ARTOO's News Archive for May 2003
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Posted 05/31/2003 ———————————
Return of the True Fans.  Artoodetoo.com will be visiting Disney-MGM's Star Wars Weekends again on the 7th of June. We'll be attending the Fan Club Breakfast in the morning before the park opens, and spending the rest of the day in the park, soaking up the sights and enjoying everything the park has to offer in the way of Star Wars. (OK, we will probably ride the Rocking Roller coaster at least once, but everything else will be Star Wars related.)
Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in the original trilogy) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) will attend the breakfast as well. So will world renowned Star Wars Collector and head of Fan Relations for Lucasfilm, Steve Sansweet. Also in attendance will be Lisa Stevens, President of the Official Star Wars Fan Club, and Paul Palmer, Senior Brand Manager of Star Wars toys at Hasbro.
We promise to bring back plenty of information and pictures. It will be another exciting weekend!

Posted 05/28/2003 ———————————
What’s Luke Skywalker up to these days? Zap2it.com reports that Mark Hamill will star in and direct the semi-fictional mockumentary "Comic Book: The Movie" for Miramax Films and Creative Light Entertainment.
The San Diego Comic Con, the world's largest comic book convention, is the setting for the spoof documentary that follows the antics of the world's biggest comic fan, hired to direct a documentary about his favorite comic book heroes of all time.
The film features interviews of several well known personalities, including Stan Lee, creator of "Spider-Man"; Playboy founder Hugh Hefner; director Kevin Smith ("Jersey Girl"); and Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons".
Miramax executive vice president Kevin Kasha tells The Hollywood Reporter, "'Comic Book: The Movie,' promises to be an exciting undertaking with widespread appeal to audiences young and old — from comic book fans to action hero fans to loyal followers of Mark Hamill."
"Comic Book: The Movie" is slated for release this fall.

Posted 05/25/2003 ———————————
A NEW HOPE -- John Roach, reporting for National Geographic News says that R2-D2 and C-3PO could be a reality in the future.
"I have felt for years that the first 'killer application' of personal robots will be companionship, especially for the elderly," said Roger Brockett, a professor of computer science and engineering at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Robots are potentially much smarter than dogs and they will not require the same level of upkeep."
Brockett founded the Harvard Robotics Laboratory in 1983 and is now one of several scientists who believe robots will some day be an everyday commonality. One of the many potential roles the droids could fill is one of companion and helper, similar to how C-3PO and R2-D2 chum around with Luke Skywalker.
Manuela Veloso, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, looks forward to a future where robots are not only common, but accepted into daily life in the same way as the family dog or a newborn child.
"I'm interested in something that just co-exists with us rather than filling any holes, in the same way that when a human is born we do not need it, but it becomes a part of our lives," she said.
To get an idea of where humanoid robots are right now, vist Honda's site featuring ASIMO, their advanced robot that is designed as a first step toward the android helpmate/companion.

Posted 05/16/2003 ———————————
Artoodetoo sends contingent to Disney Star Wars Weekends.  Artoodetoo.com will attend at least two of the Disney Star Wars Weekends this year.  We'll take plenty of pictures and post them on Artoodetoo. We'll let you know how the party went. If you can't make it, we'll do our best to bring it to you. If you are going to be there, check here when you get back. You just might find yourself in one of our photos!
It should be a lot of fun. We're excited about going, and can't wait to post our story! Hope to see you there! If you see us, stop and say Hi!

Playing Obi-Wan can be hard. In a recent radio interview, Ewan McGregor said of the Star Wars films: "They're hard films to make - as an actor you're called upon to act without another character there in a blue space, it's difficult.”
Because the films are heavily dependant on computer generated graphics for characters, sets, and special effects, many times an actor will find himself alone on a special “green stage” acting out a scene. It can be difficult to interact with surroundings and characters that aren't there and make it believable.
"But they're good fun to be in, I like that! I like that kids come up and ask you questions about them.", McGregor added.
McGregor is scheduled to fly to Australia next month to film EP III, where he will reprise his role as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobe. Additionally, the character Chewbacca will return alongside perennials R2-D2 and C-3PO for Star Wars Episode III, which is due out in May 2005.

Posted 05/11/2003 ———————————
Disney’s Star Wars Weekends begins this coming Friday (!) and runs for five consecutive weekends. During that time, the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida will be transformed into a celebration of the Star Wars saga, with celebrity guests, fun activities, costume characters and more.
A scheduling change regarding the weekend of May 30, 31 and June 1 was recently announced on Starwars.com. Joining Silas Carson (Ki-Adi-Mundi / Nute Gunray) on that Star Wars Weekend is Mike Quinn. Quinn performed the in the role of Nien Nunb, Lando Calrissian's co-pilot aboard the Millennium Falcon in Return of the Jedi. Quinn also assisted in the puppetry of Jedi Master Yoda, and Admiral Ackbar as well. Quinn now works as a computer animator, and was part of the Attack of the Clones crew.
Joel Edgerton, the actor who played young Owen Lars in Episode II, was originally slated to appear, but last minute scheduling conflicts means he won't be able to attend.
The current celebrity guest schedule is as follows:
May 16,17 & 18 - Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian)
May 23, 24 & 25 - Andy Secombe (Watto) and Warwick Davis (Wicket)
May 30, 31 & June 1 - Silas Carson (Ki-Adi-Mundi) and Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb)
June 6, 7 & 8 - Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett)
June 13, 14 & 15 - Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett) and Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing)

Posted 05/10/2003 ———————————
Ewan McGregor, aka the younger Obi-wan Kenobe, is slated to begin work on EP III in three weeks - but he admitted he has no idea what the plot has in store for his character. “I haven’t read the script because they haven’t sent me one yet,” he told a New York press conference. The Scottish actor is currently promoting his new film “Down With Love”.
He has temporarily traded in his light saber for a martini shaker this week, playing a love-dodging man-about-town in the new romantic comedy, co-starring Renee Zellweger. The flick is a tribute to the classic ‘60’s era romantic comedies. "It was shot entirely in the studio on fantastic sets and brilliant costumes, and that was the magic, to make those films where everything is pretend," McGregor told reporters in New York earlier this week. Come on, Ewan, focus. This is you're last chance to be a Jedi.

Every film ever made now available on DVD. Except Star Wars. With the Indiana Jones trilogy now coming to disc, that leaves Lucas' three original "Star Wars" movies as the final holdout for popular movies on the format. George has been getting a lot of flak lately. According to several DVD-centric Websites, the Indiana Jones movies rank behind only the original Star Wars trilogy as cinephiles' most-requested titles never released on the format. Lucas plans to release the original trilogy only after he is done with the current "Star Wars" trilogy in something like 2005. He says he won't release the first trilogy with the original special effects, which is upsetting purists to no end. George thinks the effects the movies were released with are "now-outdated and cheesy". Instead, he will only release the 1997 "Special Edition" versions with the souped-up computer-generated effects.

Posted 05/07/2003 ———————————
CMU Robot Hall of Fame Update: In our news item posted on 05/02, we mentioned that we would contact Dr. Morris at CMU to see if there was any special convention that needed to be used to make a nomination to a candidate to the Robot Hall of fame at Carnegie Mellon University. We emailed Dr. Morris, but I'm sad to report that we got what appears to be an auto response to the email. We asked several specific questions in our email, only to be answered with: "Dear Nominator: Thank you for your nomination and interest in the Robot Hall of Fame. Watch next fall for the first inductions!
While we can't say for sure, we believe that there is probably quite a bit of traffic to Dr. Morris' email address concerning the inductees - hence the auto response. But, We still think it's a good idea for anyone who would like to nominate R2-D2 to the Hall of fame to email Dr. Morris with a nomination. Be sure to support your nomination with good reasons why R2 should be inducted. You can email Dr. Morris at James.Morris@CMU.EDU. You can take a look at the submission we sent in here.
Vote early, and vote often. There's no reason why R2-D2 shouldn't be among the first robots (or droids, as we like to call them) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

From the "In Case You Haven't Noticed" Department - Artoodetoo.com is a fan supported site. What that means is that you can come here and browse our site without seeing any annoying pop-up ads; no banners; no harassment to buy something. We do it because we get a kick out of running a goofy little web site, and think R2-D2 is one of the coolest characters ever. And we like sharing what we know. We make no money doing what we do. But we certainly appreciate your support. How can you support us, you ask? Simple. Just visit the site often. That's all. No donations, no registrations. Just visit. Our reward is knowing other fans of R2-D2 enjoy our efforts. As always, please feel free to email comments and suggestions.

Posted 05/02/2003 ———————————
Star Wars MVP: Carnegie Mellon University Has Plans for a Robot Hall of Fame  NEPA News reports that Dr. James Morris, dean of Carnegie Mellon University's computer science school, thinks there's enough interest in robots that he's creating a robot hall of fame. Morris envisions the hall highlighting important developments in robotics, whether real or fantasy, along with interactive exhibits.
Eligibility for inclusion in the Hall of Fame is broad, and science fiction robots are just as eligible as real robots. Anyone can nominate a robot for the hall of fame, Morris said, but they must justify their reasons.
HAL-9000, the computer in "2001: A Space Odyssey," has been nominated in the first round, which will be inducted this fall, Morris said. HAL may not cut it, however. Strictly speaking, HAL isn't a robot, and he's evil to boot, Morris said. That goes against one of the laws of robotics formulated by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
Morris wants to display reproductions or the original robot, especially in the case of real robots. "We're trying to prevent people from disassembling these things and using them to build other robots," he said. Morris hopes the hall stimulates kids' interests in science.
Nominees will be selected by a panel of robot experts. Included in the first panel are science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke; Rodney Brooks, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's artificial intelligence laboratory; and Minoura Asada of Japan's Osaka University. The hall will be housed at Carnegie Mellon to start with, Morris said."Someday, we would like to have a large venue that's comparable to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland," he said.

As for Morris, he says his favorite robot is R2-D2 from "Star Wars." Artoodetoo.com is working on finding out how a nomination must be prepared and submitted for consideration. We'll report on what we find out. Stay tuned...

Posted 05/01/2003 ——————————
Hair Club for CG Characters.  From the STAR WARS HOMING BEACON - The Official StarWars.com Newsletter Thursday, 05-01-03 - Issue #84
The Homing Beacon reports that it wasn't an accident that most of the computer-generated characters from Episode I had smooth amphibious skin or hard metal finishes. When it comes to hair, the digital variety is by far the most unmanageable. The workload of Episodes I & II favored hairless subjects, although the CG characters in Attack of the Clones featured a few exceptions: Yoda had a hazy crown of wispy white hair, and the digital stunt doubles of the main characters had to have the same hair and style as the real-life actors who played them.
"With the digital doubles, you have less hair than you would a furry creature, but it has to be specific hair," says Steve Sullivan, Research and Development Director from ILM. "You're actually trying to match a given actor, so the artist needs to be very precise in the parameters."
Early attempts at adding hair were effective, but very much controlled by an animation artist. That took a lot of time, and a lot of precision. The proper interaction of the hair with the underlying digital model is now handled by the computer through dynamic physics simulation. This is the same complex engine that is used to properly recreate the folds and drape of digital clothing and the hundreds of fragments of crashing Podracers. Now, the digital hair reacts as it would to real wind, gravity, and motion, without having to be continually managed by an animator. Still, the task is not that easy.
" We have a long way to go still, explains Sullivan, "and our mission is to try and make it as simple as possible. You can imagine what a hair system should be like. It should be easy. Your mom should be able to use one of these systems, but it's going to be years till we get to that stage."
If you would like to sign up to receive a copy of the Homing Beacon Newsletter, click here to register.

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