No CGI= no fighting Yoda. No puppets= no walking Yoda (no Yoda at all?).
1978, in the process of making of Empire Strikes Back, tests are made for a puppet operated by Frank OZ.
The tests are successful, Yoda is a puppet, no changes in the script.
Lucas rejects the puppet, calls Kenny Baker or another small person, make a suit, no changes in the script.
(Lucas adjusts his "vision", Yoda was not as small has he had imagined)
(even if Lucas rejected a guy in a suit, put a woman there, no changes in the script)
2000, in the process of making of Attack of the Clones, tests are made for a CGI Yoda.
The tests are successful, Yoda is CGI, no changes in the script (assuming originally Yoda fights)
Lucas rejects the CGI Yoda, he has to continue being a puppet (Yoda, not Lucas
), a different end is needed for AOTC and major changes are done for ROTS
I don’t have an exact quote, but he often says as such,“the technology is just there to help tell the story. Technology without a story is a boring thing”.
Yes he says, but he also said the O-OT was never to be released, and it will be.
He needed Yoda to fight in AotC because he knew there would be a climatic showdown between him and the Emperor in RotS, and the audience needed to know that Yoda was capable of killing him. Even in the PT, one line of dialogue from Obi Wan aside, he just looks like a doddering old bastard. Lucas also needed to get that “wtf!” factor out of the way and get people used to the fact that Yoda is capable of kicking arse when the time comes.
He also knew Mace was going to die, and obviously that Obi was going to fight Ani. That’s why he needed Yoda fighting in AotC, and that’s how the technology was just a tool to help him tell the story.
I don't wish to offend you or anything, but you are aware the story could have gone either way? It was a guy who wrote it, it's not like it was something historical that really happened. Lucas done this way, Any other story writer would probably done it differently. So "Yoda has to fight" being important to the story is totally subjective.
(you are aware that your argument here is "Yoda had to fight because Yoda had to fight"?)
(in "my PT" neither Yoda nor Palpitine fight, why? not because of technology, but because it goes against what it was established for the characters in the OT. which you can say, that if the OT was made today, Yoda would fight, and would spend his time in Dagobah jumping around, but then again if the OT was made today I would not be here for sure, and, as a personal opinion, SW was far from being as popular as it is)
Again, how is this different from the OT?
1968, "2001: A Space Odyssey" had believable space craft models, 1969, "Planet of the apes" had guys in monkey suits who looked very real, It's not like, as LucasFilm's propaganda likes to claim, that it was never done before. It was improved sure, but knowing what technology was made in previous films, no major plot points were changed or altered due to technology, just like in the Yoda puppet in the OT example above.
This post has been edited by Gerhard: 19 May 2006 - 04:57 PM