Building a Complete Visual Dictionary

Among the most challenging models Bies built for the Visual Dictionary series were the three Holocrons depicted in the Episode II edition. Shaped as a pyramid (Sith), a cube (Jedi), and a 12-sided dodecahedral (Great Jedi), Bies consulted the few sources that have actually depicted one for reference. "I know the Sith one was something that existed in a graphic novel or comic book because I had something that looked like a comic book sketch. I think the square one was off of something similar. [The 12-sided Great Holocron] might have been David's personal design."

Constructed primarily of clear and black acrylic, Bies relied heavily on his laser-cutting skills to create the multiple parts and layers of each Holocron. "One of the things you could do with the laser cutter is score into the paper adhesive attached to the clear acrylic and peel off the cut-out pieces and paint into it," explains Bies. "You can score at different depths and different widths or throw the laser out of focus and do different things. You could also pre-drill holes and go back and tap them for screws."

Drawing, cutting, and assembling each Holocron could take days. "They were a nightmare to assemble because it had to be assembled from the center out. It took a fair amount of thinking in advance. I remember on the square one, the paint was still drying when Alex [Ivanov] photographed it because we were so up against the wall. On the big one, Alex had a heck of a time with reflections -- in retrospect, it would have been a lot easier to do it with computer graphics."

For the Complete Visual Dictionary, Bies devised an all-new exploded-view spread for R2-D2, a task Bies came well prepared for as Artoo's official curator/operator for the past 20-odd years. Rather than rely on his traditional modeling skills, Bies opted to go digital for the new depiction. "Having learned from the Holocrons -- in that it would have been better to go digital -- I decided that the amount of work it would have taken to make those pieces and have them photographed was something I neither had the time nor desire to do. I thought it would be more interesting to do it from a digital standpoint."

On the advice of former ILM CG artist Billy Brooks, Bies sought out Mike Verta, an accomplished film composer, CG artist and member of the worldwide Artoo Builder's Club to do the viewpainting and rendering. So while Bies decided what would be shown and digitally modeled the parts, Verta "did the hard part making it all look good," says Bies. Including found objects such as his son's gear-like Bionicle box top for Artoo's commutator, Bies and Verta also found opportunity to drop the names of friends and contributors in the various components captioned in the layout. "I wanted to honor the people who had something to do with Artoo over the years," says Bies. Part names, with their various contributors, include:

• Imaharatronics logic display sensors -- former ILMer Grant Imahara (currently on Mythbusters) who updated Artoo's electronics for the films
• Stears Data multifunction optical readers -- Star Wars effects supervisor John Stears, who ran the Artoo unit during the early years
• Nelhal Industries RGB photoreceptor lenses -- Nelson Hall, fellow model builder and one of three "official" R2 operators
• VicksVisc holo-casing -- Vickers Viscount, a '50s-era airplane, for which this was the reading lamp
• Kerner optical holo emitter -- for Kerner Optical, the smokescreen name of ILM while based in San Rafael and now the actual name of the new home of the former ILM model and stage departments
• Brooks Propulsion rocket boosters -- Billy Brooks, CGI artist who made Artoo fly in Episode II
• Everett Mark IV Locomotion System -- Dave Everett, founder of Artoo Builders Club in Australia
• Kevdan Aerosystems hydro-glycolic fuel cells -- Kevin Vincent and Daniel Deutsch; Kevin is an Artoo operator at Disneyworld in Florida, and Daniel provides Artoos and other robots to the Disney theme parks

"We were trying to get the Burtt Audio System or something but we ran out of space," says Bies, referring to Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, who came up with Artoo's signature voice.

Look for Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary now at bookstores nationwide. For further details, see our previous coverage here.