New Roger Christian Interview

I was just about to say that :lol

these videos are so confusing... i just rewatched the first one and he states "that is exactly the one used"... now what happened to the bubbles and the grips? if this was the exact one used, because in the second video (which has to be filmed on the same day) he says the grips and bubble strips are exact replicas

:wacko
 
Well damn. I never saw those! Yeah, in the first video he says "That's exactly the one that Obi-Wan Kenobi brings out of the trunk and gives to Luke" and my jaw dropped. Then in the second video he reveals it's "exactly duplicated as I made on the first one". It looks like it may be an early Folmer with straight pins and dull glass eye bezel, which is as we suspect the ANH prop to be. Bubble strip is beneath the rails. Looks to be seven t-track strips but with straight ends, not angled. They look a little short of the clamp too. Clamp is on the wrong side for ANH.

What's really interesting is he says "I left it for the moment so people could see but there's just chrome tape that went round it, that's all I did for the film because I thought I better hide the name." He's saying that in the film chrome tape covered the name, but he left that detail off of his replica.
 
Well damn. I never saw those! Yeah, in the first video he says "That's exactly the one that Obi-Wan Kenobi brings out of the trunk and gives to Luke" and my jaw dropped. Then in the second video he reveals it's "exactly duplicated as I made on the first one". It looks like it may be an early Folmer with straight pins and dull glass eye bezel, which is as we suspect the ANH prop to be. Bubble strip is beneath the rails. Looks to be seven t-track strips but with straight ends, not angled. They look a little short of the clamp too. Clamp is on the wrong side for ANH.

What's really interesting is he says "I left it for the moment so people could see but there's just chrome tape that went round it, that's all I did for the film because I thought I better hide the name." He's saying that in the film chrome tape covered the name, but he left that detail off of his replica.
YUP!! i found that funny since that was a hot topic yesterday! lol

TAPE! Oh ho!
there ya go seth! i think thats enough proof to back you up! ;) :thumbsup
 
If there was tape on it during filming it probably covered the entire clamp band, Shared Stunt Luke style. Nowhere can we see the telltale shiny strip like in ESB screencaps.

tunisiafilming.jpglarge lars homestead.jpgluke-obiwan-peering-into-lightsaber.jpgsaberwiki_swcreators_anhcap3.jpg
 
He's saying that in the film chrome tape covered the name, but he left that detail off of his replica.
Actually, if you look at 0:47 in the second video, you can see what appears to be tape residue on the clamp. Maybe he pulled the tape off the clamp before he took it to the studio for the interview.
 
I was under the impression they had to put tape on it for ESB because now the movie was a big deal, and they had to be careful and not get sued :lol
 
I was under the impression they had to put tape on it for ESB because now the movie was a big deal, and they had to be careful and not get sued :lol
But wasn't the Graflex company out of business for many years by that point? What would the problem be?
 
But wasn't the Graflex company out of business for many years by that point? What would the problem be?

fair point...if that was the case, why put tape on there at all? I assume the Shared Stunt's clamp just got rusty, its upside down anyways lol
 
I think they put the tape on it in ESB simply because it got some close-ups and they didn't want to draw too much attention to it. Of course they left the end cap visible, but hey 50% is better than zero.
 
Look at the clamp in this photo. The cutouts on the side should clearly be visible but they're not there. I can make them out in Tunisia photos though. What if they covered the clamp for the hut scene, since that was the saber's reveal. The prop makers would've known that it was important in that scene, but they might not have known how closely it would be seen on camera. They may have taken extra care to conceal the name then, in case it got a closeup.

luke-obiwan-peering-into-lightsaber.jpg
 
fair point...if that was the case, why put tape on there at all?
I think the concern would have been that there shouldn't be English letters on an object that was from "A Galaxy Far, Far Away..." Not that they should have been all that worried since a.) they weren't shooting on HD video back then and b.) you never got a really close look at it in the film.

I assume the Shared Stunt's clamp just got rusty, its upside down anyways lol
I believe that the consensus is that the Shared Stunt got the addition of the tape after production, when it was spruced up for exhibition starting in 1993.
 
If there was tape on it during filming it probably covered the entire clamp band, Shared Stunt Luke style. Nowhere can we see the telltale shiny strip like in ESB screencaps.

Yes, we were talking about a tape covering the entire clamp. The fact that the grooves and text are only just noticeable shows that to me. On any vintage clamp both logo letters and grooves are way more pronounced. If you cover it entirely with tape and handle it for a while, the embossed details will faintly show, just as in the image. I am not convinced at all that it's the light playing tricks here. Combined with Roger's recollection, it is very obvious to me.
The rectangular holes seem cut out from the tape.

e58fe82facb16436d524a1ac4184c6cb.jpg


On the right side of the right rectangle, you can also see some of the tape being torn. And on the left side of clamp you can see some wrinkles in the tape. The X from GRAFLEX is barely noticeable, only faintly, which without the tape wouldn't be possible in my opinion.

I'm not at home right now (I'm in Paris), but when I'm back, I'll do some tests.
 
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Don´t forget he´s a old man, and his memory is probably not as correct as we would like. Over the years the details might get mixed.

I give not much for his comments.
 
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