Returning to Return of the Jedi: January 2012

Sunday, 22 January 2012

From Nought to Three-Hundred - Part 1 - The Print

As a fan of the Star Wars films one of the very best things that you can get the chance to do is to meet the people involved in the creation of the films from Production Staff, Crew, Supporting Artists and members of the Cast.

I've found that, for the most part, people associated with the movies are happy to talk about their time on the films, can shed new light on something or even add a new name to the cannon. I always try to add to the ever expanding collection of signatures and always try to get new or at least different images for them to sign.

As part of this Blog I'll be speaking to a lot of people involved in one of the best sequences in the saga, the Speeder Bike Chase on Endor. Sadly, one of the key people is no longer with us, the much missed Peter Diamond (Stunt Co-Ordinator for the Original Trilogy) but thankfully the majority of the other people who worked on this sequence from it's beginnings all the way through to it's appearance in the final film are still available.

As I speak to them I'll be bringing their insights to the Blog under the banner title of 'From Nought to Three Hundred' and also be asking them to add their signature to the image that I've made up to commemorate this.

I hope you'll join me on this journey.

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

It's a trap...

A money trap that is.

In the early to mid 1980's the absolute nadir of entertainment was an amusement arcade. Flashing electronic cabinets that would swallow your hard earned pocket money as fast as you could funnel it in for all too brief gratification of beating the level or, at the very best, impressing a girl with your video game skills.

One of the few 'pusher' companies for this addictive drug were Atari who as well as keeping you entertained at home with their 'state of the art' 2600 home gaming machines were also providing games (or 'Cabinets') for a plethora of venues.

My own personal mecca of arcade goodness cam in the foyer of the 'Arena' skating rink in Bury, North West England. Never has there been such a 'hive of Scum and Villany'.

In Summer 1984 the wrappings were taken off a shiny new machine to replace an overused and half-destroyed 'Pac-Man' game.

Return of the Jedi had come to the arcades and I too could now play as my favourite characters against the evil forces of the Dark Side.

Despite being the third film in the trilogy it was actually the second arcade game with the 'Empire Strikes Back' game following on a year later.

Using the tried and tested scrolling shoot-em-up formula that had worked so well with games in the past, this time however instead of left to right it scrolled diagonally across the screen from bottom left to top right. A multi faceted intricate game of all encompassing levels this was not but it was incredibly fun.

In fact, there was no actual levels. More like scenes that would endlessly repeat (at random and with slightly increased difficulty) until you ran out of lives or got bored, whichever came first. The scenes were :-

No. 1 - Speeder Bike chase on Endor as Princess Leia. The goal is to reach the Ewok village alive by dodging Biker Scouts and traps set by the Ewoks.

No. 2 - Scout Walker chase on Endor as Chewbacca. The goal is to reach the shield generator again avoiding traps, Biker Scouts and rolling logs

No. 3 - Millennium Falcon attack on Death Star as Lando. The goal is to reach and destroy the Death Star power reactor whilst being pursued through the innards by TIE fighters.

No. 4 - Pretty much reverse of No. 3 this time your goal in the Millennium Falcon is to escape from exploding Death Star.

You can watch two of the scenes (1 and 3) here :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8OD3azmUic

As you can see, we were not talking about the same level of detailing and graphic capabilities that we are now used to in everyday life (Thank you Uncle George) but at the time, I can assure you it was fairly impressive.

Adding to the excitement of this machine was the controls. This was no longer just a stick and buttons. This felt like you were at the controls of an X-Wing Fighter with a dual handed approach.

However cool this looked and handled. This was, unfortunately, one of the first things to break and frequently frustrated arcade owners would be seen rifling through the owners manual and either attempting to fix it themselves or to order a new part.

The owners manual itself is lovely piece featuring very detailed exploded diagrams and parts lists as well as the no doubt much used New Part Telephone Order Line.

One of nicest things about these cabinets (and why they make such great, not to mention expensive, collectibles) was the side art on the machines and Return of the Jedi was no exception.

Not to mention a lovely backlit Marquee sign for the front of the machine with the lovely logo calling you to come and spend your cash.

There are still a few of these machines still kicking around in various states of repair so if you've got a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand sitting in you pocket burning a hole and you'd like something a little bit different you could keep your eye on auction sites for one of these puppies.

Man...I wonder how much money I did actually shove into one of these...I dread to think...

Finally for the techies amongst you here's waht the machine was using to provide those glorious images and sounds :-

Main CPU : M6502 (@ 2.5 Mhz), M6502 (@ 1.512 Mhz)

Sound Chips : (4x) POKEY (@ 1.512 Mhz), TMS5220 (@ 672 Khz)

Technical Information taken from www.arcade-history.com

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Jabba ain't so bad...

Since the Blog went up I have received really nice messages from Toby Philpott and John Coppinger, both of whom were very closely associated with the creation and operation of that vile slug, Jabba the Hutt.

I have been provided with some call sheets from Toby (which just at a cursory glance have provided some wonderful information - some of which has shed light on a previously dark corner of my ROTJ knowledge) and has linked to the site from his website.

John has very graciously provided lovely, large links to the Blog from his own personal website.

I'd like to thank both gentlemen for their support and hopefully you'll be seeing interviews with them both very shortly.

Photo taken from Toby Philpott's Website - link above

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

A long time ago...Well, 30 years ago...

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of day one of principle photography on 'Return of the Jedi'. Here's the Lucasfilm Press Release from Monday 11th January 1982.

The first scene in front of the cameras was Scene 44 (The Sandstorm on Tattoine) shot on Stage 2 and would be the very last time that the full size Millenium Falcon prop would be used before dismantling.

The scene was subsequently deleted from the movie but can be seen on the extras of the new Saga Blu-Ray boxset.

There was 17 Camera sets-ups for the scene which shot for 9 hours and amounted to one and a half minutes of screentime.

Here's the day's shooting progress report :-

Mark Hamill was the only actor to perform all the way through the first shooting day of the Trilogy. On Star Wars' day one in Tozeur on Monday 22 March 1976 he shot for 12 Hours and 50 minutes resulting in 2 minutes and 43 Seconds of finished film and on Empire day one in Finse on Monday 9th March 1979 Mark worked for 10 hours 50 minutes for nine shots and approximately one and half minutes of finished footage. *

Whatever the result, Return of the Jedi was off the starting blocks and into Production

*figures and information taken from 'The Making of Return of the Jedi' by John Phillip Peecher

The scene itself can be found HERE

Monday, 9 January 2012

'...my favourite decoration...'

As with every Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi was promoted in cinemas worldwide with a plethora of artwork.

For this entry I'm going to stick to the poster releases for the main territories of the US/UK (chiefly because some of the more esoteric artwork for the foreign markets is worthy of any entry all of it's own) which are pieces of artwork emblazoned in my minds eye as being possibly the greatest movie artwork ever. Or at least, the one that provides me with the biggest emotional response.

So let's have a look at them shall we?

The first image that we saw was the now legendary 'Revenge of the Jedi' poster.

As I'm sure you'll know if you are reading this Blog, Revenge of the Jedi, was the original title of the movie, changed in late 1982 when George decided that a it would not be in a Jedi Knight's nature to take revenge.

Not many of the original One-Sheets are still around but reprints can be had from Amazon.

With the change of title came the change of poster. This poster debuted in theatres over the Thanksgiving Weekend 1982.

In March 1983 as the film edged it's way to completion the 'Style A' One Sheet was released harking back to the poster for Star Wars (as it was then still known).

An iconic image to be sure and one that would start to grace the covers of comics and tie-in movie books around the world.

A classic look with the blue sitting nicely against the stark black background.

And then the floodgates opened...

On 27th May 1983 almost 6 years to the day of the release of the first movie Return of the Jedi exploded into cinemas.

It was accompanied by the Style B poster, clearly the most famous of posters for the film giving movbiegoers their first look at how the characters had changed from last we saw them and also debuting the Ewoks and other strange creatures.

This is, for me, my favourite Star Wars poster. It just has everything that I want from a Star Wars poster.

I didn't actually see this poster until long after the film was out but when I did I fell in love with it and that love has never died.

But why did you not see this postewr? I hear you ask. Well then answer to that is...

Contained below...The UK Quad still ruled the roost at 'Picture Houses' up and down this sceptered isle and our art was, quite simply, just not as good.

Yes, all the elements are there but it just seems to cluttered. There's just too much going on. I can tell you one thing though. From the moment I saw the strange red-cloaked guards I wanted to know who they were and I also wanted to know who held Chewie captive.

I must have stared at this poster and the accompanying lobby cards for about 2 hours solid before the cinema opened and I was allowed in to see it (my Cousin Rachel's 10th Birthday Party if I remember correctly).

It was a film that didn't disappoint.

Then, some bright spark had a brainwave...'Why don't we put all three Star wars films on together? On the same day one after the other in the middle to the school Summer Holidays. The Kids will love it, the parents will love it and the cinemas will love it'

So it was that the marketing department of the UK arm of 20th Century Fox put together the single-most clunky piece of artwork there was ever been. It was however a 'once in a lifetime spectacular' well, that is if you were a dog because in 1987 to celebrate Star Wars' 10th Anniversary they re-released Return of the Jedi with, you guessed it...

All new art...

Of course, by now we'd all seen it a few times. It'd started showing up on TV, our VHS tapes were wearing thin with constant watching of all three films but rather than re-release all three films in a big way (as they would subsequently do) they chose only to re-release Jedi.

We, in the UK never had this re-release but I'll let you into a little secret. Shh...don't tell anyone...but...keep it under your hat now...

I can't stand this poster.

I think that it's because ever single expression on every character is off. They are recognisable but it's just 'off''.

and so a decade passed...The movies were digitally remastered and released on VHS in 1993 sporting all new box art but then we started to hear rumblings...the pre-internet fan grapevine was hearing whispers Uncle George was playing back in the Star Wars sandbox. There were to be updated versions of the movies released with added footage and effects that he couldn't accomplish whe he originally made them.

What could possibly go wrong. The excitement around the world was fever pitch by the time the news broke properly. All the movies now retitled properly as Episodes and bearing the title 'Special Edition' would be released a fortnight apart from each other in Chronological order.

The three posters all bore a triptych of art from fan favourite Drew Struzan and when displayed side by side showed the true majesty of the Trilogy.

Return of the Jedi was released on the weekend of my 22nd Birthday. I had felt a little let down with Star Wars, I wasn't feeling some of the changes. Empire had restored my faith all of the amendments made only added to the film.

What would Jedi bring? That's the subject of another entry.

I hope you've enjoyed a look at the evolution of the Poster art for 'Return of the Jedi'. Check back soon for more content.

Contact from the Imperial Navy...

I have been informed by Alan Flyng that his scene and lines were in fact shot on Saturday 6th February 1982.

Whilst I am certainly not doubting Alan's word (his recollection is remarkable on all of his previous work) ROTJ was shot in the days when Unions ruled and to shoot on a Saturday would have cost the production at least time and a half/double time for the crew, the extras and the studio. As the production was not running over (indeed the Executor scenes were not due to be shot until the Thursday of the following week) and was restricted as to the UK budget I have not included formally into the production timeline.

I have a lead on some production notes, and indeed these may completely revamp my schedule but to the best of my knowledge and research the dates contained in the schedule are correct.

Sunday, 8 January 2012

RETURN OF THE JEDI
PRINCIPLE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOTING DIARY

UK STUDIO PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY

EMI Studios, Elstree

PLAN OF EMI STUDIOS ELSTREE IN 1981

Monday 11^th January 1982

Tattoine Sandstorm (Stage 2)

Tuesday 12^th January

Jabba’s Palace Exterior, Int. gate & Hallway (Stage 6)

Arrival of the Droids

Confrontation with Bib Fortuna

Wednesday 13^th January 1982

Same as Tuesday 12^th

^{Arrival of a Jedi Master}

Thursday 14^th January 1982

Ewok Village Square (Stage 3)

Arrival of the Captives

A Golden God

Friday 15^th January 1982

Same as above

Monday 18^th January 1982

Ewok Celebration (Stage 3)

Tuesday 19^th January 1982

Same as above

Wednesday 20^th January 1982

Chief Chirpa’s Hut (Stage 2)

Thursday 21^st January 1982

Same as above

Friday 22^nd January 1982

Ewok Composite Stage (Stage 3)

Threepio tells a tale

Luke Reveals Truth

Monday 25^th January 1982