AN 'EMPIRE' AT 45: 'HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY' ISSUES...

Fun with Carrie and Gary in April, 1979.

Often seeming frail and acting erratically with the start of studio filming in London, Carrie Fisher's building drugs addiction off camera would become a serious health concern for the production team during The Empire Strikes Back. With such a delicate subject to broach to the mood-changeable Fisher, George Lucas is unable to get producer Gary Kurtz (at times acting on set as an unofficial kind of 'chaperone' to the actress) nor the film's unofficial shadow producer in Howard Kazanjian to converse with her about the problems. Thankfully, Marcia Lucas ultimately comes to her husband's rescue, cleverly using a screening of Fisher's dailies footage as Leia to subtly highlight her personal problems. The results are successful, with Fisher's health, improved weight and onscreen performance better by the mid-point of the film's shoot.

Make-up artist Kay Freeborn always found Carrie a mercurial figure on set.

Fisher was always fascinated by film camera technique during the shoot.

AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: THE MAGIC OF STUART FREEBORN'S YODA

With all the previous facial designs for the character by Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie not quite working, the Yoda puppet was finally realized as an effective puppet for filming by Stuart Freeborn from August 1979, created under great time pressures (during Spring/Summer 1979) and enormous practical challenges, with round the clock help from his team. Though he used Albert Einstein’s eyes to denote a vast intelligence for the wise Jedi, the rest of the generally old but cheekily youthful face for the character was based on Stuart Freeborn own visage, with the final design of the ears also being another improvised stroke of genius. (An additionally planned moustache sadly didn’t look right on the design- Freeborn would compromise by giving Yoda a very subtle shaped moustache on his bottom lip, instead.) A small decorative flute would hang around Yoda’s neck in both Empire and Jedi, also created by Freeborn. 

At the workshop, Lucas, Kershner and Robert Watts watch Frank Oz manipulate a Yoda head.

Freeborn's face for Yoda would be unveiled before George Lucas left the UK and returned to the US (part of several on and off trips to see what was happening with the live-action filming). He and his team then built the first working Yoda for practical stage filming from a rough dummy then a screen test dummy that was often used for filming rehearsals. British technician Dave Barclay, then only nineteen years old, would join the team of people operating Yoda, also given the job of sculpting 6 different top lip appliances for Yoda, as the original foam latex face skin needed a longer top lip. He also expanded the foam latex head skins to bring the foam back to the original sculpt size. Young make-up intern Nick Dudman also becomes seriously involved in the development of Yoda, and is soon aware of the pressures to get the character ready in time for filming. He recalled to Star Wars Insider: “Stuart’s Yoda was literally down to the wire with myself, Stuart, Bob (Keen), and the team being up all night, frantically trying to get it together. Trouble being, we didn’t know what we were doing because nobody had ever done it before quite that way. It was a real race against time, and quite scary when we first took our finished work out to the set.” 

When a duplicate Yoda is required, Barclay continues to help out the team - Nick Maley, Graham Freeborn (Stuart's son) and Bob Keen being the key personnel involved in it - and was also drafted in as a puppeteer for Yoda's eyes when Wendy Midener-Froud became ill -  allergic to something on the Dagobah set, of whom a puppeteer replacement was needed for her. Dave stayed on as puppeteer for Yoda for the rest of its filming, and worked with Frank Oz, the chief puppeteer, Kathy Mullen (Yoda's right hand) and Wendy. For the last week of Yoda filming, as Principal Photography had gone over schedule, Frank Oz gave Dave the responsibility of being his replacement chief puppeteer for those remaining days of filming. Dave performed Yoda for many wide and vista vision shots, and parts of the training sequence (which involved a very basic remote control version for Yoda in Luke’s backpack, created by John Hatt) including where Luke is doing a handstand, with Yoda atop his feet. For the wide shots, Dave puppeteered the radio controlled Yoda, soon handling the hero hand puppet for the close up - "concentraaaate..!" sequence with Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.

Talking to Star Wars Insider in 1999, Frank Oz’s singular reason why the character ultimately works so well is “because Mark believed in him and responded to him. If Mark didn't respond to him so well, then the audience wouldn't have.” Oz and Hamill are not the only ones to see how the magic of Yoda has begun during filming. Nick Dudman recalls the thrill of both working on Yoda and Empire as a movie to Star Wars Insider: “I think Yoda was the one I felt was magical, because it was the first time I went to rushes, and saw the dailies of something that I’d helped to do, however minimally, actually functioning on film. It’s something, of course, that nowadays is rare because with digital you don’t go to rushes and see this wonderful thing suddenly there. Back then, you shot the stuff and you went in the next day and you sat in the theatre and you watched it. You knew instantly whether it had worked or not. I do remember that feeling of, “It’s a character and it worked.” 

The original Yoda prop created by Stuart Freeborn would break down on numerous occasions (working better ultimately for its later brief use on Jedi than Empire), with a back-up which was built around the clock by Nick Maley rushed into effective action. A third version was used as a dummy stand-in prior to filming. A fourth version of Yoda, built in a very quick three days, included ears that were created by Nick Maley, with assistance from Bob Keen, was based on designs that were created for the first version by Wendy Midener. All of the heads for the Yoda puppets had to be specially moulded to take into effect the hand manipulation inside them by Frank Oz, as well as all the delicate pieces of the puppet that had to be put together- some parts literally soldered on and all containing state of the art servo/control/articulation mechanisms that were unique and specially built for the film. Stuart Freeborn supervised all the delicate work for the original first mask which the Windsor Hills foam latex was cast from. Yoda’s ears, hands and feet were all moulded separately. Graham Freeborn, Stuart’s son, would be involved in hair punching and art working the skin for the varying Yoda’s, making them look believable. 

Additional key workers on the puppet would include UK talents Ron Hone, Dennis Lowe, and Roger Nichols. 

Image: Nick Maley.

Here's a selection of behind the scenes images of Yoda's creation.

Young trainee Nick Dudman makes some adjustments to one of the Yoda heads.

Three shots of Dennis Lowe at work on the animatronics for one of the key Yoda puppets.

Nick Maley with the developing Yodas at Freeborn's Elstree workshop.

Ron Hone making some adjustments to the key Yoda puppet.

One of the key Yoda's in the Elstree workshop.

Irvin Kershner has fun in this great publicity image.

Frank Oz with the in development Yoda head created by Freeborn, which he would accidently drop at one point in the Elstree lab!

'STAR WARS' AT 40: THE FREEBORN MONSTER FACTORY!

Stuart Freeborn at work on one of the Chewbacca face masks for the Classic Trilogy.

Already an industry legend with regards to make-ups and make-up techniques on the likes of Stanley Kubrick films' Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey, British talent Stuart Freeborn was the go-to guy for George Lucas once his base of operations for filming the original Star Wars had been set up in the UK. The first creature to get Freeborn's attention was the soon-doomed thug Greedo, re-worked from and based on a previous alien design that Lucas had seen and been impressed by in his London workshop. Then came the beloved wookiee costume for Chewbacca that had to be specifically created using yak hair and via the same special techniques so effectively showcased in the late sixties with the ape-men for 2001. Illness forced Freeborn to abandon work on several never competed Cantina aliens by May 1976, with Rick Baker's US creature make-ups team eventually filling in the gaps with 1977 additional shooting.

A colourized image of some of Freeborn's Mos Eisley aliens at Elstree - May 1976.

Freeborn and Peter Mayhew at Shepperton Studios- mid-May 1976.

A funny, dedicated, much-loved and much-missed inspirational creative genius, Stuart Freeborn, his wife Kay, son Graham, and the rest of his dedicated make-up team would return for the following two Classic Trilogy adventures and even bigger, ambitious creations.

As part of their special Star Wars themed evening on Thursday 21st December, 2017, the UK's BBC 4 have a special documentary showcasing the best of British talent to have worked on the saga over forty years: The Galaxy Britain Built. We're hoping that the more than qualified Freeborn family will be amongst those greats showcased...

BEHIND THE SCENES: A LITTLE MAX FACTOR - OUTER SPACE STYLE!

In the Millennium Falcon hold set at Elstree circa April 1979, Kay Freeborn gives Carrie Fisher a little make-up adjustment whilst the actress plays to the camera.

GOODBYE, STUART FREEBORN...

Irvin Kershner applies make-up to Yoda. Or is that Stuart Freeborn? A classic behind the scenes image from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

STAR WARS AFICIONADO was very sad yesterday to hear of the passing of legendary make-up genius Stuart Freeborn. He was 98. One of the British film industry's most talented, and greatest, experts in his field, Freeborn, who lived a life of advancing and experimenting his techniques, was the definitive go-to guy in handling tricky to realise concepts for film, TV and commercials, be they dawn of civilisation apes in Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, turning the extravagant comedian Peter Sellers into numerous different characters in the classic apocalyptic black comedy DR STRANGELOVE, or transforming a young Alec Guinness into the crafty elderly king of street crime, Fagin, in Charles Dicken's OLIVER TWIST. But it would be the original STAR WARS saga for which his work would become the most well known and beloved by audiences. Approached in 1975 by George Lucas to handle the first films numerous alien creatures, at first the alien bounty hunter later to become known as Greedo, followed by the mighty furry wookiee Chewbacca, Freeborn, despite advancing time pressures and later ill health, created a vast menagerie of shapes and sizes extra terrestrials for the UK filming of the Mos Eisley Cantina sequences. After the success of STAR WARS, Freeborn's talents were then sought in making Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel become reality on Richard Donner's first SUPERMAN extravaganza, and it's back to back shot film sequel.

Peter Mayhew poses for a promotional image for STAR WARS.

Behind the scenes, Stuart and Kay Freeborn work with Peter Mayhew on the all-important Chewbacca mask.

Working out the wookiee's jaw capabilities.

On set for STAR WARS, applying the mask to Peter Mayhew.

At work on the Yoda sculpt in 1979.

A side angle of Freeborn at work.

Yoda gives his wisdom to an amazed Luke Skywalker in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

Freeborn with his original version of the Wampa face, prior to 1979 location filming in Norway.

Following his caped superhero duties came a not unexpected return to the STAR WARS universe: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and the challenge of truly bringing to life the wise old Jedi Master with the cheeky manner and the dedicated heart: Yoda. As the filmmakers were unable to find the right look to make it believable, Freeborn would inspirationally bring some of his own quirky facial features to the creature, along with Albert Einstein's slightly sad but highly intelligent eyes, and instantly made him an accessible, lovable figure whose shell would have built into it a special blend of state of the art animatronics utilised by it's equally vital performer, Frank Oz, the likes of which no one had really seen before. If Yoda hadn't been so well developed and engineered by Freeborn and his small, loyal team, a vital element of the had-to-succeed sequel could have been irreparably damaged. Additionally, beyond the little green frog Jedi, Freeborn and his team's other considerable duties on this bigger and better movie would be the towering, if not totally successful, form of the Wampa snow beast (played in filming by Des Webb and stuntman Terry Richards), and Luke and Han's beast of burden across the Hoth snowscape, the full-sized prop version of the Tauntaun, used mostly on location in Norway.

Freeborn oversees the 1981 construction of Jabba the Hutt at his London workshop.

As Jabba finally looks onscreen, tongue terrorising Princess Leia.

A huge hit with audiences, especially for the scenes involving the zen-like Yoda, EMPIRE would three years later lead to the series then finale, RETURN OF THE JEDI, and the ultimate realisation of a figure mentioned but not yet seen in the saga: the gross crime lord Jabba the Hutt. This would prove to be an even bigger challenge for Freeborn than Yoda: a working prop that required three to four operators and lots of attention to detail. The end results were fabulous and totally unique-the character's presence, and the enslaved Princess Leia at his/it's side, quickly making movie history and Jabba an icon of greed and slothishness. Smaller but making no less of a mark on the third STAR WARS film were the small warriors of Endor, the Ewoks, whom Stuart and his team also realised to final furry form from a prior vast range of ILM conceptual designs- 45 being created for filming over five months in studio and on location. 1983 saw the end of an incredible legacy for the make-up artist/supervisor and his team, and one which he would be rightly proud of.

Stuart makes some last-minute modifications to an Ewok, for a 1981 screen test in London for REVENGE OF THE JEDI.

Graham and Kay Freeborn at work on the screen test Ewoks.

Meeting him in 2008, in a special interview arranged via Ian Trussler, Stuart and his wife Kay (who passed away in 2012) were a lovely and very friendly couple. Despite his frailty, he was full of enthusiastic stories and eager to talk about his/their career and his unique creations on the STAR WARS saga-his Yoda bust, given to him by his protege turned successor, Nick Dudman, during the filming of EPISODE I, proudly displayed in their front room. Their talents and personalities will be much missed but fondly remembered and celebrated for years to come by cinema and STAR WARS fans worldwide. Their hard work and dedication must surely be recognised with some sort of visual tribute at both the upcoming BAFTA's and ACADEMY AWARDS ceremonies in creating such legendary and iconic work.

List of Ewoks from the UK filming.

With thanks to Ian Trussler and Chris Baker for selected images.

Check out our STAR WARS AFICIONADO FACEBOOK PAGE picture gallery of the many wonderful STAR WARS aliens crafted by Stuart and Kay Freeborn: (4) THE MAGIC AND GENIUS OF STUART FREEBORN


Tributes: Make Up Artist Stuart Freeborn Interview - YouTube
Stuart Freeborn Documentary Part II - YouTube
Star Wars Archives
BBC News - Star Wars make-up artist Stuart Freeborn dies aged 98
From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga - Part 2 of 7 - YouTube
A tribute to Stuart Freeborn from former assistant Nick Maley.
Star Wars Episode I: This Is A Creature Film Webisode - YouTube
Stuart Freeborn - IMDb

Don't forget, the special AFICIONADO 2008 edition devoted to the making of RETURN OF THE JEDI, with our exclusive interview with Stuart Freeborn, is also available here: STAR WARS AFICIONADO ISSUE 14 - THE MAKING OF "RETURN OF THE JEDI"

STUART FREEBORN: A CAREER OF MASKS, MONSTERS AND MAKE-UP!

Stuart Freeborn's career in the film industry is legendary (he's pictured here in his workshop at Elstree in 1979, alongside EMPIRE director Irvin Kershner, holding the in-development Yoda head), as are his contributions to the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, especially the aforementioned Yoda and the mighty Chewbacca the Wookiee. Check out this lovely and fascinating career retrospective radio documentary that was recently on the UK's BBC RADIO 4 this past week, which goes through his illustrious, hard working and innovative career. Link: BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Stuart: A Face Backwards

The late Kay Freeborn adds some make-up touches to Peter Cushing on the Death Star Overbridge set.

One thing I wasn't aware of that I found out from the documentary was the recent passing of Stuart's wife, Kay, which I'm very sad to hear about. She was a very nice lady, whose make-up talents alongside her husband's are much missed.

With thanks to Chris Baker for the heads-up on this.

Continuing the celebration of the Freeborns remarkable career, why not get hold of the STAR WARS AFICIONADO magazine's MAKING OF RETURN OF THE JEDI SPECIAL ISSUE, which contains our exclusive interview with them from 2008, packed with info and rare imagery. For more info and how to get it, head here: STAR WARS AFICIONADO ISSUE 14 - THE MAKING OF "RETURN OF THE JEDI"

CLASSIC IMAGE: UGLIES INC.

Stuart Freeborn certainly proved himself as one of the STAR WARS saga's definitive UK talents in make-up and creature construction, as seen here with this motley group of monster heads that would be used in the original film's 1976 April/May cantina filming at ELSTREE. All of the monsters in there, and in later US re-shoots with additional Rick Baker creatures, would become icons, especially Freeborn's Greedo, whom George Lucas would take a shine to when he first saw the creature in his workshop after it had been previously constructed for use as an alien in a UK BIRDS EYE peas commercial of the early seventies, though subsequently re-dressed (for legal reasons) for his eventual doomed confrontation with Han Solo.

Graham and Kay Freeborn with the UK Elstree creatures created for the Cantina in April 1976.

Due to illness (later declared as a stomach bug), Stuart was unable to complete all the required UK masks for the Cantina sequence, which begs the question, are there any surviving pieces of original 1975/76 artwork or designs, whether they be in the LUCASFILM archives or in a private collection, that show those creatures that ultimately never made it to reality? It would surely be fascinating to see them, eh?

With thanks to Ian Trussler for the group image.