Ability of Starfleet/Imperial vessels to conduct operations

Post by **Mike DiCenso** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:04 am

In the ANH novelization there is some interesting dialog that occurs while Luke is recovering in Ben Kenobi's homestead after having been rescued from the Sandpeople's ambush:

"Sir?" came a familar voice. Luke hadn't heard in a while.

"What?" Like was startled out of his examination.
"If you'll not be needing me," Threepio declared,
"I think I'll shut down for a bit. It will help the armature nerves to knit,
and I'am due for some internal self-cleansing anyhow."

It would seem that not only are droids capable of being plugged together in modular fashion, but they have quite an array of internal self-repair and cleaning modes, too.
-Mike

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:50 am

Mike DiCenso wrote:In the ANH novelization there is some interesting dialog that occurs while Luke is recovering in Ben Kenobi's homestead after having been rescued from the Sandpeople's ambush:

"Sir?" came a familar voice. Luke hadn't heard in a while.

"What?" Like was startled out of his examination.
"If you'll not be needing me," Threepio declared,
"I think I'll shut down for a bit. It will help the armature nerves to knit,
and I'am due for some internal self-cleansing anyhow."

It would seem that not only are droids capable of being plugged together in modular fashion, but they have quite an array of internal self-repair and cleaning modes, too.
-Mike

I'm not sure this fits with what C3PO says in the movie.

Praeothmin · Post by **Praeothmin** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:50 pm

I do believe he only says:
"If you don't need me for awhile, I'll shut down..."
Or something like it, but ÃŒ don't remember him mentioning his wire knitting or the internal self-cleaning.

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 2:12 pm

Praeothmin wrote:I do believe he only says:
"If you don't need me for awhile, I'll shut down..."
Or something like it, but ÃŒ don't remember him mentioning his wire knitting or the internal self-cleaning.

Yes, and I think that there's no room for those extra words either.

Post by **Mike DiCenso** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:07 am

No, in the movie he doesn't say that. But the nature of SW canon is such that it fills in for information that otherwise would not be possible to convey, such as Han and the thousand ships line of dialog where in the novelization he finishes the statement, but in the movie he's cut off by a sensor klaxon and the incoming TIE fighter's shots. The same thing also applies to the million star systems quote from Tarkin in the novelization, which cannot exist at all, if you take such a ridged stance.

Effectively where SW is concerned, we lose a great deal of information.
-Mike

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:46 am

Yes we do, as the narration and continuity of films is superior to that of books.
There's only one way to cram to lines of dialogue in the film, that is, when we can be sure that the characters could have spoke those words without having to change the pace, cutting and narration of the film.
Largely, this means did they talk during the camera cut, or off screen?

Post by **Mike DiCenso** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:22 am

If that's your criteria, then the pacing for the Kenobi homestead scene pacing isn't too badly effected by the relatively small amount of extra dialog for Threepio.
-Mike

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:05 pm

Mike DiCenso wrote:If that's your criteria, then the pacing for the Kenobi homestead scene pacing isn't too badly effected by the relatively small amount of extra dialog for Threepio.
-Mike

I'll try to check that and see if it can work that way.

That said, what is your criterion?

Post by **Mike DiCenso** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 10:22 am

I view the Journal of the Whills (the novelizations) to what we see in the movies as what say, Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" is to the actual Battle of Gettysburg in the U.S. Civil War.

There are some liberties taken in order to convey information to the reader, but it is likely factual information that otherwise might not be apparent in a pure or edited documentary film. It fills in where the movie leaves off due to time constraints. I'am willing to allow the information as long as it does not grossly contradict the movies.
-Mike

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:36 pm

Mike DiCenso wrote:I view the Journal of the Whills (the novelizations) to what we see in the movies as what say, Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" is to the actual Battle of Gettysburg in the U.S. Civil War.

There are some liberties taken in order to convey information to the reader, but it is likely factual information that otherwise might not be apparent in a pure or edited documentary film. It fills in where the movie leaves off due to time constraints. I'am willing to allow the information as long as it does not grossly contradict the movies.
-Mike

That's the same for me, at least on the part about fitting with the movie is important.

Post by **Mike DiCenso** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 6:08 pm

There is nothing in the Threepio ANH novelization that grossly contradicts the movie's version of the same scene, nor affects the pacing all that much, either.
-Mike

Mr. Oragahn · Post by **Mr. Oragahn** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:21 pm

Then I suppose it's fine man. It's an "important" piece of information actually.
The more plug n play, intuitive and self maintaining machines are, the easier it is to build something.

Which makes sense, in Star Wars' context of super industries.

Praeothmin · Post by **Praeothmin** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:53 pm

Which only goes to show that droids are like our modern computers.
If you know a little bit about them, you can assemble one yourself, and a 9 year old assembling a modern computer from available parts is still quite impressive.

But it still doesn't indicate any similar plug-and-play characteristics of Pod-Racers and engines.

Who is like God arbour · Post by **Who is like God arbour** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:39 pm

Only that we could see such a characteristic in the movie. The podracer and the engines were brought to the grand arena and only there reassembled.

Fact is, that a podracer has only three main components: a one-pilot cockpit and two engines. The cockpit is attached to the two engines via strong cables and energy binders projected from each engine are connecting both engines together, forming a loose triangular configuration with the pod itself.

If one has two serviceable engines and a pod, the establishing of the connections shouldn't be that difficult.

Praeothmin · Post by **Praeothmin** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:13 pm

W.I.L.G.A wrote:Only that we could see such a characteristic in the movie. The podracer and the engines were brought to the grand arena and only there reassembled.

Only after being first fully assembled in Anakin's backyard and then de-assembled for transport.
Once the repairs were made, once the engine was up and running, it was probably easier to de-assemble because the hard work had already been done.

Fact is, that a podracer has only three main components: a one-pilot cockpit and two engines.

Fact is, a Pod-Racer is composed of three main parts, which themselves are composed of a lot more complex assemblies.
If those three parts weren't meant to come toghether, then you might be in for a lot of "tweaking" before your parts work well as Pod-racer.

If one has two serviceable engines and a pod, the establishing of the connections shouldn't be that difficult.

Agreed.
Once the hard work had been done in Anakin's backyard, the assembling at the racetrack shouldn't have been too hard...