EPISODE I: A WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE TO PLAY IN...

Circa 1997, George Lucas and his 'major domo' of producing for the then eagerly awaited Prequel Trilogy, Rick McCallum, visit ILM to inspect the wide array of upcoming ships, droids, aliens, and monsters that will be a firm and iconic part of the opening episode. Their guides for such inventive and diverse all-new additions: Doug Chiang and Steve Gawley.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE NEW PEACEMAKERS!

Naboo has been freed from the slimy grip of the Trade Federation, and joy has come for the planet and its people with the news that the noble, dutiful Senator Palpatine has been elected to the highest office in the galaxy- the Republic's Chancellor. Surely this will be a time of new peace and prosperity for all as the happy Palpatine arrives to congratulate Jedi hero Obi-Wan Kenobi and the intriguing powers of young Anakin Skywalker, whose career the statesman will watch 'with great interest'!

A terrific scene with subtly grim foreboding, and one added onto the film late in the day during additional reshoots during early 1999. Care had to be taken to keep Jake Lloyd out of close-up shots because he had gotten older-looking a year and a half on from the original period of filming.

Due to the late scheduling of the reshoots, so close to the film's release, many of the actresses playing the Handmaidens were not available to return, so other members of the production team (including Nick Gillard, who fitted one of the available costumes) and Jake Lloyd's mum, Lisa, took the back ground roles. Another extra filled in for Sio Bibble when actor Oliver Ford Davis was not available - a fact all too clear on screen!

The re-shoot handmaidens, including middle left to right: Lisa Lloyd, LUCASFILM's Lynne Hale, and Nick Gillard! 

Additionally shot in that extra principal photography was the departure of the captured Trade Federation villains, awaiting trial on Coruscant. This replaced an earlier scene filmed but cut, set in the Throne Room with Amidala.

Filming the Trade Federation leaders being taken away.

Rounding off the VIP cameos at the Chancellor's arrival were three key men from the making of the Star Wars films, including Sound Designer/Editor Ben Burtt, Producer Rick McCallum and co-Film Editor Paul Martin Smith.

Ben Burtt in character for blue screen filming insertion 

Burtt, McCallum and Smith line up for the shot filming.

From Pablo Hidalgo/Twitter.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: KSOURS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT

The intriguing granary stores housing of Medenine would be transformed into the memorable slave quarter dwellings of Mos Espa on Tatooine, home to the just about surviving mother and son Skywalker family. The set decorators for EPISODE I clearly did an incredible job, as seen in these great Tunisian location images from Summer 1997, with great continuity to the original work established for A New Hope twenty-one years earlier..

Rick McCallum and George Lucas with the remote controlled Artoo, prior to filming the sandstorm scene at the location.

Though suited perfectly for EPISODE I, the Ksours had originally been planned to be used back in 1976 as a location for Mos Eisley, scouted by producer Gary Kurtz and production designer John Barrr, who provided the sketch below for the scene, ultimately cut from the production time for schedule and budget reasons, where Luke and his party landspeeder through an area of town that would be home to a Jawa community.

John Barry production sketch.

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: THE NOBLE MAVERICK!

Liam Neeson posing as Qui-Gon Jinn in a special image captured by Annie Leibovitz, especially shot for Vanity Fair magazine.

"Liam (Neeson) is playing a Jedi Knight who sets much of the story in motion and we want to keep everything surrounding him a surprise. But I will tell you this: Liam is bringing a presence and nobility to the character that few actors could hope to achieve."

Rick McCallum - 1999

"I was inspired by scenes of Alec Guinness in the first movie. He kind of established, for me, what these Jedi were, albeit an older Jedi; someone with grace and integrity and with a certain mystique who hinted at a kind of Samurai-type legacy as well as having this spiritual aesthetic. He's a Jedi Master and could have been part of this Arthurian round table which is the Jedi Council but he's done a couple of things in the past that have made him a bit of a loner and a slight maverick. I wasn't really keen to have a huge back-story (for Qui-Gon)."

Liam Neeson - Film Review magazine - 1999

"(Wearing) the costume makes you stand a different way. It was also weighty, but it was comfortable. It was a costume that was ready for action, but also was very regal and sturdy."

Liam Neeson - Online interview - 1999

THE 'PHANTOM' AT TWENTY: "ARE YOU AN ANGEL?"

As Watto goes out back with Qui-Gon Jinn and Artoo to find the hyperdrive generator, Padme discovers more about the scruffy yet highly intelligent, life-experienced young human boy who may be a slave, but is nonetheless still a person: Anakin Skywalker.

A couple of extra lines of dialogue were filmed but cut after Anakin sweetly asks Padme if she's an 'angel" from one of the Moons of Iego.

PADME: I've never heard of angels.
ANAKIN: You must be one...maybe you just don't know it.

Images from the screen test of Jake Lloyd with Natalie Portman at Skywalker Ranch.

From a specially controlled worldwide overview of over 7,000 young actors, the search for the actor to play young Anakin Skywalker was whittled down to three American talents (Jake Lloyd, Devon Michael and Michael Angarano) who'd screen test with Natalie Portman as Padme at Skywalker Ranch in early 1997. From this video tape testing, conducted by a table with a selection of junk and electronic props, the cherubic and innocent-looking Jake Lloyd, then best known for his appearance alongside superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Xmas comedy Jingle all the Way, deservedly won the coveted role and captured the hearts of Lucas and the production team.

"I first met Jake (Lloyd) when he was five, and every time I would go to Los Angeles for another casting session I'd bring Jake in again. He had all those elements that I was looking for in the character when we initially met, but he was just physically too young. But as he matured, and as I was getting closer to the date of having to decide on which actors I wanted for specific roles, it just converged. By the time I was ready, he was old enough, and it was perfect."

Robin Gurland - 1999

Jake Lloyd has fun with Robin Gurland and a Millennium Falcon toy during filming.

"It was Jake because he was extremely intelligent, intuitive and had the physical look hands down. He also had a way of saying, thinking and doing that was a little off-centre, you never quite expected what you got from him."

Robin Gurland  - Empire magazine - August 1999

Anakin had a further filmed deleted line to Padme: "You are a strange girl to me."

"Most of the first year of casting was primarily the kid, because we didn't know where we were going to go. Robin (Gurland- Casting Director) went everywhere, she went to France, Germany, England, and all over the States.

We didn't know where the kid was going to be, but we knew we were going to have to look at seven-year olds and track them until they were nine."

Rick McCallum - Empire magazine - August 1999

Robin Gurland on EPISODE I's casting: https://www.starwars.com/video/casting-director
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CLASSIC IMAGE: THE B/W 'PHANTOM'!

The world of B/W newsprint was mostly a thing of the past by the time EPISODE I arrived in cinemas during 1999, but a key set of images from LUCASFILM/FOX was nonetheless available for the smaller publishing markets to use where needed. Here's the collection, showcasing the great work of regular STAR WARS saga on-set photographer Keith Hamshere.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: HELLO UP THERE!

No, its not a scene from the Land of the Giants TV series, but something up above has certainly caught the attentions of George Lucas, Rick McCallum and company at ILM, in this interesting behind the scenes shot linked to The Special Editions.

BEHIND THE SCENES: PLANNING THE ACTION!

In the planning stages of EPISODE III's epic climactic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, George Lucas goes over the vast area of space in which the conflict will travel with Production Designer Gavin Bocquet -working out what will need to be built practically at the FOX Studios, Australia, and what will be accomplished via post production mattes and models.

LAUNCHING THE LEGEND. PIC FOUR: 'THE PHANTOM MENACE' 1997

"Good luck everybody. Now lets kick some ass!" Rick McCallum snaps the clapperboard to EPISODE I's filming.

In the run up to commencement of EPISODE VII's PINEWOOD STUDIOS principal photography, apparently slated for May 14th, 2014, STAR WARS AFICIONADO presents a key image from the first days shooting of the previous six films of the saga.

June 26th, 1997. With the Original Trilogy completed and satisfying audience expectations by May 1983, STAR WARS fans would have a very long wait for the technological capabilities of the special effects industry to catch up with George Lucas's dreams and ambitions for his history-revealing Prequel Universe. By 1997, and the release of the souped up STAR WARS TRILOGY: SPECIAL EDITIONS packed with new CGI creatures and environments bolstering and recapturing his enthusiasm, along with sustained box office profits (combined with a massive merchandise tie-in deal with BURGER KING/PEPSI-COLA), the long-promised three-film saga showing the rise of the Empire and the fall of a Republic, that would gradually lead into the events of STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE, could finally, excitedly, begin.

After years of conceptual art planning, animatics and story formulating, Lucas, with his new long-time producer Rick McCallum, was ready, as were the spirited and excited new international cast and crew assembled, as the UK's Leavesden Studios facility became home to intense and pioneering STAR WARS production with EPISODE I, then with the working title of The Beginning. No ambitious, time-consuming action scenes would be tackled on the first day, however-instead there would be a key scene introducing the new series deadliest super-baddies, specifically the return of Ian McDiarmid as everyone's favourite malevolence, now at a time before becoming The Emperor, and referred to here by his Sith Lord title of Darth Sidious, conferring with his new protege: the lightsaber duelling, Jedi killing nemesis that is Darth Maul, played by stuntman Ray Park. From the night-time balcony of Senator Palpatine's luxurious office apartment on Coruscant, the duo's plans for the domination of the Republic will secretly begin.

The Phantom Menace has emerged...

"RED TAILS" - BEHIND THE SCENES AND FIRST TRAILER FOR 2012

Sky-born! The American fighter wing of RED TAILS.

It seems like forever since the announcement of Lucas and Rick McCallum's feature film of the true life story of the Tuskegee African-American airmen of World War II, but it looks like RED TAILS, with Samuel L. Jackson and Terrence Howard, is finally nearing cinema release.

Here's a recent link to some new intriguing behind the scenes images and info on the digitally shot adventure story: http://geektyrant.com/news/2010/5/8/official-set-photos-from-lucasfilms-wwii-film-red-tails.html

The brave airmen/protectors of RED TAILS.

UPDATE: 1/8/2011. Here's the first action packed trailer for the film, out in cinmas January 2012: ‪ Red Tails (2012) HD Movie Trailer - Lucasfilm Official Trailer‬‏ - YouTube

CLASSIC IMAGE: BLUE SCREEN TALKS!

During additional EPISODE II re-shoots for dialogue and action sequences set within the Geonosian corrdiors and droid conveyor belt, taking place at the legendary British EALING studios in early 2002, Hayden Christensen confers with friend/producer Rick McCallum, whilst Anthony Daniels prepares to film a blue-screen scene with Artoo Detoo.

OPINION: WHAT HAPPENED TO RICK McCALLUM?

From 1995 to 2007 he's been one of STAR WARS great ambassadors-a funny and enthusiastic showman, a veritable master of hyperbole (in both good and bad ways), dedicated independent film-maker and loyal producer to George Lucas. So where is he? What's going on with him? At CV I suddenly realised that I haven't seen him anywhere since Celebration Europe, and that was back in 2007!

His work on STAR WARS (seemingly) over with regards to the films, the new live-action SW series stalled (for now) due to budget constraints, and RED TAILS, the epic World War II story of the Tuskegee airmen, apparently in drastic re-shoots, McCallum has certainly been keeping out of the fans radar, but now I think its time someone like the INSIDER tracked him down for a good long talk. With such a big involvement with LUCASFILM and STAR WARS and INDY (he was supposed to have been the fourth films producer at one point), a really detailed, candid interview with him about all his work on the Prequels (to really find out some stuff we haven't previously been aware of on their making) and for LUCASFILM-the highs and lows-and all the other things hes been working on since, would be very appealing to read.

Somebody let Rick out of the top-secret underground bunker at LUCASFILM!