"Star Wars": how the film was shot without computer special effects. How Star Wars was filmed

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« Star Wars» ( Star Wars) is a cult epic fantasy saga that includes 6 films, as well as animated series, cartoons, television films, books, comics, video games - all imbued with a single storyline and set in a unified Star Wars fantasy universe conceived and realized by American director George Lucas in the early 1970s and later expanded upon.

Today, May 25, marks the 38th anniversary of the release of the very first film in this truly iconic fantasy film series. Let's remember together how it all began.

The first film was released on May 25, 1977 under the title Star Wars. The film was a huge box office success, effectively saving 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy. When doubts about the payback of the project disappeared, the first film received the subtitle " New Hope”, and soon followed by two sequels - in 1980 and 1983.

Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Adventure, Family Movie, Fantasy

No one imagined that this film would be a success. The management of the film studio was so convinced of the failure of the film that they gave Lucas the commercial rights to all subsequent Star Wars series for free. The bosses clearly underestimated the film's potential, and didn't expect it to be followed by two sequels, three backstories and a lot of spin-offs - cartoons, computer games, toys, books and even clothes and food. The film's budget of $11 million seemed very small, and it has already brought the director half a billion, and continues to bring.

The plot of the picture boils down to how a strong-willed young man Luke Skywalker, after the death of his uncle and aunt, teams up with the old Jedi Knight Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi, two creaky robots, ship commander Han Solo (Ford) and a furry alien to save the princess from the villain .

The film starred: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Phil Brown, Shilag Frazier, Jack Purvis, Alex McCrindle, Eddie Byrne, Drew Henley

Director: George Lucas

Screenwriter: George Lucas

Operator: Gilbert Taylor

Composer: John Williams

Painters: John Barry, Leslie Dilly, Norman Reynolds, Leon Eriksen

Producers: Gary Kurtz, George Lucas

Awards, nominations, festivals

1978 - Academy Award

Best Production Design

Best Costume Design

Best Visual Effects

Best Editing

The best music

Best Sound

BAFTA Award (1978):

Best Music (John Williams)

Best Sound (Sam Shaw)

As a reference for the battle scenes, Lucas took the military chronicle of the 2nd World War ...

George Lucas wanted to film something like modern myth, as opposed to the gloomy, pessimistic fantasy that was characteristic of the cinema of the early 70s.

Some interesting facts:

1. In funny robots-comedians C3PO and R2D2 there were people, and in a large robot - a very thin comedian specially found, and in a small robot - a dwarf who controlled the robot. When the shooting ended, the dwarf was often forgotten to be taken out of the robot. He couldn't get out on his own.

2. Since there was not enough time for shooting, different episodes were filmed simultaneously in 3 pavilions in parallel, while Lucas himself moved between the pavilions on a bicycle.

3. Benchmarking in cinema: as a reference for battle scenes, Lucas took the military chronicle of the 2nd World War, and in some scenes he simply copied the scenes of air battles: the movement of aircraft, changing close-ups and wide shots, etc. reproduced very accurately.

4. The breath of a man in scuba gear was used to voice the sinister Darth Vader. To voice the speech of the alien Chewbaku, samples of a lion, bear and tiger roar were used, which alternated, lining up in some kind of “phrases”.

5. Wooden sticks coated with a reflective compound were used as "lightsabers". "Swords" during fights constantly broke.

6. Space station The Death Star was about the size of a desk, and a miniature camera was dragged along on a cable. The camera was controlled by a self-made computer (there were no personal computers then).

7. In one of the scenes, Luke is attacked by a "sandman". Knocking Luke to the ground, he raises the stick high above his head. During editing, for greater expressiveness, this frame was “looped” and repeated several times: it turned out that the sandman was belligerently shaking a stick.

8. The producers repeatedly tried to close the picture. Because:

Who will watch a stupid fairy tale?

There are no famous actors in the film

The soundtrack is symphonic, and now everyone listens to disco

9. No one believed in the success of the film, and only one small company decided to release toys in the form of movie characters for the premiere of Star Wars.

After the premiere, there was a boom in demand for toys, and the capacities involved in the production of toys were not enough. Therefore, by Christmas, the company ran out of goods! Then the company began to sell "certificates" for toys. As a Christmas present, the child received an empty box and a certificate on which it was written: "With this certificate you will receive toys in March."

10. In the 2nd part of the film, the alien Yoda was played by a special doll, which was controlled by several people. All the scenery in the scenes with Yoda (including trees, etc.) were raised above the ground to the height of a human being, and the puppeteers hid under the floor.

This created difficulties: Mark Hamill, who played Luke Stywalker, did not hear him in dialogues with Yoda. Finally, they thought of inserting earphones into Mark's ear. Now he could hear Yoda, but periodically, when he turned his head, the earpiece would start picking up the radio (the Rolling Stones were playing), and this was very distracting.

11. Scenes on the snowy planet were filmed in Iceland. We were very unlucky with the weather, all the time it was 20-degree frost. The moments when Luke wanders through the snowy desert were filmed through open door from the hotel lobby. At the same time, Mark Hamill was freezing outside, and the entire film crew was warming themselves in the lobby.

12. During the filming of a flight through an asteroid swarm, ... were used as asteroids. regular potatoes. The passage of each "asteroid" was filmed separately, against the background blue screen, and then all this was mounted together with flying starships. There was no computer graphics back then...

13. For greater plausibility of the acting and to create an atmosphere of "mystery" George Lucas before last moment hid from the entire film crew that the sinister Darth Vader is actually the father of Luke Starwalker. Lucas told Mark Hammel about this a minute before filming the showdown with Vader. And the actor who played Vader, even during the filming of the episode where he tells Luke: "I'm your father!", Did not know about his "paternity" - in this scene he says completely different words: "Obiwan Kenobi killed your father." Then this scene was voiced "as it should": after all, Vader's face is hidden under an iron mask.

14. In order to keep the audience in suspense from the very first frames of the film, Lucas moved all the credits to the end of the film, thus violating Hollywood traditions. For the first time, he was forgiven. But when he repeated this number in the 2nd part of the film, the Directors Guild ordered him to pay a fine of 250 thousand dollars.

15. When preparations for the shooting of the 3rd part of the film began, for all equipment suppliers, in all papers, the film was called "Blue Harvest". They specifically came up with the most unbranded name - because when the suppliers saw the name "Star Wars" - they immediately increased the price by 2 times.

16. The monstrous gangster Jabba was controlled by many people - someone with his hands, someone with his mouth, someone with his tongue, someone with his eyes (which were radio-controlled). And Jabba's tail was set in motion by 2 dwarfs. When Princess Leia, about to choke Jabba, went behind his back, she accidentally stepped on the dwarf. To prevent this from happening again, a special platform was made.

17. One of the most exciting episodes of the 3rd part is racing on flying motorcycles at breakneck speed through the forest. In fact, the flight through the forest was filmed with a hand-held movie camera, which the operator slowly carried along the route. Shooting was carried out at a speed of 1 frame per second. Then, at a normal playback speed of 24 frames per second, the effect of a dizzying race arose.

In 1997, 20 years after the release of the first film, the original trilogy was remastered with computer-generated special effects and re-released. The films grossed $256.5 million, $124.2 million and $88.7 million respectively in re-release.

In 1999, the Star Wars movie was released. Episode I: The Phantom Menace ", which marked the beginning of a new trilogy - the prehistory of the original. Next in 2002 - Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones and in 2005 - Star Wars. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

According to George Lucas, the idea for the film was influenced by Joseph Campbell's research on comparative mythology (The Hero with a Thousand Faces, etc.).

The beginning of the history of Star Wars is considered to be 1976. It was then that the novelization book of the same name by A. D. Foster and George Lucas appeared, telling about the events of Episode IV: A New Hope. The producers at 20th Century Fox, fearful of the film's box office failure, decided to release the book earlier to gauge its success. In 1977, at the Congress of the World Science Fiction Society, George Lucas received a special Hugo Award for this novel.

At the end of 2012, the seventh film was announced. The release date is set for December 18, 2015. In March 2015, the eighth film was announced and the premiere date: May 26, 2017.

We all know that one of the most iconic and grandiose films is the Star Wars saga. So why was it so fascinating and interesting? First of all, the screens were attracted by the visual effects that were striking for that time and the proximity to open space. Let's reveal the secret of the classic trilogy and find out how the legendary trilogy was literally created from simple cardboard and drawings.

Like any masterpiece, Star Wars started with an idea.

Great storyteller new era Cinematography George Lucas conceived the epic when he was not even 30 years old. In the mid 1970s was ready preliminary scenario, which, however, more than once almost completely corresponded. How do you, for example, one of Lucas' ideas to make Luke Skywalker a 60-year-old general, and Han Solo an alien with green scales and gills?

The written history included the plot of all six episodes known today. There is a version that George Lucas decided to shoot the series from the middle because the first three episodes at that time allegedly lacked the skill of visual effects specialists. This is not so, the director could well realize his idea from the very first episodes. He initially decided to take on the film adaptation fourth episode. Firstly, this was done in order to intrigue the audience. Secondly, George Lucas did not know at all whether he would be able to shoot more than one Star Wars series, so he took on the most “driving” moment of the script.

It only got worse from there. For a long time, no studio wanted to take on the adaptation of a fairy tale with, to put it mildly, a strange plot. The influence of the hippie movement was still felt in the yard, venerable directors made serious films about the Vietnam War, and mediocrity riveted trash crafts about evil aliens from outer space. The work of George Lucas was immediately ranked among the latter, only the budget in this case required a rather large one - $ 8 million. Fortunately, there was a producer who believed in the genius of the young director and allocated the necessary amount.

And still, only a few believed in the success of Star Wars. Lucas himself sometimes doubted that something worthwhile would come of his idea. Later, the actors recalled the shooting as the most ridiculous episode in their lives. A tall guy in a monkey costume, dwarfs, simple pathos dialogues... The film was perceived as a children's fairy tale or trash, but not an adventure fantasy that claims to be a cult.

“The scene in the bar was like the nonsense of a stoned man: some frogs, pigs, a cricket - a nightmare!” - with a smile told the performers of the main roles. Apparently, Hollywood bosses adhered to the same point of view, who for some reason considered one of the main issues of the picture whether Wookiees should wear underpants. At some point, Star Wars was generally wanted to be closed, then they decided to throw out all the special effects from the film and turn it into a television series. Only the persistence and stubbornness of George Lucas saved the tape.

The lion's share of filming took place in the desert of Tunisia. In the same country, they found a suitable name for the planet on which the actions in the first third of the film take place. The name of the city of Tatooine quietly transformed into Tatooine. Here, in North Africa, there were suitable scenery: the house of Luke Skywalker's guardians was not built specifically for the film, it is an ordinary hut in one of the villages of Tunisia. Suitable interiors were found in a local hotel.

But the city of Mos Eisley, from whose spaceport Luke finally set off on space travel on the Millennium Falcon, had to be built from scratch. Tons of scenery had to be transported from Hollywood by plane. It took about two months to build a settlement from the material received, which fits perfectly into the desert surroundings.

The Han Solo spaceship was created in one of the largest movie theaters in England. The length of the colossus reached 50 meters, and the weight was several tens of tons. The giant layout of the Millennium Falcon sometimes flashes in the frame, but most of all, the film crew needed its “insides”, because the main characters spend a lot of time in the ship. True, the cabin still had to be done separately.

George Lucas wanted to literally put the viewer in the place of the characters. The Millennium Falcon rushes at the speed of light, the ship is fired upon, it shakes from side to side. All this should be accompanied by shaking inside. It is difficult to make a 40-ton layout vibrate, so it was decided to build a small cabin and place it on a spring platform. In scripted scenes, she was shaken by hand.

Another gigantic mock-up had to be made to recreate the crawler described in the scenario, in which the Jawas drove around Tatooine in search of robots. For some episodes, a huge metal "box" was built with tracks from a mining excavator. For shooting general scenes, a compact crawler model was used.

Like most science fiction films of the pre-PC era, Star Wars had a lot of "toys". All the spaceships we see in the movie (from the Millennium Falcon to the fighter jets) were made as miniature plastic or even cardboard mock-ups. The Death Star was drawn at all, and for the shooting of the final large-scale attack scene, the film crew built a mockup measuring 15x15 meters. It carefully reproduced each of the hundreds of turrets and guns that bristled the Death Star. The tunnel, through which toy rebel fighters flew, became the dominant feature of the layout.

Who knows, Star Wars would have received cult status if the film had only space shootouts, without all that “zoo” that nevertheless settled in the picture. Hundreds of dolls and masks great amount make-up and, of course, a park of dozens of robots. All this organically fit into the new universe and even now looks good.

Robots came up with a variety of

Today it's hard to imagine Star Wars without C-3PO and R2-D2 robots. It was too expensive to make real mechanisms, so George Lucas agreed to have actors play the astromech droid and robot secretary. Anthony Daniels fit into C-3PO's plastic armor. According to him, the plates were so fragile that they broke on the first day, injuring the actor's leg.

Anthony Daniels was completely blind in his suit

Inside R2-D2 sat dwarf Kenny Baker, who played the nimble robot on wheels in all six films in the franchise. The actor recalls that he could not get out of the metal bowels of R2-D2 on his own and sometimes he had to spend several hours inside, as they simply forgot about him. In total, there are more than 30 robots in the film in one form or another, most of which were remotely controlled.

Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels had a tense relationship on the court

Sometimes assistants had to roll R2-D2

The true face of Chewbacca

But it was Chewbacca who had the hardest time, that is, sorry, Peter Mayhew, who played the wookiee. Before joining the cinema, the man worked as an orderly in a hospital, but thanks to his height of 221 centimeters, he made his way to the big screen. Every day during the filming of Star Wars, he had to dress in a woolen suit, put on the "head" and shoe the "feet" of a native of Kashyyyk. In Tunisia, the actor was haunted by unbearable heat, and in the pavilions, openings that were too low for him sometimes interfered.

George Lucas, after filming, said that in many ways he borrowed the image of Chewbacca from his dog Indiana. As for the name, they say that it is a derivative of the Russian word "dog" - the young director really liked it.

During filming, the Wookiee did not utter a word or growl, only opened his mouth, as required by the script. Later, sound engineers had to experiment with hundreds of the most different sounds to find suitable ones for Chewbacca's speech. For example, when you hear an angry and indignant Wookiee, these are mainly the sounds that a bear makes, and a pleased Chewie got a tiger "purr". The famous hoarse breathing of Darth Vader was obtained thanks to a mask for scuba divers, R2-D2 “talks” with a mixture of a variety of synthesizer beeps and even baby muttering, and the sound of fighter jets had to be combined from the roar of an elephant and the sound of a car racing along a wet highway.

Death Star plot layout

The camera floats over the layout, capturing the final battle.

And yet, in the first place, Star Wars was remembered for its amazing special effects. When I first saw the fourth episode in the late 1980s and left the cinema with my jaw dropped in surprise, I could not believe that this could have been filmed more than ten years ago. According to George Lucas, when he saw the first editing options for his tape, he dropped his hands. The film turned out to be so weak and miserable that even the director could not believe in the bright future of the picture. However, the impression changed dramatically when special effects were added to Star Wars.

And here is the famous tunnel - one of the main "chips" of the film

For all the prettiness, the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) studio, which Lucas created specifically for his space epic, had to take the rap. In total, almost four hundred special effects got into the film - an incredible figure for that time. It took a third of the film's budget and most of the man-hours spent on the production of the picture to create the flights of ships, shots from blasters, luminous swords.

culture

Over the past 40 years, 9 films have been made and a huge number of different series, cartoons and new stories of this famous cinematic universe have been created. It is difficult to find a person who has never heard of"Star Wars".

In this article, you will dive into fantasy universe amazing characters and unique worlds of the cult franchise.

1. Luke Skywalker - The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Although inspired by fantasy tales and Westerns, George Lucas based the Star Wars universe around the theories of Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

The book traces mythological motifs and myths from all over the world such as Beowulf or King Arthur are said to have the same structure.

According to Campbell, the book's protagonist travels from the ordinary everyday world to the miraculous and supernatural world: fairy-tale forces and heroes meet there; he returns from this mysterious adventure able to bestow blessings on his neighbor. Lucas built the MCU on the ideas of this story, and Luke became its main character.

2. The name of Darth Vader is not so difficult

"This is one of the things that came up quickly and, one might say, from scratch. One day this idea just popped into my head," said Lucas.

Later, in an interview with Rolling stone magazine, he said: "" Dart " in a sense means "dark", and "Vader" - "father", so if you combine both words, you get "father of darkness" ". It is worth noting that the word" vader "in translation from Dutch really translates as" father ". This could serve as a significant spoiler for spectators.

3. Simplicity is the key to success

The film's opening screensaver was made with minimal effects added.
Even those who are not fans remember the very famous screensaver that met us in all the films of the franchise.

The exception is Rogue One. Unfortunately, there the creators decided to do without it.

Few people know, but the screensaver was created manually: placed on a black sheet of paper yellow letters. The camera flew over them, simulating some kind of movement. In total, this work took about three hours to complete.

4. " Let the force be with you "

This most famous phrase appears in every movie in the Star Wars universe. "and known not only to fans of the franchise. I would like to note that the only time in the movie "Rogue One" the hero Cassian Andor did not let the droid K-2SO finish her.

5. The origin of the word "Jedi"

A Jedi in the MCU is a knight of the light side who serves the Force. The word "Jedi" comes from the Japanese "Jidai Geki", which translates as "historical film, drama". Lucas was fascinated by samurai films and their culture and decided to borrow the word for knights in his films.

6. Skywalker…or Starkiller

Luke Skywalker was originally named Luke Starkiller. This name was approved and kept by the hero until the very beginning of filming. Luckily for the creators, the name was never mentioned, so it was later changed slightly to what fans of the franchise now know.

Luke Skywalker's sword

7. Why green

Luke's lightsaber in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi was originally blue, but there was a problem during filming.

When filming the scene in the desert, Luke's lightsaber blended into the blue sky and was not visible. Then George Lucas decided to change the color of the sword from blue to green.

8. Return? But for what?

In one version of the Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi scenario, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were about to leave the Force and return to their physical bodies again in order to assist Luke in the confrontation with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

9. Unforeseen circumstances

Before filming begins on Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back "starring Mark hamill had a major accident and suffered a serious facial injury. The scene in which Luke Skywalker was captured by a wampa on the planet Hoth was added to explain the scarring on his face.

10. Be careful

While filming the scene in the trash press, Mark Hamill held his breath for so long that a blood vessel burst in his face. In order for the spot that appeared at this place not to be noticeable, the filmmakers had to use visual effects.

11. Unusual, practical and durable

Many of the buildings built to film the scenes on the planet Tatooine are in Tunisia. Some of them are still used by the locals.

The most famous droid

12. What was the name of the famous droid

George Lucas came up with the droid name R2-D2 while filming American Graffiti. One of the members of the sound team asked him to play the reel of the second dialogue track again, which sounded like "Give me back R2-D2, please."

The history of the creation of the most legendary Saga. Full version

BEFORE SHOOTING

Because of:

Mythologization of things and events that have great value for a huge number of people;
- the passage of less than ten half-century bulk of time;
- disparate statements of the George Lucas

to date, there is no version unanimously approved by the Party that would clearly explain to us the miracle of the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating “ Star Wars". For example, myself Lucas mentioned the insight at the stage of work on his first feature " THX 1138»; his friends hint at a much earlier enlightenment, rooted in a long-standing attachment Lucas to the beloved Mark Wahlberg universe Flash Gordon. But most of all I like the version that "Star Wars" is a kind of rethinking of the picture " Apocalypse Now", which Lucas personally intended to shoot in Vietnam at the height of the war.

Ideas - ideas, but real actions have a very specific reference to the date. And if happy birthday Sagas is May ’77 th, then, let's say, the day of her conception is April ’73 th. Exactly 17 On the th, Lucas started writing .., no, not even a script, but a short story about a boy who lives with gnomes (!) and is raised in an exemplary Padawan (in the 1st versions of the script - Padawan) by respected Bindu Jedi ... At that time George could afford to dream up plenty: at festivals and at the box office, his second film had just gone well - “ american graffiti"- and the young director had carte blanche for a dream project.

Compressing the synopsis of this very dream to two pages of printed text, Lucas went to the studios, but got a turn from the gate with the wording “too confusing”: a seemingly simple story was powerfully overloaded with names and terms invented by the author ... Of course, nothing was lost and all this was used later (invented by one of the first Mace Windu will appear 20 years later in a new trilogy), but at that stage Lucas I had to fill my typewriter with a new blank sheet.

From the second run, things went much better: perhaps the secret is that George just simply slammed strongly inspired by the plot of the film Akira Kurosawa « Three villains in a hidden fortress". Under the revised synopsis, he immediately managed to knock out already $150.000 , which he himself called "an investment not in the film, but in me", hinting that the studio was inspired not by his story, but by his enthusiasm.

By May 1974 th scenario skeleton No. 2 was ready: now it contained Jedi with Sith(By the way, the word Jedi comes from " Jidai Geki"- varieties of the Japanese soap opera about the samurai); Corellian smuggler appears Han Solo(however, for now, like a noseless green-skinned brute-alien with gills) and Chewbacca(drawn from Lucas's dog). With the main character, there was still uncertainty: Lucas was seriously thinking about making Luke an experienced General or even a woman! .. And, of course, it appears Darth Vader, but then he was very far from the image of a mega-villain.

After a significant break Lucas was busy in other projects at the same time), work on the script resumes in January 1975 th. But the story still contains significant differences in the description of the characters from what we know today. So, the image of the protagonist had to be revealed through relationships with numerous brothers. And call Luca and should not have skywalker, a Starkiller... No, seriously, George wrote that - “ Starkiller».

The final writer's spurt takes place from August to January: versions #3 appear (with the proud title " Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller”) and, which became final, version No. 4, which they wanted to call not that “ The Adventures of Luke Starkiller", not that " SagaI: Star Wars"... By the way, at a certain stage, the script helped write brian de palma, He also took part in the casting.

So, having an unnamed script and $8.250.000 (which he miraculously knocked out from the new head of the studio), Lucas starts screening. For the role Luca De Palma suggested William Catt, which he filmed in " Carrie"(Attentive viewers saw Katt in" doctorHouse”), but in the end, the director almost without hesitation gave the role to the 25-year-old Mark Hamill.

With way Princess Leia it was much more difficult. Sissy Spacek, Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Kim Basinger, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Melanie Griffith- in total, more than 30 (!) actresses competed for the role! But she got Carrie Fisher, who was almost forced to audition by her actor friend Miguel Ferrer with whom they read the script together. The most interesting thing is that the only character that she burningly wanted to play was ... Han Solo!

Khan is our Solo. As you remember, he was supposed to be a green alien, but closer to filming Lucas decided to make it… black! But not an alien, but a human. And only the descendants of the liberated Django, as Lucas changes his mind again - "X ochu white man !”… A variety of misters lined up in a queue: from Nika Nolte, Christopher Walken, Pacino, DeNiro, Nicholson, Sly and Kurt Russell, who even passed screen tests ...

…before Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Travolta and even Robert Englund! But all of them were bypassed by a lucky carpenter Harrison Ford(which, again, was filmed by Lucas in "American graffiti")… By the way, the image Hana Solo was largely copied from a friend Lucas- some Francis Ford Coppola... Well, who also has a director's daughter.

Role of the Jedi Elder Obi-Wan Kenobi(whose young years in the new trilogy depicted Ewan McGregor) the director really wanted to give Toshiro Mifune- favorite actor Akira Kurosawa, whose work, as I already mentioned, was probably inspired by Lucas. Another candidate was the eternal headache of the Hammer Dracula - Peter Cushing. But neither Van Helsing, it was not possible to get a Japanese - but they got a very difficult Englishman: an Oscar-winning knight, sir Alec Guinness, who, although skeptical about science fiction, accepted the offer under the impression of the above-mentioned "American graffiti".

By the way, the name Obi-Wan Kenobi- not a simple set of beautiful sounds. Lucas compiled it from quite meaningful components: the syllable Obi means widespread in the West Indies, Africa and in South America pagan ritual, something akin to witchcraft practices; Van is an archaic designation for darkness and sadness; Ken is Barbie's girlfriend of knowledge and range of vision... And how the heck did he dig it all out?

How to ignore yourself Darth Vader? Another resident of Foggy Albion was invited to the role of an antagonist - a former athlete, two meters David Prowse. By the way, the character of Dart was invented by Lucas one of the first.

And the trio of squires? C3-RO was played Anthony Daniels, whose British accent gave the robot, described in the script as "a type with manners similar to a used car salesman", acquired the features of a prim butler. Tiny R2-D2 depicted another subject of Her Majesty - Kenny Baker, whose height is just over 110 cm! By the way, Lucas wanted to call a couple of cute robots A-2 and C-3.

Role Chewbacca went to the usual hospital orderly to Peter Mayhew just ten seconds after meeting Lucas. All Pete had to do was get up from the table: 220 cm tall, you know. By the way, in the camp of the followers of the universe, it is a shame not to know that the name Chewbacca consonant with the word dog. The same applies to Jabba-zhaba… It would seem, what do the Russians have to do with it?

So, having gathered under his wing such a motley audience, Lucas was ready, headlong, to rush into a bold battle for the right to enter eternity. He really had a serious fight, because the studio was so sure of the collapse that awaited it that it began negotiations to sell the rights to the picture. The very one that will be the first in history to overcome the bar in $ 300.000.000 and become a deafening pop-cultural phenomenon.

SHOOTING

Having solved the casting issues, the director had to create a universe in which all his actors could be placed. Annoyed to discover that the studio's special effects department XX Century Fox disbanded, Lucas founds a company ILM: Industrial Light & Magic, whose production facilities are located ... in an ordinary warehouse in a tiny California town Van Nuys!

Such a humble beginning did not hurt ILM become true pioneers: the first fully 3D character in history is sentient water-sausage in " Abyss»; the first ever main three-dimensional character - T-1000; the first ever three-dimensional animals and dinosaurs in " Jurassic park»- all this and much more on the conscience of ILM! To date, ILM has created special effects for such hits as " Avengers», « Men in Black III», « time keeper», « Super 8», « Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2», « October sky», « Starship Troopers», « Titanic», « labyrinth», « Alien» - more than 300 films in total! Not bad for guys who started out in the barn, right?

By the way, a fan of destroying some legend Jamie Hyneman and the director of such imperishable as " jumanji" and " Honey I Shrunk the Kids» Joe Johnston- people from ILM! Furthermore, Bobba Fett and Yoda, such as you know them, created precisely Johnston: it was he who developed and brought to mind the concept of their “bow”.

Let's get back to filming.

Phrase " Motor!"was first heard on Tunisian soil, and it was on March 22, 1976. Very soon, the all-powerful colonel intervened in the filming process. Gaddafi. The leader of the Jamahiriya did not like the fact that some suspicious military equipment. Not wanting to conflict, the government Tunisia politely asked Lucas run over. And the suspicions of the Libyan ruler aroused ... Java sandcrawler- Slave ship!

Alas, the problems were just beginning: the electrician was constantly dying, there were problems with the scenery. On top of that, in the desert where the shooting was going on, a multi-day downpour began ... for the first time 50 (!) years! Lucas decides to move into a comfortable studio under London… By the way, to this day in Tunisia operates a hotel where some interior scenes of the house were filmed Luca. The hotel is located in a small town… Tatooine!

Leaving Tunisia behind and lining up in England Scenery, Lucas came to an interesting idea: why not show futuristic locations/props/etc not space-sterile, but, as he himself said, "filthy". The idea was to make everything look lived-in, and quite a long time ago. Yes, by R2-D2 they walked with a saw, rolled it out in the dust and kicked it ... But even here there were problems that came from nowhere: one evening a team of cleaners looked at the site, which carefully licked out all the dirt - in the morning Lucas again had to restore all the beauty.

However, the difficulties were not only external - everything was not going smoothly on board either. Lucas ridiculed for the silly-looking characters and the general oddity of what is happening, and most willingly scoffed at ... his own actors! Ford, for example, was perplexed by a giant in a monkey costume, buns on his head Lei and killer dialogues that “you can write, but you can’t say this shit out loud!”.

The director did not remain in debt - the dissatisfaction was mutual. AT and denia Lucas the filmed picture, scenery and costumes did not match. He rarely communicated with actors and all that was heard from him was “ Faster!". One day Lucas yelled so hard that he lost his voice; his team immediately presented him with a sign with one single word - " FASTER!».

With such “successes”, George stopped meeting deadlines and estimates (it was eventually exceeded by $3.000.000 !!) - the studio cut off his phone, threatening to close the project. Seeing that the captain was falling into depression, the team began to cheer him up, trying to make him smile at least occasionally. But a perfectionist and a workaholic Lucas still earned diagnoses of "hypertension and exhaustion" and thundered into the hospital.

But good times still happened. So, in one of the scenes, due to incorrectly placed light, her chest became clearly visible through the clothes of Princess Leia ... As she later joked Carrie Fisher « As far as I know, they don't wear underwear in space.».

By the way, about clothes.

famous costume Darth Vader was designed based on the clothing of the Bedouin warriors by the designer Ralph McQuarrie(it was he who created the promo art that convinced the studio, like those in " Argo"). So here Ralph sewed-kroil with the idea that in such robes Dart could even float in zero gravity. But why the villain always walks in it - was explained only in the sequel. And yes legendary mask- she was so big even for a giant prowse that it was fixed on his face with special foam.

By the way, on the screen, the villain of the villains shines pathetic for personalities of such magnitude. 12 minutes! 12 nondescript minutes. Why nondescript? Yes, because the legendary Imperial March”, accompanying any of his appearances, was simply not yet written and did not sound in the first film!

Till David Prowse sweat in silence Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill enjoyed all over. Ford, for example, did not always bother to learn the text and sometimes engaged in pure improvisation. But goofing around Ford and Hamill immediately stopped when he appeared on the site Sir Alec Guinness: he had a very organizing effect on them.

Alas, the strength of the organization was not always enough. Or not to everyone: during the filming, it was not without incidents.

In the episode "Garbage Truck", Hamill he held his breath to escape the stench, and tried so hard that his eye capillary burst, so much so that in subsequent scenes he had to be filmed all the time from one side. Well, the eye has healed, but Chewbacca less fortunate: the costume was soaked with a stench that was never removed until the end of filming ... By the way, the studio tried to force Lucas to dress Chewie in shorts - you see, they were embarrassed by this shaggy shame.

The shaggy shame remained undisguised, but the 19th-century light bulb and pistol were covered up so well that the first turned into a lightsaber (its handle is just a detail of a flash lamp, flavored with rubber and eyelets; this lamp can still be bought today ... for fabulous money , certainly); and the second - in the blaster X ana solo(under the layer of "make-up" you can find the usual Mauser).

By the way, Lucas filmed all this masquerade splendor on cameras Vista Vision. No, not because they were some kind of cool: just Lucas was able to rent only such junk, originally from 50 th. But then these cameras just skyrocketed in price!

AFTER SHOOTING

Once filming was complete, it was time for the editing. Seeing what happens in the end Lucas I was horrified: the scenes looked unenergetic, with some kind of sleepy book pace. Moreover, in the first version, completely different options for taking scenes were used, and total number"coincidences" with the canonical version reached miserable 40 %!

The unfortunate editor immediately lost his job. On the advice of a friend Scorsese, Lucas enlists the services of a editing wizard whose work in the film "New York, New York" Martin was very pleased ... Lucas was also pleased, so much so that he even took the craftswoman as his wife.

Meanwhile in ILM fiddled with special effects. But the number of scenes that required processing was so great that instead of the 6 months of work threatened to drag on for a year. Increased by a third and the budget. Wanting to motivate the team and show what he would like to see in the end, Lucas regularly arranged viewings of old records of air battles. By the way, five of the eight million budget "ate" ILM, and half of that money went to effects to 4 -em scenes.

There was also a lot of work to be done on voice acting. An impressive library of sound effects has been created, which Lucas nicknamed the "organic soundtrack". So, the blaster was sounded with a chopped off high-voltage wire; and the iconic lightsaber sound was created by mixing the idle hum of a 35mm movie projector and a bare cable.

With a couple of droids, too, tinkered. Voice for S-3RO searched among 30 candidates, until one of them hinted to Lucas that the Daniels(who played S-3RO) is pretty good. That's what they decided on. As for the sounds made R2-D2, then these are the voices passed through the synthesizer Baker(playing R2) Lucas and even babies.

If a S-3RO lucky to leave your vote then vader turned out to be double-sided. First of all, Lucas really disliked the Bristol accent prowse(on the set he was even called Darth Farmer). As a result, the Oscar-winning king speaks for him. Zamunda, sworn enemy Conan and Mufasa all Disney - James Earl Jones. Secondly, the famous wheezes, are also not Vader's: they belong to a sound effects master who recorded his breathing through the scuba oxygen system.

Despite the fact that Jones and Prowse never met in person, Prowse still harbors resentment, calling Lucas’ act “racism in reverse”: they say that there were no blacks in the cast and by inviting Jones, the director got out in front of the studio ...

I don't know how sincere Prowse, but this cutting of scenes in which vader speaks in an original voice ridiculous to disgrace: indeed, Darth Farmer.

Having dealt with the voices of everything and everything in the film, Lucas had to give the film itself a voice. At first he wanted to use only classical music (following the example "2001: A Space Odyssey"). But Spielberg introduced him to John Williams, who created the legendary soundtrack, which also became a classic of our time.

I can't say a few words about Williams. The amazing gift of owning seven notes made it possible to create such music, which in itself is the property of the Republic: themes from “ Jaws», « Star Wars», « Indiana Jones" or " jurassic park» proof of that… » John Williams is a man!!” (c)

So the movie was done. The studio wanted to release it by Christmas '76, but due to delays, the release was pushed back to May '77. Bosses resented and feared competition from the new job Burt Reynolds. Oh, what short-sighted fools! Premiere " star Wars just blew up the box office!

The film not only broke the record Jaws”, which were the first in history to raise $100,000,000. The film broke this record three times (!) and remained an unattainable leader until the release of " alien", and after the re-release in the 90s, he regained the palm ... True, not for long ... " Titanic", do you know. By the way, fabulous revenue allowed the studio 20th century fox release next year instead of the usual 20 films - less than ten.

Following the box office success came critical acclaim, whose enthusiasm showered Lucas and his team with 11 (!) nominations for Oscar, 7 of which George took with him. By the way, this is the only one of all parts of the Saga and the first sci-fi in history that fought for the title Best movie of the year.

With such and such fame, the blast from the film began to spread to everything around. Yes, exactly " Star Wars” spawned a merchandise industry that was previously in its infancy. It is noteworthy that the studio did not want to pay much to Lucas and agreed to give him almost all the rights to related products. Needless to say, due to the shortsightedness of the leadership, George quickly amassed a phenomenal fortune.

And even music world couldn't turn away. Disco arrangement of the music from the film, performed by the arranger meco topped (!) the Billboard chart for several weeks. In addition, the title track, released as a single, became the best-selling instrumental single of all time.

AFTERWORD

"Star Wars"- the undoubted "watershed" that changed and influenced the entire industry.

So, it was the concept of a “shabby future” invented by Lucas that the same Ridley Scott successfully applied in Alien" and " Blade Runner". Among other "impressed" one can safely name Peter Jackson, Roland Emmerich, Kevin Smith, Christopher Nolan, David Lynch…

But the coolest annealed James Cameron who quit his job as a truck driver to devote himself full-time to filmmaking! What did you do for hip-hop at your age?!

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens, released in December 2015, became the biggest film event of the year, grossing over $2 billion at the box office. Now the audience is looking forward to the next, eighth episode of the saga, which will be released in December 2016. In anticipation of the new film, let's take a look at the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and find out how the most striking episodes of the film were filmed.

The appearance of Kylo Ren
Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo - the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa, the main villain of the seventh part of Star Wars, who was educated as a Jedi, switched to dark side Forces and, in the end, killing his own father. He adores his grandfather Darth Vader and wants to be like him, which is probably why he also wears a mask all the time. By the way, the creation of this mask has become a non-trivial task for the props. They were instructed to make it so that children could easily remember it. Specialists coped with this task: the mask, shining with silver, certainly catches the eye. In this scene, Kylo Ren (actor Adam Driver) arrives on the desert planet Jaffa to get a map with the coordinates of Luke Skywalker. As we can see, the shooting takes place in the pavilion, and everything around is covered with green panels. The desert scenery of Jaffa will be added later on the computer.

Return of R2D2
In The Force Awakens, the small but nimble robot R2D2, adored by all Star Wars fans without exception, returns to us. Among the millions of admirers, by the way, is JJ Abrams, screenwriter and director of the seventh part of the saga. He's so in love with R2D2 that, being the director of Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness, he managed to put R2D2 in both movies! True, the robot from Star Wars appears in each for only a few seconds. So here in an unusual way Abrams paid tribute to his childhood favorite Star Wars. Needless to say, Abrams had already found a place for his pet in The Force Awakens script and enjoyed working with the robot on set.

Instructions for BB 8
Since J.J. Abrams decided in advance to return the famous pair of robots R2D2 and C3PO to The Force Awakens, it was only logical to add one more, more modern comrade to them, who could capture the imagination of a new generation for which old robots are yesterday. And the new hero, BB 8, succeeded! It has a charming design that is both traditional and modern, and looks like a mini meditation pagoda. But what's really cool is that the C3PO is controlled by a remote control, so unlike its predecessors, it doesn't require artists to strain to carry it back and forth. On this occasion, they say, the robot did not know a minute of peace on the site: every now and then they drove him back and forth. In the photo he is in one of the rare moments of downtime.

Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac at San Diego Comic Con 2015
San Diego Comic Con, the largest film and comics costume festival in the United States, is a mecca for fans of a wide variety of films, comics, cartoons and TV shows. In 2015, 167 thousand people took part in the four-day event - a record number in the history of the convention! One of the festival's biggest shows this year was the presentation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It began with a meeting between Abrams and a team of actors with fans, and ended thematic concert and fireworks. The fans went on a rampage, and the young actors happily posed with lightsabers in their hands for the delight of the public.

Han Solo, Chewbacca, Rey and Finn - on the Millennium Falcon during a break
Fans rejoiced when they again saw the unsinkable Han Solo and his faithful companion Chewbacca on the screens - of course, on the famous Millennium Falcon. By the way, bringing the famous smuggler Solo's spaceship back to the screen was by no means an easy task: after all, it had to be restored in all its details so that the audience would not notice the difference. Designer Darren Gilford got his hands on all the sketches and drawings of the former Falcon. He was also assisted by Mark Harris, a movie set veteran who helped build Han Solo's ship on the set of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Even Harrison Ford, remembering that he once worked as a carpenter, took part in the construction of the ship. And, I must admit, the Millennium Falcon was a success just perfect!

Return of Luke Skywalker
The return of Luke Skywalker, and even performed by the same Mark Hamill, was a complete surprise for the audience. Prior to the film's release, Skywalker was kept a closely guarded secret, with Skywalker not included in promotional material. At the same time, the fans, of course, found out about the presence of Luke and wondered what it would be until the very end. Perhaps he will go to the dark side of the Force? Fortunately, this did not happen. But the fact that Luke appears only at the end of the picture, besides not for long, disappointed many. But here the scriptwriters could not do anything: whenever they tried to make Luke's presence more significant, he crushed the whole plot under him, and the creators were afraid that against his background the audience would not notice the new heroes of the saga. As a result, Luke appeared in only one episode - but his appearance turned out to be all the more significant.

Andy Serkis as Snoke - using motion capture technology
Andy Serkis is no stranger to impressive makeovers, complex make-up and computer-generated effects: he has outplayed a host of ugly creatures, from Gollum in The Lord of the Rings to the head of Caesar's ape empire in Planet of the Apes. This time it's the turn of the main villain, the master of the fearsome First Order Snoke. His face is intimidating, but this time Serkis did not have to spend several hours in the dressing room. Filmmakers applied modern technology motion capture, which allows you to superimpose the desired image on a moving object. Dots of light that are visible on Serkis' face capture the smallest muscle movements, and then the computer replaces his own face with a creepy mask that moves in the same way as the actor's face.

Maz Kanata is a new digital character
Another new character, unrecognizably modified on a computer, is the old smuggler Maz Kanata, mysteriously endowed with the Force. It is simply impossible to recognize in her a pretty Kenyan Lupita Nyong'o. At first it was planned that Maz Kanata would be puppet character, but then the director decided that the character should be more alive - and Lupita, following Andy Serkis, had to put on a suit to shoot scenes using motion capture technology and learn how to use it.

Luke, Leia and Han Solo reunite in San Diego
Star Wars fans have been waiting for this scene for years: at San Diego ComicCon, Kerry Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the first films of the trilogy, Mark Hamill, who played the role of Luke Skywalker, and the permanent Han Solo, the incomparable Harrison Ford, appeared on the same stage! The heroes reunited in front of fans after coming together to the set of The Force Awakens after years of hiatus. Mark and Kerry said they were genuinely excited to be back. “Now everything is the same as then, only more sincere,” admitted Carrie Fisher. They were followed on the stage by Harrison Ford, who impressed the fans with the statement: "I never thought I would be back. But after reading the script, I saw some really great ideas there, and I'm glad to be a part of it." From the mouth of Ford, known for his many years of skepticism about Star Wars, this was truly a valuable recognition!

Return of Peter Mayhew
The names of Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford are known to all Star Wars fans. But the name of Peter Mayhew is by no means well known to everyone, and even more so, few people know this actor by sight. Meanwhile, he is the same veteran of the saga as Ford, and, moreover, his permanent partner. Peter Mayhew, an impressive 2.20-meter actor, played Chewbacca in the first three films in the trilogy - and has now returned to his character in The Force Awakens. True, now the actor is already 71 years old, and it is difficult for him to move around the site in a heavy Chewbucky suit. Therefore, Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo played most of the scenes that required active movement in a suit, and Mayhew was constantly by his side and, if necessary, gave technical advice.

Kylo Ren laughs
Adam Driver, the performer of the role of Kylo Ren, has excellent abilities as a comedic actor. He successfully demonstrated them both in the TV series Girls, which is still on HBO, and in the movie When We Were Young. In The Force Awakens, however, Adam landed the role of a villain without a trace of the TV show's smile. However, viewers could watch Kylo Ren laughing on the famous American television show "Saturday Night", which in January 2016 showed a five-minute parody of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", in which Kylo Ren, hiding under the guise of a simple technician, incognito conducts inspection of Starkiller Starbase. The parody turned out to be funny, and Adam, looking at the screen, could not help laughing.

Kerry Fisher and JJ Adams - friendship on set
During the shooting between Carrie Fisher and J.J. Adams developed for real warm relationship. "She's just brilliant," says Adams. "She has free associative thinking, her great ability to find a funny, divine flair for wordplay in everything ... I'm delighted with her!"
However, this picture hints that, perhaps, something more than friendship has developed between the actress and the director. Carrie Fisher was not too lucky in her personal life - perhaps Star Wars will be the beginning of a new star romance for her?

The most dedicated Star Wars fan Simon Pegg on the set
Actor, screenwriter and producer Simon Pegg is the biggest Star Wars fan. He has dozens of films to his credit, including collaborations with JJ Adams in Mission: Impossible 3 and star way". But he never hid that he was ready to give left hand to get at least episodic role in Star Wars. And he got it! In The Force Awakens, Pegg played a menacing-looking goblin with a huge drooping nose. "And although the role was the most passable, Simon was happy!

Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren: The Last Stand
Rey and Finn's final fight with Kylo Ren is the culmination of the whole picture. The choreography of the battle was worked out before the smallest details. To add credibility to the scene, the creators of the tape did not rely on computer technology, creating in the pavilion the scenery of a snowy planet turned into a deadly Starkiller base. The ominous frozen forest adds emotional tension to the scene.

John Boyega at the world premiere of The Force Awakens
The world premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was held on December 14, 2015 in the famous " Chinese theater"in Los Angeles. It was there in 1977 that the public first saw the fourth (chronologically first) part of Star Wars, which instantly became a cult. The premiere of The Force Awakens was attended not only by the entire film crew, but also by many celebrities: to accommodate everyone, the organizers had to stretch a red carpet almost half a kilometer long to the entrance of the cinema!And the reception tent stretched four blocks along Hollywood Boulevard. The event became a truly cult event, to match the film.