Other highlights from the archives included models of a TIE fighter and the Millennium Falcon from the original trilogy, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's lightsabers from Episode I. Additionally, Lucasfilm unveiled two giant timelines, using huge pictures and other visuals to convey the story of the Star Wars saga and the history of the Star Wars films.
For the first time ever, the prequel's team of designers and craftsmen traveled together to put on a show for the fans of what they did to translate Lucas' screenplay to the screen. Each shed light on how to take words on a page to create movie fantasies on the screen.
For costume designer Trisha Biggar and concept artist lain McCaig, the same question came up at all three of their presentations: have they written their Academy Award acceptance speech-es yet? Even from the back of the room, one could probably tell they were both blushing.
McCaig said he was inspired by Victorian and Art Nouveau styles in his designs for Episode I. Biggar and her core staff of 40 people painstakingly designed and assembled more than 1,000 costumes from these concepts. In a video clip the pair screened, actress Natalie Portman said with a smile that as a queen, you couldn't wear the same thing twice.
"The Queen comes from a beautiful planet and all the people wore flowing, beautiful clothes," Biggar explained in her Scottish accent. "It led from there that the Queen had more elaborate outfits than the others. We always see the Queen in formal situations, never in a situation where she would be less than a queen, really, so that is why she is dressed so formally."
The two designers who had probably the most impact on the film were design director Doug Chiang and concept artist Terryl Whitlach. Chiang designed the ships and hardware. Whitlach, the creatures. She had previously worked on Jumanji, so the task of dreaming up new creatures was a challenge she relished, Whitlach said.
Chiang, who showed his portfolio to Lucas and McCallum more than five years ago to try to land the job as top conceptual artist said, "Personality is the one thing George really wants in his machinery.
One name that is well known to any true Star Wars fan is Ben Burtt. He won an Academy Award for the classic sound design he created for Star Wars more than 22 years ago, and returned to Episode I not just as supervising sound editor. but also as a film co-editor. Burtt, who created R2-D2's chirps and the hum of the lightsaber was relaxed and casual onstage. The fans ate it up.
"The largest beast you hear in the movie is really the roar of my baby daughter Emma," the proud papa revealed. 'She has this distinctive cry. I thought it would be fun to record that and to make it the biggest roar possible, and we did."
Nick Dudman, the live action creature effects supervisor, answered a question from a hardcore fan who had studied the second trailer. Why, if Yoda was 900 years old, did he look so much younger if the new movie was set less than 50 years before Empire? Simple, Dudman replied. When we see Yoda in Empire, he is on the run, hiding out, dispirited, and weak. In Episode I, he is powerful and at the peak of his powers. This isn't just a younger Yoda: it is a more powerful and strong Jedi Master.
