for the live actors, so we spent some time at the "archives" preparing
for that.
Not everyone at LucasArts had access to the warehouse where the Star Wars
props and models were stored, however, and security has gotten much
tighter since I was there many years ago. I wound up visiting the archives
four or five times during my days at LucasArts. It could be very nerve-
wracking at times, because the building was overflowing with all kinds of
stuff. Incredibly expensive models costing hundreds of thousands of dollars
apiece were crammed together on rolling stands like a bizarre Star Wars
traffic jam. I had to tiptoe my way through them, terrified of breaking any-
thing. We shot photos of some of the ships for texture mapping purposes,
and it was tremendous fun to be able to wander around freely, looking at
all the amazing models and matte paintings and props close-up. Many of
the props are very cheesy-looking in real-life, whereas others had more
detail and intricacy than would ever be picked up on film. I'm a big fan of
practical models--meaning physical ones--so there was almost nothing
more exciting than having access to the real thing.
Back when LucasArts was located in the same industrial complex that ILM
is currently in, the art department had its own building that contained
some of the actual props and paintings from the archives. I had the deck
cannon from Jabba's sail barge on top of the divider wall next to my desk!
Others had original matte paintings hanging on the walls of their offices!
It all seems shocking now that those items would be so casually placed
around the office, and somebody finally had the good sense to move them
into the safety of the archives with the rest of the stuff.
Amusingly, about a week after a photo trip to the archives, I went to see the
public show of Star Wars models and props that had opened in San
Francisco, just to see what the exhibit looked like. As I started to reach over
a tall Plexiglas barrier to point out something on a model to a friend--the
model itself was still four feet away from my hand--when a security guard
practically jumped on me! I had to laugh, because I had been handling some
of the models in the archive just days earlier. It was a great exhibit, though,
and it was wonderful to see all the people getting to enjoy what only a few
had seen before.
Q: Do you prefer a particular type of modeling (polygonal,
spline, patch, NURBS...)?
A: Most of the modeling I've done has been polygonal, though recently
I've experimented with subdivision surfaces modeling, which is actually
C
H A P T E R
4 : M
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