Star Wars project

So for the Star Wars project we had to come up with a question about Star Wars.

My question was how do the Imperial Military compare to the Canadian Army.

I compared three different types of units: Special Forces, Artillery, and Infantry.

Special Forces

Clone Commandos

The equivalent to special forces operators were elite Clone Troopers because of their extensive training. They are more lethal and effective than the average Clone Trooper. During the Clone Wars, two commando teams, Clone Force 99 and Delta Squad, were organized into teams of four and deployed on covert missions across the galaxy.First deployed in the Battle of Geonosis.They are often used in covert operations requiring them to be discreet.They use their desirable mutations from the clone template to achieve missions that regular clones could not accomplish.They were used to protect their home planet of Camino, as well as sent anywhere in the galaxy.They use unorthodox tactics to accomplish their objectives.Used to protect and advise the Senate, as well as gathering information and for special actions

JTF2

Created on April 1, 1993 when Canadian Forces accepted responsibility for federal counter terrorism operations from the RCMP. Since its inception the unit has constantly evolved to meet modern day threats the come from elusive, sophisticated and determined enemies. The are continuously developing new capabilities, technologies, and tactics to maintain an edge in the operational environmentFirst deployed in a major combat role outside of Canada in November 2002 in AfghanistanQuiet professionals (must be discreet)Aspire to excellence (helps JTF2 to to achieve ambitious goals)Precise and accurate tool (can be applied to any threat and are prepared to take action at home or abroad)Adhere to a strict code of conduct and all lawsUsed for gathering information, giving advice, experience or action

Infantry

Clone Troopers

Clone Troopers were first deployed in the wake of the first battle of Genesis. They were made to fight the separatists and protect all of the planets in the Republic. They are the primary combat fighting force for the Republican Army. The clone troopers wore Phase 1 Armour and only the high ranking offices had colour on their armour.The Clone Troopers normally fought on planet surfaces but they were also known to board ships and even fight in space. Later on the Clone Troopers were divided into different divisions, which included the 501st and 212th.For three years Clone Troopers served under the leadership of the Jedi as they defended the Republic against the Separatist Forces. Although the Clones repeatedly demonstrated their loyalty to the Jedi and the Republic, often by sacrificing their lives in the Clone Wars, they were in fact the secret weapon of the Sith – an order of dark side practitioners that conspired to take over the galaxy. In spite of their efforts to save the Republic, the Clone Troopers ultimately played an integral part in the annihilation of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Sith-Controlled Empire

Canadian Infantry

The Canadian Infantry is Canada’s primary combat fighting force and is responsible for engaging the enemy. They are the core members of the Combat Arms team, which includes Artillery and Armoured Division soldiers.Infantry Soldiers are capable of operating anywhere in the world in any environment – Arctic tundra, mountains, jungle or desert- and in any combination of arms, including from air, mobile, and amphibious vehicles. The Infantry are further divided into regiments by geographical area, the most notable being the Seaforth Highlanders, Princess Patricia, and the Black Watch.As far as is known, there are no sleeper agents in the Canadian Infantry. Infantry soldiers serve under the leadership of the Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, currently this position is held by Commander Paul Wynnyk. The Canadian Infantry play a key role in defending Canada, as well as in peacekeeping missions globally. As far as is known, the Canadian Infantry has no plans to annihilate the Canadian Government in an attempt to take over the world.

Artillery

Clone Artillery

While all Clone Troopers were trained to fire larger weapon platforms, such as artillery and starship turbo blasters, there were some who selected for specialized training in this field. These individuals were trained to become experts in the art of engaging the enemy long before they could reach close combat range.The Clone Artillery is part of the Land Support Division, which also include Standard Clone Troopers, and ACAC Walkers.In terms of equipment, these troopers wore custom Phase 1 Clone armour that had grey and tan on the helmet and a little extra armour on the chest plate. The helmet was insulated from noise, and their armour was reinforced to better protect them from the recoil of the cannons that they manned. The heavy guns these soldiers operated were the AT-TE cannon, and the heavy repeating blasters on the Juggernaut tanks.

Canadian Artillery

Artillery Soldiers are responsible for surveillance, target acquitition and indirect fire to engage the enemy before their reach close combat range. They are trained to use long range Howitzers, which can engage the enemy up to 40 kms away. These large platform weapons are mounted on wheels so they can be positioned anywhere to clear the way for Infantry or Armoured troops.The Artillery is part of the Combat Arms Division, which also include Infantry Soldiers, Armoured Soldiers, and Combat Engineers.Canadian Artillery troops have light weight Modular Body Armour Vests and Plate Carrier Systems and the CG634 combat helmets. They wear ballistic glasses to protect from shell splinters and fragments. Their field artillery guns include several sizes of Howitzer that use 105 mm and 155 mm shells, as well as the Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft cannon.I was shocked by how closely the Clone Troopers resembled the Canadian Forces. Especially with their trades (the jobs that each of the units specialize in doing). In comparing Special Forces, Artillery and Infantry job descriptions for both groups, aside from story related differences, such as Clone Troopers were trained to fight in space and have blasters and the Canadian Military have no plans so far as we know to take over the world, there were few differences between the trades. Similarly, their rank structures closely align, with Clone Troopers having more high ranking titles than the Canadian Military, but using similar titles like General and Lieutenant.I wanted to know why these two groups were so closely related, and what benefit this similarity would have for a film maker. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with Mark Miller, science journalist, TV producer for Highway Thru Hell, and one of the producers for the recently release Science Fiction movie Blade Runner 2049. Speaking with Mark (see excerpts from my interview below), helped me to understand how the Clone Troopers actually help sell the Star Wars story.I asked Mark why a film maker would have his characters or story closely resemble real life. He told me that when you are thinking of making a movie, you have to decide if its going to be all make-believe, or do you want have some authenticity. He gave the example of Phillip K Dick’s movie Total Recall, and the dream that the main character buys called “Blue Sky Mars”, which is based on real science. “If you are ever going to be able to plant anything on Mars or be able to live on Mars, it’s going to have to have an oxygen environment so its called terrafication. And that’s a real world science thing. And so to make that story more realistic, Phillip K Dick went and studied planetary science and learned about this thing called terrafication and it became this hook in the story and made the story much more believable for the audience.” Mark explained that a film maker is always going to look for ways to make his story more relatable and authentic.Relatability and authenticity are two concepts we learned about in our Advertising Project. In order to attract a group people, what you are advertising has to be something people can connect with or understand. In movie making, especially in Science Fiction and Fantasy movies, the movie has to be attractive and relatable to people in order for them to come to the theatre to watch it.Mark went on to talk about when they were to trying to decide if they were going to make Blade Runner 2049 and he met with Bud Yorken, who was involved in the original Blade Runner. Bud wanted to ask Mark, because of his science journalist background, how they could make the next Blade Runner movie more authentic and relatable using recent science discoveries. “And he really wanted to make a movie where people could go and watch the movie, imagine the movie is 50 years or 40 years in our future and say, ‘Oh that thing that they did in the movie is related to a discovery we made very recently.’ And so my lunch with Bud was in 2014 and we had just learned about something that happened on Mars and it was this thing that they had found a chemical on Mars that could be used as a fuel source, and in fact that story accelerated the Mars exploration program by probably 20 years because by taking this chemical we could break it down and make a fuel source and we could also produce oxygen. And Bud really thought that was cool and there was a point in the story where we thought we might use Mars as this jumping off point for the planets because it had this unlimited fuel source on it. It didn’t end up using it but it was considered kind of cool.”Star Wars is set in a distant point in time so they can’t use recent discoveries to add authenticity, so they have to do this with other relatable elements in the characters and the underlying story. This is where the Clone Troopers’ similarities to the real life Military come into play. My talk with Mark also made me realize that the Clone Troopers play a second role in adding authenticity and relatablility in the story of Star Wars.Mark said that we have been telling the story of good and evil from the beginning of time. “So in Star Wars we eventually get to the point where we go out to these different frontiers, and its the story of good and evil, and its a story we’ve been telling since before biblical times. You’ve got your good guys and you’ve got your bad guys and sometimes the good guys aren’t always good and the bad guys aren’t always bad and everyone is kind of grey and its all super confusing.” This is the story of Stars Wars in a nut shell.If you have watched the movies or know a little bit about Star Wars, you know that when Order 66 happens, all of the Clones that had previously been fighting for the good guys, all turn on them and kill most of the Jedi’s and destroy the Republic. This story development that very dramatically illustrates the good and evil story line Mark mentions, is the second way that the Clone Troopers help to make the Star Wars story relatable to the audience, thereby selling a fantasy driven science fiction movie.