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Star Wars Prequels' Art Director Doug Chiang Talks

Posted by timothy on from the screw-a-lid-lid-on-jar-jar dept.

inherent writes: "Recently, representatives of three fansites covering Westwood's upcoming release, Earth and Beyond Online had the opportunity to interview Doug Chiang, Art Director for the Star Wars prequels, and the designer of the spacecraft models in Earth and Beyond Online. Chiang speaks on topics like the differences between film and digital animation, advice for upcoming digital artists, and the now infamous Jar Jar Binks. The interview transcript is available at Earth and Beyond Portal"

12 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. interesting interview by MiTEG · · Score: 2, Insightful
    When did you discover your gift or abilities?

    This looks to be a somewhat interesting interview. From the looks of it though, the questions deal mostly with the aspects of Chiangs life rather than any details of the upcoming movie. Frankly, I don't really want to hear is life story, or what website I can go to if I want to learn more about is past work. I want the lowdown on production, like what they used for the animation, props, and all that cool stuff.

    I've been a Star Wars fan since the late 70's- I even bought a Millenium Falcon with my allowance (though I sold it at a garage sale when I was a teenager, boy am I kicking myself for that one). Anyway, this movie looks like it's got quite an all star production crew. I'm looking forward to seeing it, hopefully in one of the digital theatres if it's not too expensive. Though I sometimes wonder at the dedication of the people willing to sacrifice 3 months of their lives to wait in line.

    --
    The future isn't what it used to be.
  2. good advice... by nostromo_42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    in terms of setting yourself out from the crowd, at least in graphic design terms, there is no substitute for having classical training in the visual arts. too many people think that they're hot stuff just because they can use photoshop.

    1. Re:good advice... by mav[LAG] · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Indeed. If you look at Doug Chiang's work in the Art of Star Wars - Episode One (Amazon will probably have it - I got it as a present), you'll see all of his conceptual work is in traditional media - watercolour, pen and ink, and pencil.

      I recommend any of these books if you want to look behind the scenes at concept design, particularly how creatures and sets evolve in the mind of the artist. Doug Chiang seems to have designed 80% of the Episode I universe based on the sheer number of his works in the book. What's even more interesting is that he claims Lucas has an incredible sense of design and vision which just gave the artists that final inspiration or push in the right direction just when they needed it most. Not basic whip-cracking either - more tweaks or overhauls to things that just gave them The Right Look. Say what you like about him as a director, he obviously still knows how to design cool stuff.

      --
      --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.
  3. Hmm... by CmdrTaco+(editor) · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Now, I don't want to sound like a troll here, but why are so many fans so dedicated to the Star Wars phenonema? From what I can see, Star Wars was originally part of a social movement, the gradual change of geeks, if you will, from the shadows to the mainstream. I can't thank Lucas enough for that. But, I do have a problem with the methodology used today by the Lucas empire.

    I find George Lucas and all his productions much like Steve Jobs and all he has done. Lucas began as an innovator, creating a new genre and shaping society as we know it. Jobs, along with Wazniak, did the same thing- creating what the people wanted, an affordable personal computer, and shaping society along with it.

    But both individuals evolved, and from my standpoint, grew corrupt with the power (like Anakin). Jobs controls Apple again today with an iron fist, and Lucas stifles creativity with his quest for profits. I no longer have any interest in buying an Apple computer, as it no longer stands for what it did, just the same as I no longer have any interest in seeing the upcoming Star Wars movie. Both are sellouts, and I will never forgive them for that.

    Does art reflect society or does society reflect art? The evils we see today, the corruption, the violence- it all occurs in the media. So I ask you, if you choose to see this Star Wars film, while you're watching it, think about how the capitalistic creed of these men and how many lives they will destroy.

    1. Re:Hmm... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Taco, you wrote:

      "From what I can see, Star Wars was originally part of a social movement, the gradual change of geeks, if you will, from the shadows to the mainstream."

      I sort of agree with this statement. However, I think you are missing the larger picture here. The awesome thing about Star Wars is that you don't/didn't have to be a geek to enjoy it. It was a huge part of life for us children of the mid/late 70's and early 80's. It was hugely successful because it appealed to all classes, races, and creed. It was a magical movie that could make you forget all your problems for a couple of hours, or if you were lucky, several months on end in toys, etc.

      Now, IMO, here's the issue for Mr Lucas. He made the mistake of creating his best art at an early age. The rest of his life has been spent trying to recapture it, and he has (so far) failed. Imagine if you were in his shoes...would you pump out lack-luster fare trying to recapture the magic you created, or move on? I doubt you *COULD* move on. Not many people can say they shaped a generation, he can. Too bad he's now trying to shape another generation into being little zombie consumers. Just my opinion of course ;)

      --
      Sent from your iPad.
    2. Re:Hmm... by invid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Have you ever wondered why so many creative people produce wonderful material when they first start out, but when they become rich and famous their material sucks? In many instances the reason is that when someone is not well known they listen to other people's advice and criticism, and this limits certain excesses that might spill out of their work. Once they become big names they get the belief that they can do no wrong. Worse still, other people become too intimidated to criticize them. Read any recent Steven King book. Look what Gene Rodenberry did to the first Star Trek movie. He was allowed to create his complete vision, and it was simply too much of his vision. That's what happened to Star Wars Episode One.

      --
      The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
    3. Re:Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You've got it ompletely backwards. Brin is arguing against the egalitarianism present in Lucas' work.

    4. Re:Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The thing I don't undersatand about many Star Wars fans in particular, is they insist that a new Star Wars movie should live up to much higher standards than other films.

      But then when it comes to TPM, they can't even entertain the possibility that there is a whole lot about the film that just can't be appreiciated in only a few viewings.

      Honestly, I know you guys think TPM is a lackluster addition to the saga, but really it is at least on par with the classic trilogy.

      When A New Hope came out, there was no way to deny the obvious jump in special effects, and the music was spot on. But many reviewers, while giving the films very high scores cited the characters as being too "2 dimensional". They cited the dialogue as being "dicey", and the story was branded "unbeleivable". It wasn't until ESB and ROTJ came out that these characters got the depth everyone seemed to be missing, and now 20 years later, the idea that the characters were ever 2 dimensional has completely disappeared.

      I feel the same thing will happen after Attack of the Clones and Episode III are released.

      I mean come on, we are still talking about the one man who brought us "I am your father". Why is it so hard to entertain the possibility that Lucas has something up his sleeve that none of us have thought of yet?

  4. Re:Know what i'd like to see? by clontzman · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Since he's obviously going to painfully attempt to recreate ESB in a formulaic manner so unimaginative, no one else would have imagined it, I'll make an increadibly obvious prediction: Anakin looses his hand in the climatic lightsaber duel. Maybe it'll happen in episode III, but I'm still betting on episode II.

    Seeing as we know he has a robotic arm in Return of the Jedi, that prediction is more than obvious. If he doesn't lose an arm, it's a gross continuity error.

    Relax, dude, it's just a movie.

  5. Re:Interesting poll results... by clontzman · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It's a shame really! Why do some companies instantly dismiss making Linux version's of games?

    I'm just stabbing in the dark here, but probably because there's not a single instance of any game selling anywhere near enough units to even dream of making even the most modest profit.

    Honestly not trying to be a troll here, but with a sub-1% desktop marketshare, you can't be surprised that expensively produced games aren't being produced for Linux yet.

  6. Re:Jar Jar must live, deal with it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    George has a chance here to please his fan-base: by making JarJar turn into a credible, mature character. Imagine he inherits the title of leader of his race ? And find himself involved into the interstellar-sized plot of Palpatine ?

    In the original SW episodes, Luke grew from an uncaring, impatient personality, to a self-confident Jedi (compare Luke arguing with his Uncle and Aunt in episode 4, with Luke facing Jabba in the episode 6).
    Imagine Anakin and JarJar going through the same process. IMO this could lead to really interesting twists in the general Clone Wars story.

  7. Looks ok only when he's stationary by GuyMannDude · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So, if you separate the Jar Jar "design" from the actual character (admitted it's very hard), he's a pretty cool looking character.

    He might look okay when he's standing still but his movements all seemed very unnatural to me. He almost seems like a rubbery, elastic creature in the movie. His walk is not smooth, his motions are not very crisp. I remember thinking to myself that "that frog-dude must have tendons of steel" to avoid being constantly injured just from everyday motions. Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed about the fact that Lucas was able to make a 100% computer-animated character fit in with the movie. But for me, it was just one more example why CGI should be limited to non-lifeform effects.

    GMD

    --
    watch this