"AND
YOU SAID IT WAS PRETTY HERE..."
Endor
was the first 'set' I worked on. It was
completed in one day (well, I stayed up quite late that night...) Fake mosses
and tree leaves were obtained for a diorama of the forest moon of Endor. Since
the Ewoks are some of our younger traveller's favorite beings, I thought it
would be fun and interesting to display our vintage figures in a "natural"
setting. Real tree bark, branches and sand was also collected to complete
the scene.
The
first step was to paint a watercolor background to give the feeling of depth.
I next attached the background tree trunks (just the bark from larger pieces
of firewood) and a curled piece of bark with moss hanging over it to make a
fallen tree stump for Leia and Wicket to sit on. Next, the ground was covered
in three types of 'moss' to give the ground a more natural look and texture.
The bare spaces on the ground were filled in with sand, covering tree bases
and setting in the rocks.
A
model of an AT-ST (Chicken Walker) was placed on one side with a few models
of troopers, speeder bikes and an AT-ST driver. On the other side, are a variety
of Ewoks (a few doubles serve as 'extras' without cloaks, staffs, etc.). The
'cast' is completed with a figures of Han Solo in his Endor trenchcoat, Leia
and Luke both in their Endor gear as well, a Rebel trooper and Prune Face.
We even added R2-D2, Hologram Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at the back
of the forest. As well, another Ewok flies his glider above their heads (seen
in the image of the diorama in the Map Room).
It
was really easy to do. I think the hardest part will be dusting the darn thing.
It is surprising how well visitors recognize the scene when they are on board.
From
the Professionals: Notes on how ILM created Endor
A
miniature forest set, complete with painted backdrop, was constructed for a
scene in which falling logs topple a walker. Shooting outdoors for natural lighting,
camouflage netting is draped over the set simulating the lighting conditions
in an actual forest. Paul Huston and Larry Tan position the larger-scale walker
for a follow-on shot where it actually falls over. The collapse itself was captured
in high-speed to enhance the illusion of considerable mass.
In
December, 1982, Denis Muren and other effects staff went up to northern California
to scout locations for the live action forest scenes of Endor. "We stood around
shaking our heads and telling each other this was going to be a really tough thing
to try and build. Branches were sticking out all over the place and there was
this canopy over the forest. Even if we could duplicate it, just moving the camera
through would be a real problem. While we were up there, I took a Bolex and shot
some 16mm footage -- about eight frames a second -- as I walked through the trees.
I figured it might be useful for reference. Driving back, I started looking out
the side of the car, and suddenly realized that we could probably do all the side
shots from a car. As long as we were close to the trees, there wouldn't
be any way of knowing. Also, about half of the scenes are closeups of actors,
and we figured if the road went through the forest we could still shoot straight
on -- forward or backwards -- and you wouldn't be able to see the road because
the actors' bodies would be in front of it."
"Not
all of it's real simple, though. We're doing some pretty complex stuff. From
the tons of plate material we shot, George is picking shots and saying "Let's
stick a walker back in there." So we'll shoot the walker, and the roto department
will make sort of a matte of some ferns or something in the foreground that'll
cut off the walker's feet and make it as though it's back in the shot somewhere."
- CINEFEX MAGAZINE, Number 13, 1983.
