The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film

372 Pages·2007·3.34 MB·English

by  J.W. Rinzler

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.

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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.
v3.1
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 Lippincott 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.