The Force Awakens Bits: The Secret Writing On Poe Dameron’s Vest, Visual Effects Society Awards, And More LEGO Star Wars News Than You Know What To Do With
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Welcome back to The Force Awakens Bits, which will continue to provide you withStar Wars: The Force Awakensnews untilRogue Oneshows up and diverts our attention completely. In today’s edition:
Star Wars: The Force Awakensmade a strong showing at the 2016 Visual Effects Society Awards, winning four of its seven nominations. These awards are fun and fascinating because of how specific they can get, often awarding distinct elements of specific scenes. For example, one of the film’s wins went to the virtual cinematography seen in the battle between the Millennium Falcon and the TIE Fighers on Jakku. Here is the complete list ofStar Warswinners:Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Roger Guyett
Luke O’Byrne
Patrick Tubach
Paul Kavanagh
Chris Corbould
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Falcon Chase / Graveyard
Colin Benoit
Susumu Yukuhiro
Greg Salter
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Yanick Dusseault
Justin van der Lek
Quentin Marmier
Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Star Wars: The Force Awakens; BB-8
Joshua Lee
Matthew Denton
Landis Fields
Speaking of awards, John Boeyga and Daisy Ridley have been nominated for Kids' Choice Awards for their work inThe Force Awakens, which is surely the most prestigious honor of them all. If you are a small child or the kind of vindictive adult who wants to ensure the victory ofStar Warsat all costs,you’re able to vote for them right here.
The latest issue ofAmerican Cinematographerhas dedicated its cover toThe Force Awakensand it’s available for purchase right now. Here’s what you’re able to expect if you pick this thing up:
The force is strong with American Cinematographer’s just-released February issue, which goes behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens to provide an in-depth look at the making of the record-breaking box-office blockbuster. The magazine was granted special access to the production during filming at Pinewood Studios and conducted comprehensive interviews with the filmmakers, including cinematographer Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC; director J.J. Abrams; Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy; and several of the show’s key department heads. The special collector’s edition is illustrated with a trove of exclusive production stills, behind-the-scenes photos and concept art from the film.
The humans of theStar Warsuniverse may speak English, but all of their text is presented in a fictional language called Aurebesh. Naturally, charts exist to help you translate this made-up text, just in case you want to know exactly what’s written on any given object in any of these movies. For example, one intrepid fanset out to discoverwhat’s written on Poe Dameron’s flight vest. After discovering that the text was upside down (so the pilot could look down and read it), it was revealed to read… “Pull to inflate.” Yes, it’s a life jacket. Nothing more to see here. Move along.
For those keeping score at home, it looks likeThe Force Awakenswill finally break $900 millionat the domestic box office this Friday, which will probably be one of its final financial milestones. It should have strong enough legs to ultimately land somewhere between $930 million and $950 million, but hopes of a $1 billion domestic total have been effectively dashed at this point. Meanwhile,The Force Awakensjust became Japan’s biggest hit sinceFrozen, passing $83 million (approximately 9.7 billion in Japanese Yen) at the box office.
We already know thatLEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakensvideo gameis on the wayand that it will actually help bridge the gap betweenReturn of the JediandThe Force Awakens. That’s more than a little crazy, when you consider how tightly the Lucasfilm Story Group control the new canon. In case you missed it, here’s the trailer:
But we’re gathered here today because there’s even moreLEGO Star Wars news for you to do with as you please. A new batch of images from the game have arrived online, teasing LEGO versions of Rey, Finn, BB-8, and the rest of the gang. I’m of the opinion that LEGO Chewbacca looks a little funky, but hey, that’s the price you pay when you have to transform iconic movie characters in digital renderings of tiny plastic figures.
So far, the marketing has emphasized characters, locations and sequences fromThe Force Awakens, which makes us wonder exactly how much time will actually be spent during that 30 year gap between movies. And even then, will they actually tell us anything about the state of theStar Warsuniverse or will they just be silly one-off levels that pander to the already-initiated?
Meanwhile,Amazonhas revealed the box art for the deluxe edition of the game, which will come with additional “season pass” content, a few extra playable characters, and Finn minifig for you to lose under your couch somewhere.
If you want to know more,Game Informerhas revealed that the game will be the subject of an upcoming cover story, teasing their coverage in the video above and showing off new a new look at the LEGO-ized cast in the cover images below.
And finally, it looks likeLEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakenswill have a little bit of authenticity as John Boyega revealed on Twitter that he will be reprising the role of Finn in the game. With this kind of boundless enthusiasm, Boyega could very well be to Star Wars what Tom Hiddleston is to Marvel –the guy who gleefully participates in whatever is asked of him by the company. Anyway, here’s our customary reminder should really go watchAttack the Blockbecause Boyega is amazing in it (and because it’s an amazing movie).
