Movie special effects: the secrets of Star Wars

You would be hard pressed to find a film watcher who hasn’t seen Star Wars in one of it’s various forms. One of the most popular movies of all time is also one of the most complex. The complexities in Star Wars are found both on screen (in its ‘mystic’ religious overtones and moral shadings) and off (the technical and promotional achievements). This 1977 classic which was voted the 15th greatest American movie ever by the American Film Institute in 1999 also has its share of secrets. Below you will find some ‘behind the scenes’ facts from Star Wars as well as the other films in the series.

PRODUCTION

George Lucas created Star Wars only after he discovered he couldn’t obtain the rights to make a Flash Gordon movie. In writing the film, he originally modeled the Emperor after Richard Nixon.

To save on costs, George Lucas and Brian DePalma (who was preparing to film ‘Carrie’) auditioned actors for both films together. Some of the more notable Star Wars rejects: Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken and William Katt all auditioned for the part of Han Solo. Amy Irving and Jodie Foster tried out for the part of Leia.

The canyon in Star Wars, where R2D2 is shot by the Jawas is a favorite of Lucas’. It can be seen again in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (for which Lucas supplied the story and acted as producer). Another Raiders/Star Wars connection is that George’s wife had a dog named Indiana whom he used as a model for Chewbacca and whose name he gave to Indiana Jones.

Incidentally, R2D2 got his name from a can of film from Lucas’ ‘American Graffiti’. During sound editing, the editor asked George to hand him the can R2 (Reel 2) D2 (Dialogue 2). He liked the name so much that he jotted it down for his next project.

There was a point early on though when almost none of this mattered. In writing the script, Lucas seriously considered making the film using an all Asian cast. After deciding against this, he kicked around the idea of using puppets (actual life-like objects, not fluffy Muppets).

One of the most famous things in the Star Wars universe are the sounds. Some are simple: the sound of a Tie Fighter is actually the bellowing bray of an elephant and the sound of Jabba the Hutt moving is made with a trash can loaded with wet towels. While others are much more complex: much of the alien dialogue that takes place in the series is actually made up of bits and pieces of actual languages from around the world. (Oh yes, the lightsabers are a combination movie projector hum and the taping of an electrical tower.)

When people think of ‘Star Wars’ one of the first thoughts to generally jump into their head is: special effects. It is well documented how the effects in the film essentially changed movie making. The effects are simply incredible especially in the case of the first movie when you consider that they were inventing things as they went along. Effects of that caliber are not easily reached and to lighten the tension and keep up an interest, effects artists would often insert little ‘jokes’ into their work.

For example, there is a miniature Star Wars movie poster and a shrunken Playboy centerfold discreetly placed within a ship in Star Wars. In The Empire Strikes Back, things were turned up a notch and an actual baked potato was inserted amongst the rocks in the asteroid scene. Not to be outdone, the effects team of Return of the Jedi placed a tennis shoe flying amongst the ships in the climactic final space battle. When work began on The Phantom Menace, they decided to pay homage to the infamous ‘space shoe’ and so they placed their own tennis shoe flying in the skies above Tantooine.

Working off of one movie for another is nothing new in the series, but an interesting version of this occurred between The Phantom Menace and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. In Blade Runner, placed on top of a building is the Millennium Falcon. To return the favor, some police spinners from Blade Runner were placed in the Corsecant skies.

One of Lucas’ early student works was THX1138: Electric Labyrinth. This was later expanded into his first feature film THX-1138. These have become numbers that Lucas has grown fond of, and in fact they appear through out the Star Wars series. In Star Wars, Luke claims that he and Han are taking Chewbacca to ‘Cellblock 1138’ while in The Phantom Menace, after the land battle at the end of the film, as the Battle Droids fall over, you can see 1138 written along their backs.

PROMOTIONS

Star Wars had its own cereal. Do you remember C3P0’s?

There is a gargoyle in the shape of Darth Vader’s head atop the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

And of course there are the toys:

Originally there were 12 3 ? inch figures that retailed for $1.93 each.

From 1977 through 1986 over 250 million action figures were sold. In 1978 alone 26,106,500 figures found their way off of store shelves.

Written by Noell Wolfgram Evans