'STAR WARS' AT 40: ESTABLISHING THE VISUAL STYLE!

Helping George Lucas bring his vision for Star Wars to celluloid life, acclaimed old school British cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, then fresh from filming duties with Richard Donner on the horror hit The Omen, would not strike up the greatest of friendships with the young American writer/director - relations further strained via communication problems over the London filming's duration and prior tensions on location that would include the accidental dropping of the all-important VistaVision camera (thankfully it is not damaged). But there's no denying that the finished look of the original 1977 adventure remains as fresh and striking as ever forty years on, holding up to great scrutiny in HD with its crisp and stylish clarity.

Taylor, in blue cap, with Mark Hamill in Tunisia.

'STAR WARS' AT 40: ENTERING MOS EISLEY SPACEPORT

Having cleared the Stormtrooper check-point, our heroes enter the main hub streets of Mos Eisley spaceport, as filmed in the small sea port area of Ajim, Tunisia, decorated with an incredible universe of props and set dressings, on April 2nd, 1976 (of which Sir Alec Guinness' birthday was also celebrated). This is a great image showing the geography of the area - note the far end location of the check-point for a distance shot coming in that never made the finished movie. Director of Photography Gilbert Taylor can be seen top of the scaffold wearing the blue cap, as well as an obscured Lucas wearing his trademark check shirt.

Getting ready to drive in.

Behind the scenes angle.

Deleted establishing shot-alternate take, seen in what was once called The Lost Cut.

GOODBYE, GILBERT TAYLOR...

Legendary British cinematographer Gilbert Taylor. Image: FOX.

The very sad news has come in from the Kurtz/Joiner Archive's FACEBOOK page that legendary cinematographer Gilbert Taylor BSC, who helped bring the worlds of Tatooine and the Death Star, and heroes like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, to such believable life on the Elstree Studios soundstages between April and June 1976, has passed away. He was 99. As well as the original STAR WARS, Taylor brought his considerable experience -a genuine child of British film-making- and talent to movies such as DOCTOR STRANGELOVE, The Beatles' A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, REPULSION, Frank Langella's DRACULA and Richard Donner's seminal horror classic, THE OMEN, the film he completed before making STAR WARS, where he went on to join George Lucas as his Director of Photography after the director's originally planned choice, Geoffrey Unsworth, backed out quite late in the day. Taylor would continue his association with sci-fi after his one and only full cinematic encounter with the Skywalkers by going on to handle the visual reins of the lively, colourful adventure spoof FLASH GORDON, alongside director Mike Hodges. But it will always be STAR WARS for which his work, with his then regular and dedicated camera team, will be most remembered and savoured- Taylor even managed to return to that universe in the mid-nineties to film some rewarding special linking material of Dave Prowse as Darth Vader for a HASBRO interactive video/board game...

STAR WARS AFICIONADO MAGAZINE: BEHIND THE SCENES: THE INTERACTIVE DARK LORD!

On location in Tunisia with George Lucas.

Despite the behind the scenes frictions between Taylor and Lucas at that time in 1976- more a case of the Old Cinema Guard's attitudes clashing with those of the New, Taylor was soon proud of his association with STAR WARS after it became such a world-beating success, and went on to recognise Lucas as a cinematic visionary.

Goodbye, Gilbert Taylor, and thank you...

▶ Gilbert Taylor on "Star Wars" and filming the attack on the Death Star - YouTube

BEHIND THE SCENES: THE INTERACTIVE DARK LORD!

For all you Vader fans out there, here's a few behind the scenes shots of the London filming of Dave Prowse's iconic and much deserved return to the iron-lung suit for the 1996 STAR WARS interactive video/board game for HASBRO EUROPE, of which a portion of the Death Star II set (the storyline linked to RETURN OF THE JEDI) was resurrected and specially lit for Vader (once more voiced by James Earl Jones) and his troops to challenge his off-screen opponents, photographed by the classic first film's original Director of Photography: Gilbert Taylor. Both stars and cameramen did excellent work on a game which I still enjoy playing now and then...

At the time, news was rife that STAR WARS would be returning for the Prequels, of which Prowse was hoping he would be playing Vader again, telling CINESCAPE magazine in February 1996:

“I would love to play Anakin, but there’s some talk about Mark Hamill doing that role, playing his own father. I don’t know how they’d explain his going from his size to my size when he plays Darth Vader, though. Whoever they choose needs to be a very physical actor. He could be the greatest dramatist in the world, but without a physical presence, Vader wouldn’t be worth anything.”

 With thanks to Chris Baker for selected images.

Star Wars Interactive Video Board Game VHS footage - YouTube

CLASSIC IMAGE: DROID TESTING

Here's some fun late 1975 (?) screen grabs of behind the scenes footage, presumably shot at ELSTREE, of UK practical special effects co-ordinator John Stears (the Oscar winning technician behind the early James Bond movies, I might add!) and George Lucas testing the droids that will eventually be used for upcoming filming for the STAR WARS Jawa droid sale in Tunisia in March 1976 and then through various scenes at ELSTREE afterwards.

The footage also shows an early test for a silver Artoo Detoo (there's someone in it who looks like hes wearing some kind of protective nappy?!) - we're not sure if its Kenny Baker in Artoo or not during this screen test filming (credited to Gilbert Taylor, about to finish his director of photography work on Richard Donner's horror film THE OMEN). Not all of the droids that Stears and his team constructed for filming, many of which would be re-painted and re-dressed over five months, actually made it into the finished movie-it would be intriguing to see the stills or deleted footage of those lost droids...

A selection of John Stears droid creations on the Death Star hangar set during early Summer 1976 (note the left middle Treadwell used for the deleted Tunisia scene with Mark Hamill).