Screen Accuracy and Star Wars

Karol

Karol

New Member
The Star Wars fan base has always seemed like one that was obsessed with screen accuracy.

Do you agree? And if so, why do you think that is? What is it about Star Wars, or its culture and community that makes its fans so committed to making such accurate props and costumes?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
 
Karol said:
The Star Wars fan base has always seemed like one that was obsessed with screen accuracy.

Do you agree? And if so, why do you think that is? What is it about Star Wars, or its culture and community that makes its fans so committed to making such accurate props and costumes?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Click to expand...

First thought in my head?

Because all props were hand made. Mostly using randomly found bits and parts.

This gives us the power to make the same "exact" replicas.

One of the biggest downsides to CGI.
 
Also, as Star Wars has been around for decades, the days of non screen accurate have gone , as our hobby has grown , part of the hobby has become research and hunting for accuracy has filtered to the top of most people's interests .
 
In fairness, while this is true to a point, the comment still only applies to a small percentage of the total number of SW fans.

That said, the smaller number of dedicated, fastidious fans who demand accuracy certainly keeps the studios on their toes - as well it should.
 
That applies to the prop collectors here.
Some seasoned prop collectors here have maybe five different versions of a single part for a prop sitting in a drawer, each one being slightly more accurate than the next. Normal people don't upgrade their collectors items.

In the costuming groups 501st Legion and Rebel Legion, consistency within the group tends to come right before screen accuracy.
The Rebel Fleet Trooper, with the large egg-looking helmets is one example. For years people have worn helmets that are white and dark vests that had the same pockets on left and right sides. Then info had surfaced that the helmets were actually light grey and ten years later that the vests had different pockets on the left and right. But the recommendation is still to wear what people have used to wear so as to not stand out.
 
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As DL said the costuming groups want everyone to look the same (which usually is not accurate)
There have even been those in charge of such groups that are way off but demand you do it their way.

Go with what YOU want and can afford, later if you like upgrade parts.
It's all about what makes YOU happy, not someone on the other side of the planet.
 
Star Wars had a HUGE impact on culture and society all over the world. By painstakingly recreating the most accurate props, models and other artwork people express their love and dedication to that phenomenon. You would not spend years to make something as accurate as possible if you do not love the subject in question. Working on a piece brings back fond memories and helps you escape from reality and take a step into a larger world ( ;) ). Of course personal abilities and resources are a defining factor, too, but I guess that in the bottom of their hearts any Star Wars fan wishes to produce the best result possible. Star Wars is exciting, a modern fairy tale, and thus very attractive. The fascination about it draws the fans into that other world. Making the most accurate replicas from that world is a way to express gratitude towards it and the people involved in the making of it and to honour their achievements. OK, and it's a lot of FUN! :)
 
Perfectly said..! No cnc..no 3d printing/modeling...ect.
WhillB said:
First thought in my head?

Because all props were hand made. Mostly using randomly found bits and parts.

This gives us the power to make the same "exact" replicas.

One of the biggest downsides to CGI.
Click to expand...
 
for example...boba fett costume- horse girtle belt-all sorts of dental tools-mountain climbers helmet- pocket calculator-spear gun-flair gun- the list goes on...and thats just for one character !!! its amazing what they did with what they had to work with 40 years ago...and it still holds up to be AWESOME in my opinion !!
 
I can only speak for myself, as I don't troop or participate in cosplay.

The reason I want screen accuracy, is to feel like I have little slice of the movie sitting in my home/small collection. But there's a bit more to it than that.

I was 8 when I saw Star Was in 1977, and the experience of sitting in a dark theater, having our own world disappear, then being whisked away into a space... as a kid. It just set my imagination free. All the kids in my neighborhood were playing Star Wars in the their back yards all year. Light saber duels with broom sticks. Blaster fights with our hands as guns. Flying in the Falcon, x-wings, tie fighters. Tie a black linen around our necks, and suddenly we were Darth Vader. Where a white shirt, and we're Stormtroopers. Man, we had a blast. Yeah - there was no accuracy at that age at all. LOL

But the movie itself is still a movie - a flat visual and audio experience. It isn't physically tangible (for most) - we couldn't touch it. We couldn't feel it.

Now - with hyper accurate props, the sense of touch and feel has been introduced. There's dimension. Star Wars becomes tangible - almost living.

It's the (little) details that bring the prop/object to life and give it a soul.

When I look up at my TM ESB Vader helmet, it looks like the helmet was pulled right out of the screen and placed on my shelf. I can hold it in my hands - so there's an all whole new visceral feeling that comes with this experience. In a way, it reconnects me to that wide-eyed 11 year old's imagination again - my 11 year old self sitting in the theater during the Empire Strikes Back seeing Vader's all new black shiny helmet. I feel like a kid again.

As a comparison, the Rubies Supreme Vader helmet I can find at Target does NOT convey this sense of authenticity and connection to the movie and my little self in any way shape or form. It has no soul.

It's a lot more difficult to describe than I thought...
 
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There are different opinions on screen accuracy. Some want as close as possible to the actual prop including all of the warts. Others want more idealized versions. Neither is right or wrong, they are just different.

For myself, I am fine with some idealization. I don't care if my Luke ANH lightsaber has Graflex on the band only to be covered by tape. Others are not happy unless it is an authentic Graflex.

Many of the props were quickly made and on a low budget. I don't see anything wrong with making some improvements in materials or hasty work on the originals.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
 
.... I heartily agree with the sentiments being expressed here. As a child I couldn't have all the toys. I may have had a few figures and one or two ships, that was it. But, it didn't stop me from playing in my backyard. Re-creating the Dune sea or making with clay my Han Solo in Carbonite. I built Death Stars landings and ships out of cardboard and tape and Legos. Lightsabers out of broomsticks. Even then it was a tactile, visceral thing. Our imaginations had no limits.... now as adults we can afford to recreate our childhood dreams of owning a 'real' DL-44, or maybe build a Millennium Falcon model or Accurate Graflex. And there is 40 years of research here on the RPF to tell you how, and what's real and legit.
 
There's also different types of collectors. For every person that wants screen accuracy and for their props to be made from the same source material as the originals, there's another person who wants that Lucasfilm stamp on the bottom and cares less about accuracy as they do having an "official" prop replica.
 
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This is actually a deeply personal question. Many right answers. No wrong ones.

I saw Star Wars when I was 17. A kid who grew up in the boondocks so isolated I didn't even know the movie was coming out until dragged to a theater in LA (visiting cousins for the first time) where we waited in line for 12 hours playing board games and eating pizza until we got in to the midnight showing. I was stunned.

Over the years I would occasionally see these really cool replicas in places like the Discovey Channel Store. Then they would be gone. Part of me would wish I had splurged and gotten one of those things. Still, while obviously not a toy, they were more than I thought a responsible adult should pay for a souvenir. I guess now I was looking at a Master Replicas light saber.

Fast forward the the other end of life, where I take the family to Disney and discover that the seminal prop was made from found objects that one can still obtain. (yeah, VERY late to the game). And in doing so one can cleave to the the mythology of the story - where the Jedi constructs his own personal light saber. One can partake in the story, while experiencing what the prop makers experienced. How unique is that?

And, now I have a young Padawan who's as taken with Star Wars as I was. Father - son. Another story parallel.

Anyway, so much for the spending like a responsible adult part...
 
Long ago in a galaxy far away, under the ruthless Imperial rule a little boy was mesmerized by Star Wars he watched on cinema. Yeah, I grew up with Star Wars in a hard time when Romania was under Communist and Soviet rule (70's and 80's). I watched ANH and ESB on cinema, but ROTJ had to watch on a friend's VHS player, since Ceausescu (the Communist president aka the evil Emperor) didn't allow it to run on cinemas. Before 1990 there were hard times in this part of the world, and Star Wars OT was like a light tower for people here, especially for children who watched it. Of course there were no SW toys to be found in most of the Eastern Block, but even so I considered Star Wars to be an inspiration, a way to make people forget about their every day problems.

Then after a long time, after the Rebelion has won, I was able to get the first Star Wars toys, but I was not quite satisfied. I wanted the props, as they appeared in the movies, and nothing less. I always wanted a Stormtrooper armor, a real E-11 blaster, a good accurate TIE Fighter and AT-AT walker. That happened after understanding the accuracy issues the toys had compared to the props. I was not happy with the kiddie toys anymore, I wanted big kids toys, aka props, helmets and studio scale/ models. Owning an accurate prop replica brings the Star Wars universe closer to my heart, just like the times I first watched it on the cinema seat with my dad next to me.
 
WhillB said:
Because all props were hand made. Mostly using randomly found bits and parts.This gives us the power to make the same "exact" replicas.One of the biggest downsides to CGI.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I have no real interest in any of the TFA props because they all look like toys and/or where designed in computers. The OT props were built from hand drawings and sourced from surplus stores and junk yards. As for dedication to accuracy, I think it's common place with all replica movie prop builders and collectors, it's just Star Wars eclipses everything else.
 
everything here - having a slice of the movie, reliving and personifying a childhood obsession and taking normal objects and bringing them to life. There's something inherently different with accurizing props. What I seem to care about isn't what the story was supposed to be, but what it is in all its ugliness and glory. star wars was made from junk, and you can KIND OF tell right off the bat subconsciously. taking the journey the effects team did is part of the magic too, fitting junk together as opposed to 3D printing what you want. I almost feel its more than collecting, it's art.
 
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