Captain Phasma: Who is she?

Captain Phasma is one of the storm trooper captains for the First Order in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Leading up to the release of the movie, the hype seemed to be very high for this character. Once the movie came out, fans noticed that Phasma did not make many appearances or do much of anything important to the plot of the movie. The purpose of this post is to fill in for the lack of detail provided by the film about Phasma. Hopefully I can answer the question, Who is Phasma?

Captain Phasma is a female captain for the First Order. Her first appearance in the Star Wars movies was in the most recent addition, The Force Awakens. She worked as an unofficial commanding triumvirate for the First Order and their Starkiller Base. She took command of the stormtrooper soldiers of the First Order. Phasma serves alongside Kylo Ren and General Hux in their struggle against the "Resistance". Under orders from Supreme Leader Snoke, Phasma found herself on Jakku. She, alongside Kylo, attacked a small village called Tuanul. After capturing Poe, Phasma orders her storm troopers to kill the survivors. After this encounter on Jakku, Phasma is seen again when the stormtroopers unload off of the transport. She tells Finn, the newly introduced stormtrooper character, that he is to submit his blaster for inspection. She also scolds him for taking off his helmet without permission. After Han Solo and Chewbacca infiltrate Starkiller base, they take Phasma captive and force her, under the threat of death, to lower the base's planetary shield. Han Solo asks Finn if there is a trash compactor, referencing his incident with the trash compactor in episode four. It is believed that Phasma was left in the trash compactor before the destruction of the base.

More Star Wars Fun Facts!

Who doesn't want more Star Wars fun facts? Here's another list of interesting things you may not have known about the iconic saga.

1. The iconic scene prior to the Star Wars scroll that reads "A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." originally read "A long, long time ago, in the not-too-distant future..." This was changed when someone pointed out to Lucas that this made no sense.
2. Before the role of Princess Leia was offered to Carrie Fisher, the role was considered for other actresses such as Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, and Diana Ross.
3. The role of Han Solo was originally offered to Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum turned it down for a role in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall". Goldblum's on-screen time was almost edited out completely but he still got the satisfaction of the movie beating out Star Wars for an Oscar award.
4. Originally, only George Lucas knew about the iconic line "Luke, I am your father." The original script read "Luke, you are your own father." Lucas made up a story about a time-travel based "Return of the Jedi" to cover up the true line.
5. The filming of "The Empire Strikes Back" had to halt for two weeks due to George Lucas' tradition of a wind-surfing competition in Australia.
   

The Force Awakens Cameos

The newest release of Star Wars had lots of surprises that you may have missed. The movie has several cameos that may surprise you. There are already rumors that the next movie may feature even more very exciting cameos, but that's a post for another time. Here is a list of the cameos from the newest edition to the Star Wars Saga.

1. Thomas Brodie-Sangster: Star of Love Actually, Maze Runner, and Game of Thrones. He can be heard saying that there is an  “unscheduled departure" in the scene where Finn and Poe are stealing the TIE Fighter.
2. Ewan McGregor: In the scene were Rey takes Luke's lightsaber into her hand, there are many voices that can be heard. One of them in the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor. He can be heard saying “Rey . . . these are your first steps.”
3. Daniel Craig: The star of the more recent James Bond movies appears in episode 7 as a storm trooper. Craig doesn't just appear as a random storm trooper; he is the guard who is posted in the room to guard Rey while she is aboard Kylo Ren's space ship. Rey uses a Jedi mind-trick to convince Craig to remove her restraints and leave the room with the door open. You heard me right, James Bond got Jedi mind-tricked!
4. Warwick Davis: You may not know this actor by his real name, but you know him as the first Ewok seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Wicket. Davis can be seen as a strange alien creature in Maz Kanata's cantina. Davis also had a role in The Phantom Menace.
   

Han Solo Feature

Disney is creating a stand-alone Star Wars movie focusing on Han Solo. To my, and I'm sure many Star Wars fans dismay, Harrison Ford will not be starring in the role. The movie will focus on events that took place in the life of Han Solo before his appearance in the original Star Wars movie. No story details have been released yet. Before Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, the expanded universe had several books that focused on Solo's younger days. It is believed that some of the aspects of these books could make an appearance in the new movie, which is expected to be called Han Solo: A Star Wars Story. This belief comes from the fact that Disney utilized some of the details from the expanded universe in the newest movie release, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The stand-alone film is in pre-production, under the directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Most likely in anticipation for the May the Fourth festivities; Miller tweeted out the first official image from the production. It was Solo's iconic blaster.

Star Wars Fun Facts

• George Lucas based the original Star Wars movie around ideas of 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell's book.
• Lucas used inspiration from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film, 'The Hidden Fortress', to help tell the giant sci-fi story of Star Wars. The word Jedi is supposedly derived from the Japanese word Jidaigeki meaning period dramas. These are the types of films that Kurosawa would typically create.
• Lucas' initial draft for the Star Wars script was far too long. When 20th Century Fox agreed to make the movie, Lucas gave them the final screenplay which was over 200 pages long. The average screenplay for a movie is between 95 and 125 pages. Due to the length of the original screenplay, Lucas cut out the second two acts. The first act was made into what would be eventually called "Star Wars: A New Hope", and the latter two acts were made into "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back", and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi".
• Lucas initially used a series of 21 drawings which he commissioned from the illustrator Ralph McQuarrie to pitch and promote Star Wars.
• Harrison Ford was initially not intended to play the role of Han Solo. He had previously been cast in Lucas' movie "American Graffiti" and he wanted to look for unknown faces. He saw dozens of other actors, including Kurt Russell, but ended up choosing Harrison Ford because of his delivery feeding lines to the other actors.
• Orson Welles was originally going to be the voice of Darth Vader, but Lucas thought that his voice would be too recognizable.
• Star Wars' iconic opening crawl scene was created with practical effects. It was created by placing 2-foot-wide yellow letters over a 6-foot-long black paper background. The camera was slowly passed over the paper to mimic the crawl. In total, it took three hours to shoot.
• Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher actual had to perform the swing over the Death Star chasm themselves. The production couldn't afford stunt doubles so Hamill and Fisher, secured by safety harnesses, swung across the platform thirty feet above the studio floor.
• The original Millennium Falcon, unlike the one we know today, was long and cylindrical.
• Many theaters didn't want to show Star Wars. Less than forty theaters originally agreed to book show times for the movie after it's release date was moved up to before Memorial Day. The studio thought that it would bomb in a crowded summer movie lineup.
• After the amazing success of "Star Wars", and the studio trying to undermine Lucas every step of the way, he decided to fund "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" out of his own pocket. This was unheard of at the time. The Bank of America Branch that gave him a loan for the movie ended up pulling out, forcing him to ask 20th Century Fox for help and give up certain rights on the movie.
• Some of the scenes from "The Empire Strike Back" that occur on the planet Hoth were filmed at a glacier in Norway.
• Yoda was originally called "Buffy"

   

  . This was eventually changed to "Minch Yoda" which was later shortened to the name we know today, simply "Yoda".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for Padawans

Padawans, or students to a Jedi Master, have responsibilities, roles, and expectations that they must live up to. While in training, the Padawan is to remain attentive at all times to the teachings of the master. They are required to do what is asked of them at all times, whether or not they agree or feel that it is the right thing. They are required to be respectful; this entails addressing the master in a respectful manner. Padawans are required to complete the training that is asked of them in a timely manner according to the guidelines and restrictions set by the master. Padawans are also required to be respectful and work well with the other Padawans. Hindering the training of other Padawans will not be tolerated by the masters. In order for a Padawan to be successful they should trust in the training of the master and apply the training in the way that the master has intended. The Padawan should listen more than they speak. A Padawan should ask question when they do not understand a part of their training. It is through questions that mysteries will be revealed. A Padawan should be open to new ideas and refrain from being closed minded. A Padawan should accept that they do not understand certain things and that their master knows what they are talking about. Most importantly, a Padawan should only use their powers for good and to help others.

Lucas Reveals Star Wars Perspective

George Lucas, writer of the first six movies in the Star Wars saga, has revealed that the story of Star Wars has been told from the perspective of a character that may not have been expected by most fans. The well known droid character from the movies, R2-D2, is actually the narrator of the story. Lucas says that the droid is the keeper of the "journal of the whills"; which is a fictional book that holds all of the details involving the rebellion against the empire, the force, the Jedi order, the Dark Side, and basically all things that exist within the fictional Star Wars universe.
Lucas has also revealed that R2 is recounting the events in this journal approximately one-hundred years after the plot of the sixth movie, "Return of the Jedi". It can also be assumed that this journal holds other tales outside of the main plot line of Star Wars. This would explain the creation of the new spin-off plots such as "Rogue One".