[img]http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/11/20/R2D2JJ_610x458.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE]Director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and astromech builders Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples hang out with R2-D2 at Pinewood Studios.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Imagine painstakingly creating a working astromech that looks and sounds just like the beloved R2-D2, and then being asked to build one just like it for the new "Star Wars" film. That's exactly what happened to UK "Star Wars" fans and R2-D2 builders Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples.It all started when Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy toured the R2-D2 Builders area at Star Wars Celebration Europe this summer in Germany, Steeples told [URL="http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/2013/11/19/r2-d2-is-in-star-wars-episode-7-and-hes-fan-made/"]StarWars.com[/URL]. "She posed for pictures with us, looked at all the droids we'd built, and was very complimentary," Steeples said. "I mentioned that the R2-D2 Builders in the UK were available if required, as a semi-joke. When I was contacted to work on the film by [executive producer] Jason McGatlin, it was on her recommendation."
Steeples and Towersey will be responsible for building astromechs like R2-D2 for "[URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57611394-235/star-wars-episode-vii-to-open-december-2015/"]Star Wars: Episode VII[/URL]" full-time at Pinewood Studios west of London. While they're living out every fan's fantasy to work on a "Star Wars" set, building an astromech is no easy feat. It takes patience, dedication, craft skills, decent blueprints, and the willingness to pay for a lot of pricey materials.
"I've seen people build static droids for as little as $500-$600 and fully remote-controlled droids for $1,000," builder Chris James notes on his site [URL="http://www.artoo-detoo.net/"]Artoo-Detoo.net[/URL]. "But you could easily spend $10,000 and more on an all aluminum droid, especially if you're buying all the parts versus making your own."
During a 2010 WonderCon presentation, James and other astromech experts from the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the R2 Builders Club offered a few [URL="http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/2010/04/19/r2-d2-builders-at-wondercon/"]tips for fans who want to build their own R2-D2[/URL], including this one:
"Think of your astromech as a vintage muscle [URL="http://reviews.cnet.com/car-tech/"]car[/URL] you're fixing up," James said during the presentation. "It won't happen quickly; you'll spend a lot of money on it; and it will break down constantly. But it's worth it."
While the droid-making duo of Steeples and Towersey are well versed in how to build an astromech from scratch, they are determined to make R2-D2 even better.[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57613098-1/r2-d2-fan-builders-hired-for-new-star-wars-film/?ttag=fbwl[/URL]
How nice of them to give back to the community.
How interesting.
That's a great way to ensure quality actually
I feel like if were George Lucas there wouldn't even be a prop.
Can we expect a rust R2-D2 telling his grandchildren about the time when he nearly drowned in a swamp?
[QUOTE=Limed00d;42974652]Can we expect a rust R2-D2 telling his grandchildren about the time when he nearly drowned in a swamp?[/QUOTE]
I hate to say this but I feel like they're going to "kill off" R2-D2 or C3P0.
Every hobbyists dream, given free rein to create stuff you love with nearly unlimited resources. And have it appear on film afterwards.
[QUOTE=Alec W;42975096]I hate to say this but I feel like they're going to "kill off" R2-D2 or C3P0.[/QUOTE]
They had better die with honor destroying the Death Star XXVI or something.
R2:[I] WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGG[/I]
[I]-MASSIVE EXPLOSION-[/I]
Why can't they just scrap R2-D2/C-3PO and give us something like HK-47 but in the future of the Star Wars universe?
It's a great idea, honestly. This way, they have someone who loves this stuff and is dedicated to it rather than someone who just does it for the pay.
The article just states they were took on to build other astromech's, hell the article kinda gives the hint they are hired purely for the purpose of building other droids. The R2 they've done is just what got them the attention. There's a chance R2 might not even show up.
i hope r2d2 doesn't show up. that would be fucking stupid
[QUOTE=TheHydra;42978880]i hope r2d2 doesn't show up. that would be fucking stupid[/QUOTE]
Why? How would it be stupid?
R2D2 and C3PO made sense as something that would realistically be achievable in the near future [i]back in the day[/i], but now, 36 years after the film, it is clear we can achieve something much more advanced than the primitive mechanics used in those particular droids.
Replace R2D2 with those box robots that make the GOOORK sound
[QUOTE=Tuskin;42978908]Why? How would it be stupid?[/QUOTE]
he had no business being in the prequels and by this point he's only a cheap "REMEMBER THIS????" marketing ploy.
[QUOTE=TheHydra;42979526]he had no business being in the prequels and by this point he's only a cheap "REMEMBER THIS????" marketing ploy.[/QUOTE]
If the Rumors of Luke and them being in the Sequels, it wouldn't make sense NOT to have R2D2
They're iconic characters to the series.
[QUOTE=Dr.Critic;42976132]Why can't they just scrap R2-D2/C-3PO and give us something like HK-47 but in the future of the Star Wars universe?[/QUOTE]
If the new Star Wars movies sucked, but they had HK-47 in them, I'd still call them a success.
[QUOTE=Tuskin;42979592]If the Rumors of Luke and them being in the Sequels, it wouldn't make sense NOT to have R2D2
They're iconic characters to the series.[/QUOTE]
i'm against the other old characters returning as well. star wars is a massive universe. why do we have to have the old characters again
[QUOTE=Nikita;42979227]R2D2 and C3PO made sense as something that would realistically be achievable in the near future [i]back in the day[/i], but now, 36 years after the film, it is clear we can achieve something much more advanced than the primitive mechanics used in those particular droids.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, well, if they hadn't spent all their time developing space-stations that could blow up planets, I'm sure the people of the star-wars universe would have figured that out by now too.
[QUOTE=TheHydra;42979908]i'm against the other old characters returning as well. star wars is a massive universe. why do we have to have the old characters again[/QUOTE]
Because the classic era is still better than anything the EU has put out
[QUOTE=demoguy08;42976106]Every hobbyists dream, given free rein to create stuff you love with nearly unlimited resources. And have it appear on film afterwards.[/QUOTE]
I would be so happy as fuck, especially when I'm paid for a hobby of being nothing more than a nerd with incredible skill VS a 'well known' and established prop maker
this is how you ensure a good movie. Hire people who truly would appreciate the job purely simply because they get the chance to do it and haven't yet had the chance to actually do it, they absolutely love building, and while veterens do as well I feel it becomes more 'another day on the job' for them so you may not get as much 'going the extra mile'. A happy workplace full of likeminded individuals is an incredibly efficient one. Not only that, but, it also jumpstarts new actors and craftsmen into having a big carrier.
that, plus when you over specialize with veterans who have already established tricks, you miss out on the skills younger craftsmen and actors will bring. Samuel Jackson is amazing, but a young black actor can do just as good.
[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;42979265]Replace R2D2 with those box robots that make the GOOORK sound[/QUOTE]
Gonk droids are mobile fusion reactors, they should be anywhere where mobile power is needed. In the canon they're supposed to be 'everywhere'.
[QUOTE=Alec W;42975096]I hate to say this but I feel like they're going to "kill off" R2-D2 or C3P0.[/QUOTE]
You can't just kill off the main character.
I hope that they won't include R2-D2 and C3PO. They participated in all the movies and I think it's time for them to stop appearing in the new Star Wars movie.
Furthermore I have this feeling that they might be forced into the movie and will only be used to rekindle some nostalgia or stupid funny moments.
Well I mean they're obviously including them so just hope for the best
Personally I think it's easily possible to include them in a way that's not obnoxious (such as 9 year old Anakin building C3PO for fuck's sake)
R2D2 and C3PO are as much a part of Star Wars as using the Force and lightsabers. I guarantee they'll both be in it. I know the books don't matter really when they're writing a movie, but both of those droids are still around 100+ years after the destruction of the Death Star, and have pretty big roles still, even in the timeline of these movies. I would be fine with minor roles with not much screen time, but "killing them off" or removing them completely would be a mistake I think.
[QUOTE=deathstarboot;42983316]R2D2 and C3PO are as much a part of Star Wars as using the Force and lightsabers. I guarantee they'll both be in it. I know the books don't matter really when they're writing a movie, but both of those droids are still around 100+ years after the destruction of the Death Star, and have pretty big roles still, even in the timeline of these movies. I would be fine with minor roles with not much screen time, but "killing them off" or removing them completely would be a mistake I think.[/QUOTE]
R2 and C3 are really good parts, they essentially symbolize the audience of the movies as well as being slapstick and are very in the background while still being an important tool of the story. I've heard a commentary call them like "Fat man tall man" of some show in the black and white era of TV
[QUOTE=J!NX;42983708]R2 and C3 are really good parts, they essentially symbolize the audience of the movies as well as being slapstick and are very in the background while still being an important tool of the story. I've heard a commentary call them like "Fat man tall man" of some show in the black and white era of TV[/QUOTE]
they're based off the two main characters of the samurai movie "hidden fortress", of which star wars took many elements from. the hidden fortress duo are constantly-bickering best friends who start off wandering through the desert and getting in to trouble, leading to the real story of which they're mostly tangential. the difference is that hidden fortress stays mostly centered on them whereas star wars shifts focus to luke after he's introduced.
[IMG]http://screenaddict.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/peasantsrobots.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Irespawnoften;42982653]You can't just kill off the main character.[/QUOTE]
Tell that to Seth MacFarlane
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