STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: BEHIND THE SCENES: THE MARCIA LUCAS FACTOR!
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| Marcia's film-editing skills and storytelling instincts made her a vital asset to her husband (who called her the film's 'secret weapon') when creating/making the Star Wars saga... |
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| Deservedly winning an Oscar for her work on Star Wars in 1978, alongside her co-editors Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch, presented by Farrah-Fawcett Majors. |
A sadly all-too-meagre official entry on her passing: Marcia Lucas: 1945-2026 | StarWars.com
Marcia Lucas Dead: 'Star Wars' Editor Was 80
Marcia Lucas dead: 'Star Wars' editor and former wife of George Lucas was 80
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| The memorable career of Marcia Lucas. |
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| John Jay at the location. |
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| Lucas coordinates with John Stears on the little Astro Droids. |
And the rest is history...
Star Wars: A New Hope Began Filming 50 Years Ago Today | StarWars.com
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| A sci-fi/fantasy universe like no other begins filming at Nefta. |
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| Conferring with George Lucas on a busy. difficult first day for the film-maker. |
Now disguised as Imperial Stormtroopers, Luke's plan to rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star Cell Bay begins, much to the weary chagrin of Han Solo, in a classic scene of humour from the original Star Wars.
Some of the dialogue scenes linked to the Cell Block would be improvised or enhanced by Hamill and Ford during May 1976 filming.
I loved the Special Edition version of this scene with the X-wings and Y-wings too, but this original shot works much better with John Williams ever-special score.
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| A hit! |
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| The opening scene as brilliantly rendered by Howard Chaykin for the first issue of Marvel's comic adaptation, from 1976. |
A classic moment superbly captured by the original Star Wars lensman John Jay, as seen in The Making of Star Wars TV documentary of 1977.
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| On set photographer John Jay captures the classic image during filming at Elstree circa June 1976. |
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| Presumably wearing the blonde wig for Carrie testing. |
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| Image: Star Wars Archives. |
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.
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| The Jawas and their new capture prize. |
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| The Jawas at work! |
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| The originally shot footage of Artoo getting his restraining bolt. |
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| 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. |
Wednesday 24th March, 1976. Part of a busy day of location principal photography linked to the Dune Sea sequences, filming begins in La Grande Dunes west of the film’s production base, at Nefta, in the eerie yet stunning desert area for the scene where Threepio shuffles by an extinct alien creature's remains - a fiberglass skeleton copy of a Sauropod creature that had originally been constructed for use in the ELSTREE STUDIOS filmed 1975 UK Walt Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing. A large prop, found deep in the Elstree warehouse by set decorator Roger Christian and colleagues, the remains would, ultimately, be abandoned to the desert due to transport practicality problems once filming in Tunisia is completed. Also shot that day is the harried droid's sighting of a far distant Jawa Sandcrawler (achieved via a small matte painting of the horizon obscure vehicle handled by ILM in late 1976).
Unfortunately, as location photography progresses, so too do the worsening weather conditions, as fierce sandstorms soon arrive to hit the area, and specially made goggles are supplied to shield everyone from the terrifying, strapping high velocity winds. Natural elements such as sand would also play a part in the chaos, clogging the film cameras and ruining other important equipment. A planned location site to have incorporated a matte painting, handled by the second unit, would ultimately be abandoned by 5.57 PM due to bad light.
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| This image is presented here in the original way it was shot, as Threepio waves and cries out to the possible transport atop a distant sand dune. |
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| Norman Reynolds and colleague make adjustments to Threepio's suit as the weather worsens on location. |
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| The original Dinosaur bones on the Elstree parking area, before transport to Tunisia. |
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| The small matte of the Jawa Sandcrawler, we assume by Ralph McQuarrie. |
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| Italian lobby card photo from the scene. |
"In the tests, he (Chewbacca) looked like a folding chair. At Elstree I just made it a pet relationship. "Look, I've got this huge dog."
Harrison Ford - Film Review magazine Star Wars special - 1997
"He's like a big dog, a dog that's ferocious one moment, and whimperingly docile the next. The character comes off as sweet and charming as the person who was inside him. He (Peter Mayhew) really got into the film. By the end of the picture he was very good."
Harrison Ford - Science Fantasy Film Classics magazine - 1977
"Harrison and I worked well together. He is a wonderful person and a terrific actor; truly professional."
Peter Mayhew - interview quote (unknown source)
