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| Kylo Ren stalks our young heroes in this striking Doug Chiang image captured in THE FORCE AWAKENS first teaser trailer in 2014. All images: The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak © Abrams Books, 2015
(C) 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. And TM. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization
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THE ART OF STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
By Phil Szostak
Foreword by Rick
Carter
Published by
Abrams Books
Reviewed by Scott
Weller
“Imagination has
no end.” Words spoken by Mark Hamill back in 1980 highlighting the continuing
beauty and wonder associated with the visual creation of the incredible STAR
WARS saga by George Lucas. That same spirit of beauty, creativity and
inspirational zest now hard at work within the conception and reality-based execution
of the latest spectacular entry of the incredible cinematic legacy with THE
FORCE AWAKENS, whose well-pitched blend of emotion, drama and aesthetically
pleasing thrills have so captured the world’s hearts, and whose design origins
from art to celluloid life is charted by Lucasfilm Archivist Phil Szostak in
his striking new book THE ART OF STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, given glorious
publication by ABRAMS BOOKS.
From the official
announcement of newly inaugurated company President Kathleen Kennedy’s taking
the reins of LUCASFILM LTD from the much-missed George Lucas, to the short, swift
and invigorating news of October 2012 that surprised fans everywhere-news that a
new set of STAR WARS films was incoming, followed by the quick throwing in of
the assistance hat to make those adventures a reality by longtime film designer and
friend to Spielberg and Kennedy, Oscar-winning production designer Rick Carter. This was soon followed by STAR WARS Prequel ingénue Doug Chiang, who truly wanted to work on
the evolution of the visual storytelling of the new sequels- the important
building blocks of their willing recruitment to the new era charted efficiently by Szostak. This love for
the resurrected STAR WARS soon brought together a further collective pool of
visualists like no other as the calender reached January of 2103 (and expanding even further into
the following year), as acclaimed storyteller Michael Arndt’s emergence as screen
writer caught attention, followed by the final acceptance of directing
wunderkid J.J. Abrams, despite his early reticence and having just completed
the most recent revival of another successful sci-fi franchise in the STAR TREK
series, with its second re-imagined entry: INTO DARKNESS.
The first genuine brainstorming meeting during January 2013 must surely have looked like
something out of DR. STRANGELOVE at first, but it soon proved a successful,
well-honed conflagration of minds, determining what they thought was necessary to recapture
those original elements of that first 1977 film that had been so successful and
indelibly linked, nay hardwired, into their mindsets. Rick Carter’s foreword to
this very special book importantly reveals what STAR WARS, created by George
Lucas, meant to him, and how he wanted to bring that magic back to life in
symbiosis, and through the eyes of superfan Abrams, and with the
at-the-peak-of-their powers, fast-moving conceptual/design team of artists.
There’s a stressing of the underlying importance of rediscovering what made the
original three films, especially the later titled A New Hope, so great, plus a fascinating what would happen next? discovery and mixing of story and art of which they've clearly, eagerly wanted to reveal after the closing of Luke Skywalker’s story with the redemption
of his father…
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| An older but no less ready for action "Han Solo". Art by Christian Alzmann and Iain McCaig.
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak © Abrams Books, 2015
(C) 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. And TM. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization
|
As this new storyline emerges, so too does its new young heroes in plucky Kira and charismatic Sam, who’d eventually become our Rey and Finn, immersed within a whole host of intriguing ideas, concepts and art concoctions, separately, together, and, most importantly, inter-mixing with the anticipated return of the Classic Trilogy heroes- the LUCASFILM artists having the equal thrill and responsibility to show us what they’d now look like and also what the've been up to in the 35 years since RETURN OF THE JEDI. Striking tapestries in the book show Han Solo as a tough guy in the best John Wayne/TRUE GRIT tradition, to an ethereal-like, at one with the nature of the Force, and partially submerged in the sand Luke Skywalker, berthed in an unusual but striking illustration.
Then there’d be
the classic vehicles they’d all be using/travelling in, like the Millennium Falcon, Rebel/Resistance
starfighters and Empire/ First Order Star Destroyers- how they would evolve and
change with the times and the demands of a new/old audience. Now a rich and
open palette for them to explore, the designers soon unleash their visions in
astounding speed- the classic image of the powerful and dominant Star Destroyer,
in particular, now becoming a ghostly shrine of an historical war not yet
witnessed, crash-landed in the wastelands of that far-off desert
realm/scavengers paradise of Jakku, and being one of the first conceptual
images to make it across the production process and into the onscreen end product, done in such a successful and hauntingly prescient way. Other shots in
this book would later equally become as well captured, surely making the crew
justifiably proud of their gestating accomplishments.
In isn’t stated so
much, but some of the early work presented in this period could also have come
from some of the ideas developed by George Lucas for his original draft/concept
for the new sequel saga, the one which helped cement the original sale of the franchise to
DISNEY, and which would ultimately, sadly, be pushed aside- all of this part of the production history quietly ignored for the rest of the book, in favour of the new-yet-old
direction that basically reworked so much of the Classic Trilogy with what
would be a new vitality and zest- J.J.’s “going backwards to move forwards”
idea which has, ultimately, worked with audiences young and old, and propelled
the film way past the billion dollar mark globally.
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| "Saber Studies." Art by Ryan Church.
The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak © Abrams Books, 2015
(C) 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd. And TM. All Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization
|
Thankfully, the Lucas legacy lives on within the hearts and minds of the artists whom he hired during that intense creative period engineered for nearly ten years with the opulent Prequel Trilogy: the aforementioned Chiang, plus other masters of painted imagination in Ryan Church, Erik Tiemens and Iain McCaig- all welcome contributors. We’ve been so used to seeing their superb Prequel concept art, but it’s even more pleasurable to see their marvellous and evocative work for THE FORCE AWAKENS, with some standout pieces handsomely used over the book’s lavish spreads.
Arndt’s early
scripting may be a slow-in-building mass, but the heavy march of time and
production deadlines opens the floodgates to artistic interpretation: the idea
of a scrapyard planet, old references to classic worlds like Felucia and a
Coruscant-esque New Republic (not too dissimilar from The Prequel
Trilogy and The Clone Wars animated series), plus ice planets, double-bladed
lightsabers (each side a different colour), and a continuance of the Darth
Vader armour and the Sith enemies, come to being and assessment. Plus the continued
influence of the late, great Ralph McQuarrie, as well as Lucas’ favourite
director in Japanese legend Akira Kurosawa, whose visuals and storytelling tone
from classic cinema like THE SEVEN SAMURAI and THE HIDDEN FORTRESS resonate as
strongly as the STAR WARS adventures they’d inspire.
Old favourites within
the book surprise and delight within new surroundings. The aforementioned Millennium Falcon is particularly, beautifully rendered in all-new scenarios
- whether travelling underwater to a crashed Death Star (crazy but fun!), landed and tarpaulin cover blown over
on the windswept Jakku, or up in space pursued by the next evolutionary step of
the lethal and fast-moving TIE Interceptor, following on from their last appearance
in JEDI. There’s a particularly splendid inside hardback cover of the Falcon that I hope someone eventually
realizes its worth as a poster.
Other lovely
centre spread images lingering in the mindset: Kira/Rey flying an X-wing
fighter, its canopy open, as she spiritedly uses her her lightsaber to
crucially damage the underside of a Star Destroyer, plus further unused
concepts like the L-wing fighter and the single wing-fin TIE fighter, red Star
Destroyers emanating from holed out middle planet cores and the massive and
intimidating Imperial Warhammer capable of breaking through shielded planets in
a way that Imperial orbital bombardments could never do against the Rebels on
Hoth during the opening to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
March and April
2013 see more new artistic insights developing from the Arndt script: the
former Emperor’s Castle (an idea going way back to the late 1977 conceptual
stages of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, of which Vader himself was to have been its
primary occupant), an ice planet with a centralized weapon’s core, plus bands
of space pirates whose allegiances and positions in the adventure would change
as the story changed- from Stormtrooper-esque hunters to junk scavengers, to
what they would eventually be in the film, linked to Han Solo, Chewbacca, and
later the reconfigured castle now belonging to that warm-heated but secretive
bar owner Maz Kanata (who, at this point, hadn’t been conceived), plus the demonic
idea of a new “Jedi Killer” (deliberately Darth Vader-ish in appearance,
designed to unnerve a Luke Skywalker whose presence was still being worked out,
not yet the classic “MacGuffin” he’d ultimately become by the finished film),
and the revelation of this new foe being linked to the Third Reich-esque Empire, eventually
re-christened The First Order.
Beyond the art, a
true highlight of the book and its early behind the scenes charting, is the discovery of just how much of the finished film had been conceived by Michael Arndt.
By April ’13, his script, and its influences and contributions from Abrams and
the artistic team, would be taking a very recognisable shape, especially the
re-development of Sam into a new and more interesting type of hero: Finn- now a
Stormtrooper who ultimately doesn’t want to be one. And stronger ideas
in tying in events from the Prequels to the Sequels are also considered-
a force ghost Anakin and even a new variation of Yoda. An intriguing image of a
bearded, Obi-Wan inspired Luke holding the bonfire damaged Vader mask also
impresses- something considered and redrawn for the later villain that would be
Kylo Ren.
With the rich
diversity of the already designed STAR WARS universe being a well still
bringing much water to be absorbed, Darren Gilford would join EPISODE VII as Rick
Carter’s co-production designer. Working primarily from London, he’d bring his
own brand of knowledge and love for the original films to the table, building on the established classic work of McQuarrie, Joe Johnston and others,
and being a vital contributor to the needed practical realization of those
ideas, especially for the upcoming set construction in England and Abu Dhabi
during May 2014. Beyond the world of lightsabers and Jedi, modern-world
influences of the team and especially those formed from the life-experienced Carter
would prove equally essential in making things believable to the general audience,
whose tastes had seemingly changed since the last STAR WARS film of 2005.
July 2013 saw
mercurial pirate bartender Maz Kanata’s role in the movie being finalized
(completed by and seen by actress Lupita Nyong’o, who embraced the role and
used her grandmother as a source of inspiration in bringing it to life), as was
the design of loveable spheroid droid BB-8. First known as “Surly’, the little
ball droid’s origins were not revealed on screen but are actually pretty dark,
having escaped a reject pile on the way to an Imperial vessel's blasting furnace, no less. Happier times ultimately see him becoming best buddy
to ace pilot Poe Dameron. August, meanwhile, would see Exotica City- the planed
middle planet involving the return of lovable but self-exiled Han Solo and
Chewbacca- lost and transplanted into Maz Kanata’s castle with the later fast
script re-writes initiated by Abrams and Kasdan, now taking a firm hold of the
film’s direction and what they ultimately wanted the film to be about, as Arndt
departs the project after his lengthy stint.
Between December '13 and Feb '14, Abrams and Kasdan’s well-matched union brings with it a fresh kind of
excitement and enthusiasm that clearly, infectiously pumps up the spirits of
everyone around them as the late Spring shooting for Abu Dhabi beckons. Spirits
buoyed amidst a high nostalgia factor, mixed with the challenging ambitions of
new and unexpected story and character directions soon given exploration via
the arrival of additional artistic contributors with an eye for STAR WARS
possibilities old and new, and whom previously worked with Carter and Gilford
on other successful movies. By March 2014, the all-important look of the
“Jedi Killer”, christened Kylo Ren, would be fatefully locked in, retaining a
quasi-Vader-ish look but generating a new sense of the macabre with its
intimidating facial frontage, whilst an early idea of his bearing a chrome armour became the separate brutal and cold-hearted Captain Phasma, too
good not to be used and worn by the saga’s first-ever female villain, played by
the strong-willed and strikingly beautiful Gwendoline Christie.
Other Dark Side
related factors locked in during that spring would be the new face of Dark Side
corruption in the enigmatic and clearly dangerous Unknown Regions-based alien,
Snoke (originally conceived as a female, and whom may actually be older than
the Sith), the final interior designs of the Starkiller Base (of which ILM legend Dennis Muren ultimately came
up with its immense sun-draining capabilities), and the conflicts of the
all-important and dramatically charged, tear-jerking third act set within its
darkened core, and its multitude of John Barry Death Star tribute hallways.
Now that the
results of all those individual and collective talents on EPISODE VII have
finally been cinematically released as of December 2015, the sleeping giant
that was STAR WARS looks set to be wide awake for a very long time to come, and
with further rich areas to be developed, what with many of the artistic team
having also just completed work on the closer to EPISODE IV realms of the anthology
series opener ROGUE ONE- a darker, more violent, feel the blood and sweat of it all dominion than THE FORCE AWAKENS, as the Rebel Alliance risks everything to
capture the plans of a certain battle station approaching apocalyptic completion. Plus the January 2016 on set return of Rey, Finn, their
friends and foes, for the revelations-packed events of EPISODE VII! All these
new travels, new aliens and new drama eagerly awaited both for on screen life
and ART OF book publication!
I wonder how many
readers of THE ART OF STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS will eventually forge their craft and surely work on the next blockbuster chapters to come in ten years time?
The saga,
seemingly brighter and more reinvigorated than ever, continues…
AFICIONADO RATING:
George Lucas’s visual heritage continues to be in safe hands with the dedicated
starburst of talent on perusal here. 4.5 out of 5
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