![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
I come bearing gifts
I have goodies for people today.
First, an interview with the Mythbusters talking about Star Wars. After discovering that Adam worked on the Prequels too, I now adore him more than ever. My opinion of the movies just increased, too :) Link is here. But, for those like me, who find that the official Star Wars site is about the slowest site in existance, the full text is below the cut.
Putting Star Wars to the MythBusters Test
January 27, 2006
DIY Hotrod Ethics
Is it possible to drive a Podracer at 900 mph or more without a windshield or face mask? Could you survive a 50-foot fall into a snow bank like Luke Skywalker? Can you avoid freezing to death in a blizzard overnight by gutting a dead animal like a tauntaun and getting into its carcass?
It's these types of burning questions that keep some fans up at night, especially those who debunk urban legends and movie myths for a living. Each week special-effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, and their talented build team, take on urban legends and use modern-day science to see what's real and what's not in "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel.
Often using themselves as the test subjects -- unless it's too dangerous, then their crash test dummy "Buster" gets the honors -- the team sets up scientific experiments to test each part of the myth and tally the evidence at the end. Based on their experiments along with other documented evidence, they then pronounce the myth busted, plausible, or confirmed.
In past episodes, the "MythBusters" cast members have tested such urban legends as dropping pennies from skyscrapers onto pedestrians below, surviving being buried alive in a coffin, jumping from freefalling elevators, and the ultimate dare -- eating and drinking large quantities of Pop Rocks and cola to see if their stomachs would explode. They've also challenged famous movie myths such as sharks destroying boats in Jaws, death by gold paint in Goldfinger, yanking the rear axle clear out from under the car when it drives off as in American Graffiti and jumping from an airplane using an inflatable life raft to land in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
"The word 'science' in science fiction is the key here," Hyneman explains. "Sci-fi enthusiasts like to think about the future and its implications to present society and culture. On the show we deal with a lot of these same elements. I think in general the show and science fiction is intended to be thought provoking. Much on television and in the popular media is mindless. But some people, like our viewers, actually enjoy using their minds."
"That aesthetic of the Star Wars universe: the do-it-yourself, hotrod ethic that George Lucas exported from his childhood, is exactly the same kind of soul behind what we do and build for the show," Savage explains. "It may not look pretty, but it gets the job done."
However, long before "MythBusters" debuted in 2003, Savage, Hyneman -- as well as two of their build team members Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci -- worked at Industrial Light & Magic on various films including the Star Wars prequels, as well as other noteworthy films such as A.I., Terminator 3, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest and Van Helsing.
Savage worked for ILM in the model shop for nearly five years building ships and miniature sets for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, as well as working on over a hundred commercials and two features for Hyneman when he ran the shop at Colossal Pictures, and later for Hyneman's own San Francisco Bay Area company, M5 Industries -- where the majority of "MythBusters" episodes are filmed.
"I arrived at ILM during the final push to finish Episode I, and it was like going to heaven," Savage recalls. "A shop full of some of the best people I've ever had the honor to work with. I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks at Skywalker Ranch working on pre-production models for Episode II. Given that it was one of the first jobs I ever wanted to have, it was pretty cool to get a chance to participate."
"Adam, Grant and Tory have worked at ILM for some years," Hyneman adds. "I worked there on one job with Grant and we became friends. Adam and Tory had worked with me or for me before then and, in fact, Adam got his first work in the field when I hired him over a decade ago. I found ILM a great place to work and that there were a lot of very talented people there. Many of the people there have worked with me over the years." In addition to his work at ILM, and later creating his company M5 Industries, Hyneman's well-rounded skill set includes Russian linguist, animal wrangler, toy creator, inventor, wilderness survival expert, diver, machinist, chef and model maker.
ILM Vets Know No Fear
For nine years, Imahara worked at ILM using his expertise in electronics and radio control. "If it moved or lit up, I usually had a hand in it," Imahara laughs. "This meant lighting up interiors of spaceships and miniature buildings, or putting servos into some creature. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, but also a healthy tinkering side. I'd always built circuits for fun on the side and played around with radio control." His talent for tinkering made him famous as the creator of the servo joints that animate the Energizer Bunny, as well as for his participation in "Robot Wars/Battlebots" as part of team Deadblow. (Savage and Hyneman also have a history with "Robot Wars/Battlebots" for their own creations.)
Of course, it was inevitable that his passion for robot building would lead him straight to the dynamic droid duo of Star Wars. "I remember getting Doug Chiang's drawings of the prequel C-3PO ("Spaghetti-O") from my supervisor Michael Lynch," Imahara says. "This was a character that I'd grown up with and mimicked and drew pictures of, and now we were going to reinvent one. Then there's the time we got a call asking how quickly we could make another R2-D2. I got to work with all the same mechanics that put the beat in the new Energizer Bunny, but this time, it was for Artoo. My fondest moment is when supervisor Don Bies, fellow operator Nelson Hall, and I were testing our brand-new Artoo out in the lot behind ILM, and seeing him come to life for the first time. It was a fan boy dream come true to be paid to work on the Star Wars prequels. Oh, and the models -- the Federation battleship and the Republic Cruiser. All the hangar sets. It was a return to the hey-day of model making. Our crew was over 100 strong, working on multiple stages. It really was a great experience."
Belleci also worked at ILM in the model shop for about eight years as a model builder, as well as a sculptor and painter for various films, but it was his work on the prequels that held special significance for him. "Working on Star Wars was absolutely a dream come true," Belleci says. "When I was in high school I did a report on movie special effects and in a book I saw a picture of the Millennium Falcon in front of a bluescreen at ILM. I thought to myself, 'I want to do that someday.' It wasn't until the Episode I issue of Cinefex came out, and I found a picture of me standing by the Federation battleship in front of a bluescreen, that I remembered that childhood dream."
With the members of "MythBusters" having different skills as animators, model makers, stage and interior designers, carpenters, welders, painters, explosive experts, droid operators and such, it's easy to see why the show was a perfect fit for the ILM veterans.
"On 'MythBusters' you have to be a jack-of-all-trades," Belleci says. "We are constantly building devices or rigs to test certain myths. No two builds are ever the same so every time we start a new story, we are starting from scratch. Faced with these challenges you have to pull from all areas of construction and fabrication so it helps to know a little of everything."
Being fearless also comes in handy. In many of their experiments there can be a level of "don't try this at home" risk to it, sometimes resulting in rather hair-raising accidents such as Savage losing an eyebrow during an explosion test, cutting his arm while working on a scaled-down metal bridge in the "Break-step Bridge," cutting his lip after putting a vacuum cleaner motor too close to his mouth, suffering mild burns in the "Exploding Jawbreaker" experiment, and getting hit by several pennies in the myth of "Penny Drop." "For some reason I'm more accident prone than Jamie," Savage laughs.
"The closest call I've had in my career was with the X-MB plane in 'Exploding Hair Cream' episode," Grant recalls. "We had made the 'Sharammer' from our Shark Week special into a huge pressure vessel. The front was welded shut, but the rear had several plates of plywood held in place by screws (not my design -- I should have protested more). We had the plane up to pressure, and I suggested that we all walk around the (welded) front rather than the back. Adam (being slightly hard of hearing) immediately walked around the back, and just as he passed, BOOM, the back end blew out. In the end, he probably wouldn't have been hurt even if he was standing directly in the path, since the plywood ruptured in the middle and allowed the pressure to escape, but that is a much closer call than I like to deal with. When we do anything truly, obviously dangerous like explosives, we have experts like the nice people at the FBI come and help us."
Busting Star Wars Myths
Even with the possible threat of being sent to the emergency room, there are plenty of ultimate myths the cast wish they could tackle if danger or money truly were no object. While Hyneman says he would love to test the myth of life on other planets, Savage says he's more than ready to "tackle the Apollo Moon Landing Hoax myth, by actually going to the moon and bringing back a piece of NASA equipment."
To continue the space theme, Belleci wants to see what actually happens to a human if they were put into outer space without a space suit. "We've all seen sci-fi movies where astronauts break their helmets and their heads explode or they are sucked out of a ship into space and they blow into pieces. I would love to see how the body reacts, but I guess someone would have to die to test this one." On this planet, Imahara would be happy to simply test if an Indy race car has enough downward force to hold itself upside down while at top speed.
While the list of urban legends and science myths seem endless, there are quite a few questions from the Star Wars saga that the "MythBusters" team wouldn't mind testing.
Can you survive overnight in a blizzard by gutting a dead animal and getting into its carcass?
"It would have to be a pretty big animal, but have you ever smelled the insides of a dead animal?" Belleci asks. "I think I'd rather freeze to death."
Can electricity melt your face like wax?
"Not unless your face is made of wax to begin with," Imahara laughs. "Then you might have something."
Can electricity make your skeleton visible from the outside?
"Only if you have a sufficient midi-chlorian concentration," Imahara smiles. "I'm convinced they're bioluminescent."
"I wish!" Savage says. "But I think you need a bit of the Force as well --preferably the dark side."
Could you drive a Podracer at 900 mph or more without a windshield or face mask?
"No way would that be possible!" Savage says.
"Just don't spit," Belleci jokes.
Could you pilot a submarine through a planet's core?
"If it were possible to have a water core at the center of a planet, then perhaps, but the pressures would be significant," Imahara explains. "That would have to be some submarine."
"Would the inside of a planet be water?" Savage asks. "I don't think so."
Could you survive a 50-foot fall into a snow bank like Luke Skywalker did?
"It's plausible, depending on the exact conditions," Imahara explains. "You could survive, but you'd be pretty badly hurt. Let's just say you probably wouldn't be jumping up on a tauntaun and riding to the next outpost, if you know what I mean."
"Actually, a couple of people have survived falls from thousands of feet into snow banks," Savage says. "So, yes."
"Definitely, I did it once snowboarding," Belleci says. "Okay, maybe it wasn't a 50-foot fall, but it was high."
As the team ponders testing methods for various Star Wars myths, it's clear that they are anxious for technologies from a galaxy far, far away to become a reality. "It's 2006 already," Imahara says. "Where's my landspeeder? Where's my astromech droid?" Savage agrees, "Not having a lightsaber in my toolbox is frustrating; and I could really use one!"
In addition to the advanced technologies, there are quite a few Star Wars characters that would come in handy in a pinch. "Artoo would make an ideal assistant," Savage says. "Plus he's a fantastic data logger." Imahara agrees, "Who could do without their own astromech droid? I wouldn't need a toolbox!" Belleci, on the other hand, thinks that any character who can fix the Millennium Falcon is automatically qualified to be on the show. "Chewbacca would be a great 'MythBusters' sidekick, because who wouldn't want a Wookiee in the shop?" Belleci says.
On the flipside, if there needed to be an even swap, a few of the "MythBusters" are more than happy to nominate each other for the gig. "To tell you the truth, I think Jamie and Adam are already aliens," Belleci laughs. "I think it's obvious to anyone who watches the show that Adam has the perfect personality for a protocol droid (gregarious, funny, fussy, easily flustered) and Jamie is well suited as an astromech droid (stoic, loyal, stubborn)," Imahara adds. "Put the two together and hilarity ensues." Savage says about his co-host, "Jamie would look right at home in the Mos Eisley Cantina."
Secondly, I have a few more icons. Not many - my sisters put in requests for wallpapers, so I've been filling those first :) They may or may not be posted up here, depending if I decide that a) they are fit for public consumption and b) anyone else would be interested. For the icons with different version, I'd appreciate if people would let me know which one they prefer, so I can figure out what works best.
1.
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
Only four days til I leave home for good. Unfortunately, some pretty awful shit has happened round here, and I really wish I wasn't going right now. Not that me being here will make any difference, but *shrugs*. The timing could have been better.
First, an interview with the Mythbusters talking about Star Wars. After discovering that Adam worked on the Prequels too, I now adore him more than ever. My opinion of the movies just increased, too :) Link is here. But, for those like me, who find that the official Star Wars site is about the slowest site in existance, the full text is below the cut.
Putting Star Wars to the MythBusters Test
January 27, 2006
DIY Hotrod Ethics
Is it possible to drive a Podracer at 900 mph or more without a windshield or face mask? Could you survive a 50-foot fall into a snow bank like Luke Skywalker? Can you avoid freezing to death in a blizzard overnight by gutting a dead animal like a tauntaun and getting into its carcass?
It's these types of burning questions that keep some fans up at night, especially those who debunk urban legends and movie myths for a living. Each week special-effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, and their talented build team, take on urban legends and use modern-day science to see what's real and what's not in "MythBusters" on the Discovery Channel.
Often using themselves as the test subjects -- unless it's too dangerous, then their crash test dummy "Buster" gets the honors -- the team sets up scientific experiments to test each part of the myth and tally the evidence at the end. Based on their experiments along with other documented evidence, they then pronounce the myth busted, plausible, or confirmed.
In past episodes, the "MythBusters" cast members have tested such urban legends as dropping pennies from skyscrapers onto pedestrians below, surviving being buried alive in a coffin, jumping from freefalling elevators, and the ultimate dare -- eating and drinking large quantities of Pop Rocks and cola to see if their stomachs would explode. They've also challenged famous movie myths such as sharks destroying boats in Jaws, death by gold paint in Goldfinger, yanking the rear axle clear out from under the car when it drives off as in American Graffiti and jumping from an airplane using an inflatable life raft to land in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
"The word 'science' in science fiction is the key here," Hyneman explains. "Sci-fi enthusiasts like to think about the future and its implications to present society and culture. On the show we deal with a lot of these same elements. I think in general the show and science fiction is intended to be thought provoking. Much on television and in the popular media is mindless. But some people, like our viewers, actually enjoy using their minds."
"That aesthetic of the Star Wars universe: the do-it-yourself, hotrod ethic that George Lucas exported from his childhood, is exactly the same kind of soul behind what we do and build for the show," Savage explains. "It may not look pretty, but it gets the job done."
However, long before "MythBusters" debuted in 2003, Savage, Hyneman -- as well as two of their build team members Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci -- worked at Industrial Light & Magic on various films including the Star Wars prequels, as well as other noteworthy films such as A.I., Terminator 3, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest and Van Helsing.
Savage worked for ILM in the model shop for nearly five years building ships and miniature sets for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, as well as working on over a hundred commercials and two features for Hyneman when he ran the shop at Colossal Pictures, and later for Hyneman's own San Francisco Bay Area company, M5 Industries -- where the majority of "MythBusters" episodes are filmed.
"I arrived at ILM during the final push to finish Episode I, and it was like going to heaven," Savage recalls. "A shop full of some of the best people I've ever had the honor to work with. I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks at Skywalker Ranch working on pre-production models for Episode II. Given that it was one of the first jobs I ever wanted to have, it was pretty cool to get a chance to participate."
"Adam, Grant and Tory have worked at ILM for some years," Hyneman adds. "I worked there on one job with Grant and we became friends. Adam and Tory had worked with me or for me before then and, in fact, Adam got his first work in the field when I hired him over a decade ago. I found ILM a great place to work and that there were a lot of very talented people there. Many of the people there have worked with me over the years." In addition to his work at ILM, and later creating his company M5 Industries, Hyneman's well-rounded skill set includes Russian linguist, animal wrangler, toy creator, inventor, wilderness survival expert, diver, machinist, chef and model maker.
ILM Vets Know No Fear
For nine years, Imahara worked at ILM using his expertise in electronics and radio control. "If it moved or lit up, I usually had a hand in it," Imahara laughs. "This meant lighting up interiors of spaceships and miniature buildings, or putting servos into some creature. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from USC, but also a healthy tinkering side. I'd always built circuits for fun on the side and played around with radio control." His talent for tinkering made him famous as the creator of the servo joints that animate the Energizer Bunny, as well as for his participation in "Robot Wars/Battlebots" as part of team Deadblow. (Savage and Hyneman also have a history with "Robot Wars/Battlebots" for their own creations.)
Of course, it was inevitable that his passion for robot building would lead him straight to the dynamic droid duo of Star Wars. "I remember getting Doug Chiang's drawings of the prequel C-3PO ("Spaghetti-O") from my supervisor Michael Lynch," Imahara says. "This was a character that I'd grown up with and mimicked and drew pictures of, and now we were going to reinvent one. Then there's the time we got a call asking how quickly we could make another R2-D2. I got to work with all the same mechanics that put the beat in the new Energizer Bunny, but this time, it was for Artoo. My fondest moment is when supervisor Don Bies, fellow operator Nelson Hall, and I were testing our brand-new Artoo out in the lot behind ILM, and seeing him come to life for the first time. It was a fan boy dream come true to be paid to work on the Star Wars prequels. Oh, and the models -- the Federation battleship and the Republic Cruiser. All the hangar sets. It was a return to the hey-day of model making. Our crew was over 100 strong, working on multiple stages. It really was a great experience."
Belleci also worked at ILM in the model shop for about eight years as a model builder, as well as a sculptor and painter for various films, but it was his work on the prequels that held special significance for him. "Working on Star Wars was absolutely a dream come true," Belleci says. "When I was in high school I did a report on movie special effects and in a book I saw a picture of the Millennium Falcon in front of a bluescreen at ILM. I thought to myself, 'I want to do that someday.' It wasn't until the Episode I issue of Cinefex came out, and I found a picture of me standing by the Federation battleship in front of a bluescreen, that I remembered that childhood dream."
With the members of "MythBusters" having different skills as animators, model makers, stage and interior designers, carpenters, welders, painters, explosive experts, droid operators and such, it's easy to see why the show was a perfect fit for the ILM veterans.
"On 'MythBusters' you have to be a jack-of-all-trades," Belleci says. "We are constantly building devices or rigs to test certain myths. No two builds are ever the same so every time we start a new story, we are starting from scratch. Faced with these challenges you have to pull from all areas of construction and fabrication so it helps to know a little of everything."
Being fearless also comes in handy. In many of their experiments there can be a level of "don't try this at home" risk to it, sometimes resulting in rather hair-raising accidents such as Savage losing an eyebrow during an explosion test, cutting his arm while working on a scaled-down metal bridge in the "Break-step Bridge," cutting his lip after putting a vacuum cleaner motor too close to his mouth, suffering mild burns in the "Exploding Jawbreaker" experiment, and getting hit by several pennies in the myth of "Penny Drop." "For some reason I'm more accident prone than Jamie," Savage laughs.
"The closest call I've had in my career was with the X-MB plane in 'Exploding Hair Cream' episode," Grant recalls. "We had made the 'Sharammer' from our Shark Week special into a huge pressure vessel. The front was welded shut, but the rear had several plates of plywood held in place by screws (not my design -- I should have protested more). We had the plane up to pressure, and I suggested that we all walk around the (welded) front rather than the back. Adam (being slightly hard of hearing) immediately walked around the back, and just as he passed, BOOM, the back end blew out. In the end, he probably wouldn't have been hurt even if he was standing directly in the path, since the plywood ruptured in the middle and allowed the pressure to escape, but that is a much closer call than I like to deal with. When we do anything truly, obviously dangerous like explosives, we have experts like the nice people at the FBI come and help us."
Busting Star Wars Myths
Even with the possible threat of being sent to the emergency room, there are plenty of ultimate myths the cast wish they could tackle if danger or money truly were no object. While Hyneman says he would love to test the myth of life on other planets, Savage says he's more than ready to "tackle the Apollo Moon Landing Hoax myth, by actually going to the moon and bringing back a piece of NASA equipment."
To continue the space theme, Belleci wants to see what actually happens to a human if they were put into outer space without a space suit. "We've all seen sci-fi movies where astronauts break their helmets and their heads explode or they are sucked out of a ship into space and they blow into pieces. I would love to see how the body reacts, but I guess someone would have to die to test this one." On this planet, Imahara would be happy to simply test if an Indy race car has enough downward force to hold itself upside down while at top speed.
While the list of urban legends and science myths seem endless, there are quite a few questions from the Star Wars saga that the "MythBusters" team wouldn't mind testing.
Can you survive overnight in a blizzard by gutting a dead animal and getting into its carcass?
"It would have to be a pretty big animal, but have you ever smelled the insides of a dead animal?" Belleci asks. "I think I'd rather freeze to death."
Can electricity melt your face like wax?
"Not unless your face is made of wax to begin with," Imahara laughs. "Then you might have something."
Can electricity make your skeleton visible from the outside?
"Only if you have a sufficient midi-chlorian concentration," Imahara smiles. "I'm convinced they're bioluminescent."
"I wish!" Savage says. "But I think you need a bit of the Force as well --preferably the dark side."
Could you drive a Podracer at 900 mph or more without a windshield or face mask?
"No way would that be possible!" Savage says.
"Just don't spit," Belleci jokes.
Could you pilot a submarine through a planet's core?
"If it were possible to have a water core at the center of a planet, then perhaps, but the pressures would be significant," Imahara explains. "That would have to be some submarine."
"Would the inside of a planet be water?" Savage asks. "I don't think so."
Could you survive a 50-foot fall into a snow bank like Luke Skywalker did?
"It's plausible, depending on the exact conditions," Imahara explains. "You could survive, but you'd be pretty badly hurt. Let's just say you probably wouldn't be jumping up on a tauntaun and riding to the next outpost, if you know what I mean."
"Actually, a couple of people have survived falls from thousands of feet into snow banks," Savage says. "So, yes."
"Definitely, I did it once snowboarding," Belleci says. "Okay, maybe it wasn't a 50-foot fall, but it was high."
As the team ponders testing methods for various Star Wars myths, it's clear that they are anxious for technologies from a galaxy far, far away to become a reality. "It's 2006 already," Imahara says. "Where's my landspeeder? Where's my astromech droid?" Savage agrees, "Not having a lightsaber in my toolbox is frustrating; and I could really use one!"
In addition to the advanced technologies, there are quite a few Star Wars characters that would come in handy in a pinch. "Artoo would make an ideal assistant," Savage says. "Plus he's a fantastic data logger." Imahara agrees, "Who could do without their own astromech droid? I wouldn't need a toolbox!" Belleci, on the other hand, thinks that any character who can fix the Millennium Falcon is automatically qualified to be on the show. "Chewbacca would be a great 'MythBusters' sidekick, because who wouldn't want a Wookiee in the shop?" Belleci says.
On the flipside, if there needed to be an even swap, a few of the "MythBusters" are more than happy to nominate each other for the gig. "To tell you the truth, I think Jamie and Adam are already aliens," Belleci laughs. "I think it's obvious to anyone who watches the show that Adam has the perfect personality for a protocol droid (gregarious, funny, fussy, easily flustered) and Jamie is well suited as an astromech droid (stoic, loyal, stubborn)," Imahara adds. "Put the two together and hilarity ensues." Savage says about his co-host, "Jamie would look right at home in the Mos Eisley Cantina."
Secondly, I have a few more icons. Not many - my sisters put in requests for wallpapers, so I've been filling those first :) They may or may not be posted up here, depending if I decide that a) they are fit for public consumption and b) anyone else would be interested. For the icons with different version, I'd appreciate if people would let me know which one they prefer, so I can figure out what works best.
1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Only four days til I leave home for good. Unfortunately, some pretty awful shit has happened round here, and I really wish I wasn't going right now. Not that me being here will make any difference, but *shrugs*. The timing could have been better.