Adam Savage, the host of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters, spoke with io9 at Comic-Con about his upcoming special Star Wars episode of Mythbusters. He also visited the set of The Force Awakens, and saw something fascinating.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead...
Savage discused the practical visual effects being used in J.J. Abrams' film. He also mentioned that he's friends with Phil Tippett, the creature designer from the original Star Wars trilogy. Savage says that Tippett was hired again for the new film, to recreate an iconic sequence from the first movie, sayingAccording to Savage, Tippett was brought back into the new film by J.J. Abrams, to recreate one iconic sequence. “I got to go watch him shoot it,” says Savage. “It was so cool—the old school technology. The oldest school technology: his animation. And it’s beautiful.”
When asked if it was the "chess" game with the weird creatures, Savage admitted that it will be in the new film. It's no surprise that the chess board would be in since last year, Abrams tweeted a picture of it. But now we know the film will use old school-special effects, and have actual creatures romping around on the board.
click to enlargeWhen asked what he thought about how 3D printing is making old-school practical VFX easier to pull off, he says:
“3D printing is a tool like any other. Like clay for a sculptor. It does make some things more possible. We also have a generation of film-makers, like Jon Favreau and Peter Jackson and J.J. Abrams, who really appreciate and understand how those effects were used, and are really looking to put them back. And Guillermo del Toro loves putting practical effects, building sets around his actors and giving them stuff to interact with. There’s just nothing that can equate to that kind of performance.”
Savage told io9 that the Star Wars episode of MythBusters will explore why stormtroopers have such bad aim. “They’re terrible. They can’t hit a thing.” What’s the reason? “I think maybe they’ve been inbred so much that they only have one eye,” he speculates, “and like half a mouth.” They’re all tenth-generation clones of Jango Fett or something. “They’re just physical bullet-catchers, is what they are.”
Are you looking forward to the special Star Wars episode of Mythbusters?
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