How they created the Star Wars opening shot

[saevel25]

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-wars/39780/star-wars-examining-a-new-hope-s-classic-opening-shot

Quote

"I stuck the tiny Blockade Runner model on the underside of the Star Destroyer with a paperclip that was straightened out,” Edlund explained. “Then we had this 24mm lens that could go incredibly close to these models. I could tilt the lens and hold horizontal focus very well. I could basically scrape the surface of the model with the lens - the lens actually touched the surface of the model at a couple of points during the shot.” 

They went MacGyver before there was a MacGyver 

We have all these computer generated scenes now. It's amazing what those guys did back in late 1970's.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

Even the late '60's. I read a biography of Stanley Kubrick that covered every film he made, except "Eyes Wide Shut", in detail. For the shots of the Orion III spaceliner flying to the space station, one of the technicians said you could stand on the stage and not see anything moving, despite the fact that things are really wheeling along in the film.

It was explained that to get the necessary depth of field the lenses had to be stopped all the way down. With the slow film speeds of the day, exposures had to be 4 seconds per frame!

So, with projection rates of maybe 30 frames per second, it would take 2 minutes to photograph 1 second of the finished film! That's if everything went right. It was estimated that about 16,000 separate steps were required to produce the special effects shots in that film. And that's not counting building the sets and models.

CGI really is an "easy" way out for filmmakers, but such is technology. Look at what we're doing here with our computers that would have been unimaginable that long ago.

There was a humorous instance reported in the 2001 chapter of the book. When Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke began collaborating on the project, putting the story together and trying to sell it to a studio, they bought a wide carriage typewriter and some legal size paper which they turned on it's side to make people feel that they had an honest to God computer! What a hoot!

[saevel25]

36 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

CGI really is an "easy" way out for filmmakers, but such is technology. Look at what we're doing here with our computers that would have been unimaginable that long ago.

I think the right blend of CG is the way to go. I think Lucas would have created movies more inline with Episode III if he had the computer power and CG programs they have today. 

Given what they did in the 70's was amazing. It was truly a time of amazing ingenuity in the field of Sci-Fi movies. 

I wouldn't call it the easy way out. Do some people use it that way, sure. If you take a movie like Avatar. There would have been no way to make that movie so immersive without the use of CG. 

[Buckeyebowman]

23 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I think the right blend of CG is the way to go. I think Lucas would have created movies more inline with Episode III if he had the computer power and CG programs they have today. 

Given what they did in the 70's was amazing. It was truly a time of amazing ingenuity in the field of Sci-Fi movies. 

I wouldn't call it the easy way out. Do some people use it that way, sure. If you take a movie like Avatar. There would have been no way to make that movie so immersive without the use of CG. 

You have a point. CGI has expanded the range of what is possible to be displayed on the screen. Still, I marvel at the ingenuity of those earlier film makers who showed us things we never could have imagined.

Kubrick set out to make the first "serious" sci-fi movie. I'd have to say he succeeded in that the music, and imagery, of that film are still with us to this day.