Animatics: The Moving Storyboards of Episode I

When all of the components are "rendered out" to a movie file, the shot is sent directly to the editing team over an Ethernet. At this point what usually happens is that every aspect of the shot is discovered to need a change, and the revision is needed immediately. George, Rick, and Martin request an updated version, and they need it in a half-hour. Rick comes up to tap his foot or look over their shoulders...or Martin calls, again, to ask if they have made any progress, and off the team goes on another run.

About 1500 Episode I shots have been pre-created as animatics. The team can hammer out about two shots per person per day on average, and may total up to 75 in a day if they're easy ones. David Dozoretz' world record is 54 finished Star Wars animatic shots in a single week. The team works fast. Very fast. But it is in their speed and flexibility that they become of such value to George Lucas and Rick McCallum. After all these years, George can finally "sculpt" the film itself just as he has approached sculpting the story, or the art designs of the movie. Through animatics, the film has become a responsive medium, and as a result Episode I will be closer than ever to the Star Wars movie that George really wants to see.