®
the blueprints Inside the Production Archives
j. w. rinzler
table of contents preface
Norman Reynolds
foreword
Gavin Bocquet
introduction
J. W. Rinzler
Introduction: A New Hope
The Blueprints
Introduction: The Empire Strikes Back
The Blueprints
episode iv
episode v
episode vi
Introduction: Return of the Jedi
The Blueprints
Introduction: Episodes I, II, III The Prequel Trilogy
The Phantom Menace Blueprints
4
episode ii
Attack o f the Clones Blueprin ts
episode iii
Revenge of the Sith Blueprints
episode i
afterword
art department credits by film
interviews & bibliography
index
4
photo credits
acknowledg ments & biographies
opposite
edetail isfromTed Ambrose’stechnical drawingof
8
9
preface
H
aving worked on the original Star Wars trilogy as art director
in many ways with costly mistakes through badly executed work. I was
be used to produce forced-perspective sets or partially built perspective
and then production designer, I am thrilled that this beauti-
fortunate, as you will see from the standard of the drawings—and doubly
corridors wherever the technique might prove economical or save s tage
fully produced book has been published. I am sure it will sit very comfortably alongside the other making-of Star Wars books, having illustrated the very essence of th e art department’s function. is is an important book becaus e I believe it is the only one to feature working drawings, which are not usu ally seen outside a studio and which are normally simply left to disintegrate intheir vaults. But these drawings are an absolute essential in set manufacturing. Whilst they may not be the most eye catching or glamorous of the art depar tment’s many functions, they are argu ably the most important. Until drawings are done, wheels do not turn and workshops are silent. It was always a thrill for me when, after the period of preparation, drawings were issued and construction began. It was also important—because it meant the picture had been green-lighted! I should mention here that the draf tsmen or women who prepare these meticulous drawings are so vital to the process. A competent draftsperson can contribute to the design of a set and bring their experience to the drawing. e downside is that a negligent draftsman can cause havoc
fortunate in the people I had around me. ey proved to be amongst the
space. We used this method often in all the original trilogy Star Wars movies, as you will see. However, it’s important that the director be made aware of the ose working drawings, when completed and approved, are duplicated and distributed to all relevant studio departments and theoretically restrictions these shortcuts can place on him; if he is not fully aware of represent the director’s requirements for each set. Where time is short, this by the time of shooting, then the best thing the production designer the process can be reversed by producing a drawing before the direccan do is to leave the country in double-quick time. tor has approved a sketch or illustration. In such cases, the production All in all, working on these memorable movies has left an indelible designer would meet with the director and perhaps do a thumbnail mark on me. Hardly a day goes by without hearing, reading, or seeing sketch of what might be required. He would then spend time with the some reference to Star Wars , which has become so immersed in our culture. designated draftsperson in order to produce a working drawing quickly, so that a precise art model maquette could be produced from it, enabling the director to view the set in three dimensions before giving his nal approval—with any luck! It is possible to determine the exact extent of the set to build by Norman Reynolds producing a camera angle projection based on the plan and elevations of Art director, Episode IV a working drawing. is can be done with any angle or aspect ratio—and Production designer, Episodes V and VI can limit the amount of set building. In addition, these projections can very best and most supportive of the then-new designer.
foreword
M
y rst Star Wars job was for Norman Reynolds on Return of the Jedi . And my rst job on that lm was doing a technical drawing of the speeder bike, under the direction of
My work began on Episode I with a mixture of excitement, nervous-
Working on Star Wars , from Jedi to the three Prequels, was a bril-
ness—and fear! But right from the start, I made sure I used everything I had learned from Norman Reynolds. A very important part of that
liant and life-aecting experience for me. Although it was a daunting task, I have to say that George was extremely supportive of our eorts.
Even though he knew most of the ar t department hadn’t done a lm of was treating technicaldrawing with therespect it deserved. Andto help this level before, he made us feel part of the family from day one. You keep Peter Russell, my supervising art director, and me in line, we actually had Fred Hole working with us on Phantom. If we ever fell short of only get one or two of these opportu nities in your career, but once you the Royal College of Art. Norman’s standards, Fred was sure to let us know. It was good to have have come through, it gives you a great condence to go on and do more Jedi wasonly thefourth lmI hadever workedon. Buteven thenI real- him with us, a great comfort. work at the same el vel. ized the importance of technical drawing in the art department. Norman, My initial aim was to design the three Prequels to a level that George Rather strangely for me, during the rst few weeks on Episode I at along with Fred, was a great mentor. Both always stressed how technical Skywalker Ranch, we were going back through some of the technical would be happy with and feel that they were seamlessly connected to drawing was the language we communicated in—how every mark we the look of the original trilogy. But I was also very much aware of the drawings of the original trilogy, as some of the environments were to be put on paper mattered, however small or seemingly insignicant. used again—when a couple of my drawings came up from Jedi . I think fans’ reactions, as they can be the hardest of judges. So one of the most George was quite surprised to see those, as I am not sure he remembered pleasing aspects of the work we did was that the fans s eem to accept the All of thecreative ideasthat cometogether ina lm—from setsand props to environments—have to be technically drawn in some way or I was on it, but that was a nice connection. design of the Prequels as being naturally part of the Star Wars world. other, either by pencil on paper or mouse on pad. From simple sketches e common thread running through all six of the lms was technical One specic area on Attack of the Clones where we had to rely heavto architectural models to concept art—and during the more recent years, ily on technical drawings was when we were re-creating Luke’s Tatooine drawing—and that will hopefully never change. Everything every fan digital painting and modeling—it is the only way to communicate design Homestead, in Tunisia. We had to go back to the technical drawings has loved about the Star War s lms, from sets to spacecraft to vehicles done on A New Hope . Luckily, thanks to John Barry and his team, the to props, down to even the tiniest of control buttons, has at some point ideas accurately to all the relevant departments: construction, prop maksets and dressings had all been drawn extremely well and in great detail. been carefully and thoughtf ully drawn. at’s how important it is. ing, special eects, visual eects, postproduction houses. e designs are only as good as the technical drawings that allow them to be built. When George rst walked onto the Chott el Gharsa location and saw the Once I had nished working on Jedi , I never thought for one moment reproduction of the homestead in such great detail, I think it was quite that one day I might be the production designer on a Star Wars lm. an emotional moment for him. And our clever reproduction was purely But once I had become a fully edged production designer some years down to the accurate technical drawings fr om over two decades before. later, I met Rick McCallum and was asked to do Te Young Indiana I went on to be the production designer on Revenge of the Sith, where Gavin Bocquet we had a similar experience, having to reproduce the interiors of the Rebel Draftsman, Episode VI Jones Chronicles with George Lucas. And after about three years on that TV series, I was oered the production designer’s job on Te Phantom Blockade Runner and the Star De stroyer. Again we relied on technical Production designer, Episodes I, II, and III Menace . I would like to think t hat George had spotted my talent while drawings from the previous Episodes, a few of which were those technical on Jedi , but, sadly, I don’t think that was quite the ca se. drawings of mine from Jedi . So I felt my circle had been completed. Norman and his brilliant senior art director, Fred Hole. Here I was, a fully edged draftsman working on the last of a series of lms I had
loved since rst seeing A New Hope while I was studying 3-D design at
top
Aphoto of Stage 1 at Elstree Studios, in England, taken dur-
above
Aphoto taken during the making of Revenge ofthe Sith
10
11
introduction
S
tar Wars: Te Blueprints gives a voice to the Star Wars studio art departments who, lm after lm, laid the groundwork and built the structures of many of the most iconic sets in the his-
tory of cinema. ere have been many art-of Star Wars books, usually consisting of fantastic concept illustrations, sketches, and storyboards. Often these
artworks are juxtaposed with nal fra mes from the lm, unintentionally conveying the idea that concept drawings were translated directly into nished sets. But the fact is that an interim “stage” existed: the blueprint, or technical drawing. Occasionally these same books have even reproduced a few blueprints, but almost always too small to be read, studied, or fully appreciated. (ere was a very early set of fteen blueprints published by Ballantine Books in 1977, with no supporting text.) And yet during principal photography for all six lms, actors have worked on very real, very detailed creations. From the Rebel Blockade Runner hallway and the cockpit of the Millennium Falconto the bridge of General Grievous’s agship, Jabba the Hutt’s Palace, the Death Star, and the Tatooine homestead—all of these places and hundreds more had to be designed, built, painted, and dressed, with technical drawings showing the way. One of the reasons, perhaps, for the relative neglect of blueprints is that their progeny, these sets and fu ll-sized vehicles, existed only briey, wisps of artistry con structed from wood, plaster, metal, fo am, berglass,
above
Production designerJohn Barryexamines the C-3PO
and other materials; cut, sawed, measured, and hammered into form by teams of craftspeople and used just long enough for the days needed— before being smashed to pieces and thrown into a junk pile to make room for the next one. e number of stages was always limited, while the number of sets multiplied as the imagination of George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga, expanded in proportion to growing budgets and progressively modernized eects. Many of these illusory interiors and exteriors for the original trilogy came from concepts worked up in conjunction with Lucas by the nowlegendaryRalph McQuarrie.Lucaswould explainhis ideasin broadstrokes, sometimes supplying reference material, and then McQuarrie would make sketches on the subject until Lucas was satised; McQuarrie would then produce a color study and nally a nished painting. Vehicles were generally under the purview of the visual eects art director at Industrial Light & Magic, Joe Johnston. For thePrequel Trilogy , Lucas made use of a team of artists under the supervision of Doug Chiang, Ryan Church, and Erik Tiemens. But in all cases, every practical set was eventually turned over to thelm’sproduction designers:John Barry(Episode IV),Norman Reynolds (Episodes V and VI), and Gavin Bocquet (Episodes I, II, and III). With his team of art directors, assistant art directors, draftspeople, set dressers, and set modelers, the production designer would work out how to translate blue-sky concepts into nuts-and-bolts sets. Not only would
they have to solve many conceptual problems, they would a lso have to do it as cheaply and eectively as possible, while often considering how one set might be revamped and used as another to further economize time and money. Lost in most of the literature about Star Wars is that, particularly for the rst lm, the production designer conceptualized many sets from the ground up, literally. Luke’s garage, the Cantina bar, the white corridor of the Rebel Blockade Runner, many interiors of the Death Star, the Falcon cockpit—nearly all of the sets, really—stemmed from the collaboration of Lucas with veteran production designer John Barry. It is not for nothing that Lucas to this day refers to Barry as a “genius.” Indeed, each lm in the Saga contains indelible marks left by the studio art departments. e seemingly disparate parts of these six Star
Wars art departments came together from a relatively small pool of talent fostered in English lm studios. Nurtured on the movies of Sir David Lean, Sir Carol Reed, Richard Lester, Ken Annakin (who directed many lms for Walt Disney), and others, they trained with the great production designers of their time, including John Box, Ken Adam, and Charles Bishop. Some of the art department crew, such as art director Alan Tomkins and construction manager Bill Welch, came from the “class of 2001,” having worked on Kubrick’s groundbreaking, mind-bending lm of 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey .
After having labor ed on one, two, or al l three of the origi nal trilogy
thanks to years of tr aining and apprenticeship, as they become familiar
Star Wars lms, the dierent men of the art departments split o and
with a host of materials. A draftsperson might work on a dozen lms
reformed for the Indiana Jones trilogy, Alien , James Bond and Monty
or more before becoming an assistant art director; very few would ever
only draftsman to work on both trilogies and is widely admired as having a
beautiful “hand” (and who, sadly, passed away in February 2011). Indeed, Gavin Bocquet told me how much he had learned from Hole as a junior Python lms, and many other movies. ey would reappear as Academy become production designers. And then there’s Reg Bream, by all accounts draftsman during the several lms t hey worked on together. Of course, Award® winne rs on Titanic in 1998, production designers and art directhe superlative draftsman of the original trilogy, fast and unmatched, Bocquet’s participation was essential to the book and, luckily, he found tors of the Harry Potter series, and so on. e family tree of this core who seems to have had no other ambition than to create one fantastic time to talk while working in England on another lm—even pulling group would show a pedigree that more or less dominated production drawing after the next. in his supervising art director on the Prequel Trilogy , Peter Russell, who design in the United Kingdom, and to some extent the United States, My privilege during the research and writing of this book was getting had essential insights on the technical drawings. Indeed it was great fun for thirty-odd years. to hear their stories and the larger narratives of the successive art departseeing Gavin and Peter again (thanks to Skype), as I hadn’t seen them e unsung heroes of the original trilogy art departments are the ment chiefs. Norman Reynolds not only consented to several hours of since I was at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, chronicling their eorts draftsmen, who drew in collaboration with their respective art departinterviews over a period of weeks, but also responded to dozens of e-mails. in my book, e Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. ment heads, but who also added their own ideas. ey worked quickly Talking to Star Wars set dresser Roger Christian was a valuable lesson in Writing Star Wars: e Blueprints has been an adventure into the past and creatively, almost always under dicult deadlines. eir blueprints that I hope will endure and that readers will enjoy. My sincere wish is that the earliest days of the rst lm’s aesthetic revolution and allowed me to are often not as sexy as concept work, but they have an attribute that add his memories and experiences to the amalgamating history of the Star Wars: Te Blueprints will preserve the eorts of the magnicently concept art lacks—a sense of the real. In fact, blueprints had to be more groundbreaking rst lm (his original interview with Charles Lippincott trained and inspired men and women who contributed so much to the worldly and team-oriented wor ks, something that the constr uction, from 1976 is lost, and so his crucial part was not told in Te Making of art of cinema. paint, and plaster departments could use and that other key gures in Star Wars —but is fortunately now included in this book). Christian was the creation of the movie could consult, from the director of photography also very patient, responding to many questions via e-mail. He is working J. W. Rinzler to the set dresser. on a book about his experiences on Star Wars , Alien, and his other lms, Skywalker Ranch Generally the draftsperson’s artistry lies within their discipline; in and I can’t wait to read it. another age, draftspeople would have belonged to a guild. Like their Alan Tomkins was a big help, as were former draftsmen Ted Ambrose, forebears, members of the art department earn their spots and promotions Michael Boone, Steve Cooper, Peter Childs, and Fred Hole, who is the
top & above
PreparingtheSidiDriss hotelin Matmata,
above r ight
Setdresser RogerChristian during early
24
25
26
27
Te theatrical posterorDougl as rumbull’sSilent Running (1972)shows the flm’sangularrobots. Ralph McQuarrie thereore designedR2-D2 as morecircularand rounded. left
AMcQuarrie drawing showedhow R2’s arms might connectto his shell (with akind o antennaon top). right
below right Lucas, KennyBaker,and production designer John Barry(on right) discuss howR2 wil l be builtaround the diminutive actor; this is one o the ewpictures o the droidas it was being developedin its al l-woodprototype incarnation.
bottom right
In brown coat, Lucas examines the R2 prototype atElstree Studios, early 1976 s(pecial mechanical eects supervisorJohn Stears is on the arright).
robot r2 r o b o t r 2
SET: Robot R2 [pgs. 24–25]
episodE DETAIL: Front Assembly (For 3'8'' Man)
I V
DRG. NO.: 67 [A]
SCALE: FS
DATE: January 20, 1976
DRAWN BY: Peter J. Childs
“As I remember, Artoo-Detoo came rom this tiny
Running technique o using an amputee—they walk
little sketch that Ralph McQuarrie did,” says Lorne
on their hands—but that has such severe physical
Peterson. “A couple o brush strokes, a round thing,
limitations to the look o the thing that i we’d used
and a little bit o blue.”
an amputee, Artoo would have looked remarkably like
In act, McQuarrie did a ew paintings and drawings o the eisty little droid, Harp o to C-3PO’s ussy
the ones in that flm; I mean, really, very much. So we adopted the other approach, which was a normal guy
butler persona, but it was up to the art department at
that’s small—he’s only orty inches, Kenny Baker, and
Elstree to make R2-D2 a physical reality; they would have to fll in a hundred variables naturally let by
very strong, ortunately, because it’s very hard to move.
McQuarrie’s airy i brilliant design work. In tur n, the
So, frst o all, we started with the tiny man who was going to go inside A rtoo.”
art department would work hand-in-hand with John
“I arrived, and I think there were a couple o people
Stears, who headed up the mechanical eects depart-
around, but they hadn’t had the green light, you know,
ment. (Much to Lucas’s disappointment, R2 never
to actually spend money,” says Reynolds. “So I remem-
unctionedproperly.)
ber John had got in Kenny Baker. Tey mocked up a
R2-D2 began at Lee Studios, where Christian hired carpenter Bill Harman and together they built the droid prototype out o wood. Because Star Wars wasn’t given a green light until December 13, fnal
little drum or Kenny to get into to establish the size o Artoo.” “So we got Kenny and saw what he could do physi-
preparationscouldn’tbeginuntilJanuary,thedateo this
cally,” Barry said. “Tere was a lot o fnding out: Where it wasgoing tohurt him, and all thetechniques
blueprint, which also indicates that separate drawings would be made orthe “mechanical arm arrangement;
around the boots. We ound it very critical that the boot should be a very positive fxture to his legs, that
head assembly, leg assembly.” Te construction o the
they lace tightly up and hold the robot’s boot frmly
R2 body was assigned to a n outside abricator, while
to his leg so that it moves as one.
its original design and realization were inuenced by
“But o course, this was all going on at the same
three little robots seen in the 1972 flm directed by
time that we were trying to get the location stu o.
Douglas rumbull, Silent Running : Huey, Dewey, and
We had to gettruckloads o stu sent opre-made to
Louie. McQuarrie had seen that flm’s square, angular
unisia, so they could start building sets there. And it
robots, so he’d made R2 round.
was all going onat exactly the sametime wewere fnish-
“Tere’s no expert robot designer, unortunately,” said Barry. “I had this notion, which I talked to George about a long while beore I started on the movie, about how we were going to make it work. Tere’s the Silent
ing o Kenny and Artoo. Tat was a really bad patch or us—the two robots were a nightmare to build.”
right
SET: Robot R2
DETAIL: Starboard elevation (For 3' 8'' Man) DRG. NO.: 67 [B]
SCALE: FS
DATE: January20, 1976
DRAWN BY: Peter J. Childs
PeterChilds executedat leastour blueprints oR2, one owhich was reissuedon January 23, with “topsection o leg modifed.” “I hadneverworkedon a science-fction flmbeore, butin mymind the conceptreallywas FlashGordon andthese sorto gleaming white sets andpristine sorts o stu, but StarWars hada whole newdimension,”says Reynolds. “It’s something thatGeorge suggested, to have these muddysets and beat-upreality. I remember the frstimpacto that was when we hadArtoo madebyan outside company. He was made in aluminumandto our designs, obviously, andhe arrivedwhite and with some blue patches on it. Andthe frstthing George saidwas,‘We’ve gotto make itall dirty.’AndI thoughtor amoment, Tis is terrible , butwe dirtieditall upand dida ewdents andbeatit upa bit, andGeorge said, ‘Well, that’s better.’Well,that hada lasting eecton me, I have tosay.” (Reynolds also notes thatone o the R2units was manuacturedrom parts thatwould be usedon the Death Starsets.)
72
73
74
75
Power trench SET: Power Trench (Revamp Center Core) [pgs. 72—73]
episod DETAIL: Lower Generator
V
SCALE: 1 inch
DRG. NO.: 255
DATE: April 23, 1976
DRAWN BY: Peter J. Childs
toP & center above
AsingleDeathStarsetwasbuilton Stage2.It wasrstused orLuke andLeia’sswingand thenredressed orObi-Wan’sscenein whichhe turnsofthe tractorbeam. above
Te Death Starsetis preparedor lming.
Te power trench set was used or two short but key
were revamped as the central core around which Obi-
scenes on the Death Star: Ben switching of the tr ac-
Wan sneaks to nd the trac tor-beam controls. Te
tor beam, along with Luke and Leia’s swing across the chasm. In both cases, the chasm oor was in reality
dressing or the practical control panel on the central core also had to be suited or the action o Obi-Wan
only a ew eet below the actors, hence a note on one o the blueprints to prepare or a “high camera tilt down
throwing switches. “You would build the set and then when they nished shooting, utilize part o that same set into
or matte shot lit sequence.” ILM would add the matte painting o the chasm in post. Te seemingly massive center “cores” that hang toP & above
SET: Death Star
DETAIL: Plan & Elevations, Center Core & Corridor
Luke andLeiamake their dramatic swing tosaety with the hanging cores (drawing no. 229)in plain view. Much o the DeathStarset was constructedwith pieces createdbyan across
over the trench when Luke and Leia make their swing
another set, which would be changed and painted and seen rom a diferent angle,” Reynolds says. “One could be made into another very economically.”
P o w e r t r e n C h
116
117
above
Te Elstree artdepartmenthad to match thedetailedunderside of the ILM Falcon model when preparing the technical drawings.
118
119
Han Solo is on the Falcon’s ramp(detailedin the blueprints)within the space slug.
above
Te exteriorhull anddressing are addedto the Falcon by the construction andart departments. right
Te metal infrastructure forthe full-sized Falcon exteriorwas constructed byMarcon Fabrications Ltd.
above r ight
above
SET:
Millennium Falcon
DETAIL: Details Frame, fR. 16 SCALE: 1:200
Millennium Falcon M I L L E N N I U M F A L C O N
SET: Millennium Falcon [pgs. 116–117]
episodE DETAIL: Plan of Paneling & Dressing to Undersides
V
DRG. NO.: 166A
SCALE: 3/8 inch
DATE: Dec. 18, 1978
DRAWN BY: Richard J. Dawking
Very early in preproduction, Marcon Fabrications Ltd.
because I thought we wouldn’t make it there to begin
contactedthe Empire production oce and pointed out
with,” remembers Reynolds. “I really thought the game
that its acility—with hangar doors that were 160 eet
was up, because we were losing height and being bu-
wide and with 60-odd eetclearance to the eaves—was
eted around in that little plane. I remember thinking,
big enough or the re-creation o the Millennium Falcon.
Well, I’m not going t o nish Empire after all. ”
For this flm, Solo’s pirate ship was to be constructed
Te Falcon had to be reconstructed and redrawn in
ull-sized, but the metal ar mature job was so enormous
part based on little clips o 35-millimeter fl m. Because
that it had to be farmed out.
no one had anticipated the success o Star Wars , the
Consequently, a year ater work had begun, Norman
previous ship had not been properly photographed and
Reynolds, Bill Welch, and Alan Tomkins, “boarded
catalogued, and the actual set had been let out in the
a tiny Cherokee plane at the Elstree airfeld to y to Pembrokeshire to see the Falcon being constructed.”
rain or months until it had wasted away to almost nothing. Indeed, Dawking’s blueprint (no. 166A) instructs
According to unitpublicist Alan Arnold, who accom-
other departments to re-create the crat’s battle d amage
panied them, “it was a bitterly cold morning.” Marcon
using photo reerence; he also asks or greeblies in the
was a frm o maritime engineers in Wales, 260 miles
recesses, while shaded areas generally indicated basic
southwest o London. Uponarriving at Pembroke Docks,
cladding beneath applied paneling.
the Empire crew examined the 23-ton prop. Talk in
“Wehadlittlepieceso flmor someparts,”omkins
the town pub was that Marcon was building a genuine
says. “It was virtually trying to see the way the top o the
spaceship, perhaps because the company, about a decade
set worked and how all the buttons and panels joined
before, had made the iconic centrifuge for 2001.
together into the angle, things like that.”
“I did y down once, but the overriding thought in my mind was actually coming back in this small plane,
DRG. NO.: Unknown
DATE: September 20, 1978
below
SET:
Millennium Falcon
DETAIL: Ramp & Docking Bay SCALE: 1 inch
DRG. NO.: 156
DATE: December 13, 1978
DRAWN BY: RHH/GED
DRAWN BY: Richard J. Dawking
Tisearlyblueprint wasgeneratedby theart departmentfor Marcon’swelded constructionof thespaceship’sinternalmetalframe. Ofcourse ,thiswasa“one-oframeasdrawnforfull-s caleFalcon.”
Te rampwas typical StarWars construction, making use of greeblies, arecycledpractical telescopic tube,applied rubberstrips, false hinges,and so on. OnEmpire , the Falcon anditsrampwould
remain stationarywhile several sets wouldgo upand be torn down aroundit: the Rebel hangar, the space worm“stomach,”and the CloudCity landing platform.
128
129
130
131
above
SET: Star Destroyer Composite
DETAIL: Sections & Elevations (Stage 5) DRG. NO.: 255
SCALE: 1/4 inch
DATE: Feb. 12, 1979
DRAWN BY: Richard J. Dawking
below right
An artdepartment maquette is o the medita-
tion pod. bottom right
Te exterioro Vader’s meditation chamber as itwas being constructedon Stage 5, where scenes were h s otin April 1979.
right
Aset conceptdrawing byReynolds is o Vader’smeditation pod, October1978.
Star Destroyer II S T A R D E S T R O y E R I I
SET: Star Destroyer [pgs. 128–129]
episodE DETAIL: Vader’s Meditation Pod
V
SCALE: 1 inch
DRG. NO.: 276
DATE: February 16, 1979
DRAWN BY: Reg Bream
Within Vader’s agship Star Destroyer is his medita-
“Well, I thought, Tis guy suers from asthma and
above le ft
SET: Vader’s Star Destroyer
tion pod, also reerred to as his “chamber,” where the
has alopecia , so maybe he just goes into a chamber,
DETAIL: Hologram Pod
dark side equivalent to Jedi meditation takes place.
and it’s flled with purifed air and other materials
SCALE: 1 inch
Te set design was by Reynolds and its teeth-like pod
that regenerate him. Ten I came up with that idea
DRAWN BY: steven Cooper
halves contain a “oater tooth,” or camera or light-
o this claw-like thing that seals him in. I thought
ing access.
that might ft the bill. I drew that while sitting at the
Te script had described the chamber as ollows: “a dark cubicle is illuminated by a single shat o light
kitchen table that night, just scribbling, and then it later became a reality.”
rom above. Te brooding Dark Lord sits on a raised
Armed with this concept, Reynolds worked up the
meditation cube.” It was up to the production designer
blueprints in conjunction with Reg Bream. “Reg was
to esh it out.
so ast,” says omkins. “We all aspired to the level o
DRG. NO.: 281
DATE: February 18, 1979
In Empire , the Emperormakes his frstappearance, albeitonly as ahologram. o initiate their trans-galactic conversation, Vader kneels on his hologrampod, the base andtop o which was to be litthrough Perspexpanels. o helphis departmentvi sualize whatwould onlybe completed in post, Reynolds drewseveral conceptual sketches thatshowed the relative sizes o the Emperor andVader: o visuallyconveyhis dominance, the ormerwas to be larger, 12 or13 eetto Vader’s 6 oot, 6 inches. During principal photographyanduntil airly late in postproduction, the ideawas that the Emperorwouldenter through a kindo inter-dimensional door. Ultimately, Lucas decidedto show onlythe Emperor’s headas agiant hologram.
“I was at a loss at quite what to do or that,” says
his drawings. Tere’s a marvelous one o Darth Vader’s
Reynolds. “But certain things take a certain amount o time to prepare: Drawing takes two or three weeks,
pod with these big teeth coming down. Reg was the top dratsman who never wanted to do anything but
depending, so the making o it would be, say, six weeks,
draw and who was an absolute master with a pencil.”
and then installing it in the set is more time needed. Te greatest spur to coming up with a design is to
Reynolds adds that actually building the pod was another matter. “Bill Welch did a frst-class job,” says
know that the date is coming ast upon you. Yet I had
Reynolds. “It was a very tricky thing to evolve, develop,
DRG. NO.: N/A
reached a point o still not knowing quite what to do. I
and actually make.”
DRAWN BY: norman reynolds
was literally sitting in the kitchen at home, wondering what on earth I was goingto do or this.
top,center& above
SET: Vader’s Star Destroyer
DETAIL: Emperor Hologram Concept Drawings
left
SCALE: N/A
DATE: Early 1979
Te Emperormakes his holographic appearance in Te Empire Strikes Back .
206
207
208
209
left
Conceptart is orthe desertski, byJohnston, 1981.
below left
Shown is amaquette o the desertski.
below right
SET: Skiff
DETAIL: Revised Detail SCALE: 1/2 inch
DRG. NO.: 37
DATE: October 10, 1981
DRAWN BY: reg bream
Intendedas aull-sized practical set, the ski’sfrstorm was builton Stage 4out o clay, andthe claymodels were thencastin fberglass. Next, the ski was transportedto anotherStage, where its steel undercarriage was constructed.In Yuma, the ski was attachedto two steel I-beams sunk deepinto the sandor support. Te ski is the transporton which Luke andhis riends are own to the Sarlacc pit.
Jabba’s arge J A b b A ’ s b A R g E
SET: Jabba’s Barge [pgs. 206–207]
episodE
V I
DETAIL: Plan & Elevations SCALE: 1/4 inch
DRAWN BY: Reg Bream
As the script developed, so did Jabba’s barge, intothe biggest
DRG. NO.: 40
DATE: August 21, 1981
“We were building away up there on this elevated
Star Wars set built on location (in Buttercup
platform, 15 or 16 feet up, and it was like a forest of
Valley, Yuma, Arizona, which had prettier and more
thesegreat12-foot-by-12-foottimbers,”saysReynolds.
accessible sand dunes than those in unisia). With a
“In the aternoons, I noticed that there would be this
stern elevation of about 40 feet, a width of 42.6 feet, and a length of 135 feet (per blueprint no. 40), topped
wind comingup, so ti occurred tome that if ti got very windy andthe sails wereup, thenit would actually tear
by 60-foot masts, the barge engendered a reaction in Reynolds’s art department of disbelief: “Building what?
them all o! So I found quite a well-known yachtsman
Building where?”
which could have saved our bacon. It never actually
Assistant art director Chris Campbell says, “You see streets and whole towns that are really huge, but,
transpired. It was never really windy enough, but at least my mind was at rest.”
or a single set, this is probably it.” Reynolds was given a million dollar budget to clear the desert of all vegetation over a 4-acre area, and to
and he devised a rig for lowering it all very, very quickly,
While the yachtsman, “Commodore” Warwick ompkins, helped with the sails and rigging, issuing orders to his twelve-man crew, Welch’s construction team
construct a chain-link ence around t he whole locale.
built the barge in thirty-eight days, a job that normally
Tere was concern that the set would be literally car-
would have taken four months. In the end, the total
ried o piece by piece by fans, so guards were posted twenty-four hours a day. Timber and labor were shipped
set would cost $2.5 million for only a few minutes of screen time during which Jabba’s barge, the good guys
in, the latter from Los A ngeles, but the blueprints were
on the ski, and more bad guys on a second ski engage
once again drawn in England. A worry of producer Jim
in a do-or-die battle. A miniature of the barge would be blown to bits at ILM or the scene’s climax.
Bloom and Reynolds was the sails themselves, which went through several designs.
far left
left
Aull-size practical propw as createdo the ski.
Te underlying steel struts supporting the ski are visible in this photograph taken on location in the Arizonadesert.
240
241
242
243
ABOVE Conceptartwork o the Ewok village rom 1981 was
sketchedby Johnston.
righT
SET: Ewok Village
DETAIL: Sections AA, EE & Partial Section HH
ABOVE cE nTEr (BOT h imAgEs)
Te Ewok village
takes ormon Stage 3.
DRG. NO.: 82
SCALE: 1/4 inch
DATE: October 1981
DRAWN BY: George Djurkovic
ABOVE OPPO siTE Te nal setis seen with wraparound
scenic paintedbacking.
Ewok Village E w o k V I l l a g E
SET: Ewok Village [pgs. 240–241]
episodE DETAIL: Chief’s Hut and Huts, Plan and Sections
V I
DRG. NO.: 100
SCALE: 1/2 inch
DATE: October 14, 1981
DRAWN BY: George Djurkovic
Te Ewok village was another elevated set, but built even
Everyone was very nervous to begin with, but we did
higher than usual—20 eet o the studio foor. Actors
have protective handrails and that sort o stu, so it
and crew would get to the set via a orklit. Housed in
did all work out.”
Stage 3, which had been reconstructed ollowing Te
Te Ewoks were portrayed by little people wearing
Shining fre (the frst set to occupy the rebuilt stage
ve-piece suits with ull head masks, elements o which
had been Raiders ’ Well o Souls), each Ewok hut was
had been cast in the plasterers’ shop. “I was second unit
made up o composite vertical struts, with door and
director or six weeks, and they put me on the Ewok
window openings assembled aroundcomposite small branch hoops, and fnished with a mud spread over
village, which I started during the end party,” says
their basket rames. All o this was supported by tubes inserted into the giant ake trees at the base and top o each tree house. Te huts and trees were surrounded by a scenic cyclorama painted to match the location shoot that
would take place in a re dwood orest in Northern Caliornia (near Crescent City). Most o the scenes on set would be lmed in simulated night or twilight, which would match the lighting o the location exteriors. Te smaller trees on set were live ones, which provided realism to the décor. Many o the Ewok orest elements would be recycled or the next set tooccupy Stage 3, the Imperial landing platorm. “Te Ewok village plan was very interesting and was a un thing to b uild, to provide the maximu m vertical angle,” says Reynolds. “I determined the level o the set foor to be exactly halway between the stage foor and the stage ceiling. I had never done that beore.
Christian. “And George ell in love with these things, the Ewoks. And the more I shot what he wanted, the more he kept saying, ‘Oh, have the babies dancing, and do this and do that.’ We spent ten days shooting the Ewoks dancing and alling and doing acrobatics or the whole ending sequence.” “I did a series o drawings o Ewoks or un,” says Peterson. “You know, ater a while you got pretty tired o Ewoks. So I drew riendly Ewoks stepping out to meet new people in the woods, but they turn out to be stormtroopers—and the stormtroopers would blast away and you’d have Ewok eyeballs and guts fying.” Djurkovic’s drawings show the 2-inch diameter handrails, a necessary saety precaution or the elevated set. In drawing no. 100, he notes that the foor was to be made possibly o stripped bark, and that the chie’s hut would be constructed within a hollow tree and house a practical re. Te re would be used or a scene in which C-3PO tells the Ewoks o the heroes’ adventures.
274
275
above
Creating the setdressing o the TeedPlaza on the back lotat Leavesdon, earlysummer1997 (the upperportions o the buildings wouldbe addeddigitally byILM in post)are: dressing/ props charge handPeterWatson, dressing props supervisorMartin Kingsley, andset decoratorWalpole.
276
277
Theed Plaza T h E E D P L A z A
SET: Theed Plaza [pgs. 274–275]
episodE DETAIL: Building No. 3, Main Plan & Elevation
I
DRG. NO.: 416
SCALE: 1/4 inch
DATE: June 18, 1997
DRAWN BY: Paul Cross
above left
SET: Theed Plaza
DETAIL: Exterior Main Hangar Entrance DRG. NO.: 329
SCALE: 1/4 inch
DATE: May 21, 1997
DRAWN BY: Paul Cross
above
SET: Theed Plaza
DETAIL: Building No. 5, Elev., Plan, Sect. & Detail 1 DRG. NO.: 471
SCALE: 1/4 inch, 1 inch
DATE: June 17, 1997
DRAWN BY: Jane Clark Pearce
right
On the Leavesden back lot, the Teed Plaza set was built to only 20 to 25 eet; the rest would be digital extensions, summer 1997.
top
Adetail is roman ILMTeedmodel.
On this maquetteo TeedPlaza the bluish portions wouldall be digital extension o the white/built second from top
portions. third from top
In the fnal flm, TeedPlaza is seen complete with digital extensions. above
AtILM are miniatures o TeedPlazaand the estuary.
308
309
310
311
Tunisia Location left
T u n I s I a L o c a T I o n
SET: Tunisia Location [pgs. 308–309]
episodE DETAIL: Rickshaw
II
SCALE: 1 inch, FS
DRG. NO.: 462 DATE: June 2, 2000
SCALE: 1:10
and dressed location. It was a nice thing. I suppose or that whole environment and establishing Star
Wars ,
top
erickshawprophadwheelsthatwouldbe digitally paintedout, as are seen in areference photo taken on location in Tunisia, September2000.
in] the shot with the two suns, it was still there. We had to replenish it a bit, but it was s till there.” Indeed, once again, the homestead was a combi-
For Star Wars : Episode II Attack of the Clones , produc-
“Another Fred Hole classic,” says Russ ell. “Not
nation o two locations: the berm and surace “igloo”
tion designer Bocquet moved his art department rom
quite such a complicated one as the droid tank, but he
outsideoNetaand theSidiDriss hotelpitinMatmata,
England to Australia, taking some o his staf, but also employing several local dratspeople and art directors
just has such a sweet hand. You know, he could make a toilet seat look good.”
though this time around, thanks to the advances made in efects, the surace and pit could be combined in
at Fox Studios in Sydney.
From Watto, Anakin learns that his mother has
e full-sizedspeederbike propwas placedbefore the “igloo”on location. center
Anakin (Hayden Christensen)is seen on the speeder bike in this nal frame.
above
below
married a man named Cliegg Lars, so the Jedi Knight
inside the bar, there’s a bunch o pictures o the set
travels to the Lars’s homestead, where audiences rst
being used in Star Wars ,” says Knoll. “I think there
Searching or his mother, he rst hires a rickshaw to take
met Luke Skywalker in the original lm more than
are some articles up about it, too.”
himandPadméto visithisold slavemaster,Watto.Based onMarcGabbana’sconceptart,the practicaltransport
two decades beore. “I think the biggest moment was when we all walked onto that location near Neta,
Art director Phil Harvey’s blueprint (no. 25) notes that the homestead layout plan was based on approxi-
was built ona trolley ramewith tires suitable oropera-
Tunisia,” says Bocquet. “We had reproduced the home-
mated survey measurements and that all measurements
tion over sot sand, as Lucas once again took production
stead igloo out there, but it was only really Anthony
were to be rechecked on site. Boxes and crates were to
to Tunisia. e day of the shoot, a pickup truck would
Daniels, myself, and George who had ever been par t
be added as dressing, along with a vaporizer cluster (no.
pull the rickshaw. Fred Hole’s blueprint (no. 462) also
o that world, and o course the only two people who
02), with blue and red bulbs, which recalls the very
notes that parts o the rickshaw were to be painted blue, so that ILM could later make it look like it was oating
had been there were George and Anthony. George
rst blueprint o the “Oil Rig Christmas Tree” created
never went to see the set before we shot it and I have
or the rst Star Wars . Says Russell: “I love the drawing
above the ground being pulled by a droid.
to say, and Anthony said it, too, that George looked
of the old vaporizer, the homage to the original.”
e vaporizerclusteri s seen onlocation atthe Sidi
Driss Hotel in Matmata, where production returnedin September 2000 forthe rstti me since the original StarWars .
one shot. “ere’s a bar in the hotel, and on the wall
In the second movie o the Prequel Trilogy , Anakin Skywalker(HaydenChristensen)returnsto Tatooine.
DRG. NO.: 02
DATE: December 7, 1999
DRAWN BY: B. Scott
him that was a big moment o his lie, remembering because it’s so iconic now. e rim of the crater [seen
DRAWN BY: Fred Hole
SET: Lars Homestead
DETAIL: Vaporizer Cluster
visibly moved when he walked out onto that completed
across
SET: Homestead Layout
DETAIL: Plan Layout
DRG. NO.: 25
top
SET: Speeder Bike
DETAIL: General Arrangements
DRG. NO.: 461
328
329
330
331
diplomati cruiser d I p L o m a T I c c r u I s E r
SET: Diplomatic Cruiser Hallway [pgs. 328–329]
episoE DETAIL: Plan & Elevations
III
SCALE: 1:20
DRG. NO.: 001
DATE: February 24, 2003
DRAWN BY: Phil D. Harvey
Te blueprint of the Diplomatic cruiser hallway, des-
cruiser hallway was fun to do,” says Russell. “We were
ignated as 001—the rst technical drawing executed
all peering at old DVDs and trying to work out how
for Episode III—was another element that brought
big it was and how long it was. We couldn’t nd any
the Prequel Trilogy art department full-circle to the rst drawings created at Elstree. Ironically, though
useful drawings from the original set, any ones that gave us what we wanted.” ( StarWars:TeBlueprints collects
Bocquet’s team built exactly the same amount of the
for the rst time both the original drawing of the 1976
L-shaped corridor as Barry’s had of the Rebel ship,
corridor, since found in the Lu caslm Archives, along
their reference material was limited. “Te tricky thing
with its re-creation blueprint.)
about building this set was that the rst lm wasn’t really archived very well, because nobody knew it was
In addition to the corridor, the Prequel art department constructeda part of thecruiser not seenoriginally.
going to be successful,” Bocquet says. “So we had to
For the pickups shot at Shepperton Studios, David Lee
rely much more on photographs; we only had a few drawings to work from.”
drew up a blueprint of the ship’s cockpit(no. 006). “Tat was a three-and-a-half-wall little cockpit for a ying
Harvey’s blueprint of the rebuild (no. 001) notes
scene,” says Russell. “George was convinced that ILM
Tis nal frame shows JeremyBulloch, who played BobaFett in the original trilogy, asthe pilotto the leftof the viewscreen. Tecockpitwas the lastsetbuilt forthe StarWars Saga, appropriatelyat Shepperton Studios where Lucashadlmed decades before on its H Stage. top left
above left
Te re-created Rebel Blockade Runner set was reincarnated as the Episode III Diplomatic cruiser on Stage 7, July 2003. above
SET: Alderaan Cruiser Cockpit
that the wall panels between columns were to oat
could do it with just the seats and blue, but eventually,
DETAIL: Plan & Elevations
and that several of the doorways were single-sided and
as a treat, he said, ‘No, you can build it.’ And that was
SCALE: 1 inch
the last thing we built and shot.”
DRAWN BY: David Lee
non-practical.“Tewhitecorridor fromtheDiplomatic
DRG. NO.: 006
DATE: July 28, 2004