The Homing Beacon, Starwars.com's official newsletter, has been home to several exclusive Episode II updates. As such, it is the first place where certain stories are reported. (To subscribe to the Homing Beacon, the official biweekly Star Wars online newsletter, click here.)

Here are some recent updates that subscribers to the Homing Beacon have been privy to:

The Animatics Department -- as reported in Beacon #12 -- June 15, 2000. Returning to Episode II is David Dozoretz, the Previsualization/Visual Effects Supervisor who leads the team of animatics artists crafting a rough, temporary version of the movie.

Much has been said about how George Lucas' non-linear approach to filmmaking is continually blurring the lines between such formerly distinct phases as pre-production, production and post-production. The work of the Animatics Department is a perfect example of this:

Pre-Production: "We're closely related to what the Art Department does," says Dozoretz. "We get to be the first group of artists to implement those fabulous designers' work. We're constantly getting information from them about what designs look like. We occasionally throw info back up to them, where if they need to do a storyboard or concept painting, we'll help place things for them and compose the frame, because we have the ability to do that really quickly since we've got 3-D models."

Production: Once shooting begins in Australia, the all-digital nature of Episode II's production will allow Dozoretz's team to utilize the footage immediately. "We will be able to incorporate dailies," he says, though that will not be the Animatics Department's primary focus. While Lucas' crew gathers the necessary performances on-camera, "we'll be back here at Skywalker Ranch doing design work on other sequences in the film, specifically action sequences," says Dozoretz. "There are a couple of really really big action sequences which are primarily going to be done with digital technology, and very little of that will be shot during principal photography."

Post-Production: "One of the great things about Episode II is a lot of the design work that we do in the animatics phase will cross over into ILM, so there's no repetition of work," says Dozoretz. The team does use some of the computer-generated models crafted by Industrial Light & Magic. "Generally, ILM stuff is very high-end and very cumbersome because it's so sophisticated," he says. "We don't use it too much, because we're just trying to be very quick and rough and sketching stuff out. But we do use it sometimes, because obviously it's the best models, the best animation and the best motion capture stuff."

In most films, an editor's work doesn't start until after shooting has wrapped. Even before the cameras start capturing their digital images for Episode II, editor Ben Burtt has been hard at work cutting sequences together. "That's my job right now," says Burtt, "Cutting together these temporary shots, and doing shots with our own digital video camera, simple things, cutting them together to get a sense of how fast a sequence might flow, and how many shots are necessary to tell a story. And of course I'm able to think about sound at this point too. And I've got a list of things to record. I have ideas in mind for what they might sound like."

Co-Screenwriter Jonathan Hales -- as reported in Beacon #13 -- June 29, 2000. Although Jonathan Hales has had a professional relationship with Lucasfilm for the past ten years due to his involvement in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, his relationship with Star Wars began like most people's.

"I remember taking my two very little boys to see Star Wars in a big cinema in London," recounts Hales. "My kids were saying 'Wow, Dad!' and I was saying 'Wow, boys!' Now, I find myself [almost] 25 years later actually working on one, which is extraordinary. I love it. I mean, that's life."

Hales is the co-screenwriter for the second chapter in the Star Wars saga, a role he finds both exhilarating and daunting. "My personal goal was to make it the best screenplay that ever was, so that it will be the best movie that ever was. You just do your very best," Hales explains of his approach. "I tried to forget, in a way, that it was Star Wars, in a sense that I didn't want to think 'Oh my God, there is a world out there waiting to see this stuff.' I just tried to concentrate on it and what it was, and forget about that terrifying dimension that's out there."

Episode II will add to the Star Wars saga, says Hales, but not just in the form of new characters, aliens, droids and locales. "It will add political complexity," explains Hales, "but it will also add an interesting and a fascinating love story."

Hales is scheduled to depart for Australia soon, to meet up with director George Lucas, who is currently filming there. "He and I will sit down and he'll tell me what more thoughts he's had about the screenplay, and I will tidy that up," explains Hales. "I shall only be there for a couple of weeks, anyway. There's nothing more useless than a writer on a soundstage," he adds dryly.

Hales also notes that his sons are pretty proud of their father's involvement in Star Wars. "They're grown up now -- they're not little boys anymore; they're quite big boys," the writer laughs. "For the first time in their lives, they probably take me really serious as a writer now, because this is big stuff."

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Episode II: Familiar Faces -- as reported in Beacon #14 -- July 13, 2000. Though Star Wars: Episode II will feature new worlds, new heroes, and new villains, fans will be heartened to knowthat many familiar favorites will be returning to that galaxy far, far away.

Once again providing the voice to the miserly Toydarian Watto is Andy Secombe. In Episode I, Watto was left the victim of his own gambling vice, having lost everything to Qui-Gon Jinn in the Jedi's cleverly crafted bet. Now, moviegoers will revisit Watto on Tatooine a decade later, to see what has become of the junk-dealer.

Frank Oz defined the concept of a wise Jedi Master through his performance as Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and again in The Phantom Menace. The talented performer -- a gifted and successful director in his own right -- will reprise his role as Yoda, who promises to become more actively involved in the strife threatening the Republic.

When Anakin Skywalker was brought before the Jedi Council as a nine-year old, his thoughts dwelled on his mother. Pernilla August, who played the quiet, kind Shmi Skywalker in Episode I, will return.

Silas Carson donned many masks in The Phantom Menace, playing a variety of characters. Perhaps his most important one was that of Jedi Council member Ki-Adi-Mundi. Carson will return for Episode II to portray the Cerean Jedi.