The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

1696 Pages·2010·171.22 MB·English

by  J.W. Rinzler

This page: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford on location in Finse, Norway
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Copyright © 2010 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & or ™ where indicated.
All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.
Published in the United States by Del Rey, 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.
eISBN: 978-0-345-54336-3
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Photo Credits: Richard Blanshard, Terry Chostner, Murray Close, Dougie Dawson, Lynn Goldsmith, Irvin
Kershner, Gary Kurtz, Nancy Moran, Roger Ressmeyer, Mark Sennet, David Steen, Howard Stein, Knut
Vadreth
And very special thanks to unit photographer George Whitear
v3.1
TO GENEVIÉVE AND IN MEMORY OF JIM HENSON
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At Lucasfilm present: The invaluable help of those in Lucasfilm’s several
depositories have once again helped make this book possible. So, in the
Lucasfilm Archives, many thanks to Laela French, Joanee Honour, and Anna
Bies, who tirelessly scanned hundreds of concept artworks and storyboards; in
the Skywalker Ranch Research Library, to Jo Donaldson, Robyn Stanley, and
Carol Moen Wing, for once more identifying those Raiders’-like boxes filled
with production material, and to Cindy Young Russell, for the endless and
flawless transcriptions; in the Film Archives, to Sterling Hedgpeth, for
unearthing the first cut; and, as usual, much gratitude to the Image Archives, the
backbone of the book—to the ever-on-it Tina Mills, Matthew Azeveda, Shahana
Alam, and Stacey Leong—the latter of whom kept track of every last image and
dug up negatives of long-forgotten filed-away pictures of principal photography
at Elstree Studios. Also thanks to, in the Chairman’s Office, Jane Bay—for
lending us great photographs of life at Park House—and Anne Merrifield; at
Lucas Licensing, for oversight and permissions, to Howard Roffman and Carol
Roeder; to Troy Alders, for the cover and his help expertly honing the layout and
design; and to Sue Rostoni, Leland Chee, and Nancy Frisch; and a big thanks to
the readers in several departments, Frank Parisi (who also edited), Pete Vilmur,
and Tony Rowe, for making corrections and suggestions to the very long
manuscript; in the legal department, to David Anderman, Chris Holm, and Sarah
Garcia; and in the marketing and PR department, to Steve Sansweet and Lynne
Hale for a couple of important contacts; at Industrial Light & Magic, to Dennis
Muren, whose help, patience, and guidance was one of the highlights of the
project; for technical assistance, to John Knoll; at Skywalker Sound, thanks to
Howie Hammerman, who has been here from the beginning and remembers very
funny parts of that; and to the entire Lucasfilm operation, which continues to
provide the framework for everyone’s efforts. And thanks to Rick McCallum.
At Lucasfilm past: To Don Bies, for rescuing the original interview tapes for
The Empire Strikes Back—and mentioning that fact in a chance conversation; to
Ralph McQuarrie, for his great heart, art, and memories; to Jon Berg, for helping
to identify many people in the ILM photos and for his reminiscences; to Ben
Burtt, for showing me the old Lucasfilm haunts sprinkled around downtown San
Anselmo; to Robert Watts, who was an inspiration throughout; to Tom Smith, for
providing the original ILM faxes with the changes to the end of Empire; to
Patricia Carr, for identifying many of the old guard of fantastic professionals and
craftspeople from Elstree Studios; to Harrison Ellenshaw, who generously
provided detailed information concerning his department’s magnificent matte
paintings; for taking the time to help, to Jim Bloom, Selwyn Eddy III, Carrie
Fisher (and assistant Garret Edington), Paul Huston, Lawrence Kasdan, Gary
Kurtz, and Irvin Kershner; for key email exchanges, thanks to Patricia Blau, Ken
Ralston, and Phil Tippett.
Do-gooders at large: Thanks to Marilou Hamill; for his foreword, many thanks
for taking time from a busy schedule to Ridley Scott (and assistant Amal
Baggar); and many thanks to Alan Ladd (and assistant Natasha Klibansky);
thanks to Arnaud Grunberg; and finally a big thank you to Brandon Alinger for
acting as go-between with many of the original English production crew.
At Ballantine: For starting the gig, to Keith Clayton, and for making the whole
experience the best ever, to Erich Schoeneweiss; and ongoing thanks to Scott
Shannon, Dave Stevenson, Nancy Delia, and David Moensch; and thanks to
Chris Reiff and Foltz Design.
And, finally, thanks to George Lucas for putting up with this racket.
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
List of Enhancements
Foreword by Ridley Scott
Introduction
Interview Chronology
Chapter One: The Summer of Star Wars (May to December 1977)
Chapter II—The Empire Strikes Back Story Conference, November 28 to
December 2, 1977—Transcript Summary.
The Empire Strikes Back Treatment by George Lucas, November 28, 1977
—Summary.
Chapter Two: The Gathering Force (December 1977 to July 1978)
Star Wars Sequel, screenplay by Leigh Brackett, from the Adventures of
Luke Skywalker by George Lucas, February 17, 1978—First-Draft
Summary
Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by George Lucas, April 1,
1978—Second-Draft Summary
McQuarrie’s Method
Chapter Three: The Art of Doing (July 1978 to February 1979)
Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by Lawrence Kasdan,
August 1978—Third-Draft Summary
Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by Lawrence Kasdan,
October 24, 1978—Fourth-Draft Summary
Chapter Four: Luke of the Tundra (February to March 1979)
Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by Lawrence Kasdan,
February 20, 1979—Fifth-Draft Summary
Chapter Five: Studio Clouds (March to May 1979)
March ILM: Hilarity and Innovation
Second Snow Unit
April ILM: Stop-and-Go
Chapter Six: Shadows in the Light (May to June 1979)
May ILM: Nights and Jets
Continuity Dialogue
June ILM: On the Taun
Chapter Seven: Fall from Space (June to August 1979)
July ILM: Animatics
Chapter Eight: Yoda Lives (August to September 1979)
August ILM: Trash Trawlers
Chapter Nine: Film Dance (September to December 1979)
Chapter Ten: Wonderland Empire (December 1979 to May 1980)
Chapter Eleven: Voyage to Victory (May to December 1980)