xkcd Movie Graphs
Randall Munroe of xkcd has posted intricate movie graphs that help explain the sequence of characters for those who have trouble figuring out what went on over a long narrative. The most helpful is the largest graph, which deals with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Grouping of lines shows which characters are together over time. There are also graphs for the original Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park, 12 Angry Men, and Primer. Only a small portion of the LOTR graph is shown here. Link -via reddit
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Storm Troopers Using Google
Maybe they’ll get it right this time! From Flickr user Stefan. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
Update 11/1/09 by Alex – Stefan has the whole Storm Trooper photoset here.
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Darth Vader Conducting an Orchestra Performing the Imperial March
(YouTube Link)
Darth Vader did not approve of how the conductor of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra was leading a performance of The Imperial March, so he stepped in to do the job himself.
In the links, you’ll find a longer video of this event from CNN.
via Topless Robot | CNN Video | Orchestra Website
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Taun Taun Cake
According to The Empire Strikes Back, there’s no smell in the galaxy as bad as the inside of a dead Taun Taun. When Chris and Julia Trevas got married, they hired Food Network baker Courtney Clark to make the cakes. The groom’s cake was in the shape of a dead Taun Taun, complete with Luke Skywalker inside! I would guess the authentic smell was not included. Link -via Boing Boing
(image credit: mod4)
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Hacked Floppy Disk Drive Plays Star Wars Music
(YouTube Link)
This floppy disk drive has been altered to play the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars. I have no idea how, but here’s an explanation floating around the blogosphere:
I can’t find any documentation for this, nor can I help posting it. I assume it’s a hardware hack that manually controls the floppy drive’s stepper motor, but it’d make my day if this was done in software using standard I/O requests. Either way, the 3.5 inch FDD finally serves an important function again.
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Spacebook
Remember, your boss can see what you put on your Facebook page! This t-shirt design by Hogboy was not selected for printing, but I got a laugh out of it! Link -via Gizmodo
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The Ultimate Star Wars Collection
Photo: Cho Woong
I’ve always been impressed with some people’s ability to collect things – stamps, soda cans, comic books, what have you. My amazement over Cho Woong’s extensive collection of Star Wars figures is compounded by his ability to keep everything … so organized and neat! I betcha there’s a good amount of OCD (I’m kidding!) involved in this: Link [in Korean] – via Cribcandy
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10 Amazingly Geeky Origami Models
Origami, the age-old discipline of folding paper into amazing figures, has its own masters, and as this post demonstrates, these geniuses can truly transform paper into any form they desire.
Origami – the traditional Japanese art of paper folding – is something that a geek could really get into. It’s all about visual math, and problem-solving, but with that artistic nuance as well. The origami artists below came up with some very cool designs, which we can definitely appreciate – so check them out!
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Star Wars Religious Art
Image: Worth 1000 user Sylver
Charlie Jane Anders of the science fiction blog io9 has assembled a gallery of some of the best photoshop pieces that blend Star Wars and Western religious art. Among Anders’ sources are the photoshop contests of Worth 1000 and Something Awful. The image above is derivative of Leonardo da Vinci’s Litta Madonna.
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Star Wars Y-Wing Bed
I can’t find out much information about this bed — just some pictures listed on a real estate site. Yup, it’s for sale at $364,900. Comes with a house in Visalia, CA and a guarantee of perpetual virginity, like the AT-AT bed.
Link via Topless Robot
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A Star Wars Zombie Novel
More awesome than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? I don’t know yet, but the novel Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber looks promising. Here’s a synopsis:
When the Imperial prison barge Purge–temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves–breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict, and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back–bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine.
And death is only the beginning.
The Purge’s half-dozen survivors–two teenage brothers, a sadistic captain of the guards, a couple of rogue smugglers, and the chief medical officer, the lone woman on board–will do whatever it takes to stay alive. But nothing can prepare them for what lies waiting aboard the Star Destroyer amid its vast creaking emptiness that isn’t really empty at all. For the dead are rising: soulless, unstoppable, and unspeakably hungry.
Schreiber has a blog, where you can find pictures of his zombified Storm Troopers staggering around ComicCon, promoting his book.
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If Star Wars Was Real
If Star Wars Was Real is a photoshop gallery of images which imagine a synthesis of human history (particularly in the 20th Century) and Star Wars. Well, I think that it’s photoshopped. The hosts are a bit more ambitious:
Our mission is to compile any evidence we can find to prove that Star Wars is real. So far, we have several contacts around the globe studying photographs and artifacts for any shred of evidence they can find. However, since most of the evidence seems to be hidden away by some sort of worldwide government consipracy, we need your help to find the truth!
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Comic Con 2009 Costumes
If you missed out on the San Diego Comic Con this year, you weren’t alone -tickets sold out months in advance, leaving a whole lot of people locked out. If you were one of the many who wanted to go and couldn’t, or if you just are interested in the event, now’s your chance to see one of the best parts of the con -the costumes. These pictures include my top 20 favorite costumes, but there are a whole lot more out there. If you’re interested in seeing more convention pictures, be sure to use the links at the bottom of the article.
There’s always a lot of cross-over costumes at Comic Con and for some reason, they tend to mostly involve Star Wars. These guys were seventies Darth and Boba Fett. I missed out on the opportunity of getting a picture of another one along these lines, the storm troopper with a gold, disco-ball tiled helmet.
More Great Costumes Behind The Jump
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The 8th Annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards
(Video Link)
Every year, Atom Films hosts a contest for Star Wars-themed fan films. There are several categories and this film, Star Sports Theatrical Trailer, won the Best Parody category. It imagines the Star Wars story as a series of high school sports, such as the Battle of Hoth as a game of dodgeball (I think). You can view all of the winners at the link.
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Jake Lloyd: Little Orphan Ani Grown Up!
[YouTube - Link]
It’s been ten years (ten years!) since Jake Lloyd played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace. He spoke with SCI FI PI – The SCI FI Channel Australia Blog, backstage at Supanova Sydney. He has obviously had a tough time at school, but has a wry attitude on what’s been – and what’s ahead.
– via scifitv
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AT-AT Bed
(YouTube link)
I thought I was going overboard by painting my kids’ furniture weird colors. This guy built a Star Wars AT-AT Imperial Walker for his son to sleep in! The interior is accessible by ladder and by the ‘escape hatch”. -via Boing Boing
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Darth Hammer
(College Humor link)
Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers break it down at the dance-off show at Disney’s annual Star Wars Weekends. See the entire show at YouTube. -via Buzzfeed
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Star Wars TIE FIghter From Starbucks Cups and Accessories
What do you do with all those drink holders you’ve accumulated from Starbucks? (You didn’t throw ‘em away, did you?)
Well, Wired contributing photographer Dan Winters make something out of his: a Star Wars TIE Fighter made out of 50 Starbucks cups, 216 stirrers and over 60 drink holders.
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Interview with the Star Wars and Chipmunk Guy
You may have seen the photos of Star Wars chipmunk floating on the Web – it turns out that the guy who made them is Canadian graphic designer Chris McVeigh.
Nick Prueher of Asylum blog has the interview with Chris about his photos, and why he never works with squirrels:
Why chipmunks?
McVeigh: For somebody looking at pictures, they’re quite cute and, in terms of toys, they match up quite nicely. What makes them ideal subjects is that they’re incredibly focused and predictable. If they know you have almonds and know where you store them, they’ll come back to get them over and over. You can’t get that with a squirrel. They’re erratic. If you present them with food, they eat it right away or run. Squirrels, by comparison, have ADD.
Link – Thanks Alex!
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The Jedi Drinking Song
(YouTube Link)
This song performed by the Austin-based celtic band Brobdingnagian Bards describes the intoxicated adventures of Luke Skywalker. Here’s a sample of the lyrics:
A long time ago, in a pub far away,
I sat on a barstool, just drinking away,
I couldn’t hold it down, I guess I had too much
I felt a tremor in the force and then I lost my lunch
I woke up in a desert land, feeling hot and sick,
I saw a bearded man, he looked like some kind of hick,
He slowly waved his hand, and my pain was gone
He said let’s go see Yoda, and I’ll teach you this song.So we got on a starship, and flew off into space
He said his name was Obi-Wan and there is no time to waste,
I have to get you trained before it is too late,
He said drink this bottle of whisky, and don’t give in to hate.
My training went on, and I’d drank most of the bar
We stopped for supplies on the nearest Death Star
I learned to control my fear, and hold my alcohol
Soon I was able to stand even when Obi-Wan would fall.
video by YouTube user MJG74, via Topless Robot
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Felted Jabba The Hut
Never before has Jabba looked so sensitive with his deep brown eyes and sweet little stuffed bunny. He’s part of the Star Wars Exhibit previously mentioned on Neatorama.
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Movie Trivia: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Did you guys hear that Indiana Jones 5 is apparently in the works? Are you all as horrified as I am? If you’re like me and hated Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with a passion, then you prefer to dwell on the classics – Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade, and yes, even Temple of Doom. Here’s some trivia to remind you of the good times.
The movie was filmed during the summer of 1980.
You’ve probably heard the rumors, and yes, they’re true – Indiana Jones was named after George Lucas’ dog, Indiana. He was the prototype for Chewbacca as well, so his old malamute had a pretty big impact on Lucas’ two biggest series.
“Indiana Smith?” Yep, almost, until Steven Spielberg told Lucas it just didn’t sound right. The equally-generic “Jones” was suggested and flowed much better.
According to George Lucas, almost every studio in town turned down the movie, feeling that it would cost too much money to make.
Tim Matheson and Tom Selleck both tested for Indiana Jones; Karen Allen actually screentested with Tim Matheson. Tom Selleck did very well and was the frontrunner, but had to bow out due to Magnum P.I. Harrison Ford was brought up early in the casting discussion, but George Lucas wanted to avoid casting him since he had already become so closely associated with Star Wars.
The role of Sallah was offered to Danny DeVito – he was Spielberg’s first choice – but was unable to do it because of Taxi. The job went to John Rhys-Davies instead. Picture from BlogCDN.
Indy’s leather jacket looks old and beat up, but in reality, it was brand new – and there were 10 of them. The costume director “aged” each jacket with a metal brush and Harrison Ford’s own pocket knife.
The famous hat is from Savile Row in London, a place called Herbert Johnson. The hat had a very wide brim and the crown was quite high, apparently the fashion Down Under since it was their Australian model. After a couple of fittings, it was declared the Indiana Jones fedora. When the customized hat arrived at the studio, the costume designer rolled it up and crushed it, then various members of the cast (including Harrison) took turns sitting on it to make it look like a very worn-in, well-loved hat.
Someone was actually sent out to find a mountain that specifically looked like the Paramount Studios logo mountain so they could create the opening shot of the movie. I suppose these days Lucas would have just made a CGI mountain…
There was a complication during the scene where Alfred Molina is covered in spiders – they didn’t want to move. They just sat stagnant on him, making the excitement of the scene rather… well, not exciting. They discovered that all of the spiders were male, so a female spider was put on Molina’s chest. It did the trick – the male spiders were immediately more active and started to crawl in the direction of the female.
The golden idol was based on an Incan fertility statue. Photo from FanPop.
The movie was filmed in Tunisia because it was a lot cheaper to shoot there than Egypt, and since the script never called for shots of the Sphinx or the pyramids, so they were able to get away with it. In fact, one of the scenes was shot in the exact same canyon where R2-D2 was stolen by Jawas in Star Wars.
The part where Indy watches a swordsman go through a very elaborate routine with his scimitar only to shoot him at the end of it happened because Harrison Ford really had to go to the bathroom. Indy was supposed to have a huge fight scene using his whip, but a bout of dysentery had left him weak and desperately needing the john. Because of this, someone – reports vary on whose idea it was – suggested that Indy just dispatch the dude like anyone who had a gun in his arsenal would.
Harrison wasn’t the only one who got sick – a majority of the cast and crew found themselves incapacitated at some point during filming in Tunisia. Steven Spielberg didn’t get sick because he ate only canned food from the U.K. Everyone else who ate food in the restaurants or at the hotel got horribly sick at least once during filming.
During the scene where Indy fights while the plane is rolling around, Harrison Ford actually sustained an injury when the wheels of the plane got too close and rolled right up onto his leg. It tore his ACL, but rather than submit to Tunisian hospitals, Ford wrapped it in ice and continued to shoot. He also bruised his ribs during the scene where he is dragged behind the truck.
Unlike his character counterpart, Harrison Ford isn’t afraid of snakes and had no problem working with them during the Well of Souls scene. Precautions were taken anyway – if you look closely, a reflection gives away the fact that a sheet of glass was placed between Ford and the cobra. It was a good thing, too – at one point the cobra actually sprayed venom onto the glass.
Some of the sound effects weren’t fancy at all: the sound of snakes slithering was really just the sound designer squishing his fingers through a cheese casserole, the sound of people getting punched was really a pile of leather coats being hit with a baseball bat, and the lid sliding off of the Ark was a toilet lid being slid off the back of a toilet. The sound designer was having trouble coming up with just the right sound for the rolling boulder at the beginning of the movie and ended up using the sound of a Honda Civic coasting down a gravel hill.
Marion was the writer’s grandmother-in-law’s name, and he had been mulling over a surname for a while when he came across a streetname called “Ravenwood” and loved the way the two names fit together. Photo from TheShadyCat.
The boat was actually the submarine model from Das Boot.
Although most shots were done in four takes or less because Lucas and Spielberg wanted a “quick and dirty” feel to the movie – nothing too perfect – there was one shot that took more than 50 takes. It was the scene where the monkey salutes with a “Heil Hitler” gesture. A grape was attached to fishing line and held just out of reach of the camera shot to achieve the salute, but it took a while to get it just right. It ended up being one of Steven Spielberg’s favorite moments in the movie.
Those of us who like little movie secrets know that George Lucas likes to include a reference to “1138” in all of his movies in homage to his first movie, THX 1138. You’ll find it in Raiders during the Nazi harbor scene if you listen to the numbers being read over the loudspeaker. It’s subtle, though, because the numbers are read in German – “Ein, ein, drei, acht.”
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Han Solo, P.I.
(YouTube link)
Harrison Ford has it all over Tom Selleck, if you ask me. If you are too young to remember Magnum, P.I. then you may not realize how closely this mashup follows the original opening sequence. So watch this side-by-side comparison.
(YouTube link)
-via YesButNoButYes
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Jedi Kirby Cross Stitch
What’s more awesome than Star Wars? How about a cross stitch of lightsaber duelin’ jedi Kirby by Flickr user gamerghoul13? Link – via Geekadelphia
Talkin’ bout Jedi Kirby, here’s an animated gif by deviantArt user Yoshio1pal. Marvel at the awesomeness (or similarity to Star Wars Kid [wiki]) and weep:
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Homemade R2D2s
The Bay Area R2 Builders showed off four fully-functioning R2D2 units at Maker Faire. They cost around $10,000 to build, and take a couple of years of work. Link to video report. Link to website.
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Star Wars Alphabet
Set your kids on the path to Star Wars fandom early by teaching them the ABCs using Star Wars characters! This Flickr set by illustrator Michael Fleming made me smile. Link -Thanks, Bairman!
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The First Draft of Star Wars
The first draft of Star Wars was pretty awful. Mystery Man on Film takes a closer look at the 1974 version in which the young hero is Annikin Starkiller, Luke Skywalker is an elderly general, and Darth Vader is a minor character.
LEIA
Will we make it? Is there any hope? Stay with me… I love you.Starkiller is slightly shocked at this outburst. The princess starts to cry and clings to him for support.
STARKILLER
No-one is going to die…so stop acting like a child, and start behaving like a queen. What is this silly talk of love? You belong to the people of Aquilae, and my job is to return you to them, nothing more. Now straighten up and get into a lifepod.She’s deeply hurt by his callousness. She breaks away from him and runs down a hallway into a lifepod. He is tired, and angry at the whole incident.
It makes you wonder what difference it would have made if George Lucas had rewritten the prequels a couple more times. Link -via Metafilter
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Plush Star Wars Tauntaun
This masterpeice was entered in the upcoming Stitch Wars exhibit at the Bear and Bird Boutique + Gallery in Florida. The little blue Luke Skywalker is zipped inside for a super Star Wars surprise.
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Coming Soon to a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Stitch Wars
Image via Cutesypoo
What do you get when you mix crafty people and Star Wars? Why, an art show called Stitch Wars, of course. It is coming to the Bear and Bird Gallery in Lauderhill, Florida, in July 2009.
The website isn’t active yet (it just redirects to the Bear and Bird Gallery’s website), but I can’t wait to see what crafty Star Wars fans came up with …
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Star Wars AT-AT Cake
Photo: Da Clapper [Flickr]
We’ve seen a number of very cool Star Wars cakes, but this one definitely takes the cake. Behold the AT-AT Cake by Jennifer Luxmore of Sin Desserts. Great White Snark has more: Link
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