CLASSIC IMAGE: THE WEAK SPOT!

In an unused angle not seen in the film, General Dodonna (Alex McCrindle) goes through the Death Star schematics with his Rebel pilots, to show the battle station's weakness point, in a scene filmed at Shepperton Studios for the original Star Wars. This shot is also further interesting as it shows a moment from what available computer generated image footage (created by Larry Cuba) could be back projected live on-set, presumably during filming on May 17th, 1976- the last day of filming on the briefing room.

'STAR WARS' AT 40: SO NEAR, YET SO FAR!

His missile having impacted on the surface of the exhaust port, we barely see the damage caused by Red Leader's torpedo in the original STAR WARS, apart from the explosion as the X-wing pulls out of the trench. But a lot of effort went into creating that damage and the model of the port itself, as seen in these pictures taken at ILM in late 1976/77.

Model maker Steve Gawley at work.

The hand of the Empire, indeed!

Steve Gawley and Lorne Peterson talk about the model making of the Classic Trilogy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7oQHQkNdkA