Here's the kicker--he can't release it until some "technological breakthrough" happens that allows him to finish the show.
From the article:
But the series is awaiting the development of "a different type of technology we can use so it's economically feasible to shoot the shows."That's exciting news for Star Wars fans. Especially since, if you recall, it was to take place between episodes 3 and 4 during the "dark times" (Jedi purge). Back in 2007, his former producer Rick McCallum said on Starwars.com:
He did not say what the breakthrough would do, only that it was "just a very, very difficult process."
TV has to be produced for one-10th the cost of movies, he said, and the ability to make a credible TV show at such lower costs doesn't exist yet.
"We are just starting to interview writers and trying to really figure out which direction to go to. He envisions somewhere like 100 hours between Episode III and Episode IV with a lot of characters that we haven't met that have been developed in some of the novels and other things. We are really excited about that. Finally, we could have the opportunity to answer everybody's questions once and for all by the time we finish the series."I wonder how close his stayed to that statement in his drafts. In any case, I hope whatever mystical Jedi technology he's waiting for happens soon--a live action Star Wars show would be cool!
What a knothead!
ReplyDeleteRemember that movie he did years ago? The one with all the ships, and large sets, and a station so large it could destroy plants! Guess what? That was done on a shoe-string budget! Props where stuff they could muster (light sabers are mic-boons, blasters are just old Nazi surplus rifles, and so on), ships were just simple kit-bash models, most of the extras got recycled, and most of people at the award ceremony were cardboard cutouts. There is nothing wrong with cost-cutting, as people are not as fickle as to judge a show based solely on FX, if it has substance, but you have to find the best ways to go about it.
Georgie is just getting lazy and overly-reliant with new-fanged technology in his old age.
I hear what you're saying--especially since it's those guerrilla-style techniques that seem to win hearts as well as minds. Obviously the cost of filmmaking has risen in the decades since "Hope".
ReplyDeleteLast I heard, (hearsay!) Stargate Universe was around $2.5-3 million per episode. I'm not sure what scale he's thinking on, so it's tough to get a gauge of what he considers "too expensive". Is he looking to do more with less $$?
He's already known for figuring out ways to cut costs by doing everything digital (i.e., filming on one continent then uploading to a digital editing facility at ILM on another).
That's also why he took production of the prequels to Australia--to take advantage of the cheap labor, tax incentives, etc. I'd be real interested to find out what "breakthrough" he's talking about. Somehow I doubt it's post production, but I guess time will tell.
I dont think he has an idea what the nature of the "breakthrough" is. If anything, it might be something to help render things quickly or automatically, as much of the process to do things digitally, requires a ton of preparation.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what he whats now. He might what to make photo-realistic environments, with actors on blue-sets. He might be opting to make the characters CGI. His head is so off-world, its hard to guess where he is heading!