Mark Hamill at Cambridge
On Saturday, February 27, 2016, a week before he visited Oxford, Mark Hamill came to Cambridge for a Q&A session hosted by The Cambridge Union Society. The event, which began at 5 p.m., is now available for viewing here:
Uploaded March 12, 2016.
Afterward, The Cambridge News posted their report, “Star Wars actor Mark Hamill is ‘honoured’ to speak at Cambridge Union,” which can be read here.
One fan gave a chocolate Darth Vader head to eat on the way home.
On Facebook, The Cambridge Union Society posted,
To the person who gave Mark Hamill a chocolate Darth Vader,
Mark wanted to tell you thank you but that he tends not to eat chocolate anymore. He really did like the gift and he has signed it and asked us to return it to you if we can find you.
Please get in touch with executive@cus.org to reclaim it if you are that person x
Read the comments section for the response.
Update, March 27, 2016:
In transcribing Mark Hamill’s talk at Cambridge I came across this tidbit:
1:23:13
“After we finished filming in Africa and London they took me out to Death Valley in the United States. You’ve seen it in a lot of John Ford Westerns and so forth. And we had a skeleton crew. And it was just me, Threepio, and nobody was inside R2-D2. They just needed a shot of me going along [in the landspeeder]. What’s funny was, Anthony Daniels was back here in England so they had to find somebody who could fit into his costume. It didn’t matter who; just so they could articulate the arms and turn the head. And it was a young ballet dancer, this young girl. Teenaged, maybe 19 or 20. That was always the problem. They’d say, ‘So what’s the story of this movie?’ And you’d think, ‘Wow, can you say in 25 words or less what it’s about?’ I said, ‘It’s a bunch of crazy nonsense but you’ll enjoy it. Just move your arms and shut up.’”
Wait a minute. Mark never went to Death Valley for that long distance shot of the landspeeder. He was at the hospital recovering from his car accident.
Rinzler quotes Lucas in The Making of Star Wars, page 250, that a double was used for Luke.
Who was the double? Or did Hamill heal sufficiently to do the long shot in Death Valley a few days later?
Mark Hamill: A Champ at Oxford
On Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 8:00, the Oxford Union Society hosted a Q&A with Mark Hamill which, thankfully for the rest of the world, was taped and uploaded to YouTube for our viewing pleasure:
Uploaded on March 8, 2016
The presentation was reported by Mike Larkin for Dailymail.com, under the title, “The force is weak with this one! Star Wars legend Mark Hamill looks worn out as he gets ready to give talk at Oxford Union,” which can be read online here. The Oxford Times reported the event in this article, “Star Wars actor Mark Hamill appears at the Oxford Union for Q&A session.”
Nasir Hamid shot some excellent photos of the venue, which can be viewed here.
Powerpuff Girls: Reboot vs. Classic
Cartoon Network is rebooting the popular Powerpuff Girls franchise, but they’re eschewing the classic style. Digital cartoonist Ed Peppe notes, “People out there aren’t really a fan of the art/animation style of the upcoming Powerpuff Girls reboot. I agree. So as a little project, I took the first promo clip Cartoon Network had put out and decided to reanimate it from scratch. Not sure if I did any better or worse, but at least it kept me from getting rusty.”
Here’s how Peppe emulates the thick lines, posing and timing of the original series:
https://youtu.be/S9dZrInV9hM
Original audio + The Powerpuff Girls © Cartoon Network
Uploaded on March 9, 2016.
Here’s the original trailer with the new style, from Cartoon Network:
Uploaded on February 11, 2016.
Reboot or classic style? Which do you prefer?
Those Wacky Dinosaurs
A new fad has been hatched.
Last December some silly people in T-Rex costumes unloaded off a truck and attacked a Santa Claus statue, only to be driven off by an irate homeowner. A video of their hijinks was uploaded by “Ralph the Rex” on YouTube here:
Uploaded on December 26, 2015.
This was reported in the United Kingdom by The Mirror, “Hilarious moment: ‘T-Rex gang’ take on Santa Claus during suburban raid,” on December 30, 2015.
Since then more T-Rex antics have popped up on YouTube, such as this one trying to skate:
https://youtu.be/WGRzJ-szV28
Uploaded by “Trex Tuesdays” on Jan 27, 2016.
And another video of a dancing T-Rex at the Cincinnati Ballet:
Uploaded February 3, 2016 by the Cincinnati Ballet.
Plus a T-Rex on a trampoline:
Uploaded February 11, 2016 by DailyPicksandFlicks.
The postings have come to be known as “T-Rex Tuesdays.” John Peragine gave an online report for Today, “T. Rex Tuesdays: Meet the DINO-mite duo behind the Internet sensation,” on March 8, 2016.
Eat your heart out, Barney.
Star Wars Meets the Princess Bride
What if the Princess Bride and Inigo Montoya duelled with lightsabers? An enterprising fan, who calls himself VFX Freak, plied his talent to find out. Here is the result:
Video uploaded January 1, 2009.
The talented fan explains on YouTube:
A new twist on one of the best swordfights ever. I started this little project three years ago as a way of learning my effects software. After the first five shots or so I had figured out the software reasonably well, so I rarely touched it after that. I finally finished it and hope you like it.
The first few shots are a bit rough because I was just getting going, but the quality improves as I got better at what I was doing. I used Adobe After Effects with some cool plug-ins for the effects, Adobe Audition to re-work the soundtrack (extracting swords clanging and the like) and Premiere Pro to put it all together.
The final project consisted of three video layers and ten soundtracks. I downloaded the sound effects from various sources on the Internet.
The scene from “The Princess Bride” is called “The Chatty Duelists” on the DVD. It’s my favorite swordfight, and one of my favorite scenes in a really great movie. If this video ever gets to any of the people responsible for making “The Princess Bride,” thank you, and I hope you found it amusing.
Elliott is Coming
He’s big. He’s green. He protects a little boy named Pete. And he’s coming to a theater near you:
The lowdown from Disney:
A reimagining of Disney’s cherished family film, “Pete’s Dragon” is the adventure of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliott, who just so happens to be a dragon. “Pete’s Dragon” stars Bryce Dallas Howard (“Jurassic World”), Oakes Fegley (“This is Where I Leave You”), Wes Bentley (“The Hunger Games”), Karl Urban (“Star Trek”), Oona Laurence (“Southpaw”) and Oscar® winner Robert Redford (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”). The film, which is directed by David Lowery (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”), is written by Lowery & Toby Halbrooks based on a story by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field and produced by Jim Whitaker, p.g.a. (“The Finest Hours,” “Friday Night Lights”), with Barrie M. Osborne (“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Great Gatsby”) serving as executive producer.
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon. Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon” opens in U.S. theaters on August 12, 2016.
Disney posted a “motion poster” on February 19. Here it is:
Junkyard Dragons
On April 13, 2015, I found a marvelous Steampunk Dragon which I posted about with additional photos here.
Today one of my website visitors, Carl, was kind enough to let me know about these scrap metal dragons made in Thailand, remarkably similar to the Steampunk Dragon.
So it seems that the Steampunk Dragon may have come from this company, Scrap Metal Art Thailand, which opened in March 2015. They make all kinds of sculpted objects, including Hasbro’s Transformers. Impressive craftsmanship, isn’t it?
The Willow Dragon
Take a look at this exquisite Willow Dragon, weaved into shape by Lynn Kirkham of Bere Island, commissioned by the Crafts Council of Ireland.
Denise Hall interviewed Kirkham on her work for the August 16, 2012 Irish Examiner, which you can read here.
