Star Wars scenes filmed in San Francisco? Need help!

Apparently this placed called the SF armory had a few scenes shot for Star Wars. And yes it's now owned by a BDSM porn site

SFArmory.com - Welcome to S.F. Armory.com

They are giving tours and I'm signed up. Anyone know any facts?

I've never heard anything about a part of Star Wars being filmed there.

"Though for most of the past 40 years, it has sat vacant, it was used by George Lucas to film the first Star Wars movie."

And from another source

"In 1976, George Lucas used the Drill Court to film some scenes for Star Wars but plans to convert the building into a full-time film studio never came to fruition."

A Photo

inside the SF Armory | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

It was used to shoot explosions for effects shots. ILM created a huge library of stock explosion shots, most shot at high speed. They needed the ceiling height to get a good zero g effect, with the explosions set of high up and the camera below pointing up.

They did this for TESB, but many of the shots were used in other films.

Very cool. Any references for that info? I'd love to see vintage set photos

thanks

Chris

I don't recall seeing any photos, but it was described in magazines of the time like Cinefex. They set off hundreds of explosions, with several cameras shooting them at different speeds.

They went back for Star Trek 2 to shoot the Genesis explosion.

Yes, there's actually a pic of this in the old ILM the art of special effects book.

Cheers,
Steve.

Wasn't the Death Star explosion effect filmed here? (Before the 1997 CGI version, I mean)

I thin you are right about the death star. I have the book on my shelf.

-Eric

Think I could bug you for a scan I'll take some pictures and maybe try to line up the angle

Let me get the book and find it. I vaguely remember it. It has been ages since I opened it. Another anecdote, at the very back when they start discussing the future being CGI, there is a reference to John Lasseter, back when PIXAR was still owned by Lucasfilm.

According to UPS, scanner is scheduled for delivery tomorrow afternoon.

-Eric

Isn't this the place where they hold the Bay Area Dickens Festival every year?

I found the shot. The caption says it was done for ESB though. If I remember correctly, ILM was still in LA for Star Wars.

-Eric

switchblade_slinger said:

---

Isn't this the place where they hold the Bay Area Dickens Festival every year?

You're thinking of the Cow Palace. Completely different part of the city.

jlee562 said:

---

You're thinking of the Cow Palace. Completely different part of the city.

I recall now that an article on ILM specifically mentioned Cow Palace. Maybe for Empire, or the ST2 shot.

I found a shot from Cinefex of the first DS explosion.

Dang not much to go with. But thanks for posting.

The shot in the book looks like it came from the bleacher area in the photo you posted. you can clearly see the ceiling in the book shot.

When are you going?

-Eric

Within a month, I will look for fragments of the deathstar I will take a few pictures. I will post a more definite date once I know. I'll keep this forum alive for any others to add to.

Here you go! The quality is not that good, but the quality in the book was not all that great.



-Eric

SF Armory for ST2, guess they used Cow Palace for Empire.

Any info on the Cow Palace? I'm less than 5 minutes from the Cow Palace

The captions on the photos in the book say The Cow Palace was used for Wrath of Khan.

-Eric

A tour would be VERY interesting. Hmm...

By the by, if anyone is in the area and thinking of a tour, it's today's Groupon:
SF Armory Deal of the Day | Groupon San Francisco