TFA Graflex Research (That's a Graflex, right? Force Awakens teaser trailer #2)

I wouldn't orient the clamp cover based on some random promo picture. Thin lines towards the clamp lever is the correct way.

Wired Photoshoot:

attachment.php


Launch Bay:

l7B6VSh.jpg
 
Those would be considered random promos as well, from what I and many others have seen from the actual film the thin lines point away from the lever.
 
If people are building Skywalker Ranch sabers, any of these can be legit.

There's no such thing as 100% screen accurate when the props themselves change from scene to scene due to differences between heroes, stunts, and back ups.
 
Well ... I consider a picture taken of the prop in the leather jacket used on screen a lot more accurate than any picture taken of a loose prop for promo in some magazine or Disney exhibition ... remember the so-called Ranch saber ... Luke's ESB lightsaber residing at the Archive near Skywalker Ranch ... that had the different wider textured mylar tape on the clamp which was never seen on screen?

Chaim
 
For sure-- I think there's a law of averages in play-- which details are the most common can probably be agreed upon to say what's most accurate.
If you look, the clamp card in the launch bay photo is off-center. Meaning it's very likely it wasn't in place for shipping and whomever arranged the display just stuck it in there however.

Exactly like the person who set up the Skywalker ranch display said "oh hey, we should cover this logo with something" and caused decades of debate. :) That said-- people do build ranch sabers as it is an anomaly, so in and of itself also rare. Like a misprinted baseball card being worth as much as a legit one.

My bigger point was-- each of them has a certain level of legitimacy. Once the Blue Ray hits and people can see film stills at high res a lot of things will be decided upon for sure-- I just think that the quest for 100% accuracy is something that can truly ever be attained due to the nature of film production.
 
Bryancd said:
No, I'm pretty sure this happened post 7 filming. There were rumors they went back out to film there a few months before TFA came out. Some thought it was TFA reshoots but I think it was likely this.
Click to expand...

They went back to Skellig last September to film it, I just read this somewhere this last week. Maybe for continuity as far as weather conditions go?

As a side note, I just read the Cinefex article on TFA. It sort of implies that they made the clamps:

We managed to buy every three-cell Graflex flash handle we could find on eBay. We fabricated rubber fins for the handle, added a little clamp that held the two halves together, and in that clamp we added brass contacts.

We all know Graflexes come with the clamp. Just that he mentions the clamp makes it sound like they made new ones, as he mentions the two other things they did make for it, grips & circuit board. It may not be the case, but in that context you could read it like that. They do scanning & CNC machining its just as simple to make a whole new clamp. And I have to admit that I have not read every post on this thread, so it may well be an established fact already that they made new ones!

Anyway, I am looking forward to Roy's clamp cover here!
 
Last edited:
In all 7 complete G R A F L E X flashguns were purchased by Foodles . . . 1 directly from ebay . . . after which that seller was contacted and 6 more were found and sold for production . . . so there was absolutely no need to recreate the clamps . . . clearly whoever was interviewed for Cinefex did not have all the facts. Here's 4 out of 7 G R A F L E X flashguns :

star%20wars%203_zpsk29grpwi.JPG


Now as far as those 'rubber fins' for grips that's interesting ... if it's accurate and true.

Chaim
 
Last edited:
Yeah there was no need, unless someone (JJ?) wanted no text on the clamps and they just made new ones...we'll see in the future maybe! James Enright was the guy who said that on the Cinefex interview. Whats more interesting, they also made cloth versions as the grips are hard on actors' hands. Saber was made from memory foam and covered in cloth:

We tried molding some in rubber, but they kept coming apart. Then our genius Lewis Longworth built fabric ones-stitched in fabric around memory foam. All the lumpy bits collapsed when the actors' gripped them, and sprung back when they let go.
 
Last edited:
Indeed ... something is covering the G R A F L E X text ... that's clear as day :

TFA%20-%20GRAFLEX-01A_zpsfu4bl0vf.JPG


I hope there's a 'Making of ... TFA' documentary made and available soon :) That said for me I have no intention
of recreating a TFA Finn saber ... it will always be Luke's ESB ;)

Chaim
 
Last edited:
It'll be interesting to see how close the Launch Bay sabers are to the screen-used ones. At least the grips do not match. The fin is rounded on the notched part on the Launch Bay version, also not as high. Thats compared against the promo shot with leather jacket you posted as well as the wired photo shoot where its a straight cut.

That said, its not at all my intention to stubbornly argue its a new clamp! Just an observation on what the guy said about the Graflexes.
 
So I picked up the new issue of Cinefex magazine today. In the article on TFA there was this shot from the saber battle:

cinefex145 _01.jpg

Notice anything odd about the saber? Yep... what's up with all of those grooves?! That thing is *not* a Graflex.

cinefex145_02.jpg
 
THE PLOT THICKENS.

This is probably their stunt/dueling saber. A body that you can actually handle without tearing up your hand, something set for the rod and LEDs, with the top using a Gralfex syncro/mini for visual continuity.
 
What you seem to see is most likely an optical illusion ... partly from being a photograph taken off a screen, which in turn was made with a 35mm movie-camera and most likely re-worked in post, hence the loss of details of the 4 lines going around the G R A F L E X clamp. Shadows, light and reflections can really create another picture ... in your mind :)

Chaim
 
If you watch that part of the movie you'll see that Rey is holding the Graflex after she catches it, brings it up to her, and then ignites it.

Then it cuts to Kylo Ren.

Then it cuts back to Rey and she's holding that weird, not-Graflex saber-thing.

Then it cuts back to Kylo.

When it cuts back to Rey, she is not holding that weird saber-thing and is back to holding a Graflex.

That weird saber-thing seems to be isolated to just that one shot, she's holding a Graflex the entire rest of the time. My guess is that Saber-thing has a much brighter on-set light to shine light on Rey's face to be picked-up by the camera.
 
It also switches position - first the button is away from her, then after the flip from Kylo to her, it's flipped so the button is 180, so she can ignite it

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
 
roygilsing said:
The TFA edge connector clamp cards are now available!
http://wannawanga.com/products/edge-connector/

View attachment 585410

As you can see I also have a clamp cover in this picture. This is a sample version.

It's not available yet, I actually need your opinions!

Here are some more pictures:
View attachment 585411 View attachment 585412

View attachment 585413

View attachment 585414

View attachment 585415

This part is stainless steel (0.15 mm) sheet. This is much tougher than you might think. (I tried 0.2 mm, but that's too hard to bend)
As you can see, I made the grooves as cutouts instead of engraving (also called embossing). This gives a very sharp and precise definition.
I also created tabs that go underneath the rectangular Graflex bars. This is a very convenient method of assembling and it's not at all visible as was the case with the much thicker Force FX clamp test.
The surface of the steel comes mat and without brushed texture, but you need to brush it by hand (with 600+ grid sand paper)

So the question is: shall I make THIS version available? (price $15, available in 1-2 weeks)
Or shall I continue the development and make it with engraved grooves and WITH a brushed texture? ($15, available in 5-6 weeks)

Let me know what you think!
Click to expand...

Any updates Roy?
 
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

Lovecrafty
Graflex spring help
Replies
2
Views
174
Lovecrafty
Lovecrafty
R
GRAFLEX REPLICA GUIDE???
Replies
5
Views
532
Ridire Firean
R
S
Looking For Assistance In Finding A Vintage Graflex
Replies
3
Views
774
James Kenobi 1138
James Kenobi 1138
8T88
8T88 from Star Wars Dark Forces 2
Replies
19
Views
817
Vikt0r
Vikt0r
FLS89
Vintage Graflex from my childhood
Replies
17
Views
1,248
Anakin Starkiller
Anakin Starkiller
Back
Top