This page: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford on location in Finse, Norway
Copyright © 2010 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & ® or ™ where indicated.
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Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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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
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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)
Appendix: Cast & Crew
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: Concept artist and design consultant Ralph McQuarrie talks about his creative process.
Chapter Two
Audio: Lucas on the evolution of his role from writer-director to writer-producer on the second Star Wars film.
Chapter Three
Video: Rare footage of Boba Fett’s first public appearance, in the company of Darth Vader and a few Lucasfilm handlers, at the San Anselmo Country Fair Parade, on Sunday, September 24, 1978.
Audio: Frank Oz (Yoda) talks about the creation of the Yoda puppet.
Chapter Four
Video: Printed daily of a probot moment that won’t make the final cut; probably filmed on location in Finse, Norway, March 1979.
Audio: Mark Hamill (
Luke Skywalker) discusses Luke’s character arc from film to film.
Chapter Five
Video: Printed daily from March 21, 1979, with the camera on Luke (Hamill), with extended dialogue from the medcenter scene (and a nice ESB intro slug) shot at Elstree Studios.
Video: At Elstree Studios, Hamill rehearses the carbon freeze duel with stuntman Bob Anderson, who will be Darth Vader in that sequence; both are supervised by stunt coordinator Peter Diamond.
Video: Hamill and Ford are asked what they think are the differences between the respective directing styles of Lucas and Kershner.
Video: Second unit assistant director Bill Westley tries to explain to Norwegian extras, despite the language barrier, how to act during a shot, with limited success, on location in Finse, Norway, late March/early April 1979.
Video: Printed dailies from May 3, 1979, of a scene in Vader’s meditation chamber.
Audio: Lucas talks about the pressures of producing and escalating costs on Empire, which would have ramifications for many at Lucasfilm and on the next sequel.
Video: A behind-the-scenes look at Kershner (with viewfinder) on the Hoth hangar set as it’s being constructed in the Star Wars Stage, with producer Gary Kurtz. Note the panorama of the set in progress.
Chapter Six
Video: Kershner directs extra John Ratzenberger and then Carrie Fisher (Leia) as they prepare to shoot a scene on the Hoth hangar set in which she debriefs rebel pilots, late May 1979. The organized chaos of filmmaking is apparent here.
Video: A printed daily from a scene in which Chewbacca vents his frustrations at Han Solo, with Mayhew saying dialogue that will later be replaced by Wookiee roars: “Where the hell have you been?” et cetera.
Audio: Recorded during principal photography in the Elstree Studios cafeteria, most likely, Kershner talks about the acting qualities needed to portray costumed characters.
Video: A printed daily (black-and-white dupe footage) from June 19, 1979, second unit, of Luke in his X-wing heading for a crash landing on Dagobah, with lines that won’t make the final cut, such as, “Oh, Ben, what did you get me into?”
Audio: At Elstree Studios, Harrison Ford is in conversation with Alan Arnold, who wonders if Solo is a cardboard character. Ford doesn’t think so.
Audio: On the carbon freeze chamber, Kershner discusses with Ford the logistics of the moment in which Chewbacca loses his temper—and how Solo should stop him before the Wookiee is blasted by stormtroopers.
Chapter Seven
Video: With four weeks’ work completed and four more weeks of work to go on the animatronic Yoda, Stuart Freeborn discusses the creation of the spiritual Master, even speaking as the Yoda puppet at the end of the clip, early July 1979.
Audio: Stunt coordinator Peter Diamond talks about sword stunt double Bob Anderson.
Video: Printed dailies from July 20, 1979, in which Luke duels with Vader (Bob Anderson) on the carbon freeze set.
Audio: Editor Paul Hirsch talks about the evolution of the storytelling as the first reel of Empire was cut, discussed, recut, and so on, while at Elstree Studios.
Chapter Eight
Audio: Hamill in conversation with Alan Arnold, recorded circa August 7, 1979, tells a story about an unscripted snake crawling up his leg during a scene with Yoda in the latter’s hovel.
Video: A printed daily from mid-August 1979 of Luke on the Dagobah set with Yoda, voiced by Frank Oz (and puppeteered by Oz and his team).
Audio: Hamill on the clever expendability of Star Wars characters, in conversation with Arnold, at Elstree Studios; Hamill, at one point, imitates the voice of Frank Oz as Yoda.
Video: Behind-the-scenes panoramas of the X-wing mired in the lagoon of the Dagobah set. Divers puppeteer an R2 unit, rehearsing a shot.
Audio: Kershner expresses his frustration toward the end of the shoot on having to hurry with the scenes on Dagobah, recorded on the set.
Audio: Kershner on how editorial will unfold in post, as dictated by what he shot, interviewed on set by Arnold toward the end of the shoot.
Video: Fisher, interviewed by behind-the-scenes director Michel Parbot, discusses acting on Empire, at Elstree Studios.
Chapter Nine
Video: An early cut of Empire (a black-and-white dupe) exhibits animatics in place of yet-to-be-completed visual effects shots, as well as a moment that won’t make the final cut—the death of Commander Veers (Julian Glover).
Video: A sped-up walk through the ILM facility on Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael, California, takes the viewer through editorial, into various departments—and finally to the stage where model maker Jon Berg discourages further filming. (No sound)
Video: Lucas, Kurtz, Kershner, editor Paul Hirsch, and composer John Williams spot the music in Marin County, early November 1979—here taking a look at the carbon freeze scene.
Video: An early cut, without sound, has a wampa sneaking out from under the snow and attacking Luke, in a scene that won’t make the final film.
Video: An early cut features a scene that doesn’t make the final cut. The probot emerges—and blasts to smithereens a “snow squirrel,” as represented by squirrelly animatics. Also seen here is the original wampa, which ILM will replace, who is cut across the chest rather than losing an arm.
Video: John Williams works with supervising music editor Ken Wannberg and then with orchestrator Herb Spencer, concentrating here on the mynock scene.
Video: Sound designer Ben Burtt works with sound editor Bonnie Koehler on the scene in which the Millennium Falcon fails “one last time” to make the jump to hyperspace. Burtt operates the KEM editing station, indicating what kinds of sounds are needed where. Filmed at Lucasfilm’s San Anselmo postproduction facilities, not far from ILM.
Chapter Ten
Video: John Williams works with the London Symphony Orchestra, and Fox music supervisor Lionel Newman in the control booth, as they record the soundtrack in England, circa January 1980.
FOREWORD BY RIDLEY SCOTT
I was shooting The Duellists at Paramount, in Los Angeles, when I first heard about Star Wars from some of the art department who had worked on it in London. I saw some copies of George’s sketches, which I thought looked really intriguing and original—a mix of retro and future. One day, my producer, David Puttnam, mentioned that Star Wars was playing at the Egyptian Theatre in its first week.
When people ask me if seeing Star Wars had a big effect on me my answer is—most definitely! I hadn’t entered the sci-fi world as yet. But Star Wars was so original in its characterizations, visuals, sounds, and spectacle that it radically adjusted my view on what I should do next. I had been planning Tristan and Isolde (based on the classic legend), but I dropped that notion immediately and started to look into the sci-fi world. The connection came that summer through The Duellists when it got attention at Cannes and was spotted by a producer who was involved with a script called Alien … the rest followed.
There was even some overlap between Alien and The Empire Strikes Back because Brian Johnson was visual effects supervisor on both films. Brian was certainly a tremendous help in that he’d come from the sci-fi world. We didn’t have the technology and know-how that George and his team at ILM had, but Star Wars certainly raised my target expectation even with our jerry-built methods of technology.
Of course, many people were anticipating the sequel to Star Wars, and the industry is always interested in inside news. While I was doing postproduction on Alien, I heard that there were budgeting problems on Empire—but that is par for the course on any project that is taking such a different approach to storytelling. It’s a constant battle of explaining what you want to do to people who represent budget and organization. I experienced the same conditions on Alien and more so on Blade Runner. Understandably, they are expected to trust and believe, but the creator is the one on the spot having to explain constantly. It becomes very trying! I got it—I understood what George had to be going through even if he was financing the film himself. He still
had to deal with a studio and banks. I only found out about his financial arrangements later, but clearly the risks he took were worth it.
By early 1980, word of mouth within the industry about Empire accelerated—it went around like a brush fire. It starts in an editing room when and where something truly original is surfacing. And by the time Empire hit the theaters, it already had a heartbeat and presence: Need to see!
Star Wars was a milestone in the universe of filmmaking. The subsequent films, visually, did not have the touch of George but were still magnificent.
Concept sketches by Star Wars costume designer John Mollo of an Imperial star pilot and of an outfit for second and third Sith Lords (as designated in early drafts), circa January 1976.
Costume sketch (with multicolored lightsaber) by Mollo for Darth Vader, January 15, 1976.
Undated early sketch of Princess Leia and the Death Star torture droid by Star Wars production illustrator Ralph McQuarrie.
INTRODUCTION
As The Empire Strikes Back was the sequel to Star Wars, so this book is a follow-up to The Making of Star Wars. Each title has coincided with its respective film’s 30th anniversary, and both are built on interviews from their respective time periods. In the latter case, a book was also published to coincide with the film’s release in 1980: Alan Arnold’s Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
So why another book?
As unit publicist, Arnold was brought on only months before production began, so the earlier book said very little concerning preproduction and not a whole lot on postproduction. Moreover, some of the best material, which he’d compiled during hours and hours of interviews with nearly all the key players, didn’t make it into the publication. In later years, Arnold’s tapes were almost lost. The plastic case containing the originals was accidentally tossed into the trash—where Don Bies found it. Bies was an early Lucasfilm archivist and, recognizing the tapes for what they were, rescued the recordings. (Bies later joined the model-making department and supervised the Droid Unit during production of the Prequel Trilogy.)
The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Enhanced Edition) Page 1