ILM BEHIND THE SCENES: WIBBLY-WOBBLY WALKER!

Paul Huston and the model team prepare to bring down a soon wobbly AT-ST 'Chicken' Walker on a special miniature set situated outside of ILM in late 1982, for the memorable concluding Ewok battle of Return of the Jedi.

Retro feature on the Original Trilogy:

https://videoandfilmmaker.com/wp/index.php/features/a-look-back-at-star-wars-old-school-vfx/

Modelmaker Easy Owyeung on the challenges of working on the Trilogy:

https://vimeo.com/222299458

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: BOUNTY TRACKING!

Concept art for the Slave 1 cockpit. Just how much of it was actually built for studio filming is unknown. Note the periscope-like viewer which made it into the movie.

Within Slave 1, Boba Fett keeps close tabs on the Millennium Falcon, ultimately charting its course to Bespin. For this cockpit scene, in the barest of small sets at Elstree, Jeremy Bulloch played Fett, filming against blue screen. Bulloch told Star Wars Aficionado in a chat back in 2000 that he also filmed a later interior scene where Fett would apparently taunt the carbon frozen Han Solo within his ship's cargo hold, but we have not been able to find any call sheet information confirming that or anything in a so far released official shooting script.

Ease Owyeung with Boba/Cockpit interior model.

Close-up details of Boba Fett in the Slave 1 model at ILM.

Storyboard for the cockpit scene.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: CREATING 'SLAVE 1'

 

Art by Nilo Rodis Jamero.

A sinister and formidable bounty hunter like Boba Fett needs a similarly sinister and formidable ship to achieve his goals, and the memorable Slave 1 would soon prove an ugly-looking and intimidating, capable stand-out vessel of the Star Wars saga.

A selection of conceptual art pieces and model shots for the vehicle.

Further ship detailing of one of the ship's flap wings.

Behind the scenes at ILM's model shop.

Prototype.

Lorne Peterson at work.

Lorne Peterson works on the ship with ease Owyeung.

Ken Ralston preparing the model for filming on the ILM blue screen stage.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: LAUNCHING THE TRANSPORTS!

Created by Joe Johnston and originally nicknamed 'tuna tubs' because of their pink-ish visage, the flying pod transport container vessels, essential vehicles for the Rebel Alliance to be protected at all costs, are not fully appreciated visually unless you see them close-up in model-form, especially with their maws, filled with cargo containers as well as evacuated Rebel crew members.

Concept art by Joe Johnston.

Ease Owyeung at work on the model at ILM

Reference test for the 'tuna tub'!