DESIGN DIARY - 11.30.00

Joe

"Although we've used material mostly from Episode IV [A New Hope] to build images for the Premiere set of Jedi Knights, elements from all three of the classic movies have found their way onto some of the cards."

I look up from my stereoscopic viewer where sandtroopers astride stunning dewbacks were marching toward me.

Joe is working on one of the main characters. The Art Department has made a lot of progress on those, and the familiar faces are getting more and more alive as each day passes. Soon, Han, Luke, Tarkin, Obi-Wan and the rest of the virtual community will be staring right back at me through the glass partition that keeps our two worlds apart.

[...sTatic... buZz... Hum... ]

We interrupt this program for a special message.
The new issue of Scrye magazine is hitting the newsstands as we broadcast, and it features a very stylish Jedi Knights cover.

"Stylish" was marketing lingo for "never-before-seen." And "cover" was publishing jargon for "picture."

Do you remember the Diary entry for October 24th, 2000?
(Now don't try to pretend you didn't click on the link to go take a peek at it again before you returned here with that innocent look on your face.)
That entry was entitled "Joe's Antechamber" for one good reason (well, there was also another reason, but I don't feel like talking about it right now): near the end of the entry, there's a mention of Joe working feverishly to finish a special magazine cover before the end of the day. And you can now feast your eyes on that beautiful cover.
Who said I didn't tie up loose ends?

[...hUm... Buzz... stAtIc... ]

"Many cards are set in the Cantina and on the Death Star, for instance," continues Joe. "We have a lot of troopers in hallways, including snowtroopers. But we're also using elements like Lando in his Jabba's Palace disguise. And aliens. Lots of aliens." I can't imagine all the work on the textured skin surfaces. "And a whole fleet of starships."

In a way, there's still a lot of work left to do. In some cases, finishing touches never seem to be quite finished, and the varnish just won't stick. Cloth is one of the toughest puzzles to crack. "We've killed ourselves on Jawas," says Joe, "because of the clothing. And you should talk to Rob about his Tusken Raiders."
Good topic for another entry - I make sure to write it down.
"That cloth is very tough to manipulate. It's quite a challenge to make it bend, fold and flow naturally. Some of the models have been completely rebuilt three times just to get the cloth right."
But fear not: from the images I've seen so far, the extra work has paid off.

As I leave the Art Department, I catch a glimpse of Rob's Tusken Raider model. Even in its "unfinished" form, it looks really good to me.

Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler