Making of Star Wars Episode 1
All I need is an Idea.
A desk in front of an open window. To his left, you can hear cheerful film music coming from a tube TV. It is the summer of 1999 and George Lucas is sitting at his desk, writing the beginning of his legendary epic. The creator and creative mind behind the most famous science fiction saga, which was to leave its mark on viewers across generations, took advantage of the technological progress that was rapidly advancing at the time and created the first part of the Prequel trilogy. And he did it like most creative people: without pressure in a harmonious environment to allow his mind and soul to unfold completely
I think about sceens all the time. And they come in an mosaic. Than there come some messy ones. Therfore I have to sit down and write them down. It starts with me sitting here, doodling little miner, but it ends up with 1.000 People, who working togetter, in a very emotional creative way.
Cpater 1
Vorbereitungen
5 months before filming begins:
George Lucas, the mastermind behind the complex films of the Star Wars universe, is in a room with his assistants. In front of him is a huge screen on which various scenes from the upcoming film are sketched in black and white. George Lucas is using a coloured pencil to mark all the relevant scenes for the upcoming filming of the sketched scenes. George Lucas holds two coloured pencils in his hands. With the help of these pens, the mastermind behind the film marks which scenes are ‘real’ and which are ‘unreal’ and therefore have to be added in post-production so that the scene corresponds to how the script and George Lucas imagined it.
Casting for the role of Anakin Skywalker
In order to cast the role of the ‘Chosen One’ in the best possible way, George Lucas casts various children in the age range 9-10 years. At the end of the day, the child who plays the scene most authentically gets the role in the film ‘Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace’. The children are carefully and sympathetically prepared for their casting on the set of the film. George Lucas and his colleague explain the content of the scene to the children before they start filming. When all the children have played the scene with Nathalie Portman, who plays Padmé Amidala in the Prequil triology, George Lucas stands in front of the computer with Robin Gurland, the casting director and his crew and looks at all the film material that they had previously recorded at the casting.
Jacke Loid was chosen for the role because, according to Robin Gurland and George Lucas, he looked the most natural of all the participants in terms of his body language. In addition, Jake Loyd and Sam Majord were visually compared with Mark Hamill at the time of the filming of the 4th part of the Star Wars saga in order to create a realistic line between son and father.
Chapter 2
Makeover Ewan McGregor
Actor Ewan McGregor, known for his portrayal of Obi Wan Kenobi, underwent a complete makeover for the role of Obi Wan Kenobi. His long hair was shortened to one centimetre with a hair clipper. Some hair was left a little longer on the side so that the stylists could create Obi Wan Kenobi’s typical hairstyle from the first part of the Prequil Triology. As in all important events, the director and mastermind behind Star Wars was also present here. With his friendly and calm manner, he watched as the restyling process progressed and McGregor looked more and more like Kenobi from George Lucas’ mind.
Jar Jar Binks
The actor Ahmed Best, who embodies the role of Jar Jar Binks, slips into the costume for the first time, which gives the goofy companion his visual appearance.
A million saved, is a million earnd!
In plain language, the statement from the mastermind behind Star Wars means that the scenes featuring Jar Jar Binks were cut and they were able to reduce the film’s budget by 1 million US dollars just by reducing the clumsy Jar Jar, who adds cost to the character’s animations every time he appears!
The plan was that they wanted to speed up Ahmed Best’s movements in post-production to give the lovable klutz his iconic ‘slobbery movements’.
Chapter 3
Filming
We are in Watford, England. George Lucas’ team rented the Rolce Roys Factury for the filming. The 850,000m2 area was remodelled into various set locations in which they were able to construct various backdrops. Over 600 people were involved in the filming, working in shifts for 24 hours.
Steven Spielberg is welcomed in the courtyard of the site and given a short tour. He is given exclusive insights into various sets and props used in the final battle on Nabo. Afterwards, the team gathers in a smaller room of the facility.
Chris Newman, the assistant director, sits down with the mastermind of the Star Wars stories and discusses important details for the rest of the filming process. Final scheduling co-ordinations are discussed as well as minor details and habits of the individual characters during filming
Action sequences
Fight choreograp
Nick Gillard, who plays the role of ‘Stunt Coordinator’ in the movie Star Wars Episode 1, watches two colleagues as they fight one of the many battles with metal rods. The metal rods are used here as dummies for the lightsabers used in the fights in the final film. We see the young Ewan McGregor training with his sparring partner as he practices his choreography with the lightsaber against Darth Maul in the movies’s final showdown. The metal rod has bent due to too many blocked and delivered blows and therefore needs to be straightened. Gillard instructs him to perform the spins more quickly during the exchange of blows. Afterwards, McGregor and Gillard walk down the hall of the Rolyce Rollce Factory together and discuss details of the previously rehearsed fight.
Own lightsaber
After the choreography training and the exchange during the walk through the hall, the two arrive in a room containing various small props. McGregor is now given the honour of choosing one of 6 lightsaber hilts to use as Obi Wan Kenobi in the first film of the Star Wars prequel triology!
He had the choice between various grips in terms of grip ergonomics as well as grip length and design. In addition to the grip on the handle, we also tested the rotatability of the handle and the various deatails (how many button dummies and slider dummies are there on the handle? Do these deatils disturb me when holding or using the sword? Ect.)
Every actor who used a lightsaber in this movie was allowed to choose his own lightsaber from the prefabricated ones on set.
Chapter 4
Visual effects
We are in the middle of a meeting in the animation department. Rob Coleman, the animation director, who is responsible for many of the movie’s animations and visual effects, is discussing with his colleagues how they should be filmed in the scene when Qui Gon Jin negotiates with Wattho the scrap dealer. Coleman thinks it would be even better if the camera was more on the faces of the characters during the negotiations than it was before, capturing their entire bodies.
Chapter 5
first day of filming
After all the preparations, the actual shooting of the movie could finally begin. Scenes on Naboo were scheduled for the first day of filming. Shortly before the start of filming, you can still see those responsible for the sets repainting the final backdrops during the countdown. Others were checking the costumes. When the camera started recording, the room literally fell silent.
Good Luck everybody, let´s kick ass!
Sound and image technicians watch the monitors with excitement as the long-rehearsed lines and choreography are recorded.
During breaks in the filming of various scenes, the mastermind behind the Star Wars epic discussed various camera and lighting settings with his crew.
When the shoot was reorganised due to a scene change, George Lucas said to his colleague Rick McCallum:
She is great. She is fantastic. When it all comes together she did a great job! It only takes two takes and she realy had it down. She did it great, just great. And well, Evan is allways great! He is relayable, but I had no idea what was going to happen to here, and I learnd a lot with Jacke.
Chapter 6
Fight against Darth Maul
The filming of the battle between the antagonist Darth Maul and the newly appointed Jedi Obi Wan Kenobi provides interesting insights into how various scenes were shot. For example, when Obi Wan Kenobi hangs on the edge of a platform and catapults himself back onto it, it is a conventional trampoline, which is also used in schools for sports lessons, to give Ewan McGregor the necessary upward momentum to get back onto the platform.
The fight was fought with metal bars.
Next up were the quick scarf swaps between Darth Maul against Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jin. Thanks to the long rehearsals before filming began, the fight scenes were quickly in the can and were added to the completed scenes faster than originally thought.
Chapter 7
Scene: Anakin introduces his friends on Tattooine
The last scene captured for the first day of filming was the scene in which Anakin Skywalker, played by Jacke Loyd, invites Qui Gon Jin (Liam Neelson) and Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) to his home.
When the scene was almost finished, George Lucas interrupted the scene and announced that they should shoot the scene again. He went up to Jacke Loyd and talked to him, as always very sensitively and lovingly. The boy already knew that he had pronounced the name Coruscant wrong every time. He also said with a laugh that the others would make fun of this mispronunciation, but that it was perfectly OK for him. The mastermind behind Star Wars denied the boy’s fears and told him that he was doing a great job and that everything was fine. In addition to his gift for dealing well with his fellow man, George Lucas proved here how important his role is as an empathetic key figure in the filming process.
Chapter 8
Shooting on Tatooine
We now change the location of the filming and find ourselves back in the middle of Tunisia. Neftar, Tozeur, Matmata, Medenine, Hadada and the island of Jerba were chosen for the various locations. The first stop for George Lucas’ crew is Tozeur, where they visit the mud houses that are the most famous landmarks and homes of the inhabitants of the desert planet. The team is lucky with the weather conditions. The heat is literally beating down, which perfectly captures the atmosphere as George Lucas imagined it.
One of the actors who suffers most on set during filming on Tatooine is definitely Ahmed Best, who plays Jar Jar Binks. Due to his costume, which he always has to wear, the heat is particularly bad for the nevertheless positive and always cheerful Ahmed.
The weather conditions were extremely erratic. During the day, the sun blazed down on the crew with an enormous heat that was almost unbearable. At dusk, it suddenly thundered like crazy and it poured with rain!
The next day, the team travelled to an area in the desert. There, the designers and those responsible for the props placed all the podracers. The variously designed racing cars were superbly prepared and left the crew open-mouthed.
„Thank Good, this beautys are ok!“ – Rick McCallum Produktionsleiter Star Wars Episode 1 als er die Podracer auf Tunesien nach dem gigantischen Regen unbeschädigt auffand.
The crew started setting up all the props again and continued filming.
Recordings of the pod race
We are back in the warehouses of Rolce Roys Factury. Jacke Loyd is sitting in the podracer made for him. There is a green screen in the background. To give the impression that the vehicle is moving at high speed, fans are used to simulate airstreams. On the other hand, the racing car is placed on a scaffold of iron bars that are shaken to create the effect that the vehicle is moving back and forth to be in motion.
Chapter 9
Post-processing
We travelled to San Rafaela in California to the ILM Art Department. There, Rick McCallum and the designer sit in front of the PC to begin post-production work on the previously filmed scene in Tunisia. It is now only 18 months until the lavishly produced movie will cause a sensation in cinemas. Thanks to the technological revolution of the time, they were able to incorporate hundreds of scenes with backgrounds and effects using computers.
Technikly there are quit a view Things, that where never atemted bevore. Things that where not possible and still not possible. We are working on it.!
Dennis Muren Visual Effects Supervisor
George Lucas’ team, which is putting a lot of time and effort into the movie that introduces the story of the Star Wars universe, sits down with Dennis Muren, Visual Effects Supervisor. George Lucas was unable to attend the meeting due to his stay in London, but joined in via video chat (which was highly revolutionary and unusual in 1999). The subject of the meeting was the report on the current interim status of the animations relating to the battle between the Gungans and the droids as well as possible changes made by author George Lucas. For example, George Lucas informed Dennis Muren how he would like the water balls to explode on impact. Muren made a note of his wishes and announced that he would incorporate them into the next version. They also showed him other effects that they had already animated and hoped for a positive approval, which they ultimately received from George Lucas.
Paul Martin Smith Co-Editor
George Lucas sits next to Paul Martin Smith. The two look at some scenes that are a thorn in Lucas’ side. For example, in one scene when Obi Wan Kenobi leaves the spaceship, he wants the person on the left not to move. However, as this person always moves in the footage, Paul Martin Smith is used here to implement the author’s wishes in the final version of the movie. With his editing programme, Smith manages to achieve the desired results by overlaying various layers in the programme. <bild> Paul Martin Smith 2</bild>
Smith describes his task as follows:
You got the George and I am directing here in the editing-room sequenz, what he loves to do: Change the actors performances. We gotten in tot hat. In the last 2 weeks it´s like a habbit, not taking enithing for grancen. We can split one actor from one take and resincing everybody. We are doing lots oft hat. It is fantastic to do that, but it opens a whole world oppertunitys. Normaly you reyect whole shots because one thing is wrong, but now you can keep the good things in there and throwing the bad.
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