CLASSIC IMAGE: CAPTURED BY THE JAWAS!

First it was Threepio, now it's Artoo who is soon captured and in the grubby hands of those pesky little collecting critters that are the Jawas, attaching a restraining bolt to it and then sucking it up into the main hold of its massive Sandcrawler vessel. A classic moment from the original Star Wars.

Filming at a small canyon location in Tunisia called Sidi Bouhlel, located in Tozeur, on Tuesday March 30th, 1976, the key sunset scenes involving the Jawas having neutralized Artoo, and their carrying him to their Sandcrawler, would be shot (when the rushes are viewed in London later on in filming, however, the wide establishing footage of the Sandcrawler is discovered to be scratched and the film stock poor - it is decided that this will have to be mostly re-shot States-side in 1977, once extra funds are secured from Fox). 

For the overall Jawa location filming sequences/going into the Sandcrawler scaffold prop for the night shoot, the small in height cast included Kenny Baker's longtime friend/showbusiness partner Jack Purvis (listed on one call sheet as 'Head Jawa'), a French/Tunisian midget (named Mahmoud or Mahjoub?) who had been helping the film crew in the location filming, between three and seven local Tunisian children (according to call sheets), the young son of Giles Instone, manager of the British lorry drivers transporting sets and equipment to Tunisia, and Gary Kurtz’s two daughters Melissa and Tiffany. 

For the scene where Artoo is sucked up the tube into the Sandcrawler, the effect was simply achieved by dropping the empty prop down from the tube and then reversing it in post production.

The Jawas and their new capture prize.

The Jawas at work!

The originally shot footage of Artoo getting his restraining bolt.

The re-filmed restraining bolt sequence at ILM later in post production. ILM staffer/production assistant Penny McCarthy is on her knees in the Jawa robes.

BEHIND THE SCENES: THE 'LITTLE PEOPLE' AT WORK!

Having sneakily captured the unawares Artoo Detoo in the mountain regions, those trade hungry scavengers, the Jawas, take the little droid back to their immense Sandcrawler vehicle. Originally, the scene was filmed on location in Tunisia at the end of March 1976. Allegedly, film damage discovered afterwards, and once the Star Wars film crew had left that country, ultimately necessitated the scene being reshot in the US, at Death Valley, California around Jan 1977 as part of other pickup shots and scene reshoots. 

Since there was no money or time available to find and reassemble the original Jawa Sandcrawler scaffold prop constructed by John Stears and his UK practical effects team (if indeed its sections still survived at the Elstree Studios backlot), newly shot scenes (which we understand were undertaken by Gary Kurtz and his own Second Unit) saw local children (including Tim Donaldson and Andrea Wickman-Miller) hired as Jawas carrying the droid to a similar flat area of the Death Valley US location, in which the Sandcrawler was then subsequently matted on by ILM.

The Jawa Sandcrawler scaffold prop in Tunisia.

Getting ready for night filming in Tunisia.

Colour footage as seen in early dailies footage.

A stencil link to where a matte painting was to have been added above and replacing the scaffold sections in the original Tunisia filming.

Local children play Jawas for the Death Valley reshoot- Jan 1977.

Matte painting of Jawa Sandcrawler for revised scene.

How the final scene looked in the film.

IT WAS FORTY YEARS AGO TODAY...

Droids, humans and Jawas gather together in the desert heat of Tunisia, a location masquerading as the binary sun orbiting world of Tatooine- as the first complex, bizarre and incredible day's filming on THE STAR WARS begins, against an immense Jawa Sandcrawler prop scaffold. Today, 22nd March, 2016, its the 40th Anniversary! And see where we are now...

More on this incredible day in film history:

STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: LAUNCHING THE LEGEND. PIC ONE: 'STAR WARS' 1976

STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: BEHIND THE SCENES: AT THE HOMESTEAD

BEHIND THE SCENES: AT THE HOMESTEAD

On Tatooine, the Lars Homestead is visited by a Jawa Sandcrawler.

Unaware that he is about to enter the adventure of a lifetime, young farmboy Luke Skywalker assists his grouchy Uncle Owen in bartering with the newly arrived Jawas at their used droid assemblage, in a now classic scene from the original STAR WARS, one of the first to be shot for the movie, on location in Tunisia during March 1976.

Star Wars: Mark Hamill shares photo from first day filming

Costume continuity reference Polaroid of Mark Hamill. Image: Ann Skinner/BFI.

From the BFI Special Collections, here is Script Supervisor Ann Skinner's handwritten costume character continuity notes for Owen Lars (Phil Brown), Beru Lars (Shelagh Fraser) and the Chief Jawa (Jack Purvis).

The Chief Jawa (Jack Purvis) and Owen Lars (Phil Brown).

Rehearsing the droid sale scene, watched by Lucas.

Owen Lars: Short beard, khaki-high neck shirt, beigey/green cotton jacket- closed not seeing the buttons. Black belt, navy trousers inside high brown boots. Cord type full jacket with hood hanging down at the back.

Beru: Brown tunic dress to the ground, pink shirt, blue jacket-pink collar outside the jacket. Carrying metal box thing in right hand (for outdoor scene with (power) droid).

Chief Jawa: Pouch (like an arrow pouch), bandolier (without bullets) with handled knife in it.

Additionally, in her early 1976 typed character notes for Owen, based on a pre-shooting script, Skinner writes:"Mid 50's Luke's Uncle. Limp shuffle."

A picturesque shot of the Homestead and a portion of the Jawa Sandcrawler scaffold. Polaroid by Ann Skinner/BFI.

Only one Ann Skinner Polaroid image from the filming of this sequence didn't make the BFI STAR WARS exhibition of 2014: a single full-length colour costume reference shot showing Jack Purvis in his Jawa costume. An additional Polaroid shot of Miss Skinner at the location with an unknown Tunisian also exists unpublished at the BFI.

Cinematographer Gil Taylor checks the steps of the Homestead "Igloo".  Polaroid by Ann Skinner/BFI.

In other Skinner handwritten reference notes, the malfunctioning R5 (also known as "Red") was originally to have had a brown top shell, and R2-D2 had "a red light" in his tower eye.

With thanks to Ann Skinner and the BFI Special Collections.