The Official Site updated earlier, listing some of the countries where The Phantom Menace is airing :

The Star Wars films continue to appear around the world as international pay-television outlets broadcast The Phantom Menace, the Star Wars trilogy, and several Star Wars documentaries. Here is a partial list of international premiere airdates, or the next airdates for countries that have already premiered. Many countries will be showing the films multiple times. Check your local listing for channels and airdates.

Spain (Canal + Spain)
The Phantom Menace — Sunday, May 13
A New Hope — Sunday, May 13
“A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars” — Tuesday, May 15
The Empire Strikes Back — Sunday, May 20
“From Star Wars to Star Wars” — Friday, May 25
Return of the Jedi — Sunday, May 27
“The Mythology of Star Wars” – Friday, June 22

The Middle East (The Movie Channel)
The Phantom Menace — Will next air May 20
A New Hope — Will next air June 1
The Empire Strikes Back — Will next air June 2
“A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars” — Will next air June 2
Return of the Jedi — Will next air June 3
“The Mythology of Star Wars” — Will next air Jun 21

Greece (FilmNet)
The Phantom Menace — Will next air May 12
A New Hope — Sunday, May 13
“A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars” – Will next air May 15
The Empire Strikes Back — Sunday, May 20
Return of the Jedi — Sunday, May 27

Italy (Canal + Italy)
The Phantom Menace — Monday, June 4
A New Hope — Wednesday, May 6
The Empire Strikes Back — Wednesday, June 13
“A Long Time Ago: The Story of Star Wars” — Friday, June 15
The Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure — Saturday, June 16
Return of the Jedi — Wednesday, June 20
“From Star Wars to Star Wars” — Friday, June 22
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor — Saturday, June 23
“The Mythology of Star Wars” — Friday, June 29

They also mention Compulsion Gallery‘s Pewter Statues that are now heading state-side :

Compulsion Gallery of England has produced four massive pewter sculptures of classic Star Wars characters, in a limited edition run of 2,500 worldwide. Now, these beautifully sculpted pieces will be made available to United States customers. Orders are available directly through Compulsion Gallery for shipment to the U.S. The four sculptures are hand cast and hand polished, and are available for $750 each (for Boba Fett and Darth Vader) and $700 apiece for the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Among the satisfied owners of these highly detailed sculptures is Star Wars collector and renowned guitar virtuoso Brian May of the group Queen. May received edition 1,977 of each piece — signifying the year of the original Star Wars”

Q: “Which was your favorite animated scene in Episode I?”

A: “I’m particularly fond of the Podrace. It’s the scene which I had the most direct connection with. I’d say I personally did the pre-visualization for about 75% of the shots. Alex Lindsay, one of my animatic artists on The Phantom Menace, did the other 25%. Also, I think it’s one of the most fun sequences in the film — it’s pure adrenaline and so different from everything else ever put on film. I get as much a kick out of watching it as I did while working on it.”

Phantom Conduction

The Official Site updates with it’s latest Select pic ! Looks like a location shot from either Italy or Seville, Spain.

Episode II – Select 31

Also included in this update they had made available a Video Commercial Download for the Michael Reaves novel Darth Maul – Shadow Hunter :

“After his brief but unforgettable appearance in The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul instantly became a fan favorite. Now fans can get more of the deadly Sith Lord in action.”

Unfortunately, no longer available.

The Official Site update with number 25 in their On Location series. This week it’s Transforming Caserta, where Ahmed Best, once again, talks to Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll :

“What does it take to transform the Caserta Palace in Italy into the Royal Palace of Naboo? Well, it takes a skilled visual effects supervisor like John Knoll to make sure all the blue is in the proper place and to figure out what needs to be painted out of the final shot. It’s a good bet that Ahmed Best and the on location crew will be digitally removed.”

Q: “Which Rebel pilots survived the Battle of Yavin?”

A: “It’s pretty definite that more than just those four ships survived from the Alliance attack on the Death Star; others just aren’t visible on screen. The Y-wing pilot has never been definitively identified. But, if you’re the gambling kind, I’d say the smart money is on Keyan Farlander, a starfighter pilot introduced in the original X-wing game from LucasArts. Back in 1992, LucasArts published a novella starring Farlander that came with some copies of the game. The strategy guide for the game continues that story and places Farlander aboard a Y-wing fighter during the final assault on the Death Star. Farlander survives the battle, making him a good candidate for the Y-wing pilot seen at the end of the film. “

Swamped!

Unable to find the On Location videos at present but will update as soon as I do (Stephen G. January 2013)

The Official Site updates with the second installment ( and 24th in the series ) of this year of its On Location presentation, with Ahmed Best (Riddler‘s, of Watto’s Junkyard, fave Star Wars dude !! heheheheh) !

“Some 20-odd years ago, Graeme Blundell took his kids to see Star Wars in the theater. It’s pretty fitting that he’s now set to play a father figure in Episode II. In this first on location report from Italy, Ahmed Best sits back and chats with Blundell about his role in the upcoming movie, and which three words were cut from his dialogue the day of the shoot.”

Included with this update is another question in:

Q: Where did the majority of ILM animators learn their computer animation skills?

A: All of the animators working at ILM have a background in some form of animation. They have worked in either puppet animation, cel animation or computer animation. Many of them were interested in computer animation prior to coming to ILM, some had dabbled on their own machines and some of the newer animators had some training in school. You have to remember that good courses in computer animation at colleges and universities have come along fairly recently.

No matter what form of animation you have on your reel, whether puppet, cel or computer, we are looking for raw talent. When viewing your reel we ask ourselves some questions. How well do you animate the characters? Do the characters have weight? Do they have appeal? How well are the scenes staged? Do you seem to understand performance?

We have a great computer training department here at ILM so we are not necessarily worried about an individual’s computer skills. If needed, we’ll train them on the computer when they get here. It is much easier to teach a talented animator about computers than a computer person about animation. Of course if a candidate has both computer and animation skills, then that is great.

My advice would be to focus on demonstrating your animation skill; that is what we’re really interested in.

Rob Coleman is an Animation Director at ILM. He joined ILM in 1993 to work on The Mask and also worked on Indian in the Cupboard, Star Trek Generations and was animation supervisor/director on Dragonheart, Men in Black and Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. He graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1987 with a BFA in classical film animation. While there, he studied with the world renowned Yugoslavian animator Zlatko Grgic. His next project is directing the animation for Star Wars: Episode II.

Stuart Lowder’s answer:
All of the Star Wars animation crew have either a formal background in animation or extensive work experience in the professional animation field. Many of the animators came from schools such as Sheridan College, CalArts or Ringling, or have a traditional cel animation or stop motion background with feature film and television experience. Many come from studios like Amblin, Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros. and PDI.

In general, ILM is interested in experienced animators who have a desire to use the computer as their animation tool. If someone has proven animation talent, we would consider teaching them the technical information that they need to know.

Jedi Master’s funeral

Unable to find the On Location videos at present but will update as soon as I do (Stephen G. January 2013)

Martyn Coyne, Webmaster of Kenny Baker’s Official Website, in a reply to an e-mail I sent him regarding a recent article on Jedinet, had this to say :

“Kenny will be performing in Star Wars episode ii and hopefully episode iii, although he will not be filming in Elstree studios in London this year as previously claimed, instead he will be filming in Italy next February.

www.kennybaker.co.uk will be updated shortly to confirm this matter.“

Thanks for the quick reply Martyn !

Click Below to go to…
–Kenny Baker’s Official Website–

Joseph Reiter of Gonk Droid reports in with some News from yesterday :

“George Lucas and company held a brief press conference in the Royal Palace at Caserta, Italy, yesterday about the ongoing production of Star Wars: Episode Two.”

The Official Site posted a transcript of the event, wherein Lucas revealed when and how long shooting would take place at the Palace:

Echoing a similar question-and-answer session held in 1997 during the making of Episode I, director George Lucas and producer Rick McCallum held a press conference in the Royal Palace at Caserta, Italy. Caserta doubled as Queen Amidala’s home in The Phantom Menace, and will again form part of the Naboo background to be seen in Episode II.

Here is a transcript of today’s conference:

Q: How many days are you here?

George Lucas: We are supposed to be shooting here for two days. We have been in Italy for a little over a week. We have been in the north, around Lake Como.

Q: Who are the actors in this movie?

George Lucas: It’s going to be about the same as it was last time, minus Liam Neeson, with the addition of Hayden Christensen.

Q: This film is shot in the digital format. Do you think that physical actors will disappear from this kind of movie, giving way to digital actors made with computers?

George Lucas: The advance of cinema into the digital world is just a normal transition that is taking place in the world of cinema. Just as we went from silent films to sound films and then eventually from black and white films to color films, this is a transition and an addition of the tools we use to create our art. It is very much like the transition from fresco painting to oil painting. Fresco painting was very difficult and it demanded a lot of people to be involved, a lot of technology in terms of learning how to mix color, and what color they were going to dry into. It was a very difficult process for the artist. Oils were invented to free the artist up to work outside, to come back tomorrow and paint some more over what he had already painted, if he changed his mind, and to know that the color he was using was going to stay that way. So it didn’t mean that frescoes were less an art, it just simply meant that we had progressed into another whole realm of technology that allowed artists to express themselves.

The role of actors in this new medium is exactly the same as it was in past mediums of black and white films and silent films and the photochemical process of film. The issue that comes up sometimes about using a digital actor, is people forget that acting is an art form. You can’t just take the likeness of a human being and make them act, no matter how you do it, it takes actors. It takes actors to do the voice, it takes actors to do the animation, it takes actors to create the characters. I see digital technology as being a boon for actors and giving more work to more actors, rather than replacing actors.

Q: What are the scenes you are going to shoot here in Caserta?

George Lucas: What we are shooting here in Caserta are the same palace scenes that we shot in Episode I. They had a very advanced society that was rich in culture that we have modeled after Italy. This is the palace of the queen but in this case the queen is an elected official.

Q: How are things changing regarding the sound as the picture is evolving to the digital system?

George Lucas: I have found sound to be a very important part of the movie process. I am a student and advocate of silent film. I became very fascinated with the relationship between sound and picture and the emotional effect it can have. I think digital sound and better quality sound and picture is very important to the cinema experience.

Q: What can you tell us about the location in Como?

George Lucas: Well primarily we were interested in the beautiful gardens of Como. We shot on some various locations of villas. It was really, again, a part of this planet of Naboo that we have created and it is incredibly beautiful up there. There are many places here in Italy that are unlike any place else in the world. It is not just the natural beauty that we are looking for, it also cultivated beauty of the culture.

Q: What do you think the audience would feel watching this movie?

George Lucas:Star Wars is a human saga and about the struggle that we have between what is good and what is evil and also deals with other more personal issues of growing up, and family, and politics. I have tried to bring together a lot of the ideas that have existed over the last few thousand years and put them into a new story primarily for young people, to understand the human heritage, not just of one particular country, the human heritage that we all share.

Q: How much does a movie like this cost?

George Lucas: The budget of this film is roughly the same as the last film that we did in that it is going to be about in the $115 million range. The last time we were able to bring it in for less money than what it was budgeted for. I am hoping that we can do the same thing this time.

Q: Do you believe in UFO’s or other life in the universe?

George Lucas: The only thing I know for sure in life is that I don’t know anything. I have an open mind to any possibilities. Scientifically we live in a very vast universe. I am convinced that there is other life in the universe. Whether or not it is intelligent, whether or not it has ever visited us is a completely open question.”

E! Online also covered the event adding that “Lucas dropped some previously reported details of the film’s story, including that the story picks up nearly ten years after Phantom Menace with Anakin still under training Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, the young Jedi is starting to fall for Queen Amidala. Lucas is reported to have called the film to come “a romantic story” as well as “basically a fairy tale, but there’s a lot of action, too.”

Thanks Joseph !