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5.4.01
Homing Beacon #34!
Today the latest Homing Beacon arrived with a great article about creature casting for Episode II.
"The worlds of Episode II will be filled with alien beings and creatures realized as computer generated creations by Industrial Light & Magic. Despite such a rich digital menagerie, there is still a place in the saga for animatronic and masked aliens. This is the domain of Jason Baird, Live Action Creature Effects Supervisor and his crew."
"Though Baird would oversee the construction of several new exciting designs, the alien faces crafted for The Phantom Menace were essential for filling out crowded scenes. For large throngs of aliens -- as well as for returning alien characters -- Baird and his crew benefited from Episode I masks that were carefully archived by Lucasfilm."
"I don't think the job would have been do-able if all of the stuff from Episode I hadn't come down," says Baird. "It was all in fantastic condition. That's what we've been using for most of those big days with all the background creatures."
"For some of the returning prosthetic and mask effects specifically made for Episode I, Baird and his crew had to carefully cast new performers for the extra creature roles."
"We'd get different people in. If we see someone that we think will suit a character, we get them in and either run the prosthetics and fit the pieces on them. Or we get the creature head and try it on, mixing and matching to see who fits what. If we get a good match then we run with it."
The appropriate fit can come from anywhere, often those already on the crew. "Zac Jensen is actually one of the guards of construction in Australia. We thought he was going to fit the Saesee Tiin prosthetic makeup. Once we tried the pieces on him, we realized he didn't fit them that well. So we actually cast his brother Jesse as Saesee Tiin because he actually fits the makeup really well."
"Zac didn't miss out, though, on his chance to be a Jedi. He was instead cast as a fearsome looking alien Jedi new to the Star Wars saga."
Jedi Power
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