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The Digital Revolution Page 2 of 6
Creative Freedom Locations
Characters
The character Lucas references is Jar Jar
Binks, one of the 66 creatures created in the computers at ILM, five of
which have speaking roles (Coker, 88). Jar Jar is not a minor character by
any means as he appears in
However, this is not the first use of acting
digital characters. In Star Wars: Special Edition, a digital Jabba
the Hutt was added into a scene cut from the
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Aside
from the few who are leery of digital technology, there is no denying the
creative freedom now available thanks to the technological breakthrough of
Jurassic Park. After witnessing ILM’s accomplishments during
post-production, Lucas felt his company had finally reached the level it
had been striving to attain for ten years (Thompson, 70). After testing
digital crowds, sets, and characters in the Star Wars Trilogy Special
Edition
re-release
in 1997 (“Making”, NP), Lucas took his newly found creative freedom and
dove into Episode One. This film is important because of the
enormous amount of digital images is uses; such a large project has never
been attempted before. According to Lucas, 95 percent of the film
incorporates digital technology (Parisi, 137). “There are only 200 shots
[out of 2200] (Corliss 87) we didn’t alter digitally, and we’re funneling
them through
the
computer anyway to have an all digital master” (Parisi, 137), states
Lucas. “A typical summer movie has 2000 shots,” says John Knoll, ILM
visual F/X supervisor, “with, say, 250 effects shots,” with the exception
of Titanic, which had around 500 effects shots (Corliss, 87). The ability
to implement digital technology on a large scale provides the capacity to
portray nearly anything the mind can imagine.
“It’s
like sketching with a pencil, and suddenly someone gives you paint, and
you’ve got all these colors. And you’ve always seen what you’ve been
painting in color, but you’ve never had the color to do it with,” says
Lucas. “So no, finally, I’ve got color” (60 Minutes, NP). Lucas also says
he likes paining the way he originally envisioned his creations. It is
obvious Lucas enjoys using digital technology to achieve what he cannot in
reality. One way computer animation enhances creative freedom is in the
design of extremely elaborate sets and environments.
Many
of Episode One’s key locations exist only in the computer (60
Minutes, NP), and the rest of the sets were created at Leavesden Studios n
London and were only built up to six and seven feet high, just above the
actor’s heads. After filming, these sets were extended in the computer (Corliss,
87). This process tremendously lowers the cost of the film and at the same
times, adds to design flexibility. Set designs more elaborate in nature
can be utilized because there is no need to physically construct them.
This adds to the illusion that other worlds do exist.
Another
way to create a convincing fictitious world is to populate it with exotic
creatures. In past films, large, expensive puppets and body suits were
used to develop exotic aliens. This technique is limiting because properly
articulating a puppet or mask can be difficult; and in the case of body
suits, the creature designs are limited to the shape of the human body.
This is not the case with CG characters, as seen in Episode One. “I
think the greatest strides in the prequels will be made in the area of
character animation,” said Rick McCallum (Madsen “D”, 8) while production
was getting
underway
on Episode One. As it turns out, Lucas says this film will “have
the first photo-realistic character that acts” (Corliss, 89). 
approximately 600 shots, most of which are with live actors (Daly, 41).
This is a difficult task to undertake because Jar Jar needs to look as
realistic as Liam Neeson’s character; otherwise the audience will be able
to recognize the character as computer animation, something Lucas wishes
to avoid (60 Minutes, NP). 
original
film because of the limits of 1970’s technology. The CG Jabba amazed
audiences around the world, but was not perfect by any stretch of the
imagination. As seen in these comparison pictures below, computer
animation has improved so much in the past three years, ILM can now create
a digital Jabba that looks as good as the original puppet used during
Return of the Jedi in 1983. This achievement is the developmental
stride Producer Rick McCallum alluded to concerning character animation.
