Background Info
I was 10 years old in 1977, when my dad took me and a friend to the local theater to see Star Wars for the first time. As a kid I was deeply fascinated with the behind the scenes stuff that went into the production of the special effects for the original Star Wars movie. I loved building plastic models, and I dreamed of working at the ILM model shop. So it's no suprise my collection has begun to reflect those interests I had as a kid.
As a collector, I love delving into the history of the items I collect. I make it a practice to try to get to know where they came from, who they came from, and how they relate to the movie I loved so much as a kid. So my limelight photos will be accompanied by other material that explains their place in history. I enjoyed learning about these pieces, and I hope you will also enjoy seeing these items, and perhaps learning something about their place in SW history.
Leif
Joe Johnston's Sketches
In August 1975, Joe Johnston was hired to work as a storyboard artist at the newly created ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). He soon became one of the primary artist working on the pre-production material, along with Ralph McQuarrie. Joe Johnston would refine some of the designs that Ralph McQuarrie had worked on, creating his own sketches of the various vehicles & spaceships to be used in the film. These sketches by Joe Johnston would be used by both model builders & set builders at Elstree Studios in England, where primary filming was to be done. Often his sketches would also be used at the basis for more detailed ttechnical drawings and blueprints. The original sketches were created on vellum paper.
One of Joe's earliest sketches was of the rebel 'Pirate Ship', what was later to become known as 'The Millenium Falcon'. I believe the original sketch is locked up in the LFL archives. A picture of it can be seen on page 72 of the book "The Making of Star Wars".
Early 'Pirate Ship' Sketch by Joe Johnston (see reference [3] below)
The early 'Pirate Ship sketch' actually has quite a rich history, in that it was a concept piece for
the original Millennium Falcon (see reference [1] below), and after the Millennium Falcon was re-designed in late 1975/early 1976, it later became the Rebel 'Blockade Runner', Princess Leia's ship, the 'Tantive IV'. Later during the production of the prequel movie "The Phantom Menace", this early concept sketch inspired the design of the ship
Radiant VII, which transported Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi at the beginning of the movie.
Dyeline (Diazo) Prints
Of course, if Joe Johston's sketches were to be used as reference for the production of the movie, they had to be duplicated for distribution to the various departments. So 'master' copies of the sketches were created using a form of printing known as 'dyeline' or 'diazo' printing.
Dyelines were created by passing UV light through the translucent vellum paper of the original sketches. The UV light then struck a special paper known as 'diazo', that was UV sensitive, and would lighten (whiten) where exposed directly to UV rays. The ink on the original sketch would block the light in places, casting a shadow of the sketch, onto the diazo paper. This left the diazo paper 'unexposed' (blue) wherever the shadow of the original sketch fell on it, creating a 'blue line' copy of the priginal sketch. Dyeline prints were also sometimes referred to as 'bluelines' or 'blueprints' (though they are more like a reverse blueprint).
These dyeline prints of Joe Johnston's artwork were used as a type of 'master' print/proof. Although they were sometimes used
as reference for model/set building (see reference [3] below), they were mainly held by the ILM and Studio executives, and used to create other less costly mimeographed prints. Dyelines were produced in limited numbers, and as a collectible, are sometimes as close as you can get to the original sketched art.
The Pirate Ship Dyeline Print
The following dyeline print was created from the original artwork, as early as mid 1975, and was used during the production of the movie Star Wars. It was obtained from an ILM source, and provenance is direct from that source.
http://www3.telus.net/public/leifg/RBdyeline.jpg
The early 'Pirate Ship' (Millennium Falcon) model was the first of many built for Star Wars, in the later half of 1975. So material related to its construction dates from that period.
The Star Destroyer Dyeline Print
The following dyeline print was created from the original artwork, sometime in 1975-76, and was used during the production of the movie Star Wars. It was obtained from an ILM source, and provenance is direct from that source.
http://www3.telus.net/public/leifg/SDdyeline.jpg
The Star Destroyer model was one of the last to be readied for filming. Due to time constraints it was largely built using a cactus print of this particultar Joe Johnston sketch as reference. This is supported by the following references:
- Imperial Star Destroyer info found on
Page 5 in The Star Wars Sketchbook (see reference [2] below).
- Cactus print of Star Destroyer sketch on workbench, seen in
image used on page 90 in Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller, Volume 5. (see reference [1] below).
Later, in 1977, after Star Wars had been released, Joe Johnston produced a book based on his sketch work, titled "The Star Wars Sketchbook". Both of the above dyeline prints were also used to create the exact related images in Joe Johnston's book.
http://www3.telus.net/public/leifg/The_ ... _Cover.jpg
Cactus Prints
Relatively speaking, dyeline printing wasn't the cheapest form of printing available. So when further copies of Joe Johnston's artwork were needed for distribution, they would use the dyeline prints as 'masters' to create mimeographed prints of the same sketches. The paper used for these mimeograph prints has an interesting feature. On the backside of the paper are small cactus symbols, similar to watermarks. Since most (but not all) of these mimeograph prints feature one or more cactus symbols on the back, they are often referred to as 'cactus prints'. These cactus prints were distributed to various crew members to be
used as reference material for model and set building (see reference [1] below).
The 'Pirate Ship' Cactus Print
The following cactus print was created using a dyeline print, and was used during the production of the movie Star Wars. It was obtained from a source related to the British film crew working at Elstree Studios in England, where most of the principle filming took place. It may have been used as an early set building reference, since a life sized version of the Millennium Falcon was to be built in England, originally based on this early 'Pirate Ship' (Millennium Falcon) design. Additionally, sets were built to replicate the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Preparations for princple filming, including set building, was already underway in England when Lucas ordered a design change for the Millennium Falcon.
http://www3.telus.net/public/leifg/cactusprint.jpg
Reference Material
[1] The soft cover publication "Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller, Volume 5" which features an article entitled "A Boy, a Girl, and a Universe... A Look Back At The Making of Star Wars - 30 Years Later" by Paul Taglianetti and Gene Kozicki. Published in 2007. Particularly pages 80 & 90, which feature images used above.
[2] "The Star Wars Sketchbook", by Joe Johnston. Published in 1977.
[3] "The Making of Star Wars", by J.W.Rinzler. Particularly pages 71 & 72, which feature images used above.
