1.
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
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Star Wars, TIE Fighter is a 1994 space flight simulator and space combat video game, the sequel to Star Wars, X-Wing. It places the player in the role of an Imperial starfighter pilot during events that occur between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, lawrence Holland and Edward Kilhams Totally Games studio, which released X-Wing the year before, designed TIE Fighter. Based on X-Wings game engine, TIE Fighter supports Gouraud shading and adds gameplay features, TIE Fighter was updated and re-released several times, and it was a critical success. The games plot begins soon after the Empires victory on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, as with X-Wing, the players character is unnamed in the game, however, an included novella and Prima Publishings strategy guide name the character Maarek Stele and provide a background narrative. In addition to fighting Rebel Alliance forces, the player flies against pirates, combatants in a civil war, the original game ends with the player preventing a coup against Emperor Palpatine and being personally rewarded during a large ceremony. Though playing on the side of the Star Wars sagas villain, the storyline is divided across several battles, each of which has four to eight missions. Although some of the battles can be played out of order, mission briefings and debriefings, cutscenes, and in-flight communication advance the story. After selecting a file, the player views the concourse. While the main focus of gameplay is completing battles, the concourse also offers several other areas, the training simulator lets the player fly each of the pilotable Imperial craft through a complex obstacle course. The combat chamber offers four extra missions for each craft, ranging from training scenarios to historical reenactments of important missions, there is also a room to view mission recordings, and a tech room to view information about every spacecraft that appears in the game. When the player selects a mission, he or she is given a briefing, consisting of a dialog describing the mission, the player may optionally read a list questions and answers about the mission. In addition to the mission briefing covering primary objectives, there is often another briefing given by a mysterious figure who belongs to the Emperors Inner Circle. This person informs the pilot of optional secondary objectives and provides additional plot information, in-flight gameplay is similar to X-Wing, played primarily in first-person but with the option to switch to third person. All flight takes place in space, the player does not encounter gravity or atmospheric effects, mission roles including dogfighting, escorting or disabling other craft, inspecting vehicles, and attacking capital ships and space stations. Initial missions place the player in unshielded TIE fighter variants, as the game progresses, laser cannons and ion cannons serve as short range weapons, damaging or disabling targets respectively. Some starfighters carry limited warheads for additional range/firepower, as with X-Wing, the player needs to balance power allocation between weapons, engines, and shields, some craft also require the player to further balance power for a beam weapon. The player can change the firing modes of his or her fighters weapons. If the ship possesses shields, the player chooses the shield balance between front and rear, shields are rechargeable, they protect from damage but are depleted when absorbing damage
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
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Star Wars: TIE Fighter
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
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A
Mon Calamari Star Cruiser (foreground) and Victory -class
Star Destroyer (background) viewed from a
TIE Avenger cockpit in the 1998 X-Wing Collector Series version of TIE Fighter. This edition adds
texture-mapped graphics.
2.
Star Wars (film)
–
Star Wars is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. The first installment in the Star Wars film series, it stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew co-star in supporting roles. The plot focuses on the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia, and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empires space station and this conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmhand Luke Skywalker, who inadvertently acquires a pair of droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 25,1977 and it earned $461 million in the U. S. and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It surpassed Jaws to become the film of all time until the release of E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial. When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the film in North America. It received ten Academy Award nominations, winning seven and it was among the first films to be selected as part of the U. S. Library of Congress National Film Registry as being culturally, historically, at the time, it was the most recent film on the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. Its soundtrack was added to the U. S. National Recording Registry in 2004, today, it is often regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It launched an industry of tie-in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic books, and video games, the films success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, followed by a trilogy beginning in 2015. In 2016, Rogue One was released as a prequel to the original Star Wars film. The galaxy is in the midst of a civil war, spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empires Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil Darth Vader, before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. R2-D2 flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with C-3PO, the droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker. While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leias message, the next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. Contrary to his uncles statements, Luke learns that his father, Anakin, Obi-Wan tells Luke that Vader was his former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force and killed Anakin. Obi-Wan then presents to Luke his fathers weapon – a lightsaber, Obi-Wan views Leias complete message, in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis
Star Wars (film)
–
Theatrical release poster by
Tom Jung
Star Wars (film)
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From left: Luke Skywalker (
Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (
Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (
Harrison Ford)
Star Wars (film)
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Anthony Daniels (pictured here in 2005) was convinced to take the role of the droid C-3PO after seeing a design drawing of the character's face
Star Wars (film)
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George Lucas, the director and writer of Star Wars, shown here in 2007. He was unsuccessful in
pitching his idea to several major Hollywood studios because it was "a little strange". Eventually, Lucas presented the treatment to
20th Century Fox, and the film was approved.
3.
Star Wars
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Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars and it was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed-to-negative reactions, a sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars, The Force Awakens. All seven films were nominated for Academy Awards and have been successes, with a combined box office revenue of over $7.5 billion. Spin-off films include Star Wars, The Clone Wars and Rogue One, Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the Most successful film merchandising franchise. In 2015, the value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $42 billion. In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and earned the rights to all subsequent Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, the events depicted in the Star Wars franchise take place in an unnamed fictional galaxy at an undetermined point in the distant past. Many species of creatures are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Galactic Republic, at the end of the trilogy and throughout the original trilogy. Preceding and during the trilogy, this government is the New Republic. One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the Force and it is described in the first produced film as an energy field created by all living things surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together. While the Force can be used for good, known as the side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression. The sequel trilogy introduces the Knights of Ren, an order of practitioners of the side of the Force aligned with the First Order. The first film in the series, Star Wars, was released on May 25,1977 and this was followed by two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21,1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25,1983
Star Wars
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A street performer in costume as
Darth Vader in
Amsterdam. Vader is one of the most iconic characters of the Star Wars franchise.
Star Wars
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The Star Wars logo as seen in all films
Star Wars
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George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars
Star Wars
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John Williams, composer of the musical
scores for all six films of the original and prequel trilogies.
4.
Ion thruster
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An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. It creates thrust by accelerating ions with electricity, the term refers strictly to gridded electrostatic ion thrusters, but may more loosely be applied to all electric propulsion systems that accelerate plasma, since plasma consists of ions. Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force, electrostatic thrusters use the Coulomb force and accelerate the ions in the direction of the electric field. Electromagnetic thrusters use the Lorentz force, in either case, when an ion passes through an electrostatic grid engine, the potential difference of the electric field converts to the ions kinetic energy. Ion thrusters have an input power need of 1–7 kW, exhaust velocity 20–50 km/s, thrust 25–250 millinewtons, the Deep Space 1 spacecraft, powered by an ion thruster, changed velocity by 4.3 km/s while consuming less than 74 kilograms of xenon. The Dawn spacecraft broke the record, with a velocity of 10 km/s, applications include control of the orientation and position of orbiting satellites and use as a main propulsion engine for low-mass robotic space vehicles. The ion thruster is not the most promising type of electrically powered spacecraft propulsion, an ion drive would require two days to accelerate a car to highway speed. The technical characteristics, especially thrust, are inferior to the prototypes described in literature. Ion thrusters create small thrust levels compared to chemical rockets. The power imparted to the exhaust increases with the square of exhaust velocity while thrust increase is linear, conversely, chemical rockets provide high thrust, but are limited in total impulse by the small amount of energy that can be stored chemically in the propellants. Given the practical weight of power sources, the acceleration from an ion thruster is frequently less than one thousandth of standard gravity. However, since they operate as motors, they convert a greater fraction of input power into kinetic exhaust power. Chemical rockets operate as heat engines, and Carnots theorem limits the exhaust velocity, Ion thrust engines are practical only in the vacuum of space and cannot take vehicles through the atmosphere because ion engines do not work in the presence of ions outside the engine. Besides, the engines minuscule thrust would not matter when air resistance comes into play, spacecraft rely on conventional chemical rockets to initially reach orbit. The first person to mention the idea publicly was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1911, however, the first document to consider electric propulsion is Robert H. Goddards handwritten notebook in an entry dated September 6,1906. The first experiments with ion thrusters were carried out by Goddard at Clark University from 1916–1917, the technique was recommended for near-vacuum conditions at high altitude, but thrust was demonstrated with ionized air streams at atmospheric pressure. A working ion thruster was built by Harold R. Kaufman in 1959 at the NASA Glenn Research Center facilities and it was similar to a gridded electrostatic ion thruster and used mercury for propellant. Suborbital tests were conducted during the 1960s and in 1964, the engine was sent into a flight aboard the Space Electric Rocket Test 1
Ion thruster
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NASA's 2.3 kW
NSTAR ion thruster for the
Deep Space 1 spacecraft during a hot fire test at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ion thruster
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SERT-1 spacecraft
Ion thruster
–
Thruster components
5.
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
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The Galactic Empire, often referred to simply as the Empire, is a fictional dictatorship featured in the Star Wars franchise. It was first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars and also appears in its two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and is the main antagonist faction of the original trilogy. By the time of the trilogy, which starts three decades following the events of the original trilogy, the government has collapsed and is remembered as the Old Empire. Palpatine is also secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious who intends to purge the Jedi, Palpatines Sith identity is only known by a small few throughout his life. Palpatine claims that the Jedi attempted to assassinate him and overthrow the Galactic Senate, the Senate that he has manipulated overwhelmingly applauds Palpatines decision. Emperor Palpatine proceeds to purge the Jedi, who had been the upholders of peace and justice in the Republic, by the time of Episode IV, A New Hope, the Empire has transformed into a fully totalitarian regime, opposed by the Rebel Alliance. The Galactic Empire was born out of the collapsing Old Republic, the crisis on Naboo allows Palpatine to be elected Chancellor. When the extent of the Separatist threat becomes clear in Episode II, the Old Republic Senate and this conflict allows Palpatine to remain in office long after his term as Chancellor officially expires. Palpatine promises to return his powers to the Senate once peace and his first order is to create an army of clone troopers resulting in the construction of a massive military. He takes advantage of the conflict to increase his political power, the Jedi begin to distrust the Chancellors motives, fearing he has come under the influence of a Dark Lord of the Sith named Darth Sidious. Palpatine insists to the Jedi that the war, and thus his emergency powers and their concerns are shared by several Senators, who suspect Palpatine may not return his emergency powers to the Senate as promised. Among them are two who had long supported Palpatine, Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa, the film eventually reveals that Palpatine and Sidious are one and the same, and that he has been manipulating the Republic and the Separatists against each other. When the Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker discovers Palpatine is actually the mysterious Sith lord Darth Sidious, Windu then leaves with three other Masters to arrest Palpatine, instructing Anakin to remain at the temple. Mace Windu, with a cadre of Jedi, enters Palpatines office and declares that he is under arrest, Palpatine dispenses with his false modest persona and reveals his power-hungry nature, retorting I am the Senate. Palpatine quickly produces a lightsaber and dispatches all but Windu, when Anakin arrives, Windu is standing over the disarmed Palpatine, prepared to strike. Anakin intervenes on Palpatines behalf by cutting off Windus hand, allowing Palpatine to send Windu plunging to his death with a blast of Force lightning, Anakin then submits to the dark side of the Force, becoming Palpatines third Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine declares the Jedi to be traitors and enemies of the Republic, and issues Order 66, led by Darth Vader, the Grand Army of the Republic, who once took orders from the Jedi, all but exterminate the Jedi Order in a massive galaxy-wide slaughter. Secure in his power and position, Palpatine reorganizes the Republic into the Galactic Empire, a deleted scene in the film establishes that the two are among the main founders of the Rebel Alliance, which later arises in A New Hope
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
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Augustus in the robes and cloak of his position as
Pontifex Maximus
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
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Emblem of the Galactic Empire
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
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Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler in black SS uniform, visiting a
concentration camp. Star Wars and History published by Lucasfilm says that
Darth Vader 's relationship with
Palpatine is alike
Himmler 's relationship with
Hitler. Mary Henderson in Star Wars: The Magic of Myth contends that
Darth Vader 's all-black uniform and his devout obedience to the Emperor has allusion to
Nazi Germany 's SS.
6.
Star Wars expanded universe
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The Star Wars expanded universe is a collective term for all Star Wars fictional material produced by Lucasfilm or officially licensed by it. This restructuring left the Star Wars theatrical films, the Clone Wars animated film, a number of works have subsequently been produced, including the Rebels animated TV series, the 2015 film The Force Awakens, and multiple novels and comic book series. Fosters 1978 novel Splinter of the Minds Eye was commissioned by Lucas as the basis for a potential sequel to Star Wars should the film prove unsuccessful. A Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics ran from April 1977 to May 1986, former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter credited the titles strong sales for saving Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. Marvels Star Wars series was one of the top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. The material was used as a resource by some novelists that followed, StarWars. com wrote in 2014 that the novel jumpstarted a publishing program that endures to this day and formalized the Expanded Universe. It introduced, among others, the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade and this so-called Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise. In The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski suggests that this renewed interest was a factor in Lucass decision to create the prequel trilogy. Around this same time, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and launched a number of series set after the film trilogy. In 1999, Star Wars book publishing moved from Bantam Spectra to Del Rey Books, New Jedi Order, set 25 to 30 years after the original films, introduced a new threat, the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. The bulk of Expanded Universe storytelling explores the time period after Return of the Jedi, subsequent novels and comics were set before, concurrent with, and after the events of these works. In 2004, USA Today reported that over 1,100 Star Wars titles had been published, including novels, comics, non-fiction, then-president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman, estimated that there were more than 65 million Star Wars books in print. He said, The books are a way of extending the fantasy of Star Wars, the movies have had a really profound effect on a couple of generations. Star Wars has become a cultural touchpoint, and our fans are avidly interested in exploring more stories, the animated television series Star Wars, The Clone Wars ran from 2008 to 2014 and was set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Lucas discussed ideas for a sequel trilogy several times after the conclusion of the original trilogy, in October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion. In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the Expanded Universe material as Star Wars Legends, the companys focus would be shifted towards a restructured Star Wars canon based on new material. The announcement called these works the immovable objects of Star Wars history and it was also made clear that a planned Star Wars sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on Legends material but could possibly draw from it. Lucas had previously used the character Aayla Secura, introduced in 2000 in the Star Wars, Republic comic book series, in Attack of the Clones
Star Wars expanded universe
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An overall map of the Star Wars galaxy
Star Wars expanded universe
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The Star Wars logo, as seen in all films
Star Wars expanded universe
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A divided and more detailed map of the Star Wars galaxy
Star Wars expanded universe
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Rebel forces approach the
Death Star I during the
Battle of Yavin, an event regarded by George Lucas a decisive moment within the fictional history of the Star Wars "Legends" branded Expanded Universe, and is marked as year 0 BBY on Galactic Standard Calendar.
7.
George Lucas
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George Walton Lucas Jr. is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as the founder of Lucasfilm and he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm, before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas co-founded American Zoetrope with fellow filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas wrote and directed THX1138, based on his earlier student short Electronic Labyrinth, THX1138 4EB, which was a critical success but a financial failure. His next work as a writer-director was the film, American Graffiti, inspired by his teen years in early 1960s Modesto, California, the film was critically and commercially successful, and received five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Following the first Star Wars film, Lucas produced and co-wrote the following installments in the trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, along with Steven Spielberg, Lucas co-created and wrote the Indiana Jones films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade. Lucas also produced and/or wrote a variety of films through Lucasfilm in the 1980s and 1990s, Lucas also returned to directing with the Star Wars prequel trilogy, consisting of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. He later collaborated on the story for the Indiana Jones sequel Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, five of Lucass seven features are among the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. Lucas is one of the American film industrys most financially successful filmmakers, Lucas is considered a significant figure in the New Hollywood era. Lucas was born and raised in Modesto, California, the son of Dorothy Ellinore Lucas and George Walton Lucas and he is of German, Swiss-German, English, Scottish, and distant Dutch and French descent. Growing up, Lucas had a passion for cars and motor racing, on June 12,1962, while driving his souped-up Autobianchi Bianchina, another driver broadsided him, flipping over his car, nearly killing him, causing him to lose interest in racing as a career. He attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied anthropology, sociology and he also began shooting with an 8 mm camera, including filming car races. At this time, Lucas and his friend John Plummer became interested in Canyon Cinema, screenings of underground, avant-garde 16 mm filmmakers like Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage, and Bruce Conner. Lucas and Plummer also saw classic European films of the time, including Jean-Luc Godards Breathless, François Truffauts Jules et Jim, thats when George really started exploring, Plummer said. Through his interest in racing, Lucas met renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler, another race enthusiast. Wexler, later to work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by Lucas talent, George had a very good eye, and he thought visually, he recalled. Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film. During the years at USC, Lucas shared a room with Randal Kleiser. Along with classmates such as Walter Murch, Hal Barwood, and John Milius and he also became good friends with fellow acclaimed student filmmaker and future Indiana Jones collaborator, Steven Spielberg
George Lucas
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Lucas in 2009
George Lucas
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Director
Jim Henson (left) and Lucas (right) working on
Labyrinth in 1986.
George Lucas
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Lucas at the Time 100 2006 gala
8.
Joe Johnston
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Joseph Eggleston Joe Johnston II is an American film director and former effects artist best known for such effects-driven movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji and Jurassic Park III. These movies include a number of films such as The Rocketeer, The Wolfman. In 1999 Johnston won acclaim for the biographical drama October Sky, Johnston was born in Austin, Texas, and attended California State University, Long Beach, and Pasadenas Art Center College of Design. Much of the work at the beginning of Johnstons screen career combined design and he began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the first Star Wars film, directed by George Lucas, and was art director on one of the effects teams for the sequel. He was also producer on fantasy Willow, and production designer on two mid-80s TV movies which featured the Ewoks seen in Return of the Jedi. Johnston is also author of Star Wars novel The Adventures of Teebo, A Tale of Magic and Suspense, in 1984, Lucas gave Johnston a sabbatical, with salary, and paid his tuition to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Johnston left after a year, saying he was asked not to return because he broke too many rules, Johnston made his directorial debut in 1989 with hit comedy adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, starring Rick Moranis. He followed it with comic-book adaptation The Rocketeer, the film was a commercial failure, as was his next, the animated and live-action The Pagemaster. Johnston rebounded, directing the family hit Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, the film overcame lukewarm reviews to gross over $260 million. Johnston was set to direct Hulk, but dropped out in July 1997, based on a true story, the film won Johnston both acclaim and awards. Johnstons first project of the 2000s was the sequel Jurassic Park III, Johnston followed it with western Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen. Johnston then took a six-year directorial break before signing on at a months notice to take over the 2010 remake of 1941 horror classic The Wolfman, shot in England, the film starred Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. In part thanks to his experience with the superhero film The Rocketeer, Johnston was selected to direct Marvel Studios superhero adaptation Captain America. Released on July 22,2011, the film stars Chris Evans as the comic book hero, in 2012 Johnston began directing thriller Not Safe for Work. Joe Johnston at the Internet Movie Database
Joe Johnston
–
Johnston at the 2010
San Diego Comic-Con International.
9.
Chroma key
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Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual effects / post-production technique for compositing two images or video streams together based on color hues. The technique has been used heavily in many fields to remove a background from the subject of a photo or video – particularly the newscasting, motion picture and videogame industries. A color range in the footage is made transparent, allowing separately filmed background footage or a static image to be inserted into the scene. The chroma keying technique is used in video production and post-production. No part of the subject being filmed or photographed may duplicate the color used as the backing, when using a blue screen, different weather maps are added on the parts of the image where the color is blue. If the news presenter wears blue clothes, his or her clothes will also be replaced with the background video, chroma keying is also common in the entertainment industry for visual effects in movies and videogames. Prior to the introduction of travelling mattes and optical printing, double exposure was used to introduce elements into a scene which werent present in the initial exposure and this was done using black draping where a green screen would be used today. George Albert Smith first used this approach in 1898, in 1903, The Great Train Robbery by Edwin S. Porter used double exposure to add background scenes to windows which were black when filmed on set, using a garbage matte to expose only the window areas. In 1918 Frank Williams patented a travelling matte technique, again based on using a black background and this was used in many films, such as The Invisible Man. In the 1920s, Walt Disney used a backdrop to include human actors with cartoon characters. The blue screen method was developed in the 1930s at RKO Radio Pictures, at RKO, Linwood Dunn used an early version of the travelling matte to create wipes – where there were transitions like a windshield wiper in films such as Flying Down to Rio. In 1950, Warner Brothers employee and ex-Kodak researcher Arthur Widmer began working on a travelling matte process. He also began developing techniques, one of the first films to use them was the 1958 adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novella, The Old Man. Petro Vlahos was awarded an Academy Award for his refinement of techniques in 1964. His technique exploits the fact that most objects in real-world scenes have a color whose blue-color component is similar in intensity to their green-color component, zbigniew Rybczyński also contributed to bluescreen technology. An optical printer with two projectors, a camera and a beam splitter, was used to combine the actor in front of a blue screen together with the background footage. In the early 1970s, American and British television networks began using green backdrops instead of blue for their newscasts, during the 1980s, minicomputers were used to control the optical printer. For the film The Empire Strikes Back, Richard Edlund created an optical printer that accelerated the process considerably
Chroma key
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Film set for
The Spiderwick Chronicles, where a special effects scene using bluescreen chroma key is in preparation.
Chroma key
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Today's practicality of green-screen compositing is demonstrated by
Iman Crosson in a self-produced YouTube video. Top panel: A frame of Crosson in full-motion video as shot in his own living room. Bottom panel: Frame in the final version, in which Crosson, impersonating Barack Obama, "appears" in the White House's East Room.
Chroma key
–
Virtual television studio with green-screen technique.
Chroma key
–
Girl wearing blue clothing in front of green screen.
10.
The Empire Strikes Back
–
The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the films story, the film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker, while Vader chases a small band of Lukes friends—Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Lukes friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader, following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21,1980. The film ranks #3 on Empires 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time and it became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the sequel of all time. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, in 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, have set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth, the Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy. While investigating a meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is injured and captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, the ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who kills his tauntaun, Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by a search party. On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, the Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Despite heavy resistance, the Walkers destroy the shield generator. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca and they hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer, and eventually, kiss. Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon, Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a creature who is revealed to be Yoda, after conferring with Obi-Wans spirit. Yoda trains Luke as a Jedi and raises his sunken ship from the swamp with the power of the Force, after evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the gas giant planet Bespin
The Empire Strikes Back
–
Theatrical release poster
The Empire Strikes Back
–
George Lucas, writer/director of the first film, decided to only executive produce this film
The Empire Strikes Back
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The 1997 theatrical release poster of the new Special Edition version of the film (art by
Drew Struzan)
11.
Return of the Jedi
–
Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas was from a story by Lucas and it was the third and final installment in the original Star Wars trilogy and the first film to use THX technology. The film is set one year after The Empire Strikes Back and was produced by Howard Kazanjian for Lucasfilm Ltd, the film stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz. The Galactic Empire, under the direction of the ruthless Emperor, is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance once, meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi apprentice, struggles to bring his father Darth Vader back to the Light Side of the Force. David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project before Marquand signed on as director, the production team relied on Lucas storyboards during pre-production. While writing the script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand. Kazanjians schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982, strict secrecy surrounded the production and the film used the working title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging. The film was released in theaters on May 25,1983, six years to the day after the release of the first film, the film grossed between $475 million and $572 million worldwide. Alongside its success, the film received four Academy Award nominations, several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. Star Wars continued with Episode I, The Phantom Menace as part of the film prequel trilogy. A sequel, Star Wars, The Force Awakens, was released on December 18,2015, Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabbas palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner, Lando is already there disguised as a guard. Leia releases Han from his prison, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward but after a standoff, he is captured. After Luke survives his battle with Jabbas Rancor, Jabba sentences him, Luke frees himself and battles Jabbas guards. During the chaos, Boba Fett, who has remained at Jabbas palace since delivering Han, attempts to attack Luke, meanwhile, Leia strangles Jabba to death, and Luke destroys Jabbas sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah where he finds that Yoda is dying, before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Lukes father, and there is another Skywalker
Return of the Jedi
–
Theatrical release poster (art by Kazuhiko Sano)
Return of the Jedi
–
Sebastian Shaw as the unmasked Darth Vader.
Return of the Jedi
–
The heavy forest of
Redwood National Park was used to film the forests of
Endor in Return of the Jedi.
Return of the Jedi
–
The teaser poster titled Revenge of the Jedi by
Drew Struzan
12.
Ben Burtt
–
Benjamin Ben Burtt, Jr. is an American sound designer, film editor, director, screenwriter, and voice actor. He has worked as designer on various films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, WALL-E. Burtt is also known for voicing the character, Wall-E. He also created the sound of Wall-Es voice, along with all the other characters in WALL-E. The winner of four Academy Awards, he is the director of documentary films. He is also the editor of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Burtt was born in Jamesville, New York, and graduated with a major in physics from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. For his work on the special-effects film Genesis, Burtt won a scholarship to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, Burtt pioneered modern sound design, especially in the science-fiction and fantasy-film genres. Before his work in the first Star Wars in 1977, science-fiction films tended to use electronic-sounding effects for futuristic devices, Burtt sought a more natural sound, blending in found sounds to create the effects. He is personally responsible for some of the sounds heard in films, in Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith he provided the voice for Lushros Dofine, captain of the Invisible Hand cruiser. The heavy-breathing of Darth Vader was created by recording his own breathing in an old Dacor scuba regulator, Burtt used the voice of an elderly lady with a very low voice that he had met in a photoshop for the voice of E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The womans low voice was the result of heavy smoking. He created the voice of the character and many other robots in Pixars film WALL-E. Additionally, he is responsible for the effects in Indiana Jones. Burtt has a reputation for including a sound effect dubbed the Wilhelm scream in many of the movies hes worked on, one of Burtts more subtle, but highly effective sound effects is the audio black hole. The effect of second or less of silence is to accentuate the resulting explosion in the mind of the listener. In those days they would paint out the sound with ink. Then I thought of the airlock entry sequence in 2001, I guess the seeds were there for me to nourish when it came to the seismic charges. Burtt was among the golden ears that critically reviewed the audio compression systems that were proposed for the ATSC1.0 digital television system
Ben Burtt
–
Ben Burtt
13.
Elephant
–
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are recognised, the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the surviving family of the order Proboscidea, other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths. Male African elephants are the largest extant terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m, all elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects, Elephants large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight, African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and they prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments, other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs, usually target only young elephants. Females tend to live in groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by a known as the matriarch. Elephants have a society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Males leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males, calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild and they communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound, elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans and they appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind. African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered, one of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are used as working animals in Asia, in the past, they were used in war, today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have featured in art, folklore, religion, literature
Elephant
Elephant
–
Asian elephant
Elephant
–
African forest elephant
Elephant
–
Mounted skeleton of early proboscid Moeritherium in Japan
14.
Millennium Falcon
–
The Millennium Falcon is a spaceship in the Star Wars universe commanded at one time by Corellian smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca. The highly modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars, the ship also makes a brief cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith. Additionally, the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, the ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this designs similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space,1999 prompted Lucas to change the Falcons design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leias ship, modelmaker Joe Johnston had about four weeks to redesign the Falcon, and Lucass only suggestion to Johnston was to think of a flying saucer. Johnston did not want to produce a basic flying saucer, so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, the design was simple enough to create in the four-week window. Johnston called production of the new Falcon design one of his most intense projects, to this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic. Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by models and external and internal sets. For Star Wars, an exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Docking Bay 94. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line, the interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable. The effects models for Star Wars matched the design of the exterior set, the primary model was 5 feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented by a painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time. For the 1997 Special Edition, a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, for The Empire Strikes Back, a new external set was constructed. Built in secrecy under the code name Magic Roundabout, the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, today, the Pembroke Dock museum has an exhibit about the project. The new model, which measured at approximately 32 inches in length, had several features that differed from the five-foot model including updated landing gear. The 32 model was the version of the Millennium Falcon most depicted in toys, model kits, the model was reused for Star Wars, Episode VI, Return of the Jedi
Millennium Falcon
–
The Millennium Falcon in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Millennium Falcon
Millennium Falcon
–
Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon during the making of a scene from the
Star Wars Holiday Special.
15.
Rebel Alliance
–
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar revolutionary faction in the fictional universe of Star Wars. Their goal was to seize the Alliance forces, the Rebel Alliance was first featured as the main protagonist-faction in the 1977 film Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The origins of the Alliance to Restore the Republic are told during the events of Revenge of the Sith, the group included Bail Organa, Padmé Amidala, and Mon Mothma, amongst others. Amidala was, at the time, the most famous and prominent of the group and she realized that this made her a target and later advised the others to go quiet in their dissent and exclude her from any future proceedings. The young senator died in premature childbirth not long after her attempt to prevent Anakin Skywalkers fall. The show focuses on a group of rebels that band together aboard a freighter starship called Ghost. By the end of the first season, it is revealed there are various cells that are resisting the Empire. Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan and former Jedi Ahsoka Tano both play a role in coordinating them, during the events of Rogue One and the original Star Wars, the Alliance learns of the construction of the Death Star, an enormous battle station intended to secure the Empires power. With the help of the Rogue One squad led by Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, right after the battle, the Tantive IV, an Alderaanian cruiser carrying Princess Leia is captured by the Imperial fleet while attempting to deliver the Death Star Plans to Bail Organa on Alderaan. The Princess is subsequently rescued by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and this leads directly to the Alliances victory in the Battle of Yavin and the loyalty of Luke Skywalker, the Rebellions only remaining member with training in the Force. In The Empire Strikes Back, the Alliance suffers a defeat on Hoth when one of their main command centers. The remaining forces of the Rebellion are forced to stay mobile, using Admiral Ackbars flagship, Home One, by Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance has regrouped and learned that a new Death Star is being constructed, and will be completed under Emperor Palpatines personal supervision. Mon Mothma has Admiral Ackbar and Lando Calrissian command the Alliance fleet and dispatches Han Solo and Princess Leia to disable the stations defenses, the Alliance subsequently wins the Battle of Endor, in which Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and much of the Imperial hierarchy are destroyed. Thus, the Empire is essentially defeated, and the Rebellion liberates most of the galaxy, by The Force Awakens, the New Republic has formed from the Rebellion. The Resistance, an army backed up by the New Republic and successor of the Alliance, is formed to stand against the First Order, a new military power formed by remnants from the Old Empire. The incident begins when an Imperial military cruiser commanded by Captain Wilhuff Tarkin is blocked by peaceful anti-Empire protesters who refuse to move off the landing pad. With implied permission from the Emperor, Tarkin lands the ship anyway, injuring and killing many, the myriad of civilizations which are fighting the Empire continue to grow in number and progressively coalesce into a ragtag organization known as the Resistance. They intend upon removing the evil Emperor, but the growing ruthlessness of the Imperial state forces them into secrecy and these Rebel starfighters were equipped with hyperdrive capability along prearranged routes which would allow this kind of harassment and escape before the Empire may react
Rebel Alliance
–
Emblem of the Rebel Alliance
16.
X-wing fighter
–
The X-wing fighter is a fictional starfighter from the original Star Wars trilogy and the Star Wars expanded universe. They are depicted as the interceptor and dogfighter of the Rebel Alliance. The craft has been merchandised as a variety of toys, models licensed for use in games, novels, industrial Light & Magics Joe Johnston sketched and Colin Cantwell built models that eventually became the final X-wing fighter in Star Wars. The X-wings were designed to more traditional than the Empires TIE fighters. ILM built miniatures in various scales, with wing markings indicating which prop represented which pilot, when ILM fell behind on generating X-wing footage, Star Wars producer George Lucas and his editors temporarily used World War II dogfight footage for initial editing cuts. Each X-wing model was built around a core made from surgical tubing, which allowed lighting, cooling. The cockpit windows were made from faceted glass so that accurate reflections could be filmed, the production crew also made a full-size X-wing cockpit that was used for all actors, the astromech droid visible behind each actor was changed for each starfighter. Background noise pitch and tone also varied between X-wings to further differentiate the characters piloting them. The lake in which Luke Skywalker crashes his X-wing in The Empire Strikes Back was only 3.5 feet deep, requiring the creation of a rig resembling the starfighter sitting in the lake at an angle. The rig was built in hinged sections so it could be manipulated by frogmen to sink or rise and this resulted in numerous parts of space battle scenes being re-shot as digital animations for the original trilogys Special Edition releases. The ARC-170 starfighter seen in Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is the ancestor of the X-wing and is reminiscent of the X-wings design. The expanded universe states that Incom Corporation designers defected to the Rebel Alliance, one design of the Z-95 Headhunter is based on an initial Johnston X-wing sketch, the Z-95 has since been described as an X-wing precursor. The fighter has two modes, one in which the wings are flat and another when they are expanded into attack position. S-foil servomotors control the transition between the two, hence the expression to lock s-foils in attack position, lacking an on-board navigation computer, they rely on an astromech droid to calculate hyperspace jumps. The presence of a hyperdrive and deflector shields differentiate the X-wing from the Empires TIE fighters, emphasizing the importance the Rebels place on pilots surviving their missions. Kenner Toys produced an X-wing toy as a complement to its action figure line in 1978, the s-foils were activated by depressing the molded astromech droid. In 1982, a version was released using the same mold but with damage stickers, a grey fuselage, blackened engine inlets. In countries outside the U. S. the electronics were removed, kenner also produced a die-cast 1,72 miniature X-wing in 1978 and a smaller scaled version with battle damage crash feature for the short lived Micro Collection line in 1982
X-wing fighter
–
X-wing fighters in
A New Hope (1997 Special Edition).
Y-wings are visible at the center right.
X-wing fighter
–
X-wings with their s-foils locked in attack position as they assault the
Death Star in A New Hope (1997 Special Edition)
17.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
18.
Dogfight
–
A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft, conducted at close range. Dogfighting first appeared during World War I, shortly after the invention of the airplane, until at least 1992, it was a component in every major war, despite beliefs after World War II that increasingly greater speeds and longer range weapons would make dogfighting obsolete. This differs from aerial warfare, which deals with the involved in planning and executing various missions. The term dogfight has been used for centuries to describe a melee, the term gained popularity during World War II although its origin in air combat can be traced to the latter years of World War I. Both men had orders to kill but neither wanted to harm the other so they exchanged multiple volleys of pistol fire. Dogfighting first emerged in World War I, ever since heavier than air flights became a reality in 1903, people had been trying to figure out how to use this new technology for warfare. Aircraft were initially used as observation vehicles, and early pilots gave little thought to aerial combat. The new airplanes proved their worth by spotting the hidden German advance on Paris in the month of the war. Enemy pilots at first simply exchanged waves, or shook their fists at each other, due to weight restrictions, only small weapons could be carried on board. Intrepid pilots decided to interfere with enemy reconnaissance by improvised means, including throwing bricks, grenades and sometimes rope, pilots quickly began firing hand-held guns at enemy planes, such as pistols and carbines. The Austro-Hungarian pilot initially waved, and Tomić reciprocated, the Austro-Hungarian pilot then fired at Tomić with his revolver. Tomić managed to escape, and within weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian planes were fitted with machine-guns. In August 1914, Staff-Captain Pyotr Nesterov, from Russia, became the first pilot to ram his plane into an enemy spotter aircraft, in October 1914, an airplane was shot down by a hand gun from another plane for the first time over Rheims, France. Once machine guns were mounted to the airplane, either on a mounting or higher on the wings of early biplanes. The biggest problem was mounting a gun onto an aircraft so that it could be fired forward, through the propeller. Roland Garros solved this problem by mounting steel deflector wedges to the propeller of a Morane Saulnier monoplane and he achieved three kills, but was forced down due to engine failure down behind enemy lines, and captured before he could destroy his plane by burning it. The wreckage was brought to Anthony Fokker, a Dutch designer who built aircraft for the Germans, Fokker decided that the wedges were much too risky, and improved the design by connecting the trigger of an MG08 Maxim machine gun to the timing of the engine. On the evening of July 1,1915, the very first aerial engagement by a plane armed with a synchronized, forward-firing machine gun occurred just to the east of Luneville
Dogfight
–
An
F-105D shoots down a
MiG-17 during the Vietnam War, 1967.
Dogfight
–
An Incident on the Western Front, view of a dogfight involving five aircrafts. In the upper foreground a
biplane of the
RAF flies towards a stricken German biplane, which is falling towards the ground leaving a trail of smoke in its wake (
Imperial War Museum).
Dogfight
–
Memorial erected by German airmen at Sheria, in memory of British and Australian airmen, killed in their lines during 1917
Dogfight
–
Fighter
contrails overhead during the
Battle of the Philippine Sea
19.
Jedi starfighter
–
The following is a list of fictional Star Wars starfighters. In addition to appearing in the movies and TV series. A-wings appear at the climactic Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi and it is also a vehicle found in both Battlefront II and Battlefront. ARC-170 starfighters appear in the sequence of Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The fighters name stems from ART170, the name of the art that established the ships appearance—deliberately reminiscent of the X-wing. B-wings participate at the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, automated Trade Federation Vulture-droid starfighters appear in space battles in Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith. Original designs depicted the droid starfighter not as a droid itself, tri-fighters are part of the droid forces in the opening battle of Revenge of the Sith. Original plans to equip the fighters with boosters were abandoned when Lucas decided they were a distraction in the already chaotic scene. Its curved braces are reminiscent of the Trade Federations circular battleship, the improved successor to the X-wing, E-wings first appear in Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire series. They are one of few Expanded Universe vehicles to be a part of Micro Machines Action Fleet line, obi-Wan Kenobi escapes Utapau in Grievous starfighter in Revenge of the Sith. The starfighter, both sleek and aggressive, was one of few ships to be built for the production. Asajj Ventress flies the fanblade in the animated Star Wars, Clone Wars series, just as Ventress appearance was inspired by a Samurai stance, the ship itself has Asian influences, its design is based on a sensu folding fan. Geonosian starfighters appear in the climactic Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars, the craft was set to appear in an air battle and a scene in which a Republic attack gunship attack a Geonosian airstrip—scenes that were ultimately cut. Hornets are small starfighters built for sale on the market by the Tenloss Syndicate. Eta-2 Actis Jedi Interceptors appear in Revenge of the Sith, Jedi starfighters appear in Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Lacking a hyperdrive, the starfighter relies on a sled to propel it through hyperspace. Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fly updated Jedi starfighters in the sequence of Revenge of the Sith. Later, Plo Koon flies an Attack of the Clones-era starfighter when he is shot down by clone troopers carrying out Emperor Palpatines Order 66, the Jedi starfighters triangular shape in Attack of the Clones stems from the shape of Imperial Star Destroyers in the original Star Wars trilogy
Jedi starfighter
–
A pair of Droid Tri-Fighters during the Battle of Coruscant
Jedi starfighter
–
Two Geonosian starfighters in the Battle of Geonosis
20.
Star Destroyer
–
Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in the first seconds of Star Wars, is the vessel of the Imperial fleet. The term Star Destroyer also refers to vessels in the franchise. Numerous Star Destroyer models and toys have been released, and the scene featuring the vessels first appearance has been called a milestone in special effects history. In draft scripts for the film that would become Star Wars, ILM built a 91-centimeter shooting model that was about half the size of the model for the Tantive IV the Star Destroyer was chasing. Lucas asked ILM to build a larger Star Destroyer model to match the Tantive IVs scale, nevertheless, they added additional hull details to the Star Destroyer model. The 13-second opening shot was the first special effects piece ILM completed, ILM built a 259-centimeter Star Destroyer, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale, for The Empire Strikes Back. During production, Lucas decided that every Star Wars film would open in space with a shot of a Star Destroyer, the Empire Strikes Back also introduces the Super Star Destroyer, also referred to as a Star Dreadnought. The shooting model for the Super Star Destroyer Executor in The Empire Strikes Back, the iconic Star Destroyer first appears in the opening scene of Star Wars, as Darth Vaders flagship, the Devastator, chases the Tantive IV above Tatooine. This appearance shows the Imperial ships massive size in comparison to the Tantive IV, Imperial-class Star Destroyers appear not only throughout the original trilogy, but also in Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One. Rey scavenges material from a crashed Imperial-class Star Destroyer in Star Wars, rey pilots the Millennium Falcon through the wreckage of the crashed Super Star Destroyer Ravager during a chase scene in The Force Awakens. Other Star Destroyer varieties appear in the Star Wars prequel and sequel films, Star Wars creator George Lucas calls the cigar-shaped Separatist cruisers visible at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith Star Destroyers in the movies DVD commentary track. Venator-class Star Destroyers are introduced in Revenge of the Sith and later appear throughout Star Wars, the Venator-class ships initially appear with a red and grey Republic color scheme. However towards the end of Revenge of the Sith the Venators are gray and white, the Force Awakens introduces the Resurgent-class of Star Destroyers belonging to the First Order, one of which, the Finalizer, is commanded by Kylo Ren. Star Wars Expanded Universe materials offer details about the Star Destroyers shown in Star Wars film and television, the Empire had a dozen Super Star Destroyers in service during the time of the Battle of Endor, including Vaders Executor command ship. The final surviving Super Star Destroyer, the Ravager, is the vessel whose wreckage appears in The Force Awakens, the Ravagers crash onto Jakku is depicted in the game Star Wars Battlefront. In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels, games, at 1,600 meters long, Imperial-class Star Destroyers are armed with turbolasers, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors. They carry 72 TIE fighters, numerous ground forces, a base for rapid deployment to planetary surfaces
Star Destroyer
–
The Super Star Destroyer Executor,
Darth Vader 's flagship in The Empire Strikes Back
Star Destroyer
–
Two Imperial Star Destroyers and a group of
TIE fighters pursue the
Millennium Falcon
21.
Dark Horse Comics
–
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book and manga publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, Richardson started out by opening his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon, in 1980. From there he was able to use the funds from his operation to start his own publishing company. Frank Millers Sin City is one of the most famous associated with Dark Horse. Today, the arm of the company flourishes despite no longer having its own universe of superpowered characters. Dark Horse also published the English translation of The Legend of Zelda, like Dell and Gold Key, Dark Horse was one of the few major American publishers of comic books never to display the Comics Code Authority seal on its covers. From 1993 to 1996, Dark Horse published a line of comics under the Comics Greatest World imprint. Legend was a book imprint at Dark Horse Comics created in 1994 by Frank Miller. Its logo was a moai drawn by Mike Mignola, later on, other creators were asked to join them. Art Adams Frank Miller John Byrne Mike Mignola Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbons, Mike Allred Walter Simonson Dark Horse Manga is an imprint for Japanese manga. by Kōsuke Fujishima. Dark Horse also publishes a number of CLAMP titles, including Clover, Chobits, Okimono Kimono, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, a manga magazine titled Super Manga Blast. was published by Dark Horse starting in the spring of 2000. It was discontinued in December 2005 after 59 issues, Dark Horse also publish a number of Korean manhwa titles, including Banya, The Explosive Delivery Man. Maverick was an imprint for creator owned material, the DH Press imprint publishes novelizations of Dark Horses more popular comic book titles, including Aliens and Predator. DH Press has now been absorbed by DH Books, publications ranging from novels to film books by Leonard Maltin about John Landis, to comic related material such as a biography of Will Eisner, to health books. They have also published a series reprinting Playboy interviews, the M Press imprint was created to publish a diverse list of both literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice. One such series is Orchid by Tom Morello, published from 2011–2013, the newest addition to M Press is an original graphic novel The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary, Andrew Robinson, and Kyle Baker, published on November 2013. In 2011, Dark Horse launched their iOS app and online comics store. Any device with a web browser can be used to read Dark Horse comics at their web store
Dark Horse Comics
–
Dark Horse Comics headquarters
Dark Horse Comics
–
Dark Horse Comics
22.
Star Wars: Legacy
–
Star Wars, Legacy is an American comic book series set in the Star Wars universe. The series, published by Dark Horse Comics, is written by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, issue #0, which cost 25¢ and introduced the setting and major characters, was released on June 7,2006. Star Wars, Legacy ran from June 2006 until issue #50, Dark Horse Comics finished the Star Wars, Legacy story with a six-issue limited series dealing with the return of Darth Krayt titled Star Wars, Legacy War. Star Wars, Legacy is set over 126 years after the film Return of the Jedi, the comics feature Cade Skywalker, a descendant of Luke Skywalker, who was trained as a Jedi, but abandoned the order. He apprenticed himself to the pirate Rav and lives among bounty hunters, smugglers, Cade also dropped his last name. The series begins with an attack on the Jedi Temple and the overthrow of the Galactic Alliance by the One Sith order, after a great and furious struggle, Cade and his friends manage to kill the evil Sith emperor, Darth Krayt. However, even without their leader, the Sith remain a powerful danger, the first issue was planned to be released in March 2013, and continue as a monthly, ongoing series. The series ran for 18 issues, from March 20,2013 to August 27,2014, the second iteration of Star Wars, Legacy stars Ania Solo, a descendant of Han and Leia. It takes place in the aftermath of Star Wars, Legacy—War, as the series begins, Solo is running a junkyard on a backwater Outer Rim planet and living a life far removed from Emperors and royalty. The backwater world serves as a microcosm for greater galactic affairs, the first issue opened with a giant lightsaber duel, and it additionally features the Imperial Knight, Yalta Val—an agent of the Galactic Federation Triumvirate—running into trouble in the Outer Rim. The Mon Calamari refugee Sauk, a friend of Solos who works at an ice mining facility, in the second issue, Solo is pursued both by local police and by an Imperial Knight determined to kill in order to get the lightsaber back. She is aided by friends she has made as a black market salvage dealer. The series also features Sith, and the Princess Marasiah Fel of the previous Star Wars and it may eventually include an appearance by Cade, the earlier protagonist. In August 2010, the fiftieth and final issue of the comic series Star Wars, the six-issue miniseries Star Wars, Legacy—War followed, published from December 2010 to May 2011, it allowed authors John Ostrander and Jan Duursema an opportunity to wrap up the story. On December 3,2012, Comic Book Resources announced that a new incarnation of Legacy was coming in 2013, written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, and additionally penciled by Hardman. Dark Horses Vice President of Publishing Randy Stradley soon after indicated that the project had been in the works for a number of months, Bechko and Hardman indicated via their Twitter feeds how excited they were to be working on the project. They have both been Star Wars fans since the release of the original Star Wars film in 1977, Dark Horse letterer Michael Heisler praised their work and asserted that they know what theyre doing. The idea of a female protagonist did not originate with Hardman and Bechko, Bechko has described Ania Solo as a character who doesnt take a lot of guff, but who is nevertheless not a traditional badass female
Star Wars: Legacy
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Cover of issue 0 Cover Art by
Jan Duursema
23.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
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Star Wars, The Force Awakens is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed, co-produced, and co-written by J. J. Abrams. The Force Awakens was announced after The Walt Disney Companys acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012 and it was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. John Williams, composer for the six films, returned to compose the films score. Lucas served as consultant during the films early production. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England. It is the first live-action film in the franchise since Star Wars, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars, The Force Awakens was widely anticipated, and Disney backed the film with extensive marketing campaigns. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14,2015, four days before its release worldwide. It received five Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations, two sequels, Star Wars, The Last Jedi and Episode IX, are scheduled for release in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Three decades after the destruction of the second Death Star, the First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire, the Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by General Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for her brother, Luke Skywalker, to enlist his aid. Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Lukes location, stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe, while Ren kills Tekka. Poes droid, BB-8, escapes with the map and encounters a scavenger named Rey near a junkyard settlement, Ren tortures Poe using the Force, and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, unwilling to kill, frees Poe, and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter and they crash on Jakku, and Finn survives, but Poe is believed to have been killed in the crash. Finn encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them, Finn, Rey, and BB-8 flee the planet in the Millennium Falcon, which they steal from a junkyard. The Falcon is captured by a ship piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Two rival gangs, seeking to settle debts with Han, board and attack, the gangs inform the First Order. At the First Orders Starkiller Base – a planet converted into a superweapon that harnesses energy from stars – Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use the weapon for the first time. Snoke questions Rens ability to deal with emotions relating to his father, Han Solo, the Falcon crew views BB-8s map and determines it is incomplete
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
–
Theatrical release poster
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
–
(L-R) Producer
Kathleen Kennedy, writer and director
J. J. Abrams and writer
Lawrence Kasdan speaking at the 2015
San Diego Comic-Con International
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
–
The cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International (L–R:
John Boyega,
Daisy Ridley,
Oscar Isaac,
Adam Driver,
Domhnall Gleeson,
Gwendoline Christie,
Carrie Fisher,
Mark Hamill and
Harrison Ford)
24.
Solar panels
–
Solar panel refers to a panel designed to absorb the suns rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating. A photovoltaic module is a packaged, connect assembly of typically 6×10 photovoltaic solar cells, photovoltaic modules constitute the photovoltaic array of a photovoltaic system that generates and supplies solar electricity in commercial and residential applications. Each module is rated by its DC output power under standard test conditions, the efficiency of a module determines the area of a module given the same rated output – an 8% efficient 230 watt module will have twice the area of a 16% efficient 230 watt module. There are a few commercially available solar modules that exceed 22% efficiency, a single solar module can produce only a limited amount of power, most installations contain multiple modules. A photovoltaic system typically includes an array of photovoltaic modules, an inverter, a pack for storage, interconnection wiring. The most common application of solar panels is solar heating systems. The price of power has continued to fall so that in many countries it is cheaper than ordinary fossil fuel electricity from the grid. Photovoltaic modules use light energy from the Sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect, the majority of modules use wafer-based crystalline silicon cells or thin-film cells. The structural member of a module can either be the top layer or the back layer, cells must also be protected from mechanical damage and moisture. Most modules are rigid, but semi-flexible ones are available, based on thin-film cells, the cells must be connected electrically in series, one to another. Externally, most of photovoltaic modules use MC4 connectors type to facilitate easy connections to the rest of the system. Modules electrical connections are made in series to achieve an output voltage and/or in parallel to provide a desired current capability. The conducting wires that take the current off the modules may contain silver, copper or other non-magnetic conductive transition metals, bypass diodes may be incorporated or used externally, in case of partial module shading, to maximize the output of module sections still illuminated. Some special solar PV modules include concentrators in which light is focused by lenses or mirrors onto smaller cells and this enables the use of cells with a high cost per unit area in a cost-effective way. Depending on construction, photovoltaic modules can produce electricity from a range of frequencies of light, hence, much of the incident sunlight energy is wasted by solar modules, and they can give far higher efficiencies if illuminated with monochromatic light. Therefore, another design concept is to split the light into different wavelength ranges and this has been projected to be capable of raising efficiency by 50%. Scientists from Spectrolab, a subsidiary of Boeing, have reported development of solar cells with an efficiency of more than 40%. Currently the best achieved sunlight conversion rate is around 21. 5% in new products typically lower than the efficiencies of their cells in isolation
Solar panels
–
Solar PV modules (top) and two
solar hot water panels (bottom) mounted on rooftops
Solar panels
–
Solar modules mounted on solar trackers
Solar panels
–
Technicians installing photovoltaic modules on a roof-mounted rack
Solar panels
–
A roof-mounted solar panel system installed on a sloped roof using pole mounts and rails
25.
Ion engine
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An ion thruster is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. It creates thrust by accelerating ions with electricity, the term refers strictly to gridded electrostatic ion thrusters, but may more loosely be applied to all electric propulsion systems that accelerate plasma, since plasma consists of ions. Ion thrusters are categorized by how they accelerate the ions, using either electrostatic or electromagnetic force, electrostatic thrusters use the Coulomb force and accelerate the ions in the direction of the electric field. Electromagnetic thrusters use the Lorentz force, in either case, when an ion passes through an electrostatic grid engine, the potential difference of the electric field converts to the ions kinetic energy. Ion thrusters have an input power need of 1–7 kW, exhaust velocity 20–50 km/s, thrust 25–250 millinewtons, the Deep Space 1 spacecraft, powered by an ion thruster, changed velocity by 4.3 km/s while consuming less than 74 kilograms of xenon. The Dawn spacecraft broke the record, with a velocity of 10 km/s, applications include control of the orientation and position of orbiting satellites and use as a main propulsion engine for low-mass robotic space vehicles. The ion thruster is not the most promising type of electrically powered spacecraft propulsion, an ion drive would require two days to accelerate a car to highway speed. The technical characteristics, especially thrust, are inferior to the prototypes described in literature. Ion thrusters create small thrust levels compared to chemical rockets. The power imparted to the exhaust increases with the square of exhaust velocity while thrust increase is linear, conversely, chemical rockets provide high thrust, but are limited in total impulse by the small amount of energy that can be stored chemically in the propellants. Given the practical weight of power sources, the acceleration from an ion thruster is frequently less than one thousandth of standard gravity. However, since they operate as motors, they convert a greater fraction of input power into kinetic exhaust power. Chemical rockets operate as heat engines, and Carnots theorem limits the exhaust velocity, Ion thrust engines are practical only in the vacuum of space and cannot take vehicles through the atmosphere because ion engines do not work in the presence of ions outside the engine. Besides, the engines minuscule thrust would not matter when air resistance comes into play, spacecraft rely on conventional chemical rockets to initially reach orbit. The first person to mention the idea publicly was Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1911, however, the first document to consider electric propulsion is Robert H. Goddards handwritten notebook in an entry dated September 6,1906. The first experiments with ion thrusters were carried out by Goddard at Clark University from 1916–1917, the technique was recommended for near-vacuum conditions at high altitude, but thrust was demonstrated with ionized air streams at atmospheric pressure. A working ion thruster was built by Harold R. Kaufman in 1959 at the NASA Glenn Research Center facilities and it was similar to a gridded electrostatic ion thruster and used mercury for propellant. Suborbital tests were conducted during the 1960s and in 1964, the engine was sent into a flight aboard the Space Electric Rocket Test 1
Ion engine
–
NASA's 2.3 kW
NSTAR ion thruster for the
Deep Space 1 spacecraft during a hot fire test at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ion engine
–
SERT-1 spacecraft
Ion engine
–
Thruster components
26.
Emperor Palpatine
–
Sheev Palpatine is a fictional character of the Star Wars franchise, mainly portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In the original trilogy, he is depicted as the aged, pale-faced and cloaked Emperor of the Galactic Empire, as Sidious, he instigates the Clone Wars, nearly destroys the Jedi, and transforms the Republic into the Empire. He also manipulates Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into turning to the dark side, Palpatines reign is brought to an end when Vader kills him to save his son, Luke Skywalker. The Emperor is briefly mentioned in the original Star Wars, the first film in the original trilogy, grand Moff Tarkin explains to his fellow Imperials that the Emperor has dissolved the Senate. The Emperor first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and he appears in hologram form to address Darth Vader, his Sith apprentice. He tells Vader that Luke Skywalker is becoming a threat to the Empire. Vader convinces him that Luke would be an asset if turned to the dark side. In 1983s Return of the Jedi, the Emperor appears in person to oversee the last stages of the second Death Stars construction and he assures Darth Vader that they will together turn Luke, now revealed to be Vaders son, to the dark side. Unknown to Vader, the Emperor plans to replace his apprentice with Luke, when Vader brings Luke before his master, the Emperor tempts Luke to join the dark side by appealing to the young Jedis fear for his friends, whom he has lured into a trap. This leads to a duel in which Luke defeats and nearly kills Vader. The Emperor tells Luke to kill Vader and take his place, enraged, the Emperor attacks Luke with Force lightning. Moved by his sons cries for help, Vader throws the Emperor into the Death Stars reactor shaft, as Sidious, he influences the corrupt Trade Federation to blockade and invade Naboo. Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo flees to the planet Coruscant to receive counsel from Palpatine, after a plea for help from the senate results in bureaucratic delays, Palpatine persuades the queen to make a motion to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum removed from office. When Padmé attempts to liberate Naboo, Sidious sends his Sith apprentice Darth Maul there to capture her, the invasion is eventually thwarted and Maul is defeated in a lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Palpatine uses the crisis to be elected the new Chancellor of the Republic and he then returns to Naboo, where he befriends the young Anakin Skywalker, telling him that, We will watch your career with great interest. In the 2002 sequel Star Wars, Episode II – Attack of the Clones, since the Separatists are secretly building a battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers. Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to the Senate once the crisis has ended and his first act is to allow the creation of a clone army to counter the Separatist threat, this results in the opening salvo of the Clone Wars. With the galaxy now at war as Sidious planned, Dooku brings him the plans for a new superweapon
Emperor Palpatine
–
Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine in
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Emperor Palpatine
–
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine in
Return of the Jedi.
Emperor Palpatine
–
Palpatine's clone in the
Dark Empire series by
Tom Veitch and
Cam Kennedy
Emperor Palpatine
–
Chancellor Palpatine in
Star Wars: Clone Wars
27.
Ejection seat
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In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by a charge or rocket motor. The concept of an escape crew capsule has also been tried. Once clear of the aircraft, the ejection seat deploys a parachute, Ejection seats are common on certain types of military aircraft. A bungee-assisted escape from an aircraft took place in 1910, in 1916 Everard Calthrop, an early inventor of parachutes, patented an ejector seat using compressed air. The modern layout for a seat was first proposed by Romanian inventor Anastase Dragomir in the late 1920s. The design, featuring a parachuted cell, was tested on 25 August 1929 at the Paris-Orly Airport near Paris and in October 1929 at Băneasa. Dragomir patented his catapult-able cockpit at the French Patent Office, the design was perfected during World War II. The first ejection seats were developed independently during World War II by Heinkel, early models were powered by compressed air and the first aircraft to be fitted with such a system was the Heinkel He 280 prototype jet-engined fighter in 1940. At 2,400 m, Schenk found he had no control, jettisoned his towline, the He 280 was never put into production status and the first operational type built anywhere, to provide ejection seats for the crew was the Heinkel He 219 Uhu night fighter in 1942. In Sweden, a version using compressed air was tested in 1941, a gunpowder ejection seat was developed by Bofors and tested in 1943 for the Saab 21. The first test in the air was on a Saab 17 on 27 February 1944, and the first real use occurred by Lt. Bengt Johansson on 29 July 1946 after a mid-air collision between a J21 and a J22. As the first operational military jet in late 1944 to ever feature one, the lightweight Heinkel He 162A Spatz featured a new type of ejection seat, in this system, the seat rode on wheels set between two pipes running up the back of the cockpit. When lowered into position, caps at the top of the seat fitted over the pipes to close them, cartridges, basically identical to shotgun shells, were placed in the bottom of the pipes, facing upward. When fired, the gases would fill the pipes, popping the caps off the end, after World War II, the need for such systems became pressing, as aircraft speeds were getting ever higher, and it was not long before the sound barrier was broken. Manual escape at such speeds would be impossible, the United States Army Air Forces experimented with downward-ejecting systems operated by a spring, but it was the work of Sir James Martin and his company Martin-Baker that was to prove crucial. The first live flight test of the Martin-Baker system took place on 24 July 1946, shortly afterward, on 17 August 1946, 1st Sgt. Larry Lambert was the first live U. S. ejectee, Lynch demonstrated the ejection seat at the Daily Express Air Pageant in 1948, ejecting from a Meteor. W.52 experimental flying wing
Ejection seat
–
Various ejection seats.
Ejection seat
–
Martin-Baker WY6AM ejection seat.
Ejection seat
–
United States Air Force F-15 Eagle ejection seat test using a
mannequin.
Ejection seat
–
Seat on display at
RAF Museum Cosford.
28.
LucasArts
–
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game publisher and licensor. Until 2013, it was also a game developer. LucasArts is best known for its graphic adventure games, as well as based on the Star Wars. Its headquarters are located in San Francisco, California and it was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as Lucasfilm Games, the video game development group of his film company, Lucasfilm. Lucas initially served as the companys chairman, during a 1990 reorganization of Lucas companies, the Lucasfilm Games division was renamed LucasArts. LucasArts was acquired by The Walt Disney Company through the acquisition of its parent company Lucasfilm in 2012, on April 3,2013, Disney halted all internal development at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff. However, LucasArts remained open so that it could retain its function as a licensor, development of games based on the Star Wars license will be performed by Electronic Arts, through an exclusive license, for the core gaming market. Disney Interactive Studios retained the ability to develop, and LucasArts retained the ability to license the franchise for the gaming market. Development of video based upon other Lucasfilm properties will now be assumed by Disney Interactive Studios or licensed to third parties. The company was founded in May 1982 as the game development group of Lucasfilm Limited. Lucas wanted his company to branch out into areas of entertainment. The Lucasfilm Games Group originally cooperated with Atari, which helped fund the video game groups founding, the first results of this collaboration were unique action games like Ballblazer in 1984, and Rescue on Fractalus. In 1984, they were released for the Atari 5200 under the Lucasfilm Games label, versions for home computers were not released until 1985, by publisher Epyx. Lucasfilms next two games were Koronis Rift and The Eidolon and their first games were only developed by Lucasfilm, and a publisher would distribute the games. Atari published their games for Atari systems, Activision and Epyx would do their computer publishing, Maniac Mansion was the first game to be published and developed by Lucasfilm Games. The early charter of Lucasfilm Games was to make experimental, innovative, Habitat, an early online role-playing game, was one such title. It was only released as a beta test in 1986 by Quantum Link, Quantum Link could not provide the bandwidth at the time to support the game, so the full Habitat was never released outside of the beta test. However, Lucasfilm Games recouped the cost of development by releasing a sized down version called Club Caribe in 1988, Lucasfilm later licensed the software to Fujitsu, who released it in Japan as Fujitsu Habitat in 1990
LucasArts
–
The "Gold Guy" LucasArts logo (1991–2005)
LucasArts
–
Logo from 2005 to present
29.
Flight simulator
–
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. An area of training was for air gunnery handled by the pilot or a specialist air gunner, firing at a moving target requires aiming ahead of the target to allow for the time the bullets require to reach the vicinity of the target. This is sometimes also called deflection shooting and requires skill and practice, during World War I, some ground-based simulators were developed to teach this skill to new pilots. The best-known early flight simulation device was the Link Trainer, produced by Edwin Link in Binghamton, New York, USA and he later patented his design, which was first available for sale in 1929. The Link Trainer was a metal frame flight simulator usually painted in its well-known blue color. Some of these early war era flight simulators still exist, the Link family firm in Binghamton manufactured player pianos and organs, and Ed Link was therefore familiar with such components as leather bellows and reed switches. His design had a motion platform driven by inflatable bellows which provided pitch. A vacuum motor similar to those used in player pianos rotated the platform, a generic replica cockpit with working instruments was mounted on the motion platform. When the cockpit was covered, pilots could practice flying by instruments in a safe environment, the motion platform gave the pilot cues as to real angular motion in pitch, roll and yaw. Initially, aviation flight schools showed little interest in the Link Trainer, Link also demonstrated his trainer to the U. S. Army Air Force, but with no result. However, the changed in 1934 when the Army Air Force was given a government contract to fly the postal mail. This included having to fly in bad weather as well as good, during the first weeks of the mail service, nearly a dozen Army pilots were killed. The Army Air Force hierarchy remembered Ed Link and his trainer, Link flew in to meet them at Newark Field in New Jersey, and they were impressed by his ability to arrive on a day with poor visibility, due to practice on his training device. The result was that the USAAF purchased six Link Trainers, the principal pilot trainer used during World War II was the Link Trainer. Almost all US Army Air Force pilots were trained in a Link Trainer, a different type of World War II trainer was used for navigating at night by the stars. The Celestial Navigation Trainer of 1941 was 13.7 m high and it enabled sextants to be used for taking star shots from a projected display of the night sky. In 1954 United Airlines bought four flight simulators at a cost of $3 million from Curtiss-Wright that were similar to the models, with the addition of visuals, sound. This was the first of modern flight simulators for commercial aircraft
Flight simulator
–
A military Flight simulator at
Payerne air base, Switzerland
Flight simulator
–
Link Trainer
Flight simulator
–
A Link Trainer at Freeman Field, Seymour, Indiana, 1943
Flight simulator
–
Cockpit of a
twinjet flight simulator.
30.
Poe Dameron
–
Poe Dameron is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars, The Force Awakens and he is featured in The Force Awakens media and merchandising as well as an eponymous comic book series, and will appear in the films forthcoming sequel, Star Wars, The Last Jedi. Isaac and the character have received positive reviews, with Poe being compared to the characterization of Han Solo in the original Star Wars film trilogy. During the development phase of The Force Awakens, the character was referred to as John Doe and was first intended to be a Jedi. Isaacs casting in the film was first announced on April 29,2014 and his character was first seen in the 88-second The Force Awakens teaser trailer released by Lucasfilm on November 28,2014, piloting an X-wing fighter. The name Poe Dameron was revealed by Entertainment Weekly in a Lucasfilm-designed Topps-style trading card mockup in December 2014, the character was one of those featured in a May 2015 Vanity Fair photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz. He was named after The Force Awakens writer/director J. J. Abrams assistant Morgan Dameron, the film has received praise for its diverse casting, including Isaac, who is Guatemalan-American. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that giving starring roles to a man, a white woman. Targeted at Spanish-speaking viewers, an action-oriented Univision TV spot heavily featuring Poe included an introduction by Isaac in Spanish, after an initial release of promotional character posters in November 2015, a poster featuring Isaacs Poe was released the following month. In The Force Awakens, Poe is a skilled X-wing fighter pilot for the Resistance, the son of a rebel fighter pilot and a rebel commando, he is a commander in the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps and one of Leia Organas most-trusted operatives who is headstrong and can fly anything. Isaac described Poe as the best freaking pilot in the galaxy, hes been sent on a mission by a certain princess, and he ends up coming up across, and their fates are forever intertwined. Natalie Zutter and Chris Lough of Tor. com wrote, Poe is that rare creature who knows exactly what he wants to do with his life, Isaac said of the character, Poe’s the kind of guy you want in the trenches with you. He’s straightforward, he’s honest, hes incredibly loyal and he’s got some swagger to him, katy Waldman wrote for Slate, This is Poe Dameron, star pilot, heartthrob, wiseass, ace leather jacket–bestower, Finn’s OTP. When he grins up at, all rakish charm and derring-do, comic book writer Charles Soule, creator of the 2015 Marvel Comics series Star Wars, Poe Dameron, said of the character, I think its his charisma that really defines him, for me. Poe Dameron is one charming fellow, weve seen great pilots before, and great warriors, but his ability to lead and inspire feels pretty fresh to me, as is his somewhat snappy roguishness. Poe Dameron is the star pilot of General Leia Organas Resistance fleet. He is sent by Leia on a mission to the planet Jakku to retrieve part of a map that lead to the location of her brother. Before Poe can leave with the map, the First Order attacks, the pilot has entrusted the map to BB-8, who flees into the desert as Kylo Ren tortures Poe in search of the map
Poe Dameron
–
Theatrical release poster
Poe Dameron
–
(L-R) Producer
Kathleen Kennedy, writer and director
J. J. Abrams and writer
Lawrence Kasdan speaking at the 2015
San Diego Comic-Con International
Poe Dameron
–
The cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International (L–R:
John Boyega,
Daisy Ridley,
Oscar Isaac,
Adam Driver,
Domhnall Gleeson,
Gwendoline Christie,
Carrie Fisher,
Mark Hamill and
Harrison Ford)
Poe Dameron
–
Skellig Michael in Ireland (top) and former
RAF Greenham Common in England served as filming locations.
