dswcp:It’s Anakin Week!I should draw Anakin in these beautiful, unused costume designs from Attack o
dswcp:It’s Anakin Week!I should draw Anakin in these beautiful, unused costume designs from Attack of the Clones. The capes are so stylish and empowering! I especially like the pirate-y vest in the first pic, and the Vader-y chain in the second. I wonder how they would look with his AotC and RotS hairdos? If other artists draw these, please tag me, because I’d love to see them!“McCaig and Power began designing the costumes for Anakin Skywalker long before actor Hayden Christensen was cast in the role, and McCaig emphasized that a design shouldn’t account for the actors: ‘You’re drawing the character, not the actor.’”That perspective doesn’t seem intuitive to me, but I respect it! Anakin was a decades-long established character at that point after all, even though this movie was showing a side of him never seen before.“The concept of Jedi Knights was grounded in the concept work of the previous production. ‘At one point during the Episode I design, we were thinking of the Jedi as lone samurai, then as teams of samurai,’ McCaig recalled. ‘They were going to be more like a police force, dressed in black and a lot more militaristic. But they evolved into the peacekeeping force they are in the current film.’”This quote is so compelling; it really makes me want to get the Episode I Art Book to see the rest of this story. The prequels Jedi uniforms are some of my favorite costumes of all time, but the black, fashy uniforms McCaig describes here would make more sense in so many ways, and might have made the story bolder and more straightforward. They would have emphasized the Jedi’s role as an imperialistic police force for a corrupt government, and showed a powerful aesthetic connection between the Republic and the Empire.The Jedi uniforms as they are reference Alec Guinness’ costume from the original movie, a connection which doesn’t really make sense since his character was supposedly concealing his Jedi identity at the time. But the monk-like design still definitely works for me, since it shows the Jedi’s hypocrisy and delusion. It is important that the Jedi believe they are as humble as they appear. My background in Catholicism and medieval religious movements is a huge reason why I value the prequels’ subversive imagery and messages.So why would Anakin wear the fancy, knightly capes shown above? An undercover mission among rich people, perhaps? A date with Padme? A hoity-toity Jedi ceremony? It’s so much fun to think about, and I love to see my boys all dressed up.Concept art from The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, written by Mark Cotta Vaz. “Anakin’s Costume, conceptual designs,” drawn by Dermot Power. I also included concept art for the speeder Anakin rides on Tatooine, since it comes with a fun costume change we did not get in the movie! Poncho, goggles, and a little backpack? We were robbed. The art is labeled “Owen’s Speederbike, conceptual design,” and it was drawn by Jay Shuster. I love that he took his stuffy step-brother’s bike. Published 2002. -- source link