THE WRITE STUFF (#126, JUL 2011)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars head writer Christian Taylor took the show to epic heights with Season Three’s intriguing Mortis trilogy. The veteran writer on Lost and Six Feet Under shares his thoughts on where the show is headed in Season Four! Interview by Jonathan Wilkins
You came to the The Clone Wars after great success with Lost and Six Feet Under. What are the advantages in writing an animated series over live action?
The thing that is so exciting about this show is that what we can do is mind-blowing. In TV, you’ll often find yourself trying to do something that gets compromised or cut because of schedule or budget. We keep the budget down on The Clone Wars as well, but what the animators do is so incredible that if you can imagine it and write it, they can make it happen. We had a writers’ room for the third season and George Lucas was in there with us. He’s very keen to push the boundaries of the show. We were all drama writers who had worked in live action, so they took us around the animation department and we saw the artists hard at work on sets and characters. It’s like a huge movie.
Sometimes in the writers’ room when we were pitching ideas I noticed the producer, Cary Silver, putting his head in his hands, thinking Uh oh, that’s gonna’ be expensive! But Dave Filoni [supervising director] just chuckled!
Are there any disadvantages to working in animation?
There are certain technical things that just can’t be done. For instance, we can’t change a costume on a character. That would be easier in live action. The costume is actually integrated into the character, so you’ll see characters in the same costume for a long time. Water and fabric are very hard to do on a TV animation schedule, because it’s all about how long it takes to render something.
You have to take into account how long it’s going to take to make the show. The Mortis story arc that I wrote three years ago was broadcast only a few months ago. I’ve just handed scripts in for episodes that might air who knows when!
Does your background in drama mean the drama in the show will intensify?
The thing with all television shows is that they take a bit of time to find their feet. That’s their nature, and a lot of TV shows don’t get the time to do that. George is so behind this show, that he’s allowed it to grow. I think the show is told from Ahsoka’s point of view. As she matures, I think the show matures. There was definitely a shift when they brought on more drama writers. I don’t really view it any differently than telling an episode of Lost; it’s just that we get to do it with this incredible animation.
The tone changed in the middle of Season Three, and I think there’ll be more of that as the show continues because the stories are becoming more epic in scope. We’re being allowed to tell stories in three- and four-episode arcs that are like mini-movies. We don’t have to cram everything into 22 minutes; it’s like having a three-act structure.
Were you a Star Wars fan as a kid?
I saw the first film at the seminal age of 8 or 9.1 grew up watching those first three movies to the point where I was building these huge sets. I had this tiny bedroom, and I designed a table that would lower from the ceiling on a rope. I built the sets with polystyrene, and I would get all the plants from the garden to make Dagobah, for example. I got a heating element and put it in a “bog” so that it would bubble and get misty. Yes, I was a fan!
Is the Expanded Universe an influence on your work?
I never really accessed the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and that keeps me focused on The Clone Wars. I think that some writers can feel bogged down by the EU. A lot of it isn’t vital to telling stories in The Clone Wars. The films are very important to me, but I try to approach the show from a character and story perspective. I work with great people who know all about the Expanded Universe, so it can be referenced if need be. One of the great things about The Clone Wars is that if George Lucas says it’s true, then it’s true. That’s not to diminish the storytellers of the Expanded Universe, but we get the privilege to sit with George and hear him explain in detail what the rules of the Force are, and what the rules of the Jedi Order are.
What sort of things did he go into?
We were talking about the Mortis arc. George spoke about the Force for about 20 minutes. It was a really specific, carefully thought-out, spiritually aligned philosophy. Everybody in the room was hushed.
Afterwards Dave said, “George hasn’t really talked about the Force a lot in the context of the show, so it’s really exciting that he’s getting to do this.” That was one of the reasons why I chose to do this trilogy of episodes that featured the Force so prominently.
Did you have any idea that you'd were be writing for Liam Neeson, who reprised the role of Qui-Gon Jinn for the Mortis episodes?
I didn’t even think about it. When that happened it was fantastic. It just gives that arc weight and I think for fans it was really fun. I love Liam Neeson he’s fantastic, cool, and a dude!
When we see Qui-Gon, is he a Force spirit?
I think it may be a little unfair of me to givea definitive answer. I think the Force is incredibly powerful and the ability to manifest after death is something that only a few Jedi can do. We can’t be definitive because it is Mortis and nothing on Mortis can be trusted or believed.
Would you like the chance to write more for the older Ahsoka?
Yes, there are some very interesting things that we are going to do with her. The show started with her, and I think it will end with her story. We’re trying to write to that. We’re very much writing in chronological order now. We’re not jumping back and forth in time anymore.
Anakin’s fight against the dark side is something we keep seeing hints of in the show. How far can you take that?
We pushed it pretty far with Mortis, and there will definitely be other things to look out for as we build towards Revenge of the Sith. The challenging thing about this show is that it’s in a specific timeline, so we can’t deviate from that timeline. That can be frustrating, but it also keeps us precise in our storytelling. I think the Mortis trilogy was a chance to really go at it, and there will be other emotional arcs as the story builds. There will be some interesting events that occur, although I can’t say what they are yet!
I just handed in a story, featuring a certain character, and I can’t say who the character is, but it’s epic, mind-blowing stuff that came from George. Unfortunately, you’re not going to see it until sometime in the future!
Are there any characters that you'd like to have the chance to write for that haven't appeared yet?
I don’t know, I’m trying to think who we haven’t done yet.
I think it would be great to do Han Solo, but I defer to Dave and George on that. You don’t want the show to get so cutesy that every character who’s in the show was in the movies. I think that Chewbacca and Tarkin are in the body of that world, but Han Solo doesn’t relate to anybody, so I’m not sure.