The Force Awakens Designers Talk BB-8
Empire Magazine shared yet another interesting story from the pages of their latest isue due to release tomorrow August 27. This time The Force Awakens designers talk BB-8 and how they managed to create such unique character…
From EmpireOnline:
The droid began life as a quick Abrams sketch. “J.J. wanted something rolling on a sphere,” so I tried a lot of different designs developing that idea,” Concept Designer Christian Alzmann tells Lucasfilm’s Dan Brooks. “He would give direction on the kinds of shapes to use, and that led to a personality for the droid.”
Various BB-8s were created for shooting to perform different functions: one for close-ups; a couple with stabilizer wheels; one that could be picked up and interacted with by actors; one that could be thrown into shot without tipping over; and even an old-school rod-puppet version. But while a single fully-functioning, all-purpose BB-8 remained impractical for filming, it was a challenge the design team couldn’t leave alone.
“It had been sort of burning a hole in me,” says Senior Animatronic Designer Joshua Lee. “I started to design this crazy idea of one that would roam around and that we would show to the fans as well. We couldn’t do it for filming, but it had to be done! There are several ways of doing a ball robot, but there was nothing that included an articulated head or anything that could spin on the spot – and that’s one of BB-8’s signature moves. So, I started to design the prototype while Matt [Denton] adapted his existing software to make control of this new BB-8 possible.” The result made his public debut at Anaheim’s Star Wars Celebration last April, and may well play a significant role in Episode VIII.
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