That Rolling Ball Droid From The Force Awakens Trailer Wasn't CGI

[Fulbert]

Don Hertzfeldt, a prominent indie animated films creator, said once that it's very difficult to surprise the audience with visuals nowadays as they'll just go, "Eh, I guess it was done on a computer or something." Whenever he aired his new animation on a festuval someone would come up to him and say, "Nice visuals. What software did you use?" He'd then say he didn't use computers in the production of his films and that's when everyone would get shocked and amazed.

So, yeah. CGI has become so awesome and omnipresent nobody seems to care anymore. I wonder if that's how people would react to magic if it were to appear in our world out of the blue. At first everyone would freak out about all the fireballs and teleportations and rocks floating in the air, but a few years down the line everyone would cease to care and start wishing for something truly amazing. Like, I dunno...

I mean, I really dunno.

 

[Something Amyss]

How does it work? Magnets seem a likely explanation, although I can think of a few others. I DEMAND SCHEMATICS!

From stills it looks like there are two roughly hemispherical "wheels" with an articulation point in the middle.

- No mechanical part to maintain, notably articulations

Except where needed, like the connections to the wheels and whatever mechanism rotates the head.

- can roll on most surfaces, fast and precisely, unlike foot/wheel-based robots

Weight dependent, may be bad on sand, the exact environment it's demonstrated in.

- resist to shocks and falls, due to their spherical nature, no ED-209 debacle in stairs

No evidence that this design is more resistant to anything, given it appears to be the same hardware as other droids. You also have to consider that it's got no apparent traction and climbing stairs is still going to be an issue (especially if it's heavy enough to get traction in loose sand or snow).

- you can shoot in it when you're pissed

No idea what this means.

But still far more practical than R2-D2.

Unless you want to do things like have it interact with things, like R2 does in every single movie he's in.

Though practicality would never be my argument. It's a movie with lazer swords.

Point. Though I was trying to go the other way: a speeder may have anti-grav tech, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a little aerodynamic. A touch of realism to go with the absurd.

Depends on what it was designed for. My first thought was that this was some sort of hauling unit which may not ordinarily be designed for long-distance travel or even high speed (assuming we're talking about the fudgesicle). It's not like repurposing things is particularly alien to Star Wars.

I mean, do I like the design? Ehhhhhhhhhh. But I also don't think it's necessarily a bad design. It immediately reminded me of a tractor.

 

[ckam]

Oh, this was worth a story? I assumed everyone already knew it wasn't cgi. Guess not.

 

[Storm Dragon]

- can roll on most surfaces, fast and precisely, unlike foot/wheel-based robots

Weight dependent, may be bad on sand, the exact environment it's demonstrated in.

- resist to shocks and falls, due to their spherical nature, no ED-209 debacle in stairs

No evidence that this design is more resistant to anything, given it appears to be the same hardware as other droids. You also have to consider that it's got no apparent traction and climbing stairs is still going to be an issue (especially if it's heavy enough to get traction in loose sand or snow).

Maybe the surface of the ball part is rubberized, that would give it additional traction.

 

[JarinArenos]

*Soccer ball. Football is a sport where the players don't fake injuries, hue hue hue.

Only because there's so many real ones. <.<

I'm glad that it seems they're sticking to non-CGI whenever possible. It gives the actors a closer connection to the scenes they're in. It won't make a good movie by itself, of course, but it can certainly help.

 

[RedDeadFred]

My problem wasn't that it looked like it was CGI (CGI done right is a good thing), my problem is that that looks really dumb. Who knows though, maybe people thought R2-D2 looked ridiculous too when he was first shown. Maybe we'll end up loving the little guy. Trying to be optimistic despite the trailer being one of the worst teasers I've ever seen for a movie like this.

 

[Something Amyss]

Maybe the surface of the ball part is rubberized, that would give it additional traction.

I'm guessing you've never lived in an area with heavy snow or sand. I live in Vermont, and it's kind of funny watching hybrid cars get stuck in snow every year, almost without fail. doesn't even have to be deep snow. Rubber in itself doesn't solve the issue of traction. And even still, we can guess that they added a rubberised surface, but that doesn't make him correct in saying a spherical droid is more practical.

 

[Nazulu]

I admit, I thought it was CGI. I wasn't really looking for anything noticeable really, and it all went by so quick.

Though I thought it was all CGI because once again the lighting is odd. Most blockbusters seem so unnatural at times and I can't see why this trend still exists.

 

[alj]

I am still in high hopes very low expectations mode at the moment.

But that trailer needs more sense flare it cannot be a jj film without it !

 

[Woopate]

Excellent. I hope they did it this way:

http://xkcd.com/413/

I've wanted to build one for years now, but never got around to it. In any case it's great to hear Star Wars is trying to keep to practical effects. The prop builders are a very skilled group of people who deserve work, they literally make magic. That scene in Pacific Rim where Gypsy Danger punches the Newton's cradle on a desk in a building was practical too. I love practical stuff. Makes me feel like I can own a piece of the action.

 

[Li Mu]

Doesn't change the fact that it's just R2's head on a football. I really don't like it but whatever.

And R2 D2 was just a garbage can with legs. What's your point?

 

[creamy5000]

Hurray! a Segway droid ...big whoop!

 

[MrBaskerville]

Well it still looks fucking ridiculous, so really, that's another point against it.
I swear, is JJ just trying to redesign everything to absurdity? Because at this point I wouldn't be surprised if C3PO shows up as a battle mech with shoulder spikes.

Time has passed. If that is R2-D2's head on a rollerball, it's because post Empire he got his body shot off. Droids are still droids and require repairs and up-grades. So it's more likely C-3po and R2-d2 are either different, junk, or aged and nearly useless antiques.

They are too iconic to change that much, so I really doubt that's R2-D2.
It's more likely we'll see them looking the same design-wise but a bit busted up.

Either busted up and set aside for newer models, or shiny and new and in the thick of it even thought they are outdated heaps. Yah. When you really think about it R2 should be old tech, and C3po was always built out of scrap parts anyways. Both characters should be in a scene and then forgotten for the new technology that has happened since the end of the Empire.

I don't think C3P0 is supposed to be built on scrap parts, there's clearly a silver version of him featured in A New Hope, meaning he's probably supposed to be manufactured? Unless somebody built an identical copy from different scrap parts^^.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Good news for fans (that include even Hamill himself) who were hoping that the new trilogy would have a better balance of CGI than the green-screen explosion fests that were the prequels.

Yes. Keep raising your hopes. That's always a good idea and it's not like Star Wars has ever disappointed anybody.

 

[Vigormortis]

OK, sorry. It's just (as you know) internet fandom arguments normally have 3 sides all trying to "prove" the others wrong until their view is the only one left: one side for, one side against, and another telling them to all stop nerding out because it's not real. From your wording I thought you fell into the hardcore element of the third camp. My bad.

It's okay. Admittedly, I probably should have worded my original post a little less...inflammatory. The tone of my response stemmed from two circumstances. One from being insulted, numerous times now, by fans who thought I was just being a "nerd-hating douche" for pointing out the oddity in their argument. (a woefully inept insult since I'm the very definition of a nerd) And the other from being called a "no-life dork" for even mentioning that I thought the teaser looked cool.

So if my response came off as such, I apologize.

Yeah, as much as I hate the thing's design, you have a point. Trying to keep an open mind, but I grew up on Star Wars. It focused my imagination toward sci-fi and fantasy, genres which have defined my hobbies and thus me. Thus, I gobbled up the EU - warts and all - up until the Yuuzhan Vong, so to see all those years be rewarded with the abandonment of all that, to have it be replaced by this... it's kinda hard.

Believe it or not, I can appreciate and sympathize with your point of view on this. It's often jarring, and even at times disheartening, to see the dressings of the thing you love; the thing you grew up with and that helped shape who you are; changed. It's happened to me many times. I mean, I'm a Trek fan as well. So you know the roller-coaster ride I've been on watching that series grow and expand.

But in this instance there could still be hope. Provided the core foundation of the series remains intact (and more crucially, adheres to the original trilogy more than the prequels), the changes and additions become either inconsequential fluff or window-dressings that accentuate the core.

And that, I feel, is how these changes should be viewed. Window-dressings. Because in the end they don't really matter. What's more important is what we see through the window.

[sub]That's a terrible analogy, but it's the one I'm going with.[/sub]

Granted, if there are too many window-dressings, the view of the window can be obscured, ruining the whole affair. But for now the worst we've seen is an odd looking ball-droid and a semi-badass looking claymore light-saber.

All in all, given what else was in the teaser, I think we're coming out ahead.

Point. Though I was trying to go the other way: a speeder may have anti-grav tech, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a little aerodynamic. A touch of realism to go with the absurd.

Agreed. But they can't take away my fudge-pop speeder now that they've shown me it. That'd be unfairly cruel!

Personally, I don't hate the new stuff too much. I think they look too kiddy/too designed for Rule of Cool, but I haven't seen how they're handled in the film yet, so whatever. I'm trying to save my bitching until then.

And if the film turns out terrible, I'll be bitching about it right there along side you.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Doesn't change the fact that it's just R2's head on a football. I really don't like it but whatever.

And R2 D2 was just a garbage can with legs. What's your point?

My point is that R2-D2 wasn't a rip-off of a popular established character.

 

[TheNaut131]

...

Wow, you all are babies.

Big angry nerd babies.

Shit, I did not know people hated this droid design that much.

I really don't think its that bad. It rolls? Big whoop. Don't sweat it. Plus traditional props and effects are just fun. Geez, I get we're all worried abour J.J fucking shit up, I feel like some of ya'll are going fishing.

But eh, what do I know.

I'm just all about that Millenium Falcon hype.

 

[Oroboros]

It being CGI or not doesn't affect my dislike of it, The fact that it's a soccer ball with an R2 dome on top does. It just looks ridiculous, and I can't imagine it having near the amount of gizmos and gadgets that R2 had stashed away inside the transparent sphere the R2 head is sitting on.

To me it just looks like JJ's continuing Lucas's tradition of introducing characters just to sell toys. I can't imagine what other purpose that thing could have.

 

[Li Mu]

Doesn't change the fact that it's just R2's head on a football. I really don't like it but whatever.

And R2 D2 was just a garbage can with legs. What's your point?

My point is that R2-D2 wasn't a rip-off of a popular established character.

If you think about it logically, most droids will be modifications of previous droids. In the same way that most cellphones are similar in design to previous cell phones. Most cars are slight variations on previous cars.
You wont suddenly get a car with 7 wheels, shaped like a banana. It will keep a fairly similar design with modifications. They take the old design and make slight improvements on it. Airbag, SAT NAV, sun roof, more slimline...etc

In this same sense, droid designers probably felt that a peddle bin with legs wasn't dynamic enough and that a wheel should be fitted. This would act as an improvement on an older design.
It makes perfect design sense.

So actually, in this fictional world, this makes perfect sense. It would make less sense to have a totally different looking droid.

 

[Li Mu]

...

Wow, you all are babies.

Big angry nerd babies.

Shit, I did not know people hated this droid design that much.

I really don't think its that bad. It rolls? Big whoop. Don't sweat it. Plus traditional props and effects are just fun. Geez, I get we're all worried abour J.J fucking shit up, I feel like some of ya'll are going fishing.

But eh, what do I know.

I'm just all about that Millenium Falcon hype.

I'm waiting for them to complain that the colour of tatooine's sand is the wrong colour.
Just to spite everyone, I'm going to go to the film and I am going to REALLY ENJOY IT!
I like Star Wars. I thought the 3 prequels were a huge pile of Bantha guano, so I really don't see how this could be worse.
George Lucas is a poor director. He made ONE good film and that was it. Empire and Jedi were directed by different people and they turned out well. When Lucas directed the prequels he made some mess of CGI and bad acting, thrown in with stupid retcons and an idiotic plot. They were on par with stuff like Twilight.

JJ will easily do better now that the film's license has been taken from the clutches of that old fool Lucas.