1 million views! No, not on this blog, but on my droid's YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/francovd
Over half of those views are just on one video of my R2 bowling, and another popular one was my "Making of R2" video. So in celebration, and to start on my next million views, here they are (again).
If you're wondering why these videos are so popular, you aren't the only one.
Thanks for watching! :)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
TV Show Shoot
This is another one of those somewhat frustrating posts for you and me, where I did a Lucasfilm-authorized shoot for a television show, but cannot reveal anything specific about it until it airs.
Call time for this one was at the early hour of 6:30am. Since I had a 53 mile drive ahead of me in LA traffic, I took no chances as I set the alarm for 4:30am (there's a 4:30AM??), and was on the road by 5:00am. I arrived a little before 6:00am as the sun was getting ready to rise over downtown Los Angeles, and unloaded the droid.
The picture looks crooked, but it was the parking lot that was uneven.
Dawn in Los Angeles.
We were shooting on Stage 2 of wherever we were.
As is my habit, I had to get a picture of the Craft Services breakfast table. That center donut never had a chance.
Unfortunately, as I reviewed my pictures, they all reveal too much about the nature of the shoot, so I am unable to share any shots from the stage or set at this time. :(
Suffice it to say that R2 went on and off the set several times during the day, with very long (up to 5 hour) gaps in between. In addition to that, I was battling a pretty bad cold. Every once in a while I'd step outside to go into a coughing fit that sounded like Sand People on the attack. I thought Ben Kenobi would come around the corner to scare me off.
After a very long day, around 9:00pm little R2 stood by for pickup at the huge stage door.
I loaded up R2, picked up some Nyquil on the drive home, and returned over 17 hours after I left.
This won't air for quite a while, but when it finally does I'll have more pictures and details to share. Don't get your hopes up too high, it wasn't a super-high-profile shoot, but it was a fun one.
Call time for this one was at the early hour of 6:30am. Since I had a 53 mile drive ahead of me in LA traffic, I took no chances as I set the alarm for 4:30am (there's a 4:30AM??), and was on the road by 5:00am. I arrived a little before 6:00am as the sun was getting ready to rise over downtown Los Angeles, and unloaded the droid.
The picture looks crooked, but it was the parking lot that was uneven.
Dawn in Los Angeles.
We were shooting on Stage 2 of wherever we were.
As is my habit, I had to get a picture of the Craft Services breakfast table. That center donut never had a chance.
Unfortunately, as I reviewed my pictures, they all reveal too much about the nature of the shoot, so I am unable to share any shots from the stage or set at this time. :(
Suffice it to say that R2 went on and off the set several times during the day, with very long (up to 5 hour) gaps in between. In addition to that, I was battling a pretty bad cold. Every once in a while I'd step outside to go into a coughing fit that sounded like Sand People on the attack. I thought Ben Kenobi would come around the corner to scare me off.
After a very long day, around 9:00pm little R2 stood by for pickup at the huge stage door.
I loaded up R2, picked up some Nyquil on the drive home, and returned over 17 hours after I left.
This won't air for quite a while, but when it finally does I'll have more pictures and details to share. Don't get your hopes up too high, it wasn't a super-high-profile shoot, but it was a fun one.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
R2 Builders Day at the Discovery Science Center
Today the R2 Builders made their second of two scheduled visits to the Discovery Science Center in Santa, CA, where the "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" exhibit continues to run. We were there from noon to 5:00pm.
My droid was joined by droids and droid parts owned by Matthew Henricks, David Annetta, Tom Piedmont and William and Nikki Miyamoto. We set up near the rock climbing wall, to give ourselves some dedicated space and to avoid 360-degree swarming by the kids. We set up parts for display, along with our droids.
It didn't take long before things got busy for us.
At 1:00pm, we headed for the stage, where Matthew, David and I participated in an "Ask the R2 Builders" panel, while Tom recorded the discussion. After a brief introduction, we took many questions from the audience, asking us all sorts of things regarding our droids and the droids in the movies.
After our presentation, we returned to our area, where we were joined by William & family, and their droids.
Even though we were tucked away toward the back, there was a constant flow of traffic.
Matthew and I finagled our way into the Star Wars exhibit with our droids, where I took the opportunity to have my droid pose with the Lucasfilm droid that was behind glass. An impromptu line quickly formed for pictures with the museum guests.
Soon it was 3:00pm, and it was time for me to head back for the stage, where I did a reprise of the presentation I gave in January. Complete with headphone mic suitable for singing at a concert. I refrained from singing.
By the time the second presentation was over, our visit was nearing an end. Mike Senna dropped by for a cameo appearance, and baby holding duties for Kayla Miyamoto, while Zoe was stationed in her droid.
Finally, 5:00pm arrived, and it was time to head on out. But not without the "One more picture, please?" requests.
And to wrap it up, a picture of Tom's cool car.
It was another good visit. This may be it for our visits to DSC while the exhibit is running, but you never know...
The full photoset is here.
My droid was joined by droids and droid parts owned by Matthew Henricks, David Annetta, Tom Piedmont and William and Nikki Miyamoto. We set up near the rock climbing wall, to give ourselves some dedicated space and to avoid 360-degree swarming by the kids. We set up parts for display, along with our droids.
It didn't take long before things got busy for us.
At 1:00pm, we headed for the stage, where Matthew, David and I participated in an "Ask the R2 Builders" panel, while Tom recorded the discussion. After a brief introduction, we took many questions from the audience, asking us all sorts of things regarding our droids and the droids in the movies.
After our presentation, we returned to our area, where we were joined by William & family, and their droids.
Even though we were tucked away toward the back, there was a constant flow of traffic.
Matthew and I finagled our way into the Star Wars exhibit with our droids, where I took the opportunity to have my droid pose with the Lucasfilm droid that was behind glass. An impromptu line quickly formed for pictures with the museum guests.
Soon it was 3:00pm, and it was time for me to head back for the stage, where I did a reprise of the presentation I gave in January. Complete with headphone mic suitable for singing at a concert. I refrained from singing.
By the time the second presentation was over, our visit was nearing an end. Mike Senna dropped by for a cameo appearance, and baby holding duties for Kayla Miyamoto, while Zoe was stationed in her droid.
Finally, 5:00pm arrived, and it was time to head on out. But not without the "One more picture, please?" requests.
And to wrap it up, a picture of Tom's cool car.
It was another good visit. This may be it for our visits to DSC while the exhibit is running, but you never know...
The full photoset is here.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Phantom Menace 3D Lucasfilm Event
Today R2 joined members of the Rebel Legion and 501st to help with the opening weekend of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3D.
This event at the AMC 14 in Tustin, CA was one of several official Lucasfilm & AMC special events around the country, and featured the building of a Lego mosaic, and face/arm painting, in addition to hosting the characters.
Disregard the disembodied head.
Arrival time was 10:00am. In order to get to the changing room for the characters, R2 had to navigate behind the concession stand. By the end of our visit, there was more popcorn than floor back there.
The characters changed into costume upstairs. Lucasfilm flew in Matt Bastyr as our Darth Maul from Minnesota, along with his brother/makeup artist Pete for this event.
At 11:00am it was showtime, as we waded into the crowd.
At one point we assembled for group pictures so people could line up and jump in for a picture with all the characters.
Darth Maul may look formidable, but he needs to watch his back.
By early evening, the Lego mosaic had been completed.
Near the end of the event, management and staff also took a group picture, and provided passes for a future visit. It was good to be back out after a few weeks off.
The full photoset is here.
This event at the AMC 14 in Tustin, CA was one of several official Lucasfilm & AMC special events around the country, and featured the building of a Lego mosaic, and face/arm painting, in addition to hosting the characters.
Disregard the disembodied head.
Arrival time was 10:00am. In order to get to the changing room for the characters, R2 had to navigate behind the concession stand. By the end of our visit, there was more popcorn than floor back there.
The characters changed into costume upstairs. Lucasfilm flew in Matt Bastyr as our Darth Maul from Minnesota, along with his brother/makeup artist Pete for this event.
At 11:00am it was showtime, as we waded into the crowd.
At one point we assembled for group pictures so people could line up and jump in for a picture with all the characters.
Darth Maul may look formidable, but he needs to watch his back.
By early evening, the Lego mosaic had been completed.
Near the end of the event, management and staff also took a group picture, and provided passes for a future visit. It was good to be back out after a few weeks off.
The full photoset is here.
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