The impression that you get when you watch the film is that the Tantive is drawn into the Star Destroyer Bay with everything at right angles...
well, it turns out the whole thing was kind of catty-wompus...
fig. 1 photomatch results
The green lines are the geometry of my models, overlaid on a still from the movie, and with the perspective of the still matched in-program.
looks fairly straight forward, right?
nope.
the Tantive is pitched down 12 degrees from horizontal, and yawed to port about 14.
fig. 2 elevation view of photomatch results
fig. 3 plan view of photomatch results
Ultimately I don't think this was supposed to be the case, but is an unintended artifact of the effects composite. The production department didn't perfectly match the appropriate angles when the photographed the ships separately, and instead made it look passable. Still, it's kind of interesting... if you're deeply obsessed that is.
Hi there, I'm Marc Savary (savmagoett from theRPF), I've said it to you already, but you basically do what I was dreaming to do for a long time, so I admire your work as well as I'm envious of it ;)
ReplyDeleteI really hope all this work will one day come together to create a virtual museum of the worlds of star wars, that anyone could visit freely like in a video game :D
Regarding this post, I imagine you specified this somewhere, but I wonder if the proportions of the two ships is confirming or denying the canon 1600m (1 mile) for the S.D. and 150m (500 ft) for the B.R.?
Hey Marc,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the praise! I am basically doing what I've been dreaming of doing for a long time too. All this work is a childhood dream come true, if the little kid me of the past could see what I was doing, he'd explode.
I will have to get back to you on those lengths!
I would like to know how the Imperial forces boarded the Tantive IV. We never see exactly how they got aboard and began their attack. The reason is, when C-3PO and R2D2 jettison in the escape pod, you do not see where the Imperial forces have entered, you don't see any damage. Could you explain why. It has bugged me for years, going back to when i first saw Star Wars on May 25th, 1977.
ReplyDeleteYes it would be cool to see some concepts of a boarding ramp or boarding ship coming from the ISD to the BR :D
ReplyDeleteThat's been on my mind for a while, I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle it. For a while I was thinking that they could be decending from those clamping arms on the tracked rig, but from the photomatch the long struts on the arms are only a few feet in diameter (even if the Blockade Runner is 150m) kind of awkward for a boarding party...
ReplyDeleteso I have no idea, I'd have to make something up that we never see, which kind of rubs me the wrong way.
Another thing that i've noticed that the clamp never seems to touch the Tantive IV.
ReplyDelete1 thought regarding the whole catty-wompus-ness of the Tantive IV and the ISD: Because of how the star destroyer's superstructure was canted at a downward angle (relative to the horizontal midplane of the ship), it was always shot with a nose-high angle relative to the camera so that part of the ship would look "level". It makes sense that this trend would carry over even to shots where one doesn't see the ship as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAn after-the-fact kind of explanation could be that the tractor beam operator had lassoed the back end of the blockade runner, the pilot of which continued to put up a fight.
1 thought regarding the whole catty-wompus-ness of the Tantive IV and the ISD: Because of how the star destroyer's superstructure was canted at a downward angle (relative to the horizontal midplane of the ship), it was always shot with a nose-high angle relative to the camera so that part of the ship would look "level". It makes sense that this trend would carry over even to shots where one doesn't see the ship as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAn after-the-fact kind of explanation could be that the tractor beam operator had lassoed the back end of the blockade runner, the pilot of which continued to put up a fight.
"Star Wars Incredible Cross Sections" (c.1998) has the imperials using a shuttle attached to the Tantive IV for the boarding action.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is from Rogue One when Tantive is escaping at the end. They release from Home 1 (or whatever the ship was in the movie) and it's on it's side (as noticed when it is released.) Then when it is free Vader and company walk out onto a ramp or plank. However, in the cartoons, they always attach via a gangway/tunnel. Again, how are the ships egressed/ingressed
ReplyDelete