Holidays on Parade

Something from the Carolina Garrison in the news:

Holidays on Parade

By Brian Dukes
Staff writer
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Where: Downtown Fayetteville
Information: Call 309-1759, 483-4186 or 323-1040. Go to www.rotarychristmasparade.com.
On TV: The parade will be aired live on News 14 Carolina.
If you don’t attend the ninth Annual Rotary Christmas Parade downtown Saturday, Santa Claus may put you on the naughty list.
But Darth Vader, one of the parade’s Grand Marshals, might destroy your home world.
Members of a fan-based Star Wars costuming club, called the Carolina Garrison of The Fighting 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, will serve as Grand Marshals for this year’s parade. About 35 Star Wars characters will be represented at the parade, including Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, sand people, bounty hunters, Jawas, Jedi, Stormtroopers, Imperial officers and biker scouts.
The parade starts at 11 a.m. at the Cumberland County Courthouse on Person Street.
Matthew Smith, parade organizer and co-chairman, said the group will add a new element to the parade.
“It’s always our goal to have as Grand Marshals a character or person who sets a good role model for children and someone that parents wouldn’t mind their children emulating,” Smith said. “It’s awesome to have them.”
The parade, which will run about two hours, will be broadcast live on News 14 Carolina.
The parade will travel along Person Street toward the Market House, which it will circle before continuing down Hay Street. It ends at the railroad station.
More than 100 entries are participating in this year’s parade, the highest turnout since the Fayetteville Rotary clubs took over the parade in 2000. The city of Fayetteville was previously responsible for putting on a Christmas parade, but ceased doing so in 1998. There was no parade in 1999.
The parade will include high school marching bands, beauty queens, local organizations, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, motorcycle groups, Shrine units, radio stations, The Salvation Army and the Red Cross.
“We’re also going to have a driverless Model T Ford,” Smith said. “It’s a secret as to who, or what, is driving it.”
What isn’t a secret is that the parade is one of Smith’s proudest activities.
“I enjoy serving the community,” said Smith, who will turn 70 a few days after the parade. “I’m trying to slow down a little bit, but the parade lets me have too much fun.”
Having fun while serving his community is something Bill Lane can identify with also. Lane will be the man behind the Darth Vader mask. He is the regional representative for the Fighting 501st Legion and a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg.
He said he was excited and honored when Smith asked his group to be the parade’s Grand Marshals. Recently, the group had members in the Hope Mills and Raleigh Christmas parades.
“Matthew thought it’d be a good idea, and we loved it,” Lane said. “But we had to have at least 30 characters participate, which was a challenge at first.”
Lane said the 125 members of the organization are scattered throughout North and South Carolina, with less than a dozen in Fayetteville. On a much larger scale, there are more than 4,000 members spread across 40 countries worldwide.
But once Lane told the members that Imperial troops had a chance to lead the parade, the response was overwhelming.
“By the day of the parade, we’ll probably have about 40 people participating,” Lane said.
His group is featured at many events, Lane said, in an effort to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“We love Star Wars and costuming,” Lane said.
He said he has spent $3,000 putting together his Darth Vader outfit over the past few years.
“But when you have a chance to do something positive and make kids happy, that’s why we really do this.”
Darth Vader with a heart? How very “Return of the Jedi” of him.
Lane promised that parade-goers would be impressed with the show of Imperial might.
“We’ll have stormtroopers marching in formation, bounty hunters. It’s going to be a great display,” Lane said.
Staff writer Brian Dukes can be reached at dukesb@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 411.

Full Article: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=312762

Learn the science behind entertainment’s illusion

Some news from the Carolina Garrison:

Learn the science behind entertainment’s illusion

By Cliff Bellamy : The Herald-Sun
cbellamy@heraldsun.com
Sep 12, 2008

DURHAM — On film and on stage, special effects look effortless. Helicopters blow up without anyone getting hurt, swords and knives appear to pierce skin (but leave the actors unscathed), and make-up transforms a twentysomething actor into a 60-year-old.

These and other illusions not only give audiences a good thrill ride, they also help tell a story by creating more realistic characters or re-creating a period of history. And all of them in some way involve the application of science.

If you want to see the science behind these illusions, visit the Museum Of Life and Science Saturday, when the museum will present “Heroes, Villains and Special Effects: The Science of Entertainment,” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will see demonstrations of a variety of special effects — costumes, stunt work, face painting and make-up, computer animation and other categories.

Darth Vader, Princess Leia and other “Star Wars” characters will be at the event. Members of The Carolina Garrison, the Carolinas chapter of the 501st Legion — an all-volunteer “Star Wars” costuming organization — will be dressed as various characters to demonstrate costuming.

The idea for “Heroes, Villains” grew out of the 501st Legion. The staff knew the costume group was available, and wanted to combine a visit with science-related activities, said Shawntel Landavazo, senior director of family and school experiences and event coordinator for the museum. Saturday’s event, and other similar events the museum tries to have monthly, help demonstrate the everyday application of science, she said.

For example, Landavazo said, with fight choreography, “there’s a lot of physicis. With makeup you are having to mix colors. With sets there’s a lot of math. With fog, there’s the science of how you create that water vapor.”

One of the demonstrators Saturday will be David McClutchey, an actor and teacher who has worked with various local theater groups for the past 23 years. McClutchey also is a fight choreographer, and his job as a fight choreographer “is to teach the actors to perform these maneuvers safely while creating the illusion of realism for the audience.”

“Some of the most benign [moves],” he added, “like a simple shove or a slap can be some of the most dangerous things that are done. …” When weapons are added, “then we heighten the amount of danger and it increases the need for a well-choreographed, well-planned and thought-out fight.” McClutchey will be demonstrating fight choreography, and how make-up is used in conjunction with fight stunts to create the illusion of violence.

Among the other demonstrators will be members of the Duke University Theater Department, who will demonstrate set design; Dean Jones, an Emmy-Winning make-up artist; and members of the School for Communication Arts in Raleigh, who will demonstrate animation techniques.

Landavazo wants visitors to come away from this special effects fair with a realization that “there’s science where you might not necessarily think that it is. If you’re interested in science as a kid, stick with it. It’s not all working in a lab, although that’s cool too.”

Source: http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/features/54-987930.cfm

501st Caught on Camera

Here’s the latest photos from Flickr of the 501st:

CGS SShow

Librari-Con

The…. trooper they call Jayne?

FemScout

Main Library

Diamond Summit

NonCon

TK @ SDCC

Burning Man 2008

Fan Expo 2007

DragonCon Parade

Trooper e crianças

Darth Vader & Storm Troopers at the Pops
http://flickr.com/photos/thepaintedtiger/2849107872/

501st Caught on Camera

Here’s the latest videos of the 501st Legion members in action:

2008 Defcon 7 Tulsa, OK

2008 Defcon 7 Tulsa, OK

Clone Wars AMC event

2008 Weird Al & 70th Explorers Garrison of the 501st Legion

Lucas Oil Stadium Grand Opening – 501st Bloodfin

Darth Vader e Storm Trooper na pré-estréia do Clone Wars

Clone Wars Release Basingstoke 16th August

Expo Coleccionistas Star Wars 2008

Fallen Trooper: William Snell

It is with great sadness once again that I have to write this – the 501st has lost another of it’s family, this time William Snell, age 18, of the Carolina Garrison. William was not a full member of the 501st, he was currently in the middle of the registration process, although he has trooped with the Carolina Garrison for years as a TK.
He was involved in a car accident, I’m assuming sometime today, and was a great friend of the late Katie Johnson.

Our hearts go out to the family. A reception at his home will be held August 7th. For more details, contact the Carolina Garrison

501st Caught on Film

Here’s the latest videos featuring the 501st. Now that Weird Al is on tour, people are going to see a lot of us.

Weird Al Yankovic – The Saga Begins w/501st Legion (7/8/08)

SoCal Garrison : The Saga Begins (Weird Al 06/30/08)

FF Cosplay 08 – Dancing stormtroopers 1

Tega Cay Parade

Fun After the Tega Cay Parade

Outpost-42 At Auckland Armageddon 2007

501st Qtown ‘08

Star Wars @ Singapore Toy&Comic Convention 2008 Pics

501st Carolina Garrison, Hemby Children’s Hospital Visit

Puerto Rico Star Wars Fan Club at TV Show Club Sunshine

Roger Carel et la 501st

Puerto Rico Star Wars Fan Club, 501st & Rebel Legion Outpost

Darth Vader and his Stormtrooper

iPhone 3G

L’empire à la Japan expo 2008

Stormtrooper em Sampa

Cheerleaders

Hey, these guys are pretty good:

..

Caught on Camera

Lot of pictures from this past week! Here’s some of the good ones:

501st Car.

AshCon:

A couple troopers from Australia:

Trooper in Brazil:

California Garrison at a USPS Stamp release:



Carolina Garrison table at Free Comic Book Day:

Random Clone Trooper:

Random Trooper:

A couple Troopers in the distance from Carida:

Trooper crashing a concert in Puerto Rico:

UK Garrison Edinburgh Run:

Closing of the Franklin Exhibit of Science Meets Imagination:

Random Clone at Free Comic Book Day:

A couple UK Troopers in London:

Troopers at Montreal Toy Expo:

Troopers in New Orleans:

Parrot!

Connecticut Garrison from a newspaper:

Shy:
Random TK:

Traffic Cop:

Free Comic Book Day Pictures

This is a couple days later than I wanted, but here’s the collection of pictures that I found on Flickr from this past weekend:


A couple of unknowns:




Cloud City Garrison in Seattle:

Florida Guys at Tate Comics:

Southern California Garrison:

Trooper and Vader in Washington:
Golden Gate Garrison:

Canadian Garrison in Ottawa:

Me in Burlington,

Garrison Carida:


Carolina Garrison on patrol:

StellarCon in the News

Here’s an article that just floated up to the web about StellarCon 23, which was trooped at by the Carolina Garrison:

The “other” N-word
Darth Vader goes in the middle. That’s obvious.
And let’s get some of his men here to his left. A stormtrooper. A clone trooper. And can we get one of those TIE pilots?
That’s good.
Let’s get a couple biker scouts over here, and you, the royal guardsman – that red cloak will just jump out over on Vader’s right. Yes.
Back to the left now. Let’s get Boba Fett and the rest of the Mandalorians over here. And you, the female Tusken, yes you…. Let’s get you on the left with the Jawa – is that your daughter? So cute…. And Emperor? If you would, please.
A TIE pilot here, another Mandalorian over there. The Imperial gunner goes here.
And now… can the Imperial officers take a knee down front? You too, admiral…. Good. Now let’s get the Sith lord front and center.
Oh, this is just perfect.
Cars slow down on Main Street in downtown High Point, honking horns and passengers disembark to capture the moment on their cell-phone cameras. A Randolph County ambulance cruises by; a tinny blast from its PA speaker advises, “Trust in the Force, Luke.”
The members of the 501st Legion’s Carolina Garrison, Star Wars fans one and all, chuckle at this one. But really, there is no Luke Skywalker here – I mean, what are they, a bunch of kids? Anyway, the 501st is a national costuming club for Star Wars villains, and Luke Skywalker was clearly a hero. Duh.
Also, the line as delivered to Luke Skywalker by the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi in the first Star Wars movie, which was actually Episode IV, came when Luke was barreling down the trench of the Death Star like he was blasting womp rats in Beggar’s Canyon back home. And actually, it was two lines: “Use the Force, Luke,” delivered when Luke first dove into the canyon, and then, “Luke, trust me,” which he said just before Han Solo swooped in with the Millennium Falcon and took out Vader’s Twin Ion Engine Advanced X-1.
Just so you know.
Probably anyone here at Stellarcon, the 32nd installment of the Triad’s biggest science fiction, fantasy, horror, gaming and comics convention, could tell you the same, though the crowd is not limited to Star Wars freaks. There are hundreds of RPG – or role playing game – enthusiasts, sci-fi bookworms, memorabilia collectors, movie and television fans, filkers, anime junkies, aspiring writers and artists, working writers and artists, fanboys, fangirls and, in some cases, their fankids.
Full Article Here