Todd Vaziri: Putting the "Magic" in Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic digital artist and compositing supervisor Todd Vaziri has worked on every Star Wars movie since 2002, beginning with Attack of the Clones.
Whether for the prequels (including the final duel on Mustafar), the sequels (figuring out the feel of a modern Star Wars movie), the spin-offs (helping to bring Tarkin and the Kessel Run to life), theme park rides (including Star Tours and Rise of the Resistance), or Stephen Colbert’s Green Screen Challenge, Mr. Vaziri’s passion for movie-making is evident in his every shot, and in his every answer on this episode,
I’ve wanted him to be a guest on Talking Bay 94 for such a long time, and man, it was so worth the wait.
Make sure you are following him on Twitter: @TVaziri … he is truly one of the best people to follow, period, on that app.
This Friday, at 7:30 PM Central, we will be live again on Scener.com, breaking down Episode 4 of The Mandalorian Season 2. This will be every Friday night this season, with me and special guests pausing rewinding and analyzing every shot and, thanks to Scener’s technology, you’ll be able to watch seamlessly alongside us!
Head to scener.com/talkingbay94 to set a reminder for this Friday and I’ll see you there!
Delilah S. Dawson, John Jackson Miller and Tracy Deonn: From a Certain Point of View
Today is a very special roundtable episode with three incredible Star Wars authors, all of whom contributed to the just-published From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back anthology.
Joining me is Delilah S. Dawson, also the author of Phasma and Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire, John Jackson Miller, who previously wrote Kenobi and A New Dawn, and Tracy Deonn, who might be a newcomer to writing for Star Wars, but whose story about the Dagobah Cave in this book blew me away.
Thank you as well to Del Rey for setting all of this up. From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is now available: https://amzn.to/2IneBFN
- Delilah S. Dawson: https://www.whimsydark.com/
- John Jackson Miller: https://www.farawaypress.com/
- Tracy Deonn: https://tracydeonn.com/
Gary Whitta Strikes Back: Writer of Rogue One and Rogue Two
The writer of Rogue One, Gary Whitta, returns to the show to talk all about his latest Star Wars story … Rogue Two.
What follows is an in-depth dive into his piece in the just-published From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, a further discussion on the importance of hope in Star Wars, and a look at what else he’s been doing since the last time we spoke, especially Animal Talking!
Thank you again to Mr. Whitta for coming back on the show! What a delight and treat, as always, and I can’t wait to talk to him again in January about his next project!
Head to his YouTube and Twitch accounts, so you can check out Animal Talking, and everything else he’s doing, for yourself.
This Friday, at 7:30 PM Central, I will be live on Scener.com, breaking down Episode 3 of The Mandalorian Season 2. This will be every Friday night this season, with me and special guests pausing rewinding and analyzing every shot and, thanks to Scener’s technology, you’ll be able to watch seamlessly alongside us!
Head to scener.com/talkingbay94 to set a reminder for this Friday and I’ll see you there!
Dave Dorman: Iconic Star Wars Artist of Comics and Covers
Dave Dorman is one of the greatest Star Wars artists of all time.
Since the early days of the Expanded Universe, Mr. Dorman’s art has been some of the most iconic images of a galaxy far far away. From Dark Empire to Tales of the Jedi, Dark Forces and beyond, it was a real treat getting to dive in a little bit more into his process.
As you know, we don’t typically release episodes on Saturdays … but this is a special episode, brought to you by our friends at Coolwaters Productions, who are currently doing an autograph signing with Harrison Ford. After the interview, we are then joined by Coolwaters President Derek Maki for about 15 minutes worth of a Ford Signing Q&A.
(And there probably won’t be an episode this Wednesday, just knowing what Tuesday night has in store and my mental headspace, so I wanted to make sure this at least was published now!)
Here’s a direct link to the exclusive Indiana Jones print we were talking about, as well as a ton of other options for the Harrison Ford signing: https://coolwatersprods.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=2158
Andrew Booth (BLIND LTD): Designing How Star Wars "Feels"
BLIND LTD‘s work as a London-based creative studio designing user interfaces for movies, whether it is for James Bond or The Dark Knight Trilogy (or, especially, Star Wars) is simply incredible.
What makes Star Wars feel like Star Wars? This episode dives deep into that question and I enjoyed it so, so much.
Thank you again to Mr. Booth, as well as Helen Baker from BLIND LTD for the time, the patience and the coordination it took to come on the show. For more examples of the incredible work, just open one of your Phil Szostak art books, or head to www.blindltd.com
This Friday, at 7:30 PM Central, I will be live on Scener.com, breaking down Episode 1 of The Mandalorian Season 2. This will be every Friday night this season, with me and special guests pausing rewinding and analyzing every shot and, thanks to Scener’s technology, you’ll be able to watch seamlessly alongside us!
Head to scener.com/talkingbay94 to set a reminder for this Friday and I’ll see you there!
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.
Niki Botelho: Teek in Ewoks - The Battle for Endor
We’re LIVE and talking to Teek herself, Niki Botelho from The Battle for Endor.
This is a pretty short, fairly rare Star Wars interview podcast look inside making the second Ewok film, as well as Niki’s return as an Offworld Jawa in The Mandalorian … and if that was her as Teek in the Star Tours boarding video. (And, of course, since this was recorded live, some of our audio is not as crisp as other episodes, but you’ll get over it.)
If you want even more Teek stories, head on over to the most recent episode of Blast Points, where there is almost 5 extra minutes of this interview, which I recorded to help celebrate their Ewok Movie Month.
And, of course, this episode would not be possible without our friends at Galactic Productions. Head to their website for future appearances, as well as a really great stock of online autographs: galacticproductionsevents.com