Research – Page 8 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Searching for AgriCorps style

It’s somehow been several (4.5?!) years since first I first ventured forth to do some first-person galactic interpretation, and as you would expect in a hobby geared towards constant tinkering and improvement, I’ve made plenty of changes to that impression since then. In the coming months, I plan to roll out some ‘complete kit’ breakdowns for my various Star Wars living-history personas. In the case of my ex-Agricultural Corps Jedi impression, I realized that a kit breakdown wouldn’t be the right place for fully detailing the research that went into said impression…especially since I portray him long after the Corps has been dissolved!
What’s more, a recent addition to our community in the SWLH facebook group expressed great interest in pursuing an AgriCorps impression, so I wanted to use this post and lay out the few bits of information I’ve been able to dig up–not only for their benefit, but for anyone else who might be thinking about such a persona. If you have an interest in gardening, botany, biology, geology, or environmental science and want to apply it to the Galaxy Far Far Away, consider the AgriCorps!

Compared to the larger Order as a whole, our sample size of analyzable visual examples for the Service Corps (and AgriCorps specifically) is a miniscule—only nine.

This generic Mohawk’d fellow comes from the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook (2002), while The Jedi Path (circa 115 BBY) gives us six more individuals, plus a generic Service Corps member:

Galactic Style Guide – Shoulders II

Happy Boxing Day, and welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! For our final installment of 2020, we’re wrapping up our look at the archetypal exotic space-fantasy ‘wide-shouldered’ look.

We’ll begin by teasing out some examples of armor-based wide shoulders from the earlier phases of galactic history (pre-1000 BBY):

shoulders-armor-Ancient — Naga Sadow, Freedon Nadd, Exar Kun Ulic Quel-Droma, Arca Jeth, Gav Daragon; Vitiate, Arcann, Darth Vindican Satele Shan, Darth Malgus; Lord Hoth, Valentyne Farfalla, Army of Light

I don’t have a ton of interest in (or access to) much material from this period, so it’s totally possible I’ve overlooked some key figure. Is there anyone I’ve missed? Please let me know!
As we’ll see, more modern characters from the Clone Wars all the way into the Legacy era have also worn armor that widens the upper body: Continue reading “Galactic Style Guide – Shoulders II”

Galactic Style Guide – Shoulders I

Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to create a more authentic ‘outer persona’!
Ever since the days of Ming the Merciless, sci-fi designers have been using a wide-shouldered silhouette to let the audience know a setting is exotic or non-Earthy, and Star Wars has been no different. While I’ve found no specific mention of this design point in comments from costume designer John Mollo, his original designs for ‘girl Luke Starkiller’ show a mantled hood that may have planted the seed that eventually became this prevalent costume element:
It’s worth pointing out that even though the very first onscreen SW character (C-3PO) could be said to display a form of this style, it really didn’t kick into full gear until Return of the Jedi, and by the time the Prequels rolled around, giant collars, mantles, and shoulder pads were in full force!

shoulders Ep1 Naboo — **Wide shoulders on pre-Clone Wars Naboo:** Amidala, Sabe; NSF Palace guards, Sio Bibble, Phylo Gandish; Unidentified Theed civilian, unidentified advisor, Hugo Eckener, Horace Vacil, TC-14; civilian prisoners. Note that the entire Naboo Royal Advisory Council and Theed nobles dress pretty much alike.

In defense of ‘close enough’

Let’s talk about fish-lady sweaters for a second.
When a Mon Calamari showed up in The Mandalorian Chapter 11 wearing an off-the-rack fisherman’s sweater, the community lost no time in memeifying it before hopping on Amazon to snatch up one or two for themselves. I find it encouraging that people are interested in costuming a common civilian for once (instead of the rare-in-universe but over-represented-in-cosplay Jedi/Sith/Mando/bounty hunter ‘player classes’)…but if I was looking to put together a GFFA dockworker impression, I definitely wouldn’t go out and buy the exact onscreen sweater—and not just because they’re probably now very scarce! Here’s why.

Building the Inner Persona: Galactic Proverbs

In this installment of the Inner Persona miniseries, we’ll continue to expand our mental ‘word-hoard’ by adding some proverbs from the Star Wars galaxy- phrases that express a basic truth which may be applied to common situations.
We may take such phrases for granted in our everyday life, but they can really help sell the illusion when speaking in-character!

“If one guy calls you a Hutt, ignore him. If a second calls you a Hutt, begin to wonder. If a third calls you a Hutt, buy a drool bucket and start stockpiling spice.” – CorSec saying (I, Jedi, ch26)

“If the wind no longer calls to you, it is time to see if you have forgotten your name.” – Caamasi saying (I, Jedi, chapter 40)
Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Galactic Proverbs”

Artifact ID: Mos Pelgo silver bowls

While giving The Mandalorian’s season two opener a rewatch I noticed something in the scene where we are first introduced to the Marshal ‘Cobb Vance’. When Vance removes his helmet and sits down, he places the helmet on the table next to a particular style bowl. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it until perhaps a fourth or fifth casual reskim of the episode, had Jon Favreau not lampshaded the helmet with a gratuitous closeup.

This one was a pretty easy identification, since I grew up using bowls just like this for my morning granola and yogurt!

Galactic Style Guide – Vests II

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, the series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help You create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! For this month’s installment, we’re wrapping up our look at sleeveless or vest-type garments.

We’ll start off with some ‘common’ vests:

Mace Towani, Noa Briqualon (x3); Gela Yeens, Greedo, Kabe, Sai’torr Kal Fas, Bom Vimdin, Dr. Evazan; Lobot, Nien Nunb, Emon Azzameen, Thracken Sal-Solo, Corellian spacer, generic Colonist (FFG), Baldarek.

Building the Inner Persona: Similes

In this installment of the Inner Persona miniseries, we’ll continue to expand our mental ‘word-hoard’ by adding some galactic similes – phrases that compare things using like or as:

“as acquisitive as a Neimoidian” (Darth Plageius chapter 5)

“as ostentatious as a Hutt” (ibid)

“as slippery as a greased Dug” (Outbound Flight)

“as nervous as a Trandoshan in a wallet factory” (Outlander part 1)

“slick as a slime toad” (Jabba’s Game Galaxy)

“Green as a monkey-lizard” (ibid)

Galactic Style Guide – Vests I

Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, our monthly series in which we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! This time around, we’re looking at a key element introduced by the very first non-droid Star Wars characters ever seen onscreen:
Yes, we’re talking VESTS! Since they are so prevalent and we have so many examples to discuss, we’ll be devoting two entries to them. Original costume designer John Mollo had a pretty simple reason for giving the Rebel ‘fleet troopers’ (and many other characters) vests – visual interest! “‘The waistcoats look a bit more businesslike and give them a bit of texture,’ he says. ‘They would have been a bit boring if they had just been wearing a gray overall suit.’” (Alinger, Star Wars Costumes – the Original Trilogy. p 22).

If you’re behind the times, please note that the screen-used Rebel Fleet Trooper vest auctioned in 2017 boasted a whopping ELEVEN pockets, most of them entirely pointless or impractical! (As they say, go big or go home.):
We’ll continue with vests used by the Rebel Alliance.

Building the Inner Persona: Jokes!

In this installment of the Inner Persona miniseries, we’ll continue to expand our mental ‘word-hoard’ of in-universe phrases. In addition to the everyday words we use for things, the jokes we use can also be a great way to do this!

“What’s the last thing to go through an Imperial scout trooper’s head when he hits a tree? His afterburner.” ―Joke told by Rebel forces on Endor (New Essential Guide to Vehicles & Vessels)

“What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks one language? Human.” (Empire Blues, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina)

“What’s the difference between a lightsaber and a glowrod? A lightsaber impresses girls!” (Legacy of the Force: Invincible) As we will see below, it seems Jacen was still making dumb jokes even into adulthood. Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Jokes!”