Prop info from forthcoming Making of SW book
- Thread starter robstyle
- Start date
Probe Droid
Master Member
OK, so I got an advance copy of this forthcoming book The Making of Star Wars for review. According to John Barry, "the comlink is in fact is part of a faucet...Luke's binoculars are an old Ronoflex." It also mentions the sabers being old camera flashes, so that's right, but the binox been identified as another camera. And what about the comlink? Parts of SW has it as model engine parts glued together, although there is a ref to a possible piece of plumbing hardware.
Alright experts, lets hear it.
There are also a contact strip of the junk bought to make sets and props. Pretty cool.
3/18 Update: Here are some scans
Cantina guys
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4632/swcantinaguysyl4.jpg[/IMAGE]
Falcon interior
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5545/swfalconintbl7.jpg[/IMAGE]
Junk that became props
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8306/swpropstripnl4.jpg[/IMAGE]
Vader gets the brush off
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5545/swvaderbrushpf5.jpg[/IMAGE]
Sorry the scans are lousy. Just got this scanner and can't seem to get the hang of it. Any help would be appreciated.
Alright experts, lets hear it.
There are also a contact strip of the junk bought to make sets and props. Pretty cool.
3/18 Update: Here are some scans
Cantina guys
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4632/swcantinaguysyl4.jpg[/IMAGE]
Falcon interior
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5545/swfalconintbl7.jpg[/IMAGE]
Junk that became props
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8306/swpropstripnl4.jpg[/IMAGE]
Vader gets the brush off
[IMAGE]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5545/swvaderbrushpf5.jpg[/IMAGE]
Sorry the scans are lousy. Just got this scanner and can't seem to get the hang of it. Any help would be appreciated.
Darth Movado
Well-Known Member
You are speaking of the comm link that Luke uses in the compactor? I'm just trying to be clear.
Movado
Movado
lonepigeon
Master Member
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(micdavis @ Mar 16 2007, 09:39 PM) [snapback]1441679[/snapback]</div>
Except that John Barry died during the making of Empire so the interview is at least earlier than June of 1979.
Many of teh interviews in the new book are taken from old documents in the LFL archives dating back to ANH.
Barry may still have been remembering incorrectly a couple years after they made the props- it happens. I spoke with prop makers on the prequels who didn't remember facts correctly a year or two later.
The comlink body has never been identified positively. I have heard that the Han ANH grill was a plumbing adaptor - originally I thought the grill was the same piece as the comlink body, but now I think it's just similar but likely related. Barry could be right.
"Ronoflex" I've never heard of, but they did use parts from a couple brands of reflex cameras (Kalimar and Shanghai) - maybe more since all the parts of the ANH stunt macros haven't been ID'ed yet.
Any other specific prop info??
Except that John Barry died during the making of Empire so the interview is at least earlier than June of 1979.
Many of teh interviews in the new book are taken from old documents in the LFL archives dating back to ANH.
Barry may still have been remembering incorrectly a couple years after they made the props- it happens. I spoke with prop makers on the prequels who didn't remember facts correctly a year or two later.
The comlink body has never been identified positively. I have heard that the Han ANH grill was a plumbing adaptor - originally I thought the grill was the same piece as the comlink body, but now I think it's just similar but likely related. Barry could be right.
"Ronoflex" I've never heard of, but they did use parts from a couple brands of reflex cameras (Kalimar and Shanghai) - maybe more since all the parts of the ANH stunt macros haven't been ID'ed yet.
Any other specific prop info??
Darth Lars
Master Member
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Probe Droid @ Mar 16 2007, 09:50 PM) [snapback]1441648[/snapback]</div>
[attachmentid=13138]
That is not the first time I have seen an indication that a faucet might be the part. Here is a (bad) pic I took in a hardware store 13 months ago of a faucet part that reminded me of the "mic tips" when I saw it. The inner piece has thin walls and is of metallized plastic. The assembly is supposed to be pressed together. The four ridges on the screen-used part are obviously there to press against the outer sleeve.
[attachmentid=13138]
Probe Droid
Master Member
Concur with Chris, it seems much of this info is not from current interviews, but from LFL archival material. The pix certainly aren't new (and confirm what we've all long suspected--that there are tons of never-before-seen treasure still to be unearthed). I'll post additional prop info--if any--as it unfurls.
Gave my extra copy to Brak's Buddy. Art, any thoughts???
--PD
Gave my extra copy to Brak's Buddy. Art, any thoughts???
--PD
As I posted at the MEPD, here are the interesting things I found.
"George announced that he was going to take some stormtroopers on location, and he wanted them to be in 'combat order.' I said 'Oh yes, George, what's combat order for stormtroopers?' and he said, 'Lots of stuff on the back.' So I went into this Boy Scout shop in London and bought one of these metal backpack racks; then we took plastic seed boxes, stuck two of those together, and put four of those on the rack. Then we put a plastic drainpipe on top, with a laboratory pipe on the side, and everything was sprayed black. George asked, 'Can we have something that shows their rank?' So we took a motocyclist chest protector and put one of them on their shoulders. George said, 'That's great.' We painted one orange and one black and that was it."
One item that stood out [of the wardrobe budget] was te cost associated with the stormtroopers, tho ran up a tab of ($93,000) [The total wardrobe budget for Star Wars was $220,000, so the stormtroopers were almost hald the budget.] - and whose final outfits were still not ready a week before location shooting was to begin . "Stormtroopers were the nightmare costume," Mollo explains. "We got a model in of a suitable size, did a plaster body cast, and Liz Moore modeled the armor onto this figure. Then everybody used to go in and say, "Arm off here, arm off there," and George changed all the kneecaps. This went on for several weeks. Finall that was all taken away and produced in vacuum-form plastic - but the next question was: How does it all go together? And I think we had something like four days before shooting , but we just played around until we managed to string it all together in such a way that you could get in on and off the bloke in about five minutes.
This is GREAT info for us stormtrooper fans. I have long suspected and championed the boy scout packs and now it is confirmed. Now if we can just find those seed trays...
"George announced that he was going to take some stormtroopers on location, and he wanted them to be in 'combat order.' I said 'Oh yes, George, what's combat order for stormtroopers?' and he said, 'Lots of stuff on the back.' So I went into this Boy Scout shop in London and bought one of these metal backpack racks; then we took plastic seed boxes, stuck two of those together, and put four of those on the rack. Then we put a plastic drainpipe on top, with a laboratory pipe on the side, and everything was sprayed black. George asked, 'Can we have something that shows their rank?' So we took a motocyclist chest protector and put one of them on their shoulders. George said, 'That's great.' We painted one orange and one black and that was it."
One item that stood out [of the wardrobe budget] was te cost associated with the stormtroopers, tho ran up a tab of ($93,000) [The total wardrobe budget for Star Wars was $220,000, so the stormtroopers were almost hald the budget.] - and whose final outfits were still not ready a week before location shooting was to begin . "Stormtroopers were the nightmare costume," Mollo explains. "We got a model in of a suitable size, did a plaster body cast, and Liz Moore modeled the armor onto this figure. Then everybody used to go in and say, "Arm off here, arm off there," and George changed all the kneecaps. This went on for several weeks. Finall that was all taken away and produced in vacuum-form plastic - but the next question was: How does it all go together? And I think we had something like four days before shooting , but we just played around until we managed to string it all together in such a way that you could get in on and off the bloke in about five minutes.
This is GREAT info for us stormtrooper fans. I have long suspected and championed the boy scout packs and now it is confirmed. Now if we can just find those seed trays...
Heh heh... you posted it...
Another thing I found interesting was multiple copies of the concept artwork... it would be the same mcquarrie painting but with 3 different versions of the falcon in it... This makes it clear that the "concept" artwork we see didn't necessarily come before the item was made... which comes back to the stormtrooper stuff again. Who sculpted it and from what? We used to think for certain it was the concept artwork, but now I wonder.
Another thing I found interesting was multiple copies of the concept artwork... it would be the same mcquarrie painting but with 3 different versions of the falcon in it... This makes it clear that the "concept" artwork we see didn't necessarily come before the item was made... which comes back to the stormtrooper stuff again. Who sculpted it and from what? We used to think for certain it was the concept artwork, but now I wonder.
KnightAsylum
Sr Member
While I do understand that things can be remembered wrong I was suprise that the first responses tended to be that he must be wrong. Not being an expert of these things at all I am more inclined to think that the fans may have identified a similar part, but maybe not the exact thing. While I know some people obsese over these things and compair pictures for hours, I do tend to put some credit to folks that are actually involved.
Not that he isn't wrong in this case, I would not know, I was just suprised by the reaction overall.
Just an observation, not a complaint. I am looking forward to the book myself. Right or Wrong I will not really know the difference anyway, so I can just enjoy seeing more behind the scenes stuff
Not that he isn't wrong in this case, I would not know, I was just suprised by the reaction overall.
Just an observation, not a complaint. I am looking forward to the book myself. Right or Wrong I will not really know the difference anyway, so I can just enjoy seeing more behind the scenes stuff
Stormtrooper
Well-Known Member
Well the end of the stormtrooper comlink is made from a HOVI Mix PA, just like the mic-tips on the trooper helmets themselves. I've watched ANH in High Definition, and the close-up scene of the comlink where it's sitting in the Death Star Control Room (when Luke is trying to call Threepio on it, and just before the troopers burst in through the blast door)... well, the letters HOVI can barely be made out on the end of the comlink.
It certainly helps when you have an idea of what it should say... ie. if you didn't know then you probably couldn't make out the lettering... but trust me, it's there
Unfortunately I don't have the necessary hardware setup to take HD screencaps
I've heard in the past that the mic tips were plastic aerators bought from the hardware shop at the end of the road from Elstree), but haven't been able to turn up any proof of HOVI brand plastic plumbing gear, yet.
So it's my theory that the comlink is nothing more than a HOVI Mix aerator fitted onto a piece of plastic pipe, with rubber O-Rings pushed over the body of the pipe.
Cheers,
John
It certainly helps when you have an idea of what it should say... ie. if you didn't know then you probably couldn't make out the lettering... but trust me, it's there
Unfortunately I don't have the necessary hardware setup to take HD screencaps
I've heard in the past that the mic tips were plastic aerators bought from the hardware shop at the end of the road from Elstree), but haven't been able to turn up any proof of HOVI brand plastic plumbing gear, yet.
So it's my theory that the comlink is nothing more than a HOVI Mix aerator fitted onto a piece of plastic pipe, with rubber O-Rings pushed over the body of the pipe.
Cheers,
John
ItsThatGuy
Sr Member
IIRC...I also heard a theory that the HOVI's could have been made from old control knobs of some kind and not aerators or mic tips.... Anyone else ever hear this?
lonepigeon
Master Member
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stormtrooper @ Mar 17 2007, 01:57 AM) [snapback]1441836[/snapback]</div>
Well, we don't know for sure what the tips are just the words on them and assuming Mix and PA are microphone terms. Still both theories make sense since they used lots of some equipment too.
There are NO O-rings on the comlink. The body is the same black radial finned piece as used on the Merr Sonn and Greedo blasters (not a pipe). The white cap on the end is a screw cap.
Well, we don't know for sure what the tips are just the words on them and assuming Mix and PA are microphone terms. Still both theories make sense since they used lots of some equipment too.
There are NO O-rings on the comlink. The body is the same black radial finned piece as used on the Merr Sonn and Greedo blasters (not a pipe). The white cap on the end is a screw cap.
Probe Droid
Master Member
Bump for scans.
Stormtrooper
Well-Known Member
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(robstyle @ Mar 18 2007, 01:24 PM) [snapback]1442728[/snapback]</div>
Duh, no they're not... one's wearing a pullover, and the other's wearing a pullover with a jacket over it.
Hehehe...
Nice scans BTW... I can't wait to get a copy of this book.
Cheers,
John
Duh, no they're not... one's wearing a pullover, and the other's wearing a pullover with a jacket over it.
Hehehe...
Nice scans BTW... I can't wait to get a copy of this book.
Cheers,
John
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