September 03, 2003; Hyperspace webchat with Pablo Hidalgo - Summary:
Sometimes the webcam does not show as much action s fans would like due to technical limitations or because the webcam is purposely placed away from the sets so it would not be a distraction.
Anakin's Jedi robes are darker in Ep3. Trisha Biggar will have an article in the next Homing Beacon where she will discuss the changes in wardrobe to the characters.
There at least six more cast members to be announced but they are only waiting for deals to be signed, paperwork. Expect another new casting announcement this week.
Jocasta Nu is not in Ep3.
Currently there are no plans for any major characters to shoot scenes in March during the scheduled pick-ups but that may change. (We know that Chewbacca, Owen and others will shoot scenes in Mar 2004)
Kenny baker has not yet been on set.
In addition to 70's style themes, there are plenty of "blinking lights" to merge the PT into the Classic Trilogy.
Nick Gillard has shot part of his cameo as a Jedi.
Anakin will "save" Obi-Wan at one point during the film.
Ian McDiarmid will be shooting scenes until the very end of filming.
Ian has several scenes with Hayden.
Sola, Pooja, and Ryoo will shoot their scenes in the coming days.
There is no truth to the rumor that the original person cast to fill the Vader suit was fired (due to fanboy giddiness).
Obi-Wan's actions in the film are pivotal to what ends the Clone Wars.
It appears Senator Lott Dodd will return for Ep3.
Pablo has a hard time believing some of the imagery will get a PG rating. Nothing is too over the top but in today's MPAA standards, some scenes are intense.
Christian Bale, Ralph Fiennes, and Peter Wingfield are confirmed as not playing Tarkin nor having anything to do with Ep3.
Rohan Nichol has already shot his scenes as a starship captain.
The EU character is neither Thrawn nor Xizor. But Pablo said "nice try."
The Death Star plans are not really important in Ep3. The focus of Ep3 is on more important story points.
Pablo doubts we will see daily updates during post-production but we will see further coverage of the completion of the film.
Pablo said to re-read Rick McCallum's quote on whether or not anyone turns out to be a clone in Ep3.
There will be a few tender moments of romance in the film.
Pablo stated that the Dagobah cave was explained in Ep5, does not need further explanation, and to focus energies on other things.
Palatine has more than one look/style of appearance in the film.
The "no disintegrations" line will not be explained in Ep3.
The "force ghost" theory will be explained.
Jar-Jar's role in Ep3 is not that important, in Pablos words.
Over the remaining 10 days of shooting left, the webcam will not cover much of the shooting but will be located on other stages.
There will be no doubt that Anakin is Darth Vader as seen in the film. Pablo added "unless someone out there starts a clone theory or something".
Plo Koon, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto have completed their scenes. Ki-Adi-Mundi still has some shooting left to complete. Luminara, Barriss and Bultar will shoot their scenes in March during pick-ups.
There will not be any puppet characters but there will be at least two important alien species showcased in Ep3 that will be realized through old-fashioned creature effects.
So far no new styles of lightsabers, but we will see new styles of lightsaber combat.
Anakin knows Padme is pregnant and expecting.
The Trade federation Cruise will be a new design. Pablo is unsure on how large the ship will be on film but he expects it to be larger than the Republic Cruisers.
There will be cut scenes from Ep3, as with every movie.
The fate of the younglings will be explained.
Ewan and Hayden are the actors with the most screen time.
Palpatine and his entourage will be watching some performance art (Coruscant Theater) at one point in the film. The art will be created by ILM.
Pablo related more to Obi-Wan's perspective n the film as opposed to Anakin's.
Anakin's fall is shocking.
Pablo sends his set diaries to California each day and the diaries are scrubbed for any potential spoilers that may be too revealing.
Wherever the March 2004 pick-ups are held, someone from starwars.com will be there to document the production.
At the beginning of the film Anakin and Obi-Wan are still good friends and we will see they have grown even closer since battling in the clone wars together. But Anakin has been building another friendship too...
The March 2004 pick-ups will be studio-based and Pablo expects that some characters will be digitally added or edited in the scenes, such as Sio Bibble was added into Ep2.
Overall, Palpatine has much more screen time than Sidious. But Sidious will have much more screen time than seen in Ep2.
Pablo says that some of the theories seen on StarWars message boards are very close to the plot of Ep3, but also that the story is not that much of a secret since we have known the basic plot since the prologue to the Ep4 novel. The only mysteries to be revealed are the "why" and "where" things happen.
The reason Obi-Wan changes his name to "Ben" will be seen in the movie but not an explanation as to why he chose "Ben" as the specific name.
The timespan covered over the course of Ep3 is similar to that of the other films.
Passel Argente will not have any lines in the film, but he will have a new look and will have on-screen closure to the character. Passel's aide Denaria Kee will also be seen in the film.
Though Padmι's screen time is less than that of Obi-Wan and Anakin, she will still have an important role and a fair amount of screen time.
Pablo knows the opening scroll text as it is in the script. The opening scroll will be important in Ep3 as it is in media res like ANH.
Miniature work is part of post-production and that phase has yet to begin.
All the droids in the Droid Unit, to include "copper top" (Obi-Wan's starfighter droid), have been crated up as their time for shooting has finished.
There are scenes that will have moments that could be seen as "scary".
Darth Sidious will remove his hood.