Star Wars Battlefront is the Star Wars game many have been waiting for. It transports players into that galaxy far, far away, for a truly pungent Star Wars experience.
But as we cartwheel towards The Force Awakens, we ponder this: just how did George Lucas and the non-literal wizards at his special effects powerhouse, Industrial Light and Magic, create the original Star Wars Trilogy? Here are some glimpses into the incredible work.
But as we cartwheel towards The Force Awakens, we ponder this: just how did George Lucas and the non-literal wizards at his special effects powerhouse, Industrial Light and Magic, create the original Star Wars Trilogy? Here are some glimpses into the incredible work.
10. THIS IS HOW THEY MADE THE YODA.
Most people assume that The Yoda was some sort of weird homunculus thing, but in actual fact he was based upon a flatulent little man who George Lucas spotted capering around beneath an old soap carton, near some bracken.
The second he saw him, Lucas knew that it was just what he'd been looking for. To get the movements required for his Jedi master, Lucas filmed the little guy - who never gave the filmmaker his full name, and insisted on being paid in seashells (which he glued onto his Yoda bodysuit) - in front of a green screen.
The second he saw him, Lucas knew that it was just what he'd been looking for. To get the movements required for his Jedi master, Lucas filmed the little guy - who never gave the filmmaker his full name, and insisted on being paid in seashells (which he glued onto his Yoda bodysuit) - in front of a green screen.
9. THIS IS HOW THEY DID PRINCESS LEIA
Carrie Fisher's elaborate costumes could never be created in real life, so it was easier for the boffins at ILM to record Fisher in a special room, separate from the other actors, and put the clothes on afterwards. Here she is shooting the scene in which she rips apart Han Solo's birth certificate.
8. THIS IS HOW THEY DID ANY SCENE IN WHICH A CHARACTER EATS SOMETHING
Actors are notoriously lazy, having one of the easiest jobs in the world - just turning up and pretending to be someone else. They don't even come up with their own words: it's all done by computer. For Star Wars, there was something else the actors didn't have to do: think about how their characters would eat space food. George Lucas was looking for a particular sort of "space" eating for his epic saga, and spent millions constructing this special rig which showed them exactly how he wanted it done.
7. THIS IS HOW THEY DID BOBA FETT'S STUBBLE.
Though Boba Fett is never seen in the original trilogy without his helmet on, Lucas wanted to ensure full authenticity by giving the Mandalorian bounty hunter a suitably grizzled look, even if audiences wouldn't see it. The only way to get the precise sort of stubble Lucas was looking for was to do whatever is going on in the footage above.
6. THIS IS HOW THEY MADE C3PO's SON, 'MEATLESS'.
Though the scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, Return of the Jedi featured a subplot in which C3PO is seen giving birth to a son, whom he dubs "Meatless". Here's the Meatless puppet writhing in agony, moments after being forced out of the droid's golden cranny. In the 1980s, George Lucas pitched a Meatless animated series to several US TV networks, all of whom turned him down, as they felt the character's constant agonised screams would prove too disturbing.
5. THIS IS HOW THEY DID THE FORCE.
This is ILM's Dennis Muren doing The Force the only way they knew how back then.
4. THIS IS HOW THEY MADE CHARACTERS WALK AROUND A ROOM.
For Star Wars, George Lucas was looking for a particular sort of "space" walk for his epic saga, and spent millions constructing this special rig which showed the cast how he wanted it done. When the actors struggled to get it precisely right, Lucas had their legs digitally removed, and used special effects to replace them from the waist down with his robotic monstrosity, which he called "Trott".
3. THIS IS HOW THEY DID THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DEATH STAR.
On screen, the Death Star is apparently consumed in a fiery explosion, but achieving the effect took months. Lucas struggled to explain to his ILM team exactly what he had in his head, and became so frustrated that he threw a dry pie crust into the face of one of the team members. In a flash of inspiration, Lucas set up a camera, and repeated the process fifty eight times, until he could think of a better way to express his thoughts to the exhausted ILM team.
2. THIS IS HOW THEY DID THE AT-AT WALKERS.
"Do it again, but faster and more intense" is the iconic piece of direction Lucas would give his actors. However, when it came to creating the famous AT-AT attack on the Rebel base (shown being filmed above), the direction Lucas gave was the exact opposite: "Don't do it again, but slower and less intense".
1. THIS IS HOW GEORGE LUCAS WROTE THE PREQUELS.
Boom.
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