Not to mention duelling with square or triangular spinning blades. Wouldn't they get all smashed and dented if they are simple wood? I'm not aware of too many 1cm wood rods that would stand up to 5 minutes of abuse let alone a whole shoot. Add spin ant every time they touched Darth would get a splinter.
ANH Stunt Lightsaber "Blades"--Triangular??? Gil Taylor sez so...
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Not to mention duelling with square or triangular spinning blades. Wouldn't they get all smashed and dented if they are simple wood? I'm not aware of too many 1cm wood rods that would stand up to 5 minutes of abuse let alone a whole shoot. Add spin ant every time they touched Darth would get a splinter.
All this is did actually happen apart from Vader getting splinters (he had gloves on!).
anybody noticed that Obis saber doesn't seem to have a tapered blade? his seems to have uniform thickness the entire length up to the tip...
kurtyboy:
so you finally found and RC motor small and strong enough to work ???
we have to talk man...we have to
Markus
kurtyboy:
so you finally found and RC motor small and strong enough to work ???
we have to talk man...we have to
Markus
Just the same old motor I showed many years ago. It spins but slows down when you swing it about! However it'll do for show.
Hadn't noticed Obi's blade not being tapered but will check it out.
Hadn't noticed Obi's blade not being tapered but will check it out.
anybody noticed that Obis saber doesn't seem to have a tapered blade? his seems to have uniform thickness the entire length up to the tip...
kurtyboy:
so you finally found and RC motor small and strong enough to work ???
we have to talk man...we have to
Markus
On a hunch I dusted off my copy of "Star Wars scrapbook" by Stephen Sansweet, and found what I was remembering. It was a replica of the "official Star Wars fanclub newsletter" #1 from 1978. (This publication would later be renamed "Bantha Tracks")
Transcribed from the book by me below.
The problem of getting the Light Sabers to work fell upon
Special Production and Mechanical Effects Supervisor
John Stears.
(Snip)
The 'blade' part of the Light Saber is actually a four-sided
blade attached to a small motor in the handle. The motor
is used to quickly rotate the blade.
Two sides of the blade are coated with a highly reflective
material similar to the material used on motion picture
screens. One of those two sides is painted four inches
higher than the other side. When spinning, this gave the
blade its flashing effect.
A device was made to lock a light source onto the camera,
allowing the camera both to move freely and to be aligned
with the light source and the blade's reflection.
The film was then taken to a special effects house and
rotoscoped, an animation process involving the frame-
by-frame drawing of previously photographed live action.
this animation process added brightness, flash, and
color to the Light Saber blades.
Transcribed from the book by me below.
The problem of getting the Light Sabers to work fell upon
Special Production and Mechanical Effects Supervisor
John Stears.
(Snip)
The 'blade' part of the Light Saber is actually a four-sided
blade attached to a small motor in the handle. The motor
is used to quickly rotate the blade.
Two sides of the blade are coated with a highly reflective
material similar to the material used on motion picture
screens. One of those two sides is painted four inches
higher than the other side. When spinning, this gave the
blade its flashing effect.
A device was made to lock a light source onto the camera,
allowing the camera both to move freely and to be aligned
with the light source and the blade's reflection.
The film was then taken to a special effects house and
rotoscoped, an animation process involving the frame-
by-frame drawing of previously photographed live action.
this animation process added brightness, flash, and
color to the Light Saber blades.
Last edited:
Bingo! Thanks scarf man.
But what do they mean by one side being painted 4 inches higher than the other side? Vertically skewed? Doesn't sound like it would do much other than make it look like the blade was retracting in and out.
But what do they mean by one side being painted 4 inches higher than the other side? Vertically skewed? Doesn't sound like it would do much other than make it look like the blade was retracting in and out.
A huge archive of Starlog magazine scans is downloadable for free from Archive.org.
Starlog Magazine : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
Some of the early issues may have some little-known facts.
k
Starlog Magazine : Free Texts : Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
Some of the early issues may have some little-known facts.
k
