Given the recent questions/discussion about Brian Muir, I've been saving this interview I did when I met him.
These are Brian's words, I hope you enjoy it. I can address further questions/points of clarification as well.
This interview is copyright, please do not repost it without permission. I have Brian's permission to post this here. This interview is intended to address questions that Star Wars fans may like to ask him.
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These are Brian's words, I hope you enjoy it. I can address further questions/points of clarification as well.
This interview is copyright, please do not repost it without permission. I have Brian's permission to post this here. This interview is intended to address questions that Star Wars fans may like to ask him.
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A Conversation with a Movie Sculptor: Brian Muir
By SithLord (pseudoynm)
Darth Vader has endured as a villainous focal point for the Star Wars saga from its inception. Based on George Lucas' concept of the dark villain, artist and designer Ralph McQuarrie gave us our first glimpse of Darth Vader in what are now famous sketches and paintings. Those images made it possible for George Lucas to successfully promote his ideas to 20th Century Fox in 1975. Production and principal photography was to take place at Elstree Studios in England in 1976. Production designer John Barry and costume designer John Mollo were responsible for creating a suit for Darth Vader based on the McQuarrie concept that could be worn by actor David Prowse. However, the helmet and armor for Vader would require an experienced fabrication team including a sculptor who could successfully translate the two dimensional images of Vader into a three dimensional, physical reality. As there was only a single accredited sculptor in England at the time, that task fell quite by chance to a young sculptor by the name of Brian Muir. Brian Muir sculpted the helmet and armor for Darth Vader, giving life in three dimensions to the villain conceptualized by Ralph McQuarrie. Mr. Muir's portfolio spans over 38 years and includes such films as The Prince and the Pauper, The Martian Chronicles, Star Wars: A New Hope, Alien (working alongside H. R. Giger), Superman the Movie, the Indiana Jones trilogy, no less than eight James Bond films, Clash of the Titans (working with stop-motion animation giant Ray Harryhausen), Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Lost in Space, Alexander the Great, Cutthroat Island, both of the Laura Croft: Tomb Raider films, and the list goes on. I caught up with this pleasant and unassuming sculptor in his native England and found out more about his little known role in bringing Darth Vader to life.
When were you first approached to work on Star Wars and what were you working on at the time?
Actually I had a break from the film industry, I had been working on churches, houses of parliament, and I had work unveiled by the Queen, the Queen Mother, that sort of thing. I had a phone call out of the blue by the old chap that I had been trained under, and he said that there was a film called "Star Wars" at Elstree Film Studios, and asked if I was interested in starting on it. Liz Moore [the sculptress who created C-3PO] was already working on it, and I really fancied going back into the film industry. So I said yes, I would start, and I began work on the production in January of 1976.
You are known for sculpting the helmet and armor for Darth Vader; what was the process in bringing Darth Vader to life in three dimensions?
I actually got a small sketch from John Mollo down in the wardrobe department and from that design, I sculpted Darth Vader in clay onto a plaster head of Dave Prowse. We had a certain amount of thickness we could use in clay, so that his appearance was as threatening as possible, while I still had to make sure that it would all fit afterwards. The mask was done separately, so the mask was then molded and cast. I then had a cast in plaster of the mask and on top of that I sculpted the helmet in clay. The helmet was then molded using the plaster head as a molding ground [base] knowing full well that it would then fit back onto the mask. Once the plasterers had molded the mask and helmet, they were actually cast out in fiberglass with color in the resin so they were black, then maybe they were painted as well.
How about the armor?
The shoulder armor and leg armor were actually sculpted on a plaster figure of Dave Prowse using sketches I had from John Mollo. Because whatever I sculpted in clay, the body becomes a molding ground so that the return of the clay when they mold it would always be cast out so that the armor would definitely fit back onto Dave Prowse perfectly. They would actually put foam into the back of the armor anyway.
How long did it take you to sculpt the Darth Vader helmet?
By helmet you mean mask and helmet? I think it was roughly from memory around about two weeks.
So it might have been one week on the mask and one week on the helmet?
No, it probably would have been a bit more on the mask, I was doing seven day weeks so it probably would have been about 9 days on the mask and probably about 4 on the helmet.
Were you rushed?
No, I wasn't terribly rushed. I know I wasn't long on it. I did the droid heads fairly quick, as they were about 3 or 4 days each. I spent quite a bit of time on stuff like cleaning up afterwards. The stormtroopers took quite a fair time, because they included legs, chest, back, arms, everything really so that was a fair bit of time, and then carving them in the plaster again. So it was all the processes at the time but the actual sculpting periods weren't that long. But I'm recognized in this country as being fairly quick anyway. We re-created two sets of the Planet of the Apes set, that originally took a year to produce in the USA, in about six days in polystyrene.
Was there anything apart from the John Mollo sketch that inspired you when you were sculpting the helmet of Darth Vader?
Really it was taking what I had there which wasn't much really and developing it, and in the developing of it into three dimensions, there were just things that happened, as strange as that may sound. From my past experience of sculpting on various things, form comes easily from my mind, as I see things very easily in three dimensions. So that using the basis which wasn't much really, just an outline drawing from John Mollo that wasn't very big, I took that and developed it into the form of Darth Vader.
Did you receive any feedback from George Lucas on your final design?
I can't remember getting any feedback from George Lucas, no. He must have been happy with it though because he did come up a couple of times, and seemed happy with what was going on. Whether he had a lot of other things to worry about, maybe Darth Vader wasn't at the top of his list at the time, but the [production] designer [John Barry] whose main responsibility was to get it looking right, was happy as well. It was him that suggested putting the tear ducts in [under Darth Vader's eyes] and one or two small alterations. I definitely remember John Barry suggesting that detail under the eyes in order to break up that area a little bit. I had very few changes to make on it, really. I seem to remember there was one or two little things said about the tusks, maybe I brought them out slightly further. What changes were made were made in the clay. Just slight things but nothing major. He was quite happy with the way the head went. On the suit of armor I think John Barry had more to say about that, whether a line needed moving over, or formed it slightly heavier. He seemed to have more involvement on the actual suit than the helmet. He seemed to be happy from the word go about how it was going. John Barry was the production designer and he had the overall say on everything design-wise, the sets, the suits, everything.
Did you see the finished Darth Vader suit or were you able to go on set?
I did go on set and see it but one moves onto the next project. After Darth Vader I did the droids so I was very involved up in the art department. You get there in the morning and you sculpt away and the day goes by and, really, you don't tend to go down on set to watch filming. And if you were seen on set watching the filming they wanted to know what you were doing down there, [laughs] and would say "why aren't you up in the art department doing what you are being paid to do?"
Were you pleased with how the costume designers completed the "look" of Darth Vader?
I was, yes. I think the cloak was a master-stroke, and I think the whole suit came together very well. I was pleased with the overall look of it.
I understand you did some work on the sculpture of C-3PO, can you tell us a little bit about your contribution to the look of C-3PO?
C-3PO was as you well know sculpted by Liz Moore. Liz left the picture probably about four weeks after I started. What I did in plaster I carved the whole of the suit up to sharpen it up so all of the edges were clean. I made some alterations around the back of the front mask where the joint line is. I sculpted the hands on Tony Daniels. And that's about it, really. It was probably only a week's work, with just slight alterations. The main contribution was really sharpening it up so that it was absolutely pristine. The slight alterations didn't really come to that much, but they were done and I did them and as I say the only new contribution were the hands. It was very strange because normally they would mold Tony Daniel's hands and give me a cast of his hands, and I would sculpt it on them. But because it was a last minute thing, Tony actually came up to the workshop and I actually sculpted them on his hands. Whether he would remember that or not I don't know, but it happened. It's not something that happens every day to you is it, that someone sculpts something on your hands.
I remember you mentioning that the sharpening that you did was to make C-3PO's look more like metal?
Yes, to make it more like metal whereby actually all the corners were absolutely sharper. You can carve plaster with wood carving chisels and that is what I actually did. Wood carving chisels are extremely sharp and you can create very sharp edges with them by cutting it extremely cleanly.
Did you sculpt any other Star Wars characters? If so can you tell us a little bit about them?
Well, when I started off on the picture, the first thing I did was sculpted the body armor for all of the stormtroopers. That was everything on the stormtroopers apart from the helmet, really. It was the same process with that, but we didn't actually do it on an actor. We got an average-sized person and molded that and I sculpted everything on a figure. That was then molded and cast in plaster and carved up to be sharp. After sculpting Darth Vader I went on to do the two droid's heads based on sketches by John Mollo. [note: Protocol droid RA-7 seen in the sandcrawler and Death Star, and secretary droid CZ-1 seen in the sand crawler and at Mos Eisley when Luke sells his landspeeder]. I was told at the time they were just for the [trash] compactor.
How long did you work on the Star Wars production?
It worked out to be about 5 months in the end, 20 weeks. But I worked at one point 76 days without a day off. So I was putting in a lot of hours within that 5 months and that's probably why I turned so much work out in that period.
What was your impression of the production when you were working, and were you told very much about the plot of the film?
I personally was told nothing about the plot whatsoever, really, other than the very basics, that it was based on a fairy tale, on King Arthur. Really not too much at all; we were kept in the dark to a point.
Did you get a chance to meet Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist that defined the original look of Darth Vader?
I can't remember meeting him to be honest with you. He might have come in because he did the conceptual work on it but I can't remember meeting him.
Did you get to keep anything from the Star Wars production?
No not a single thing. The only thing I did get is the folio given to crew members autographed with thanks from George Lucas and Gary Kurtz.
When did you see the finished version of Star Wars in theaters?
I actually went to the crew showing which is normally about a week before the premiere showing of Star Wars, they call it a preview over here.
And what was your impression?
I thought it was fantastic. It was before its time, really. We had never seen anything, I mean CGI or computer work, like that before. Immediately when the large spaceship came over everyone just started clapping. This is the crew that worked on it, and we all thought it was going to be a load of nonsense, but then immediately we thought it was a fantastic film. At the end of the film itself it got a standing ovation which is unheard of in crew showings really because to a point you take it all for granted.
What was your reaction when you first saw Darth Vader appear on the screen?
My reaction was seeing my creation come to life on the screen. It was fantastic to see it.
When Darth Vader first uttered his words to Princess Leia, what did you think of the voice behind the mask you created? Was it the kind of voice you expected to hear?
Well to be quite honest with you I was expecting to hear Dave Prowse' voice. When I didn't, to be honest, I thought the voice [of James Earl Jones] was very good. I was expecting to hear Dave Prowse because we all knew that he was in the suit, but it obviously wasn't his voice from the get go. But it worked quite well.
What did you think of Darth Vader re-appearing in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?
Seeing the character again in the films, I thought it was fine. It was something that I had created, and the more he was in the films, the better it was. It was seeing your creation carry on.
Did you contribute any work to any of the Star Wars prequel movies?
Just on the first one [The Phantom Menace], I did the landing gear for Queen Amidala's ship.
Were you pleased to see Darth Vader appear once again recently on the big screen in Revenge of the Sith?
Again, it's a character that's become so popular over the years. It gives you a thrill to know that you've actually created something that's become such a big thing throughout the world. A sculptor is someone who creates, so you like to know that people have appreciated the work you've done.
The Darth Vader helmet for Revenge of the Sith was modified a bit from your original sculpture. What did you think of the new look of the Darth Vader helmet?
I thought it was pretty good actually, not that I've studied it too much. They've cleaned it up slightly from the original. It looked fine.
My four year old niece knew about Darth Vader before she even saw Star Wars, what do you think about the longevity of the appeal of Darth Vader to fans of all ages?
I think it will stand in time for many years to come. We are 30 years on now, so I could see it going on and on. With the way it's going with the internet, conventions, the fan base just seems to be growing and growing. I do see it as an ongoing thing. Who can put how many years on something like that, but it is a growing trend and let's hope it carries on. Having done thousands of bits of work of varying degrees from trees and rocks to architectural work to creatures like the space jockey [Alien 1979] and big figures, really it was just another job. But with the fact that it will be remembered, I am quite proud having done it.
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