The walls of the Skywalker Ranch art department are papered with sketches and the tables are littered with sculptures of the objects and bizarre creatures that inhabit the worlds of Episode I.

Concept Designer Doug Chiang heads up the team of artists given the task of interpreting George's artistic vision. The art department has created between three and four thousand pieces of artwork for Episode I. This work includes sketches, sculptures, costume designs, creature models and dozens of full-color production paintings.

"It's like working on at least five different films," says Doug. "Each world we visit in Episode I has a very unique culture and look. It's a big show."

Working on this big show was one of Doug's childhood dreams. "When I first saw Star Wars it became my main endeavor to work on this film some day in some capacity," Doug admits.

Doug was working at ILM when the announcement was made that portfolios were being accepted for the design staff for Episode I, and he was ready. "I was secretly preparing my own portfolio on the side so right when that announcement came down, I was ready and I submitted my portfolio like everybody else." Doug says he was thrilled just to make the first cut.

Doug tells us that one of the great things about working with George and producer Rick McCallum has been the opportunity shape his job into what he wanted it to be. "It seems the whole structure of the production gives people opportunities to evolve and push their limits," he observes.

Doug was given the task of building a design team of artists best suited for the challenge ahead. He first brought on designer Terryl Whitlatch, whose background in zoology made her the ideal choice to design multitudes of creatures. Iain McCaig, Jay Shuster and Ed Natividad filled out the team with their costume, graphics, environment and vehicle design abilities.

Doug recalls that the whole team was very nervous about working with George at first, "The first several months were intimidating as we tried to get into George's mind." Doug and the team knew from the artwork of Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston that George expected high quality in addition to great design. But with time, the nervous anticipation wore off, and once they became more in tune with George's vision for Episode I, the process became very rewarding.

"Working with George is very rich in that not only does he give excellent feedback but he also appreciates great artwork." Doug says it was refreshing how visual George is. "You show him a drawing and he gets it right away without a lot of explaining."

During pre-production George would meet with the art department team each Friday. During the initial meetings he described his philosophy on the color palettes and shapes of the original trilogy versus what he hoped to do with Episode I. The original trilogy was very black and white in that it was fairly easy to determine which vehicles and characters were part of the Rebellion and which represented the Empire just from seeing their shapes and colors. The Empire was black, white and red, and its ships were very angular and sharp. The Rebels tended to have softer, curvier ships and their costumes were of more natural and subdued colors.

"For Episode I George wanted to blur the lines, so that when movie-goers see a space ship they won't easily know which side that ship represents," Doug says. George and Doug developed a color palette of soft earth tones to use throughout the worlds of Episode I.

The usual process for designing a ship or creature took about three weeks. Doug would work on five subjects - one each day for a week - in preparation for the weekly art department meeting with George.

"In the case of the star fighter, George simply started with 'give me a star fighter design.'" Doug explains. Each week Doug developed four to six designs each day, ranging from very radical to conservative so that George could pick a direction. From that direction Doug further expanded into other variations until the design was finalized. The star fighter took a few extra weeks because the design shifted radically, but from that work they were able to evolve two star fighter designs. The final star fighter has a softer shapes and carefully reflects the art work and culture of the Episode I culture from which it evolved. "It's like a fully functional piece of jewelry," Doug says.

Doug is currently spending most of his time at ILM art directing the CG, models, and sets. Because he had worked there previously he says it has been a natural extension for him to take on those responsibilities when the post production schedule kicked in.

But, the art department is still very much involved in the production. "The design is finished in broad strokes but in the execution we're constantly refining and finding new problems to solve," Doug says. Doug and his team will be very busy over the next few months finishing up Episode I and starting the design work for Episode II.

Please enjoy the video and check back for more diary segments. Next time we'll visit Leavesden and watch as Anakin's home is built piece by piece.