Misty Rosas: Performance Artist for The Mandalorian's Kuiil the Ugnaught
SHE has spoken: Misty Rosas, performance artist for Kuiil the Ugnaught, from The Mandalorian, is on the show today.
Misty’s story is incredible and her talent is unmatched, so I hope you enjoy her stories about getting the role, working on set, and listening to Nick Nolte’s lines every night, as much as I did. More topics include:
- Her first professional role … at Disneyland!
- Working with Stan Winston Studios on Congo as a Gorilla Artist.
- Stunt work on movies like Hunger Games – Catching Fire and Van Helsing
- The audition process for Kuiil, as well as the costume built by Legacy Effects
- Working within The Volume, especially with each director (Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa)
Make sure you are following her on Instagram, @MissMistyRosas
Upcoming interviews include pre-pro legend David Dozoretz, the geniuses at BLIND Limited, and author of the Glove of Darth Vader series: Paul Davids.
And, this was a secret, but starting next week, we’ll be doing live video recap shows for The Mandalorian every Friday night, partnering with our friends at Scener. More info to come, but I cannot wait.
John Celestri: Star Wars Holiday Special Animator of Boba Fett
The first time anyone caught a glimpse of the now infamous bounty hunter was in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.
Yep. That one.
We talk to Boba Fett‘s animator, the great John Celestri all about it: how Lucas got involved, what their inspirations were, and just a ton of great stories. Some other topics include:
- Growing up wanting to be an animator (and being self-taught)
- Getting involved with Nelvana (known for Ewoks and Droids), as well as how George Lucas first heard about the studio through Cosmic Christmas
- Inspirations for the short ranging from Heavy Metal magazine and Moebius to Clint Eastwood
You have a week, as of this publishing, to help with Mr. Celestri’s Kickstarter and get that Boba Fett sketch for yourself: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johncelestri/john-the-animator-comicx
For even more Lucasfilm animation stories, check out Skytalkers’ incredible 3-part deep dive about animation: https://skytalkers.com/2020/07/25/star-wars-animation-1978-2012/
Emily Swallow: Who is The Mandalorian's Armorer?
The Armorer herself, the great Emily Swallow, from The Mandalorian, is on the show today. “This is the way.”
It was so great to be able to dive deep into her instantly iconic performance. We talk all about what it was like to work in The Volume, be directed by Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow and Taika Waititi, and the influences and experiences she brought to her portrayal. More topics include:
- Bringing the Armorer to life with previous mask work / mime work experience
- Kurosawa’s influence on both her character and the Mando set
- Breaking the news to her about the Armorer’s Black Series toy
- The (surprise) Season 2 trailer voiceover
- And what exactly a blacksmith advisor was doing on on set!
Gavin Bocquet: Prequel Production Designer, Star Wars Legend
The incredible work that Gavin Bocquet did with his team to bring worlds like Naboo, Coruscant and Geonosis to life in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, cannot go unsaid.
This is a really rare interview with someone who made an indelible mark on the saga, as well as things like Young Indiana Jones, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and so many more … and I don’t think he’s talked in-depth about Star Wars in nearly a decade.
It was a huge honor and a really great conversation. Some topics discussed:
- His early mentorship with Stuart Craig (Saturn 3, Harry Potter) as well as working of Return of the Jedi with Norman Reynolds, as a Draftsman (Speeder bikes and Greeblies)
- Working with Steven Soderbergh on Kafka, his second ever film
- Walking over to his neighbor’s house, Rick McCallum, on Christmas Eve to inquire about working on Young Indiana Jones (later with David Tattersall and Trisha Biggar)
- Of course, the Prequels: collaborating with Doug Chiang and John Knoll, location scouting with McCallum (who wanted to shoot in the Vatican), the Pink / Yellow highlighters
- And wrapping with some serious Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance talk that no Henson fan will want to miss.
Matthew Reinhart Returns: Bringing the Star Wars Galaxy to a Pop-Up Book
Today we’re talking to paper engineer and the pop-up master himself, Matthew Reinhart, who returns to the show after our live chat for Episode 38, to talk all about his latest book from Insight Editions … STAR WARS: THE ULTIMATE POP-UP GALAXY.
Even Talking Bay 94 producer Jason gets out on the mic to help me ask the big questions all about design and Easter Eggs in his work.
I would like to reiterate, that we were not joking about helping operate his Jabba cosplay at Celebration Anaheim.
Of course, thank you as well to Eric Chang at Insight Editions for being such a huge supporter of this show and helping to coordinate this interview. The incredible THE ULTIMATE POP-UP GALAXY is in stores now and really is a perfect holiday gift for all ages. Not just saying that.
Phil Tippett: The Legendary VFX Artist, on the Cantina, AT-ATs and the Rancor
Today is the 50th episode of TALKING BAY 94 and, to celebrate accordingly, we’re talking to one of my heroes, one of the people who has been at the very top of the list to have on this show from the very beginning … two time Academy Award winner, the legend: Phil Tippett.
From the Cantina reshoots to the Dejarik chess table to the AT-AT stop motion to the ILM Return of the Jedi creature shop, Mr. Tippett was one of the driving forces of, not only the Star Wars world we know and love, but also the visual effects landscape as a whole.
It is really an honor to have him on the show. I haven’t stopped smiling since. It was literally a dream come true.
Be sure to visit MadGodMovie.com for information on how to watch his latest project and be sure to seek out Mad Dreams and Monsters, the new documentary about him, coming soon.
It’s been fifty episodes and I am so grateful to you all for the listens, support and love. This has been an incredible journey with you all and, really, we’re just getting started.
Bill Kimberlin: Working on the Most Complicated Shot in Motion Picture History (ROTJ)
Today I’m talking to Bill Kimberlin, who started at Industrial Light & Magic as a Visual Effects Editor on Return of the Jedi, working alongside Ken Ralston, on the infamous SB-19 shot … dubbed the most complicated VFX shot in motion picture history
We go through the history of ILM, the stories behind the movies and we even get into the Back to the Future sequels, which shouldn’t be a surprise if you know me at all.
For more of his stories, and to see some of the incredible pictures, drawings and scans we were discussing during the episode, check out his book, Inside the Star Wars Empire: A Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Star-Wars-Empire-Memoir/dp/1493032313
Lorne Peterson: Legendary VFX Artist Behind Escape Pods, Tauntauns and the Millenium Falcon
This is an actual dream come true: today we’re talking to Lorne Peterson, visual effects artist and modeler for Industrial Light & Magic.
Working on the first six Star Wars films, Lorne goes through his experience building escape pods out of paint cans, manning Guatemalan outpost towers made out of trash cans and sourcing Tauntaun fur (which you have to hear to believe). And I am legitimately giggling the entire time, which is very embarrassing.
We barely scratch the surface of the incredible work that Mr. Peterson has done over the past forty years, so definitely check out his book, Sculpting a Galaxy, which is available from Insight Editions: https://insighteditions.com/product/sculpting-a-galaxy/
(There is also a super limited edition version of the book, which has been tempting me for years now, so buy it and make me very jealous.)
I want to give a huge thank you to Eric Chang and the rest of the great Insight Editions team for arranging this interview. We have some cool stuff in the works with them, including one more interview which was very fun.
Christian Alzmann: Conceptor of BB-8 and Maz Kanata
Christian Alzmann‘s unique art style and incredible design work has influenced the looks of The Force Awakens, Rogue One and even Star Wars: Rebels. From BB-8 to Maz Kanata, we explore the path to the big screen, including the stories behind the haunting “evil” Luke imagery and “The Jedi Killer”.
Bust open your copy of The Art of The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak, because we went through nearly every page of concept art, from Han Solo’s beard to Vader’s castle. It is a conversation I have wanted to have for such a long time and Mr. Alzmann was a real delight.
Follow him on Instagram to see even more examples of his art and ideas: https://www.instagram.com/calzmann