Behind the scenes: The Remnant Threat

From Jalassociatecomics

Revision as of 14:43, 13 April 2006

And now - the all-knowing guide to the formation of The Grand Marshal Trilogy Episode α: The Remnant Threat.

P.S: do not be daunted by all the text. Read on for insider info on how the comic came to be...including tips if you want to do stuff at home!

Steps

Idea Formation

First off - the idea. Both Al and Jedd--for which this Wiki is named--are giant Lego Star Wars fans, and this is, of course, a Star Wars Lego comic. It came to Al in the last phase of the year 2005. He was teribly bored, and came to his good friend Jedd with an interesting prototype idea and a digital camera.

After a few iterations, a serious plot was developed, and a fiendish character called the Grand Marshal (a prieviously unseen rank) and a treacherous plot to undermine the New Republic.

Before that, though, there were original plans, including the plot to star a Padawan (later used in the second comic)This idea was later deemed too Mary Sue-ish for the premiere comic. Another plan was to have the plot focus on a GIANT Yavin 4 invasion, complete with giant tank robots. This plot idea was eventually dropped and replaced with an epic space battle and a smaller-scale Yavin 4 invasion, nonetheless with the neat AT-RT set.

The space battle underwent serious modifications. As hard to believe as this seems, Han and Leia were originally meant to ride Ep. 3 era starfighters (in fact we still have the shots of this)! Thankfully the Millenium Falcon came along as a combo birthday-Christmas set (Jedd's). The battle was planned, from the start, to have TIE Interceptors and A-Wings, although these sets arrived much later and, as of 7 March '06, have still not been filmed! At the point of time, the comic was still very much a work-in-process.

Both Al and Jedd were very busy with school so the comic was put quite on hold, with ideas further developed whenever the two met. "Wrath of the Marshal" was idealized with concept shooting and character design developed. At the same time, a short story written by Jedd and started on his 13th birthday (14th Jan '06) was undergoing work. You can read it here. The "novel", or so it was nicknamed, featured new ideas and was based heavily on the comic. The Red Guard duel first appears in this form.

The Process

Capturing on camera was an especially arduous process. The comic was shot mostly at Jedd's house, with Al's camera and a combination of Jedd and Al's sets. An Al custom model called the Jedi Strike Fighter was also featured.

A combo of primitive and common as well as high-tech special effects were utilized. The foggy atmosphere of Yavin 4 was replicated using layered kitchen plastic wrap. It worked too well at times, though. Al was a little frustrated when the outcome was over-foggy. At times, he even insisted that no wrap be used, as can be seen from some panels of the Yavin ground battle.

A painted black backdrop served for stars in one impressive shot of the Imperial Shuttle. For the space battle, though, green screening (just like the experts!)with construction paper was patched-in with Macromedia Fireworks software. Photoshop software was also utilized for the other brilliant effects you see.

Building upon the original idea, most of the story was made up as the shooting went. The occasional "production shot" was made, as well as other bits of goofing around to relax a little.

Minor mishaps actually helped the story along! The dimly-lit strategy-lecture scene on board the Remnant encampment was so as the scene was shot at night. The lights in Jedd's room, like most in-house lighting, tends to cast a slight orange-ish glow even more noticeable on camera. Thus, we had to resort to a torchlight. That actually gave a slightly cold and eerie effect, and was explained-off in the novel as caused by electricity control intercepted from the ground by Rebels, which made more sense and has place in the story.

Like magic, it's all in the presentation. Mixtures of long-shots and mid-shots brought about more dynamic angles. A comic, in all of its essence, is a movie translated into its most powerful instances. This comes into great use during the space shots and the tense climatic battle.

Building The Comic

This is not just a Star Wars comic, but a Lego one as well. There was extensive building required, most quite fun. First off the minifigs. There were a few custom minifigs used, study them carefully and they are quite easy to put together.

The rebel soldiers use mainly torsos from the old "Res-Q" range, with the "Res-Q" decal on the back covered by a backpack. The Jedi use smiley-faces and generic Jedi torsos. There also a few running gags in the comic, though most are barely visible. Anakin and Obi-Wan make various in-obvious cameos.