TOUCHDOWN FOR 'LUKE SKYWALKER & HIS FRIENDS' AT SELFRIDGES - MAY 1980 EVENT AND FOOTAGE.

'Luke Skywalker and friends' meet the UK fans in May, 1980.

Nowadays, our favourite Star Wars actors charge considerable fees for autographs and posed photos at various convention events worldwide, but it was a different story back in May 1980, for the then still relatively unknown cast (despite the mega-fire success of the original 1977 film they'd starred in) of The Empire Strikes Back, the majority of whom would attend a special film promotion in London, freely signing for members of the British public at West End London's then prestigious Selfridges department store, the venue also playing host to a superb exhibition of props, costumes, models, production painting art and partial set staging from the film in the lead-up to its exciting release.

Bar the absence of Billy Dee Williams (who would arrive in the city later in the promotion and attend the film's exclusive Royal Premiere), and possibly Kenny Baker (?), the cast looked jovial enough at the public event, and would sign mint-new copies of the film adaptation by Donald F. Glut, published in the UK by Sphere Books. Producer Gary Kurtz and director Irvin Kershner would also be at the successful signing but would stay in the background. Later, the team would attend a special advance daytime screening of Empire, mixing with the public and, amazingly for the time, not mobbed by anyone as they entered the Dominion Theatre!

The special exhibition proved impressive too, from costumes, storyboards and props (including full costumes of the all-new Imperial Snowtroopers, Boba Fett, and models including the AT-AT’s, a Snowspeeder and a re-painted Artoo unit from the Rebel base interior scenes). It would run for a month, parallel to Empire's unleashed book, TV and film radio publishing campaign. With the eventual closure of the exhibition, the ITV television children’s film programme Clapperboard interviews some of the key UK cast and crew involved in the movie. Amiable presenter Chris Kelly, an obvious fan of the film, talks to Anthony Daniels, and, rather brusquely, Dave Prowse about their experiences working on the movie, whilst Brian Johnson about the challenges of the Walker battle/ Hoth sequences. The programme also shows the main trailer for the movie, several key clips, and footage supplied by Fox of the Hoth filming at Norway with the Second Unit, covered by Michel Parbot and his crew, which is not as good in picture quality as the same footage also supplied to the BBC for their John Williams/ Empire documentary which would air the Sunday before the film's London release.

If anyone has any memories of attending this special event, which we believe to have been May 3rd, please get in touch - we'd love to hear from you...

The remote controlled Artoo meets the fans.

Anthony Daniels in a posed for the press image with his alter-ego.

The Threepio body shell would be used with Artoo for promotional images for the exhibition.

Images from the 1980 Selfridges press pack.

The Clapperboard ITV TV special at the exhibition, where presenter Chris Kelly talks to Dave Prowse about the original Vader costume and the lightsaber effects.

Also for the same show, Brian Johnson with two of the original ILM models for the film, and talking about the complex special effects.

Whilst Anthony Daniels discusses Threepio's first conceived origin on the droid planet of Affa...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tng3vt17LFo

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ARRIVAL AT BESPIN!

It's been a long and slow journey but the Millennium Falcon has finally made it to Bespin, though its weary crew are soon once more in trouble, this time from Twin Pod Cloud Cars on patrol of the skies near Cloud City. The slight misunderstanding of their presence is soon worked out, however, and clearance is given for the smuggling vessel to land.

Sound Design veteran Ben Burtt was the voice of the Cloud Car pilot sparring with Han Solo, whilst the gorgeous Bespin cloud shots at varying stages of light and dark were captured by UK effects veteran Brian Johnston, a keen photographer who'd take the plate shots from a hired plane.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: UNWANTED MEAL!

Brian Johnson prepares Artoo for his blast off!

For the comedic sequence of Artoo swallowed and ejected from the Dragonsnake, a specially built lightweight droid shell was created and literally detonated like a cannon from a specially constructed hole at ILM, supervised by Brian Johnson. The hole would be covered with mist and the area around it with vines and foilage.

With the original filming of Artoo being ejected by the swamp creature shot at ELSTREE not looking right, Brian Johnson, now heavily involved with US ILM duties, is in charge of the re-shoots. He recalled in an internet interview to fan preservationist Brandon Alinger: “They tried to do it (the original scene) by pulling it out of the actual water, but you can’t suck an R2-D2 out on a cable. So I re-did the top of the lake, but we did it on a big table, about half the size of this pool. We made an oval hole through the top of the table, and I got a big air ram, relatively short. I had a spare R2-D2, and we put a tube inside the R2-D2, that went up the whole length of it, and blocked it off at the top. And then fitted that over the end of the air ram, with a seal in it, and I put tiny scalpel blades on the roof of R2-D2. And I had these silicone rubber sheets made which we stretched over the oval hole, and we covered the whole thing in liquid nitrogen, so there was all the mist, and reflected bits."

Joe Johnston comes in to see the shoot.

Brian Johnson oversees the operation.

"Richard Edlund lit it for me and I stood on the stage with my little button in my hand, and a compressed air bottle set up, and R2 was loaded onto this thing. We said right, let’s get ready to go. The cameras were set up, we had three cameras on it, and the door opened, and George Lucas walked in, with Francis Ford Coppola, and half of the Paramount chiefs, and FOX people, and Christ knows what – it was like a Garrison of producers and everything else. So I said alright, we’re ready to go. And I thought, “holy shit, I’m standing with this thing behind my back.” And on the wall, we had this net to catch the R2-D2. Because we knew we were going to have to do it more than once. And there were about 12 of these skins, and I picked the one I liked, just prior to the people coming. So I stood there, cameras rolled at high speed, 3- 2- 1- go… and on the net, the boys had put up a bulls eye. They asked me where they should put it. I told them how high I thought it would go, and they placed bets on where the R2 would go, or whether it would never even get there or whatever. And it came out – and it was perfect. It hit the net, and it the bulls-eye right in the middle of the net. It was perfect. Pure luck. Not only that, all the suits went, “ oh, great, thanks very much.” And off they went. And I was thinking, “ oh shit, it worked the first time, it doesn’t ever work the first time.” And then we put another membrane on and tried it again, and the membrane just stretched. It went “twang!” We did it again and again. I didn’t know but what happened was the guy in the model department, who had been given the job of molding, pouring, mixing the silicone and pouring it out had run out of the right stuff. He only made one sheet out of the 12 that was the correct consistency. So I had picked the one out, just when there’s someone looking over my shoulder, and that was the right occasion wasn’t it? So we had to have more made with the right mixture. That would just stretch slightly and then slap. I could have had this condom like R2-D2, with this mass of producers, and they’d be going, “oh… bloody English.” 

And Artoo goes flying!

The final shot, which would be slowed down in later post production.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE NEW 'ILM' ASSEMBLES!

Richard Edlund operates the new Empireflex motion control camera system, for what eventually be The Empire Strikes Back's opening shot, featuring a probe droid-launching Star Destroyer. 

Deciding to rebuild the ILM facility from scratch, now located away from Hollywood to the more personally accessible and friendlier realms of his home base in San Francisco, George Lucas is determined to see his special effects company expand on, improve and innovate even more the art of breathtaking special effects with the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas's prior relationship with his former Star Wars effects whizz John Dykstra was now over, the latter having set up his own effects company in Apogee and staying in Los Angeles. A good half of the original and youthful ILM team, seeing the better working conditions and the chance to do more ambitious things with more money to play with, will also make the move to SF for the new ILM, with effects veteran and Star Wars talent Richard Edlund in overall charge, joined with a new UK talent in Brian Johnson, fresh from his acclaimed work on the hit Gerry Anderson series Space:1999 and Ridley Scott's then upcoming sci-fi chiller, Alien. Johnson would be also involved in the practical effects work with his team at Elstree Studios, working alongside fellow Brit, Nick Allder.

Joe Johnston, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren with Irvin Kershner go through effects storyboards

Brian Johnson, preparing to blast out an Artoo Detoo prop.

Model making veteran Lorne Peterson at work on the teeth of the space slug.

Ken Ralston prepares to film one of Dagobah's flying creatures.

George Lucas shares a laugh with Joe Johnston and Richard Edlund.

Phil Tippet and Ken Ralston at work in stop motion for Han on his Tauntaun.

Joe Johsnton in the ILM model shop, helping on an Imperial Walker.

Phil Tippett at work 'animating' the Walkers' movements.

Veteran pyrotechnics technician Joe Viskocil plants an explosive charge in a Snowspeeder model.

Ralph McQuarrie at work on an ultimately unused matte painting for the Rebel base exterior. 

Harrison Ellenshaw at work on the impressive Slave One vehicle matte painting.

Muren and Tippett with all-new matte painting talent Michael Pangrazio, who'd contribute incredible and realistic snow realm vistas for the Hoth exterior sequences.

Lucas goes through some storyboard questions with Ellenshaw and Johnson at ILM.

One of Ken Ralston's fun art pieces for the new ILM building and filming of Empire.

With incredible action sequences to be realized, including the ground battle between the Imperial and Rebel forces, an immense asteroid field chase, and the environs/creatures of new planets Hoth, Dagobah and Bespin, the all-new ILM team would work long hours, fight the elements, and fatigue, to deliver incredible results for George Lucas's supreme saga, and its important first sequel... 

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: R2-D2 RETURNS!

Outside the Rebel base on Hoth, Artoo (brought to two-legged life by Kenny Baker) tries to pick up life signs for the missing Luke Skywalker.

Ever loyal to his human masters in the Rebellion, Artoo Detoo continues to be a vital comrade in the battle against the evil Empire, helping to establish the Rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth and soon travelling to the bog planet of Dagobah with Luke Skywalker, alongside him when he encounters the quirky Yoda, and watches as the veteran Jedi Master trains the young man in the ways of the Force. As the heroic human/droid pairing's journey continues fatefully to the Cloud City of Bespin, Artoo's communication and technical skills ultimately save the Millennium Falcon and her crew at a critical juncture from the clutches of the cruel Lord Darth Vader!

The Hoth Rebel base has fallen, and old friends must say goodbye in this great posed publicity image.

Suffering the grimy climes of Dagobah with Luke Skywalker.

And encounters the quirky Jedi Master Yoda.

Outside Yoda's home as the rain pours down yet again!

Always the helpful co-pilot!

Facing danger once more with Luke on Bespin.

Getting a short circuit from electronic tampering on Bespin.

Helping to buy escape time against the Stormtroopers on Bespin.

Coming to the aid of both his in-pieces Threepio and the problems-beset Millennium Falcon.

A entertainer born to Showbiz, and a much-liked presence on any film and TV set, Kenny Baker's potential worries about Star Wars being a success were soon allayed by the end of 1977, enjoying the worldwide publicity and subsequent work it brought in, happily signing on once again, wto inhabit the two-legged droid suit of Artoo Detoo for The Empire Strikes Back, once again inhabiting the character with the kind of charm and personality that won the hearts of children/audiences worldwide. Alongside Baker in equally happy tow would be his Mini-Tones friend and comedy partner Jack Purvis (as per the original Star Wars) playing a variety of background roles of an equally smaller size.

Kenny Baker wearing the original Ralph McQuarrie The Star Wars logo t-shirt, circa 1979.

For the more difficult scenes requiring sophisticated motion on the film, R2-D2's three-legged remote-controlled versions for practical filming were given a makeover by British Special Effects talent Brian Johnson and his team at Elstree Studios, though the various units continued to have wandering minds of their own!

R2's three-legged version roams the Rebel base in a deleted moment.