The Making of Star Wars (Enhanced Edition)
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Copyright © 2007 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or ™ where indicated.
All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.
Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Tora! Tora! Tora! poster on this page copyright © 1970 by Twentieth Century-Fox. All Rights Reserved.
The Day the Earth Stood Still poster on this page copyright © 1951 by Twentieth Century-Fox. All Rights Reserved.
Freaks poster on this page copyright © Turner Entertainment Co. A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. All Rights Reserved.
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eISBN: 978-0-345-54286-1
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Photo Credits:
Ben and Peggy Burtt, Richard Edlund, Gloria Katz, Douglas Kirkland, Ralph McQuarrie, Tina Mills, Lorne Peterson, Matthew Porter, Bob Seidermann, David Steen, University of Southern California Archives—and a very special thanks to John Jay for many of the great behind-the-scenes photos on the set and in Tunisia. Photo of Park Way house on this page copyright © Lucy Wilson.
Cover photo: Writer-director George Lucas and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) in a Tunisian desert during principal photography late March 1976.
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TO MY MOTHER AND FATHER, MARILYN AND ALAN
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At Lucasfilm present: This book could not have been completed without the invaluable help of those in Lucasfilm’s several archives. So tremendous thanks to: in the Research Library, Jo Donaldson, Carol Wing, and Robyn Stanley; in the Lucasfilm Archives, Laela French, Dinah Houghtaling, Claudia Kishler, and Erika Abad; in the Film Archives, Sterling Hedgpeth; and, last but far from least, a huge thanks to Image Archives—that is, Tina Mills, Matthew Azeveda, and, in particular, Michelle Jouan, who oversaw every last image and kept track of some maniacal picture-gathering from obscure places. Also many thanks to, in the chairman’s office, Jane Bay and Anne Merrifield; at Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman and Amy Gary for overseeing the whole shebang; Sue Rostoni for taking on the extra editing while shepherding along the Expanded Universe, Troy Alders for his artistic acumen, and Leland Chee and Nancy Frisch; in the legal department, David Anderman, Jann Moorehead, Elaine Mederer, Chris Holm, and Sarah Garcia; and in the marketing department, Steve Sansweet for the key tip and Lynne Hale for the key assists; John Knoll at Industrial Light & Magic for his Special Edition special knowledge; David Nakabayashi at the ILM art library; and Lucy Wilson at George Lucas Books for providing pictures of life at Park Way way back when.
And to Rick McCallum, without whom this would never have happened.
At Lucasfilm past: Many and sincere thanks to Charles Lippincott, whose work three decades ago made this book possible—and for going beyond the call in reading the manuscript and contributing essential information; Ralph McQuarrie, for his great generosity and never-before-seen slides and reference material; Lorne Peterson, for an afternoon of tireless image identification and for letting us print a number of photographs from his private collection; Fred Roos, for remembering who was the alternate Han Solo and for sending some great pics; and Richard Tong, for digging up valuable preproduction financial information.
Do-gooders at large: Many, many thanks to Tom Hunter, who took time out to come up with incredibly important legal contracts and correspondence; Peter Jackson, for writing a fantastic foreword, and Matthew Dravitzki, for facilitating that process; Iain Morris, for his design expertise; and F. Warren Hellman, whose memories of life on the board of directors at Twentieth Century-Fox were a huge help.
At Tolleson Design: For putting together a beautiful book and making sense of the hundreds of images, thanks to Craig Clark, Holly Hudson, Charin Kidder, Said Osio, René Rosso, Boramee Seo, and Steve Tolleson.
At Ballantine: For making this happen and for understanding the point of this book, thanks to Keith Clayton, Erich Schoeneweiss, Scott Shannon, and Dave Stevenson.
And, of course, my heartfelt thanks to George Lucas, for what he did thirty years ago and for the help given during the last year.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
List of Enhancements
Foreword by Peter Jackson
Introduction
The Lost Interviews
Chapter One: Two Visions (1968 to August 1973) Journal of the Whills
The Star Wars Treatment
Chapter Two: Fighting Words (August 1973 to January 1975) Rough Draft
First Draft
Second Draft
Chapter Three: Boundary Busters (January 1975 to August 1975) Story Synopsis and Typed Outline
Third Draft
Chapter Four: Frenzy (August 1975 to September 1975)
Chapter Five: Purgatory (September 1975 to December 1975)
Chapter Six: Rise of the Poetic State (December 1975 to March 1976) Fourth Draft
Revised Fourth Draft
Chapter Seven: Mindstorms in the Sand (March 1976 to April 1976)
Chapter Eight: Faster than a Speeding Freight Train (April 1976 to May 1976)
Chapter Nine: Vanishing Point (May 1976 to July 1976)
Chapter Ten: Ace-People and the Wizards (July 1976 to December 1976)
Chapter Eleven: Celluloid Transfiguration (December 1976 to April 1977)
Chapter Twelve: Fairy-Tale Cinema (April 1977 to December 1977)
Deluxe Edition Bonus Material
Glossary
Bibliography
List of Enhancements
Occasionally you will see colored film “slugs” where a sequence was taken to be used in the final film. Not all film clips contain audio.
Chapter One
Audio: Lucas explains how he decided to go to film school at the University of Southern California.
Audio: Executive producer and writer George Lucas discusses how his changing perspectives on the Flash Gordon serials sparked his desire to make the Star Wars saga.
Chapter Two
Audio: Lucas on his feelings post–American Graffiti.
Audio: Lucas on the importance of myths for children and how Star Wars was designed to fill that gap.
Chapter Three
Audio: Ralph McQuarrie on working with Lucas on the first illustrations.
Chapter Four
Audio: Set dresser Roger Christian remembers the beginnings of R2-D2.
Chapter Six
Video: Creature makeup supervisor Stuart Freeborn at work, along with his wife, Kay, at Elstree.
Audio: Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz discuss the story as the former nears completion of a shooting script.
Audio: Set dresser Roger Christian explains how he designed Han Solo’s blaster, the prototype weapon for all those that followed.
Video: On January 14, 1976, screen tests are filmed for “Artoo’s head; random readout; switch panel; scope pattern.”
Video: Mechanical effects supervisor John Stears (with beard and mustache) and others test out early lazer sword effects, circa January 23, 1976.
Audio: Christian goes over how he created the first lightsaber prop.
Audio: Lucas, Kurtz, and director of photography Gil Taylor discuss how they might shoot some of the landspeeder shots from a moving vehicle.
Audio: Vice president of marketing and merchandising Charles Lipp
incott asks Lucas why he chose Harrison Ford to play Han Solo.
Audio: Costume designer John Mollo on the first steps of transforming concept sketches into physical costumes.
Video: On March 15, 1976, another batch of tests is shot.
Chapter Seven
Video: On location in Tunisia, late March 1976, John Stears radio-controls a droid, while Mark Hamill is filmed watching the skies.
Video: Sir Alec Guinness clowns around with Kenny Baker and then films the scene in which Ben and Luke discover a damaged C-3PO.
Video: A printed daily of scene 47, above Mos Eisley, on location, circa the end of March 1976.
Video: In the Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata, Tunisia, cast and crew eat lunch where scenes would also be shot of the interior homestead, early April 1976.
Audio: Christian describes having lunch on the road to Djerba, Tunisia, with a tired and dejected Lucas.
Video: In Ajim, Djerba, an extra is lowered, strapped into a droid, and shown how to walk; the heroes’ arrival in Mos Eisley is then shot with the droid acting as foreground dressing; early April 1976.
Chapter Eight
Video: Off screen, Gary Kurtz interviews Alec Guinness at Elstree Studios, asking him about his character and if it was difficult to act with the “robots.”
Video: A printed daily of Ben swinging into action in the cantina, at Elstree, mid-April 1976. Note that you can see Lucas’s reflection in the protective glass in front of the camera at the end of the take.
Video: A printed daily from April 21, 1976, of Harrison Ford as Han Solo turning the tables on Greedo (Paul Blake, who speaks his lines off camera; Lucas can be heard saying, “Cut”).
Video: Behind-the-scenes footage of David Prowse being dressed in his Darth Vader costume at Elstree.
Video: On June 25, 1976, a gag in which a gonk droid finds itself alone in a Death Star hallway is shot (this doesn’t make the final cut). Jack Purvis plays the droid.
Video: A printed daily from April 27, 1976. In a gag that won’t make the final cut, the heroes, just out of the garbage masher, conceal their weapons from Imperial officers in a Death Star corridor.
Video: A printed daily from April 27, 1976, in which a stormtrooper’s squib continues burning after the trooper falls. When “cut” is called, stunt coordinator Peter Diamond runs to the fallen trooper to make sure the stuntman is okay.
Video: A printed daily (a pickup) of the swing across the chasm, late April/early May 1976.
Video: A printed daily of Peter Cushing as Governor Tarkin and Carrie Fisher as Leia.
Audio: Production designer John Barry discusses the process of designing sets with his draftsmen, working with other departments, and Lucas’s involvement in the art department.
Chapter Nine
Video: A printed daily of Ben’s duel with Darth Vader (with Prowse speaking Vader’s lines).
Video: Printed dailies from June 1, 1976, of the Death Star hangar shootout. Several shots are filmed with three cameras for maximum coverage so Lucas will have lots of choices while putting the sequence together in editorial during postproduction.
Video: Mark Hamill interviewed during principal photography at Elstree by Gary Kurtz (off screen).
Video: Printed dailies from the Death Star command office scene with Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca speaking the Wookiee’s lines in English.
Video: Printed dailies from the end of principal photography, July 1976. Lucas directs the extras as cameras roll for the scene in which stormtroopers blast their way onto the rebel ship.
Video: Printed dailies from July 8, 1976. Prowse as Vader chokes the rebel captain.
Chapter Eleven
Video: Printed dailies from the pickup shoot in Death Valley, mid-January 1977, of Mardji the elephant dressed up as a bantha.
Audio: A recording of Lucas directing Guinness during ADR in London, England, March 1977. Guinness experiments with various line readings for several different scenes, as the recorder is turned on and off.
Audio: Composer John Williams discusses the “Death of Ben” cue and the thinking behind his decisions.
Audio: Lippincott calls for a quick checkin as Lucas enters the home stretch, recorded on March 24, 1977.
Video: A black-and-white dupe made for ILM of an early edit, winter 1977, reveals a different opening crawl.
Video: The gag reel made for the cast and crew of Star Wars.
FOREWORD BY PETER JACKSON
I regard myself as being very lucky, because Star Wars arrived in my life at an absolutely perfect time. I was sixteen years old. I loved visual effects, loved fantasy—and ever since the age of eight or nine had been harboring ambitions to make films. I was also a movie buff. I used to read Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and I remember Starlog magazine had started about a year earlier. I was just a fan like any other kid. But I was becoming a little bit disillusioned with science-fiction films around that time. There were films like Logan’s Run and the remake of King Kong, and I remember feeling that the miniature shots looked just like miniatures, and the special effects looked like model work with dodgy bluescreen compositing. Nothing was really that impressive; certainly not since 2001 had anyone done anything really amazing in special effects. That was the frame of mind I was in.
Then Star Wars was released in the United States in May 1977. Can you imagine being a science-fiction fan, reading those magazines, reading all about Star Wars, reading about the phenomenon, about the queues around the block, how everyone was raving about it—but not being able to see it? Because the distribution thinking in those days was that they should hold the American summer movies until New Zealand had its summer. So Star Wars wasn’t going to open here until our summer— December! And there weren’t any entertainment channels on TV back then, no Internet; there really wasn’t any way of hooking into it. You would just hear gossip about it—and it was immensely frustrating. It was a slow-brewing phenomenon that took months and months to make its way down here.
Once Star Wars came out in the United States, however, there was a whole new flood—a new culture—of science-fiction film magazines. I used to buy all of those that were packed with Star Wars photographs. All my friends and I could ever do was look at the still photos. I would look at the photos lying in bed at night, dreaming about what the actual film would be like. I remember being utterly familiar with the images of Star Wars months before I ever saw the film. I got the soundtrack album, too, so I heard the music a long time before I saw it.
Finally the summer came. Three or four school friends and I had bought tickets in advance for the first day, but we still had to queue up outside the Cinerama theater in Wellington. Inside the cinema had been equipped with Sensurround for films like Earthquake and Rollercoaster. It was all decked out with subwoofers. It had a good picture, a huge nice screen.
And as I watched the film, amazingly enough—even with all the hype and the expectations that I’d built up in my mind over the previous seven months—Star Wars delivered. My dreams didn’t actually surpass the film. I remember standing and cheering and waving my arms around when Luke was flying toward the Death Star. I remember being incredibly overwrought at the excitement of it all. That sort of stuff didn’t happen in films back then. It was probably the first time in my life I’d ever become that heavily engaged in a movie to the point of wanting to jump up and down and yell for the hero.
It connected. It was a movie that was incredibly successful at engaging us. Luke really was us. That was Luke’s great contribution to the story of Star Wars. He was the character who you felt you could relate to—he wasn’t outside of your reach. Luke was just a kid like us who was swept away in this adventure—and though incredible things were asked of him, he managed to find it within himself to deliver in the way that we all hoped, if we were flying that X-wing toward the Death Star. Certainly at the time, I don’t think I’d ever seen a movie that was as successful at picking you up out of your seat and plunking you right down in the film.
; Another real feature of its success was that Star Wars spoke to you in a truthful way. We were a generation used to seeing slightly removed, remote films that were made by an older generation of filmmakers who were slightly disconnected and old-fashioned in their relation to the genre. They weren’t tapping into the youth culture and what it was like to be young in those days—but Star Wars did all that.
Obviously, the directing was a big part of this. The film felt like it was a world that didn’t have anything to hide; it had a sense of its own reality; and it was very confident in the alternate reality it was showing. This was not 1977—it really was a place in a galaxy far, far away, a long, long time ago. Star Wars didn’t feel self-conscious; it didn’t feel gimmicky. I know what George means by “documentary camera,” because the film had a truthfulness to it that was a big factor in helping you engage with the characters and forget the filmmaking very quickly. I think a lot of filmmakers fall into the trap of thinking, Well, if it’s fantasy I can be more flamboyant. But the opposite is true. If you are bombarding the audience with images they’ve never seen before, you want to keep the camera as real and truthful as you can, as well as the performances of the actors. And George directed the actors in fairly naturalistic performances, considering the outrageous things that were happening on-screen. They all behaved and acted in ways that felt believable.
I think all of that came together to create an atmosphere in which the audience felt totally safe and familiar, and was able to empathize, while at the same time being totally blown away with the images on-screen.