas, the leading proponent of digital cinema. "I think that what he's done is create an environment where you can choose your mediums based on your story. I mean, to quote the clich�, you now have watercolors and oils and chalk to choose from instead of just oils. Instead of learning on cruddy 8mm video, now you're learning on DV format so that if your experiment does actually succeed, it's in a legitimate format that can be seen by a wide audience. I've exploited that to no end."
"I don't know who said it," continues Nowak, "but someone said that filmmaking will never be a true art form until it's as accessible and inexpensive as a paper and pen. It's democratizing the art form. It's gotten to the point where you'd have to be fairly inept not to find free editing equipment and free video cameras, etc. There are tons of places you can go where you don't have to pay fees to get access to this equipment and be able to make films. It's on the cusp of revolutionizing the art form."
Jon Nowak represents the new generation of filmmaker who can, for the first time, conceive, shoot, and edit a movie with tools available to virtually everyone. For Star Wars fans with a cinematic glint in their eye, Nowak offers a measure of vindication for those who've been returning to the saga again and again for inspiration. "It's just amazing that all those thousands of hours spent watching and reading about Star Wars could pay off in this way. I called my parents and said, 'See, all those summers I spent watching Star Wars...they weren't all wasted.'"
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LOL! This is COOL! 
Last edited by Republican_Man on Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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borgslayer
Rear Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 2646
Location: Las Vegas
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| Sun Apr 03, 2005 9:35 pm |
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Alright man I think you had too much Jedi Juice. Your a Star Wars nutcase.  j/k
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Sam Kenobi
Not a Duke
Joined: 13 Jun 2003
Posts: 10373
Location: The 'Verse
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| Sun Apr 03, 2005 9:44 pm |
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Ha! That's awesome. They offered dark side M&Ms at WalMart today. I was so tempted, but alas. My allegiance is to the Light side.
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Ziona
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Aug 2001
Posts: 12821
Location: Michigan... for now
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:16 am |
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lol... Gotta love Lucas and his incessant search for more mullah!. 
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:05 am |
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mmmmmmmm.... Dark side M&M's.
I don't think even my KOTOR character, who was lighter then the could be measured, could resist those.
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:10 pm |
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Be prepared for much more. The Lucas Gang has claimed that they are creating the biggest (as in most profitable) movie tie-ins EVER SEEN!
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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zero
Rear Admiral
Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 4566
Location: Texas
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:49 pm |
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| borgslayer wrote: | | Alright man I think you had too much Jedi Juice. Your a Star Wars nutcase. j/k |
LOL, that was the cutest phrase I have ever heard!!
sad but true!
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Cap. Proton
Master Chief
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 1490
Location: U.S.S. Braveheart
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 2:33 pm |
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That's coolsa
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For all the RPG'rs out here:
Join the SDTF
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
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| Mon Apr 04, 2005 4:32 pm |
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| webtaz99 wrote: | | Be prepared for much more. The Lucas Gang has claimed that they are creating the biggest (as in most profitable) movie tie-ins EVER SEEN! |
AWESOME! And I am NOT a Star Wars nutcase. Just a HUGE fan. And lol, Triam. You can still get Dark Side M&Ms. It's in the SW spirit!
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Tue Apr 05, 2005 3:19 am |
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I can't, we don't have them over here, 
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:17 pm |
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*BUMP*
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And some have to live with our scars
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:18 pm |
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http://www.startrekvoyager.com/viewtopic.php?t=21038
This topic is suitable for that article, RM.
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And some of us sail through our troubles
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Republican_Man
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| Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:01 pm |
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Alright, this includes some cool stuff. Take a look at this article from StarWars.com, which is quite some big news.
| StarWars.com wrote: | Thank the Maker: George Lucas
In his first convention appearance since 1987, George Lucas made his grand entrance early Saturday morning to thousands of fans who waited outside overnight in the cold and rain.
Episode III Producer Rick McCallum came out to introduce two of Lucas' children, Jett and Katie, who have roles in Revenge of the Sith as Zett Jukassa and Chi Eekway, respectively. After the introduction, a thunderous standing ovation, and millions of camera flashes, Lucas sat down to take questions from the crowd.
"The last convention I did was in 1987 for the tenth anniversary of Star Wars", recalled Lucas. "That's as far as I thought we'd get. I never thought we'd be doing this."
Not the first question, but probably the one most anticipated by fans was about the future of Star Wars on television. "You know we're doing a pilot television series now called Clone Wars," said Lucas. "Well we're going to take that and turn it into a 3-D animated version full series." Lucas described the episodes as being 30 minutes in length.
"We're also working on a spin-off series," he added, "with some characters who have appeared before that will be a live action series. We're probably not going to start that for about a year. Like on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, we want to write all the stories for the entire first season all at once. I'm going to get it started, and hire the show runners and all of that, then I'll probably step away." Even host Jay Laga'aia had a hard time concentrating after that news.
Elaborating on the television series' setting in the chronology of the saga, Lucas explained that the idea currently in development takes place between Episodes III and IV. "There's none of the main characters from I, II, and III (or IV, V and VI for that matter) in the..." he stopped in mid-sentence. "Well, actually, that's not exactly true now that I think about it. We haven't really started the TV show, so it's hard to answer. There's a lot of issues that are connected, but you won't necessarily see a lot of the people that are connected."
A fan asked the chances of exploring the KOTOR-era Jedi or the origins of the Sith on TV, and Lucas stated that if the television projects are successful, he would examine the possibility of moving elsewhere in the saga.
Asked which idea came first... Anakin or Luke, Lucas explained the genesis of the series, "There was originally to be one film, I wanted it to be Episode IV of a serial (maybe out of 12 or something) that you would never see the first or last episodes of. That's what happened in the '30s, you had trailers, and a short cartoon, and then a cliffhanger. That serial-style is what Star Wars is based on."
"I started with Anakin Starkiller and his two kids, then I got to a draft that's kind of what we know now, but it was 200 pages. Then that became three films. I never thought I'd go back and do the original stories, regardless of what the press says or what's out there. But then the necessary film technology came along and I came to grips with being known forever as George 'Star Wars' Lucas."
Getting back to the point, Lucas summed up, "To answer your question, I started with the space battle. I thought that would be great."
Asked about the possibility of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles on DVD, Lucas joked at the perfect lead-in question, "Is this a set-up?" He added, "We are working very hard on completing the entire series with about 100 documentaries to do along with it, based on the main historical characters found in the series.
Regarding the grown up Indiana Jones, people wanted to know when the man in the hat was coming back. "As a matter of fact, I just received the new script two days ago. I have yet to read it," he said. "I'd like to be able to read it this weekend. I'll be talking to Steven on Monday, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do. So, it's definitely in the works."
Beyond Indy, Lucas also answered a question about another popular Lucasfilm character, Willow Ufgood. His response to a fan who asked about the possibilities of Willow II: "I was actually just talking to Warwick Davis backstage, and we were communing on the possibility, wouldn't it be wonderful to someday do a Willow TV series. I can't say that we'll do that, but, [Lucasfilm] is moving into television, and a lot of ideas are popping up." Lucas went on to say later that other projects on the horizon include a feature film about African-American pilots serving in World War II that Lucas will produce.
Lucas touched upon a frequently asked question: what was the imagined storyline beyond Episode VI? "To be very honest with you, I never ever thought of anything that happened beyond Episode VI," Lucas said. "It's the Darth Vader story. It starts with him being a young boy and it ends with him dying. The other books and everything kind of go off on their path, but I never ever really considered ever taking that particular story further."
Naturally, a fan solicited his thoughts on Revenge of the Sith. "It's everything I want it to be," Lucas said simply. "Of course, everyone has their own opinion about these things. Star Wars fans are especially independent. I'm very happy with all the Star Wars films. They're not really separate, they're one long movie all build up on top of each other. There are things that were placed in Episodes IV, V and VI that tiein to this one, and vice versa. I'm very happy I got it finished the way I wanted it to," he concluded.
Lucas confirmed his upcoming appearance in Episode III, dressed in a regal outfit and painted in blue skin to become Baron Papanoida. "I have a scene with Chi Eekway. She convinced me that I had to do the scene with her," said Lucas.
When asked what involvement Steven Speilberg had in Episode III, Lucas joked, "He did all of it!" He continued, "Steven had a project not happen and he had all summer sitting around in the Hamptons and he was going crazy. So I said 'I have some action sequences, I'll send over a pre-viz guy to do some work with you by the pool.' So Steven did some elaborate storyboards, and some very Speilberg-ian storyboards, and some storyboards that made it into the movie. I won't tell you which ones, cause I want to take credit."
Asked about the rating of Revenge of the Sith, Lucas confirmed that the film will carry a PG-13 rating. "We made no edits," he said. "There's only slight differences from what we've done before. You see how Anakin gets the way he is at the end of Return of the Jedi, and obviously it's not pleasant. And we cut off a few more arms and legs."
If Lucas had a choice to play a character from all the Star Wars characters, his choice was R2-D2. Answering a curious fan who wondered if it was possible that R2-D2 had Force powers as explanation for his supernatural ability to escape danger and rescue his friends, he responded, "He doesn't need any special powers. He's already the most powerful person on the screen there. R2-D2 is the hero. He is the one who gets them out of the mess, every time!"
The most Barbara Walters-style question of the bunch: if he had a lightsaber, what color would Lucas' lightsaber be? "That's a personal question, isn't it?" quipped host Jay Laga'aia.
"I have two lightsabers," Lucas smiled. "I have a red one and a blue one. I'm like Grievous. I sort of collect them. Depending on how I feel that morning, I use one or the other."
A fan asked what Lucas thought of the passionate fans who have devoted so much of their lives to the Star Wars experience. "I'm very grateful to you all," he said. "I've been very surprised. Star Wars is something to enjoy and take away what you can from it that maybe helps you in your lives. Don't let it take over your lives. That's what they all say about Trekkies, and I know Star Wars fans don't do that. The point of the movies is to get on with your lives, to take that challenge, to leave your uncle's moisture farm, to go out in the world and change it to save the universe." |
Source
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Tue May 03, 2005 5:22 pm |
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Dude, like totally commercial milking out of star wars here
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
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Location: Classified
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| Tue May 03, 2005 5:28 pm |
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lol, I guess so.
And now Time's featuring Star Wars as their cover story for the new issue!
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050509/
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Wed May 04, 2005 11:50 am |
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If dark m+ms represent the darks side and normal ones represent the good side, what about peanut and crispy ones?
I am to believe there is a nutty and crispy side to the force?
They make m+ms in my town. It's soooo great!
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Wed May 04, 2005 12:21 pm |
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Why is this star wars topic in General News. It should be in Sci Fi part.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Wed May 04, 2005 12:23 pm |
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| charmed88 wrote: | | Why is this star wars topic in General News. It should be in Sci Fi part. |
No, it shouldn't. See the news articles quoted?
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And some of us sail through our troubles
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Joey
Rear Admiral
Joined: 13 Jul 2001
Posts: 4708
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| Sat May 07, 2005 8:08 am |
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well if T says so
T is always right 
i love that commericail
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Sat May 07, 2005 3:55 pm |
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I'm kinda hesitant about a SW TV show. If it bombs like ENT did, then it will just go down as a joke and be remembered as another "failure".
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sat May 07, 2005 5:01 pm |
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| Founder wrote: | | I'm kinda hesitant about a SW TV show. If it bombs like ENT did, then it will just go down as a joke and be remembered as another "failure". |
((Like Yoda saying it)) "I agree." Yes, he said that line. But anyways, yeah, I agree with you there. I'm skeptical. But luckily a FOX News entertainment reporter or whatever said that Episode III will be as good as the originals, and said that she didn't like Episode II
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Sat May 07, 2005 6:06 pm |
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I heard that someone who loved the first 3 but didn't like the first and second loved it as well, so that sounds good, although I still like I and II, just thought they weren't the same type of film.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sat May 07, 2005 6:07 pm |
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| Jeremy wrote: | | I heard that someone who loved the first 3 but didn't like the first and second loved it as well, so that sounds good, although I still like I and II, just thought they weren't the same type of film. |
I agree with that. And that's good news
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun May 08, 2005 2:41 am |
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Anything with Hayden Christensen in (especially with the new sexy wild anakin hair do) will be attentively watched by me
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