WEBVTT - The Force is Strong with TechStuff 0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:11.680 Get in touch with technology with text Stuff from dot Com. 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:15.040 Hey there, and welcome to text Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland, 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.560 and today we're going to listen to a good, old 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:21.120 classic episode of tech Stuff. This is prompted by the 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.840 fact that the trailer for Star Wars episode seven came 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.200 out from and set my mind on fire. I'm sure 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.400 I'm not the only person out there who feels this way. 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.840 I love Star Wars. I thought the prequels have killed 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:37.519 it for me, but this, this preview has me cautiously optimistic. 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:40.000 And we thought it might be fun to talk about 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.919 the lightsaber and so I want to go back and 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.640 listen to this episode that Chris and I recorded way 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.919 back in April. This is going pretty far back there, 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:52.199 but we talked all about lightsabers. So check it out. 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.120 And then when the episodes over, I've got a little 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:58.959 bit of an update and some information to tell you. 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:06.000 So we're gonna start off this podcast with a little tweet. 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.000 This listener tweet comes from Jacqueline Hyde, who says, got 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:15.520 a listener request for you how lightsabers work. The force 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.520 is strong with this one, so we are going to 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.520 talk about lightsabers. This is kind of an interesting subject 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:23.679 in the sense that really it belongs and stuff you 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:25.760 missed in history class because it did happen a long 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.200 time ago. Any galaxy far far away, Yeah, um or 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.440 technically it could be fan stuff, but they don't have 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.360 a podcast. So we're gonna tackle it before anyone can 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.480 grab it from our cold dead paddawan hands. As the 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.840 Jedi would say, niner niner, Yes, the Jedi would say that. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.280 So of course we're talking about the civilized weapon from 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.120 a or the elegant weapon from a more civilized age. 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.920 The light Saber, as introduced to us through George Lucas's 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:56.720 brilliant work Star Wars A New Hope um or just 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.800 Star Wars. When it first came out in it was 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.640 not American Graffiti as many people think. No, no, there 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.320 was no cameo of the lightsaber in American graffiti, although 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.920 that would have made that movie that much more awesome. 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.000 So Lightsabers, of course, this is the weapon the Jedi use, 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.480 the the magic sword of the Star Wars series, and 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.919 in fact, when uh, most of the interviews I've seen 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.680 with Lucas, he just refers to it as a magic sword. 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:24.800 You know, it just it's that's what the purpose of 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:26.919 it is. It's just it happens to be called a lightsaber, 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.200 but it's a magic sword. So the problem with magic 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.400 is that there's not a whole lot to how it 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:38.120 works other than magic. You know, Yeah, you're just totally 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.040 getting into that early. I thought we were going to 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.480 go ahead and talk about how it works. All right, Well, 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.960 this has not stopped people from telling us how it works, 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.280 despite the fact that it's magic. So let's talk that. 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.920 There are people who will argue exactly how this works. 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:52.880 It's as a matter of fact, we have an article 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:57.360 on how it works. It's not cannon, and cannon is 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.480 important to me. But then again, and you know what 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.480 is canon jar jar binks. So let's just move on 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.639 into how lightsabers work. So a lightsaber is made up 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.320 of several different parts. You've got the handle, which is 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:14.360 pretty much where everything is, right, yeah, So the handle 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:16.880 has at the base of the handle, you've got the 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:22.600 power cell and it's a it was it diecium, yes, 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.240 the dietum crystal. All right, so you've got the diaction 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.240 power cell that's in the That's fine. You know what 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.680 if they correct us, if they take that time more 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.200 power to them uh diaction power cell is in the 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:37.760 middle of a power of vortex ring and a power 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.760 field conductor. Now where does all this power go? You've 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.600 you're generated. That's essentially like the battery of the lightsaber. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.120 That's the very base. So and it's got a lot 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.960 of energy stored in it, lots and lots of energy. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:50.840 Now where does this energy go once it starts to 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.120 emit from the power cell? It goes into the crystal 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.160 energy chamber right where you have your primary crystal. Now, 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:03.880 depending on whom you ask, this crystal may or may 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:09.520 not determine the color of the lightsabers blade. Now, some 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:14.600 would argue that the real determiner for the lightsaber color 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.960 is lies with the Jedi him or herself and the 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:24.520 force that that Jedi abuse the crystal. So in that case, 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.480 you could have any crystal and essentially have a lightsaber 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.240 of any color. It would all be up to the 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:34.640 individual Jedi. Others would argue, nay, tis not. So, the 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.800 lightsaber color is dependent entirely upon the color of the 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:42.640 crystal you select to focus this power. Um, I'm gonna 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:47.279 go with that one. So you know, of course, we 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.200 we also need to talk about how Jedi lightsabers are 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.520 different from Sith lightsabers because they are so the crystals 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.000 that Jedi use tend to be natural crystals. They're crystal 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.000 those found in caves throughout the galaxy um, and so 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:07.919 these crystals are they can take the power and create 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:12.080 the the the force of the I guess, the actual 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.360 lightsaber blade. It's the best way of putting it. Um. 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.240 And the Sith what they do is they'll they'll make 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.799 a they'll make their own crystals, they'll create a forge, 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.080 and they'll build a synthetic crystal. And there's tend to 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.960 be red, yes, which is why you see Sith while 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.720 like like Darth Maul or Darth Vader or Darth Tyrannus 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:33.960 walking around with a big old red lightsaber, whereas Jedi 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.320 they tend to stick with blue and green, although other 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:41.599 colors are also available. Yes, so there are more that, 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:43.400 but there are there are more than one crystal though 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.560 the primary crystal is uh is just one part of that. 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.000 There are sex there are secondary and smaller crystals, and 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.160 it sort of depends on the Jedi who builds the lightsaber, 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:56.200 because the lightsaber is creating a lightsaber is part of 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.039 becoming a Jedi. Yes, it's actually the final step of 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:04.120 Jedi training according to a Darth Vader. Yes so. But 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:06.400 but what the additional crystals do is they actually help 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.880 focus the energy into a blade form, right right, So, 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.520 the energy coming from the power cell, once it passes 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.000 through the crystal, that's what gives it the the destructive 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.040 force that we see from lightsabers. The other crystals focus 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.400 that into the blade. Um and depending also on upon 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.680 whom you ask, they may also give the the lightsaber 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:32.640 other certain powers, like it may enhance certain certain aspects 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.440 of the lightsaber. For example, we know that lightsabers can 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:40.839 deflect blaster fire. Some of these crystals are apparently more 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.160 effective at deflecting blaster fire than others, and others may 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.440 be better at cutting through certain kinds of material. So 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:53.360 uh Now, other other scholars will argue that's not the case. 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.880 The just focuses the blade, doesn't imbue it with any 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.400 other powers. Um. Personally, I haven't had my hands on 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.600 the lightsaber in a really long time, so it's kind 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.520 of hard for me to tell you exactly what what 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.440 which ones are, right, and also I have only ever 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.000 really used one, So with that small sample size, it's 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.640 impossible to say yes. And and it's probably a good 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.160 time to point out that if you do have the 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.960 opportunity to use the lights I remember it's it's not 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:21.440 the kind of thing that you just want to play 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:25.280 around with because it can be a very very dangerous weapon. 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.120 It turns out serious damage when you can cut through, 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.080 you know, a foot of steel that it's not the 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:36.480 best thing to you know, swatterfly with no um. After 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.600 it goes through the christ the focusing crystal, it passes 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:44.679 through the blade energy channel again further refines the blade 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.000 and directs it into a straight line that would emerge 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.239 from the hilt um. And then at the very top 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.520 of your blade, you've got your your cycling field energizer's 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:58.200 your energy modulation circuits uh, and then you've got your 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.840 your controls. Your control adjust the power of the blade, 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:04.920 and it also adjust the length of the blade. So 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.640 even though we normally see lightsabers used at a at 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.880 a pretty standard length, most people have it at a 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.400 whenever they turn on their lightsaber, it's pretty much the 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.000 same length each time. Technically you can adjust that so 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:20.480 you can make it longer or shorter using the blade 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.800 length adjustment UM. And then there's a magnetic magnetic stabilizing 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.880 ring and a blade shroud emitter um at the very 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:29.600 top which helped control the blade so it doesn't just 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.480 zap out when you turn it on. UM. That's your 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:39.199 basic anatomy of your lightsaber hilt, all right. And then 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.800 Coston there's the activation matrix, which is the star Wars 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:47.680 term for the switch. I just I love that part there. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.160 The handle is about thirty centimeters in length, so they're 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.880 not ridiculously long, right, UM, which is good to know. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:58.360 It generates an arc wave energy field, and this is 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:03.080 why the blades actually have a stopping point. Yes, and 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.600 it has it. It produces sort of a gyroscopic effect 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:07.960 to which is why you have to be very careful 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.840 with it because you know it has it has a 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.840 pull to it if you will, right. But that also 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.520 makes it easier to use, because otherwise it would be 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.080 like swinging a flashlight around. There'll be no feedback from 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.760 swinging the handle, and it would make it much more 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:26.640 difficult to master a lightsaber if you didn't have that 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.160 gyroscopic effect when you started swinging it around. UM. So 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.520 the blade arc tip, that's the very end of the 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:37.360 lightsaber um and it's it's the arc emmitter is what's 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.880 keeping it from becoming like a blaster. Actually, lightsabers predate 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:46.400 blasters um before it was a more civilized age after all, 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.960 as it was, and you know, I guess civilized means 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.800 that you locked each other's limbs off, as opposed to 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.720 shooting each other from very far away. Uh. Never never 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:58.599 bring a lightsaber to a blaster fight. Oh wait, no 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:00.280 you could do that. No, yeah, you can't do that 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.920 because yeah, alright, so let's let's talk about about that's 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.720 that's the basics of building your lightsaber um. Now, each 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.360 Jedi builds his or her own lightsaber as part of 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:16.000 their training. Uh, and they're gonna build it according to 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.960 their own particular fighting style. Now do you have you 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.280 heard about the different Jedi fighting styles? No? I haven't. 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:29.040 There are seven major forms of lightsaber styles. Yes, okay, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:30.720 well why don't you? Why don't you tell this? All right, 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.839 I'm gonna go into a little detail, but I'm just 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:36.240 gonna do this as a pretty high level thing. We 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.760 don't need to get into depth. This isn't Jedi fighting 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.920 style stuff. That's right. Yeah, that's another podcast that we're 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.040 starting next month. You start requesting now, um, next month 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.839 being April. I can't imagine when the first episode will 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:53.200 come out. So, so the the fighting styles, and you 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:55.560 can think of it kind of like martial arts styles. Um, 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.640 you know, not all martial arts styles are alike. Cut 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:59.959 on Day is very different from jiu jitsu, which is 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.400 very different from a keto, which in turn is different 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:07.160 from hap keto. Um, they're they're drunk Jedi style. No, 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.959 there's no drunken master Jedi style, although I hear Yoda 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.240 can get up to some way shenanigans on a Saturday unit. Uh. 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:17.440 The seven forms of lightsaber combat are actually listed as 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.400 you know, Form one, Form two, Form three. They each 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:20.880 have their own names, but I'm not even going to 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.679 try and pronounce them because they're all alien and I 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.760 don't have the capability. I don't actually know what the 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:28.880 pronunciation is for most of them. But if you hadn't 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.400 spilled your mini chlorine, you'd be fine, I know. In general, 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.640 Form one is the foundation. It is the basic form 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:39.200 of lightsaber combat. It's your basic strikes, your basic defenses. Um. 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.640 It teaches you how to view the body as a 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.640 series of targets like you think of you divide up 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:49.200 the body, like the head is a certain certain target, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.079 the arms, the torso, and you know, attacks are very 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.720 specific to each target. You know, different slashing techniques and 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:02.400 hacking techniques. So for one is kind of lightsaber combat 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.440 one oh one, everyone pretty much goes through that. Form 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:10.360 two is dueling. Now, this lightsaber combat really concentrates on 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:15.480 finesse blade control footwork. This is the kind of of 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:20.760 style that Colt Dooku slash Darth Tarrannis used. Now. That 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.160 is why his lightsaber handle actually has a curve at 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:25.679 the end of it. It's so that he can hold 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.240 it kind of like a pistol grip. Gives him a 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:31.280 lot of control over the tip of the blade. And 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.480 that's just his style of dueling. Now, this was much 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.880 more popular before blasters came out because it was just 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.360 really meant for lightsaber to lightsaber combat. Once blasters came out, 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.320 people Jedi began to realize that the in order to 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:49.520 deflect these these blaster bolts, they would need to adapt 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.480 their fighting style. This is not the best style to 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.240 use if you're being shot at by stormtroopers, for example. 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.959 So uh, but that was Tarrannis is favorite form. Then 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.160 there's Form three, which is defensive, where you are trying 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.760 to reveal the least amount of target space on your body, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.040 so it's really good for defending against blasters, that kind 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.080 of thing. Form four is an acrobatic style, lots of 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.560 flips and spins. You're using the force to boost your 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:20.400 your physical abilities, so you're you're depending more on uh 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:26.240 these acrobatics than on your blade at that point. So 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:30.080 Yoda uses that a lot. Um if you've seen him 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.560 fight Count Dooku, He's like a little queens and art. 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.800 And then uh Fom five that uses the deflective nature 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:41.480 of the lightsaber to reflect blaster fire. Um you you 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.760 use use strengthen your attacks, so it's a more brute 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:50.040 force kind of of approach. This is the style favored 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.679 by a certain Skywalker family. Both Anakin and Luke used 0:13:53.760 --> 0:14:00.000 Form five. Form six combines elements of forms one through five. Um, 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.840 but it also teaches that you should be detached from emotion. 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:08.200 You should be using very calculating ways of moving. You 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.160 shouldn't let your emotions dictate what you're doing. Four and 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.360 seven is kind of the opposite, that's leveraging your emotion 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.840 into power and using that to fight your opponents. This 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:23.880 was what Darth maul Uh used with some reliance on 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.880 on on Form four as well the acrobatic style. Now, 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.280 of course he had a double bladed lightsaber, and those 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.280 don't work all that differently than a regular lightsaber. They're 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.920 just basically two lightsabers attached together at the hilt. So 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.120 there's there's four crystals instead of two, or a minimum 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.360 of four, because you have to have for you know, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.640 two of the generator type and two of the focusing 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.000 type at minimum in order to create the two blades. 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.720 By the way, those focusing crystals are usually add again 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.960 crystals usually, but you can also find them on Dantweine 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.720 as well as many many other UH planets within these 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.720 Star Wars galaxy. Yes, until Senti Star comes after you 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.720 and you know calls you a coward. Right, I'm sorry, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:12.200 I switched genres. Okay, you lost me. You lost me, seriously, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:22.560 you never played Senti Star. I rarely played way way 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:24.720 way way back in the past, back when the Jedi 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:29.280 were um much more numerous. The color of your blade 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.920 also would indicate what what kind of Jedi you were. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.119 For example, if you had a blue blade. That signified 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.520 that you were a Jedi Guardian, and so you're much 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.000 more you know, kind of a physical. You would get 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.320 into the fights, you would you know, defend people with 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.440 your your prowess. Uh. Green would suggest that you were 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:50.720 a Jedi consular, and this would be someone who was 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:56.239 much more thoughtful and kind of contemplative. And then um, 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.360 Yellow would indicate that you're a Jedi Sentinel, and that's 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.680 someone who kind of was in between the other two. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:07.560 So so not as physical as the Guardians, but not 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:11.280 as brainy as the others either. So Yellow and Blue 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:16.600 dommate Green. This is true. I learned that somewhere should 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.880 we go into the other aspect of lightsabers. So you 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.800 mean we're actually gonna step outside of the realm of 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.480 Star Wars just look at the time and thinking that 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.080 maybe we should do that. That's pretty good idea, all right, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.440 So that's within the Star Wars universe, of course, that's 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.360 how they supposedly work. And I should also add none 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.760 of that is cannon. And when I say cannon, I'm 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.240 talking about the stuff that Lucas himself has signed off 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.240 on as saying, yes, this is officially part of the 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:47.360 Star Wars history. Um, most of that is just the movies. Um. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:49.880 To some extent, you could argue the books as well. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.120 Some of those. Lucas has more or less said, yeah, 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:54.760 even though that didn't appear in the movie, that is 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:58.520 cannon as well, But he never goes into explaining the 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.240 blades in the movies. And so this is really other 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:05.920 people trying to um rhet coon really to explain why 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.080 this stuff works. Um, yeah, basically, and if you're unfamiliar 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.160 with the tournament cannon is uh like basically, they're written 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.920 instructions for how a a magical or you know, fantasy 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.760 or science fiction universe operates. It kind of helps you 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.439 write the stories. And the Star Wars cannon sort of 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:24.800 came about after some of the stories had already been 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.639 in practice. So it's a little of the other universe. 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:29.200 So if you were to read some of the comic 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.199 books or some of the other books that have been 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.359 written in the Star Wars universe, you might notice that 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.520 they sometimes contradict what happened in later movies, and that's 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:40.320 because they're not canon, all right, So moving on to 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.600 how they actually created this effect, which is really which 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:45.960 is really fascinating too. I think right now now. First 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.640 of all, in a New Hope, the first film, they 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:53.040 hadn't originally considered animating or adding any light to these 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.880 at all. The original idea was that the lightsabers were 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:01.120 going to have There were these these uh I think 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.400 it was three sided, three sided pole that came out 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.800 kind of a triangular pole, and each side was was 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.240 coated with a very reflective material, and they used a 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.080 lamp that was on the same side as the camera 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:15.600 and focus the light so that it would reflect off 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.960 of it be really shiny, and there was a motor 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.840 inside the handle that would direct the side to be 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.720 aligned properly for the camera. But the effect was not 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:30.320 as a zippy as Lucas wanted. So they started to 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.000 cast about and see if they could find some other 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.880 way of making this magic sword seem really magical, and 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.040 they contacted an animator by the name of Nelson Shin. 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:45.680 Nelson Shin took a week and looked at this footage 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:49.480 that had been shot and used an effect called rhodoscoping. 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:54.240 The the technique and animation technique is actually a very 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.560 old technique. A lot of people and myself, including associated 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.480 with AHAs, take on video. I associate it with Ralph 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:07.440 Box She's um Lord of the Rings movie. Also, Wizards 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:09.960 was another movie he used it in. But it's it's 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.200 where you take live action footage and then you overlay 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.280 animation on top of it, sometimes replacing the live action 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.280 footage entirely, sometimes enhancing it, and in this case, it 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:21.840 was enhancing it. So what he did was he used 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.480 animation cells to create this this glowing blade effect on 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.439 top of the the actual physical rods that were in 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:35.840 the shots, and then uh using you know, synchronizing the 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.840 cells that he had created with the actual film, overlaying 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.680 the animated effect on it, creating a new print that 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.960 combined these two individual prints. And that's how you you know. 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:48.760 He sent that back to Lucas and said, well, here 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.440 you can try this and see if this works. Lucas 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.400 liked it. Um, they decided to go with that approach. 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.040 They refined it a little bit. They added some color 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.399 so you had different color blades because originally they were 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:03.360 both white and uh, and that was the beginning of 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.960 the lightsaber effect. Now, in the first three films, which 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:12.679 four or five and six, UM, they use the rotoscoping 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:18.840 technique where they would essentially hand draw these things on cells. Um. Basically, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:20.959 what they do is they put that cell over the 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.920 original film and color it in and then but that's 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.080 not but that's not all of it, because that does 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.639 add some color to it. But from from there they 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:32.760 have to shoot more film with the cell and the 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.960 original and when they do that, they shoot it over 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:40.320 a black background and use a light diffuser over the lens. 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:43.760 They double exposed the shots and that that makes them 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:46.080 really pop. That makes that makes them look sort of 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.439 you know, gives them that sort of otherworldly effect. You know, 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.919 how bright they are in their shots. So kind of 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:56.800 sophisticated when you think about it, but very very time consuming. Right, Yes, 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.680 it took took a really long time. It took slightly 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:02.239 less time by the time they got around to the 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:04.600 prequels episodes one, two, and three, because they could do 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:07.320 it all digitally, but somebody still has to go into 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.600 the computer and you're doing it, you're doing it all 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:15.919 in computer as opposed to doing it on hand handmade cells. Um. So, 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:18.240 I mean it still takes time, it's just not quite 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:20.960 as time consuming, except for the fact that Lucas decided 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.280 to throw in about I don't know ten times as 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.080 many lightsaber battles in those first three movies as the 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.679 original trilogy combined. Um, the the actual hilts of the 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:34.359 lightsabers were made up of old camera flash battery packs 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.679 and other odds and ends, like stuff from hardware stores 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:44.679 like plumbing, um gaskets and things like that. Now, they 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:48.000 shot these movies in England, so they were raiding various 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.720 British hardware shops. So a lot of the materials that 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.440 they used to build the lightsaber handles are very hard 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:58.200 to find or sometimes impossible to find in the United States, 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:01.320 which is why it's kind of challenging to create a 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:04.440 model of those those first. Again, this is for the 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.640 first trilogy four or five and six. Um, it's hard 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.520 to make those faithfully just because it's hard to get 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:13.959 those parts in the United States. Um. Now, for episodes one, two, 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:18.200 and three, those were all machined, so there's all like routed. 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.000 They designed them in the computer and then and then 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:23.439 made use a router to cut custom parts and then 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.120 assembled them. So it wasn't like they were just grabbing 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.399 whatever they could find and and sticking it together. Um. 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:32.040 They came up with the concept, and artists came up 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:34.120 with the concept and then they built it from scratch. 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:37.320 That was actually one of my questions, like, where'd the 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:41.119 Jedi going to machine these parts? And you know, do 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:48.000 they as electrical engineering part of their training. It's Dreadria. 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:53.320 It's in the CAD system, very very nice. A lot 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:55.600 of a lot of rascals in the CAD system. As 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:57.560 it turns out, I think Han Solo actually spent a 0:22:57.560 --> 0:22:59.960 lot of time in the CAD system. It's funny because 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:02.239 when I started doing the two of these, the two 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:04.959 pieces of this, the fantasy part and the you know, 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:07.320