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Droids, and colors... What the dilly... Yo?

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Jesse James:
Eh, ok I'm not the one to suddenly turn into 50 cent, but whatever...

Anyway, what's your take on droid colors?

It's obvious that battledroids come in a silver metal color if not painted, because it's clearly seen UNDER the paint on their scrapes.

OK, fine...  But why were Fed. BD's tan, and the BD's on Geonosis are red?  And why are SBD's their gunmetal color and not red?

With HBO showing AOTC now, I've had plenty of time to see AOTC over and over again, and likely will see it plenty more...  and even longer still when Skinemax gets it (if they get it?) like they do most HBO shows.

I have come to a personal conclusion that BD's are actually painted as a way of camoflauging them...  Most military products are on Earth, and it makes sense to do so with BD's...  I've seen no clear indication of them being painted for any other reason than that, and the red does quite nicely match Geonosis.

I would assume the tan of the Trade Fed's lineup was either the "base" paint used and camoflauging wasn't a priority to them, or it was intentionally used as an "Urban" camo deco to blend into the architecture of Naboo's cities.  Awfully tan looking place anyway, and it makes some level of sense.

SBD's I've come to the conclusion that their coating, which I believe is what gives them their gunmetal look (I assume they're as "silver" underneath as a standard battledroid) is something of a  blaster-retardant material...  A simple thing that gives them a lil extra "umph" on the battlefield that a Standard droid does not have.

I must admit, seeing the movie for about the 8th time now has enlightened me to the military strategy and coordination of droids...

Did you know there's commander battledroids on the field in the Geonosis battle for instance?  The one Windu summersaults over is one for sure, which I personally did not realize before.  I find it interesting...

Also, I believe the edited droid control ship raid implies that Battledroids no longer have the "Knock out the ship, knock out the droid army" weakness that the TF's army had on Naboo?

Droids independantly thinking and acting?  Seems to me that clones aren't so darn superior anymore, especially when one sees BD's acting pretty darn intelligently on Geonosis.

I've not got the Visual Dictionary for Episode II, so maybe they shed some EU light on what the droid's red color variation is for exactly, but I was curious if any of the rest of you had thought of this at all?  

I seem to recall seeing some awfully tan looking droids in a hangar on Geonosis though too, with blue "pilot" markings...  Very odd to mix them in there too.

Vator:
Yes,but,maybe the Trade Federation is trying to instill fear into their enemys,like the Empire,however I like the idea of different camo droids,it just isn't likely.Look at the other films,the rebels were the only ones that used camo,why would george break continuity?Also,as this triology progresses its suposed to become less colorfull,and more Empire-esc.

Jesse James:
Well, there's no real continuity then though, when one thinks about it...

The Alliance even doesn't have a "continuity" of uniforms itself really.  They have, arguably, specific uniforms, but they alter between all 3 films...  The RFT's, which I feel are "standard" army regulars wear a specific, and NOT camoflauged uniform...  I feel it's design is to set them apart from other military forces in the galaxy.  

Then there's the Hoth uniform, which I feel is simply a cold weather version of the RFT's basic uniform, nothing more.  

Then there's the Endor Rebel's uniforms, which I feel the films establish are "Commando" units who likely have a handful of uniform styles to choose from, for mission-specific roles.

The prequals are different all together though, and uniforms are sparsely seen, but there is some continuity in the Separatist/Trade Fed battledroids...  They seem to use the same color codes for "basic" droid designations anyway...  But why the color changes?  There's 2 logical answers to this as I see it.  

1) the droids are camoflauged as best they can be (without getting into some intricate pattern of camo, but rather just a base coat that can be simply and quickly applied prior to drop on a specific planet)

or.....

2) they are painted specifically to the owner...  IE: the trade fed decided they would distinguish their droids from all others by painting them tan, and Geonosis would paint theirs red...  Odd that they would choose a color exactly like their own planet though, unless it was a statement of pride for the planet they hail from?

I personally just go with the camo thing...  Some EU is even dipping into this idea, where on worlds with lush vegetation, forrests, and jungles, the separatist armies have droids painted a shade of green...  Maybe if a night raid were done, they would give them a blast of black paint?

This was common in Earth armies during various wars, who would make a temporary camoflauge to hide themselves, which could be removed easily.  For instance, in the battle of the bulge, cold weather gear was in shorter supply for U.S. troops, so they often were seen wearing a tablecloth, or "borrowed" German equipment that gave them some camoflauge in the snowy Ardennes forrest.

The Germans were renowned for whitewashing helmets and equipment (As were U.S. forces eventually) to give a quick, and easily removed coating to protect themselves.

Maybe the Separatists employ something similar to their droids prior to an invasion?  

I'm curious if we'll see much battledroid action come Episode III?  If we see droids as being tan all over the place, or red...  Then I'd say they're that color most, or all of the time, or it goes by who is in control of the droids (IE: Trade Fed, or Geonosians, etc...), but if we see various colors dependant on situation, it could change everything all together.

There's definately not as much structure to a battledroid army as there is to the clones...  

It makes me wonder if we'll see any Republic "Military" beyond the clones and Jedi as well...  I have a feeling officers in uniforms like Lt. Faytonni and Ahmed Best's character's were wearing may become more "prominent" in E3...  Precursors to Imperial Officers perhaps?  Distinctly similar uniforms, that's for sure.  

Vator:
You've gained some ground with me on the subject that the droids use a kind of camo,but maybe its just a factory deal?Like the Geo. factory paints them red as a calling card?And as for the Rebels not having continuty,I don't think the would have a standard issue uniform since they're basicly a band of freedom fighters,kinda like the Americans during the Revolution.

Jesse James:
Ah, but the Americans in the Revolution DID have a base uniform...

Continental soldiers wore blue coats, white pants, and the blue coats had red or white (or sometimes other) trim dependant upon station, rank, etc...  

The Rebels of the CSA also had a "Standard" uniform, though variations in the confederate uniform were quite common...  Then again, they were common for soldiers in the Union as well, depending upon regiment...  Union Sharpshooters for instance wore green uniforms.  It was also a time a uniform's "style" sometimes outweighed it's function though, and thus that nullifies the use of various uniforms from the North for this conversation's purposes...  Star Wars seems to rely very little on style, and 100% on function it seems.

I've read the "rebels wouldn't wear set uniforms" argument at the Tech Commentaries, and to me that's thinking entirely too much "earth", and not enough "Galactic"...  

Lucas described Star Wars as a "Million Million worlds", which I'd wager is a LOTTA worlds.  :)

Of those million million, how many are loyal to the Empire?  Let's say 3/4, or maybe 4/5 would be more accurate?  Maybe even 9/10...  Who knows really?  But how many are loyal to the Alliance?  9/10 of a million million worlds I bet is a LOT of worlds still...  

Out of the planets NOT loyal to the Empire though, would they not have the manufacturing ability to make a "basic" uniform the Alliance considered a "Standard"?  I'd think Earth alone would be capable of supplying the uniforms of what would be the majority of the Alliance military...  Maybe not, but what about 2 Earth-like planets?  Or 3?  What if there's one planet dedicated to this task?

But, let's put it in some Earth terms then anyway.  

There's maybe a "Standard" uniform for the Alliance Fleet (Thus the Fleet Trooper).  I pick this uniform because it seems the most abundant, and it does not look "professional".  IE: it's not taylored well, and there's something haphazard about it...  Most of the soldiers look clumsy, young, and it has a "ragtag" feel to it while still keeping a distinct uniform for the troops to call out their friends from their foes in a battle.  

It's definately not shaping up to be the taylored and impressive looking uniform that a planet's own security force might have though, like Amidalla's troops on Naboo who wear quite nice uniforms.  It's also not impressive and "expensive" looking like the Empire's duds are.

That to me implies that the RFT uniform is that of an Alliance Army Regular...  Or in this case, an Alliance Fleet Trooper.  It's cheap, but it has function and some level of form.  It could be cranked out en masse, at low cost, and will supply structure to a main military enlisted force.

To take some rebel uniform continuity further on-screen, we can see rebel petty officers and crew at the ceremony on Yavin.  I've counted quite a few variances in the uniforms at Yavin, but they're structured in a way, and it's known that a military advisor was on-set for ANH and ESB (Not known if the same person was there for ROTJ).  Thus the uniforms are put there intentionally to show some level of military structure at the final ceremony.

Similar, or identical uniforms can be seen manning various terminals and stations aboard Home One as well, which implies some level of uniform carry over between ANH and ROTJ...  They even have the same odd yellow emblem on their tan/brown hats on Home One as they do standing while Luke/Han get their medals.

But, taking the "earth" theory even a bit further in support of structured uniforms...

We know the Alliance is made up of more than a handful of human planets...  We see "uniforms" of other alien races represented.  For instance, the Dresellians have a uniform distinct to their species, as do the Tibrians...  One can argue the Mon Calamari do as well, but we seem to only see Mon Calamari "officers" so it's possible that their uniform carries over to human crew or other crew.  

Either way though, there's some uniform variety, but it's possible the Alliance works something akin to rebelling forces in Earth's history.

For instance, let's say the RFT and subsequent known uniforms associated with the RFT's (Like Captain Antilles', or Dodonna's) are the "basic" uniform of the Alliance "Regulars" like I've theorized...  Essentially the uniforms you see at the Yavin Ceremony.

These are, for an analogy, the "U.S. Continental army".

But the Dresellians have been fighting a resistance movement on their home planet against the Empire.  They're openly rebellious, and are allies to the Rebel Alliance, but possibly act independantly...  They maintain their uniforms though, for a variety of reasons (Maybe they choose not to commit to being army regulars, like the militia/minute men did in the American REvolution, who were "free" to leave at almost any time due to their status of not being part of the regular army).  

IE: The the Dresellians, and possibly other races = non-army regulars, or militia/minute-men type of troops...  

The Continental army will take up the brunt of the fighting in open conflict...  Militia may be right alongside them, or maybe are fighting on their own, closer to their homes...  Some Dressellians (or other species) may be within the Continental army itself, and wear the uniform of it...  Some may not.

So while ragtag in a way, the Alliance troops still have a main contingency of soldiers spread throughout various fleets and leadership groups around the galaxy.

They would also have various volunteer, support, militia, and guerilla pockets throughout the galaxy, as well as possible reserves, "national" guard, etc., forces at their disposeal...  Each of these groups may wear a variety of unique and different uniforms...  Some may be planetary security forces, or some may just be make-shift camoflaged uniforms made for their specific planet.

Another analogy, and one more close to our own time, would be the Vietnam War.  The Viet Cong were guerilla fighters with no "set" uniform...  Some dressed like civilians and struck from the streets of Sai Gon, some were in the classic black pajamas, sandals, and rice hat clothing, but that's hardly a "uniform"...  It wasn't much different than what a civilian may wear, and was more for function over form.

Then though were the NVA...  These were the "Regulars", and they wore a khaki uniform, very simple and basic, and a light expedition helmet.  They were also better supplied, and better supported/reinforced troops.  Whether their tactics worked better is up to debate though all together, but they were a noticeably more uniform force fighting for the same cause, and alongside the Viet Cong and it's varied cells.

To me, while putting Earth theory into practice it sometimes isn't always as logical to think that way when you're getting answers to a Galactic Question.  Sometimes it works though, and sometimes it doesn't...  Sometimes it just depends how you're looking at things (Like WHAT rebelling army you'd compare the Alliance to, for instance).

My main theory is that in all the rebelling planets, which while fewer than the Empire by far they would still number into the thousands possibly, the Alliance would LIKELYhave the ability to make some form of standardized uniform/system for their military.

When fighting would take place on this galactic scale, a uniformed structure would be necessary just to maintain order I believe.

That uniform structure would NOT exclude any outside help of course, and just like the Zouaves of New York in the civil war, while they looked like no other regiment in the Union's army, their help was never turned away because they were passionate volunteers...  Even though they wore sneaky pierre hats with little tassles and bright red pants (Talk about an easy target for the rebs!).  :)

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