Star Wars Insider #177

From humble
beginnings on a farm PICTURE ROUND!
on Tatooine to his self-
d
i
t
Em
S
imposed exile on Ahch-To, Mattch tthe film too the picturee (Choose from A NNew HHope, TThe Empire Strikees Bacck and Return oof the Jedi ) )
Luke Skywalker has lived a life
of adventure, excitement and 1. 2. 3.
danger. But how much do you
really know about him?
Compiled by Tolly Maggs








10: What body part did Luke lose
in his fi ght with Darth Vader in
The Empire Strikes Back?
A: His left arm
B: His right arm
C: His left hand
4. 5. 6.
D: His right hand

11: In Marvel’s fl agship Star
Wars comic #8 from 2015, what
document does Luke discover?
A: Anakin’s journal
B: Obi-Wan’s secret journal
C: Jabba’s confession
D: Owen’s farming manual

12: During the Battle of Hoth, what
does Luke use to create a hole in
the underbelly of an AT-AT?
A: A blaster
B: R2-D2
C: His lightsaber
D: A key
7. 8. 9.
13: What creature pulled
Luke underneath the garbage
inside one of the Death Star’s
trash compactors?
A: Dianoga
B: Wampa
C: Jawa
D: Gundark

14: What is Luke offered at the
end of The Force Awakens?
A: The lightsaber he made
B: His father’s lightsaber
C: A holocron
D: A hug

15: What planet is Luke found on
at the end of The Force Awakens?
A: Arch-Two HOW DID YOU FARE?
1-8 You’ve clearly got a way to go before you’re ready to face your destiny.
B: Ahch-To 9-16 Good work, but you need to finish your training before you can confront the dark side.
C: Ah-choo 17-24 You truly are a Jedi Master!
D: Bless you Answers - QUIZ 1 A, 2 D, 3 B, 4 B, 5 D 6 C, 7 C, 8 D, 9 D, 10 D, 11 B, 12 C, 13 A, 14 B, 15 B PICTURE ROUND 1 ROTJ, 2 ANH, 3 ANH, 4 TESB, 5 ROTJ, 6 ANH, 7 ROTJ, 8 TESB, 9 ANH




STAR WARS INSIDER / 51




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Lu ke S k y w alke r:
Hero









of a



Saga










Michael Kogge looks at the 10
moments that made the original
new hope a true hero






When the novelization of Star Wars was
published in November 1976, six months
before the motion picture’s release, its
cover featured the subtitle “From the
Adventures of Luke Skywalker.” At the time,
readers might have found this peculiar,

since few outside Lucasfilm had any idea
who Luke Skywalker was. Nonetheless, the
novel rocketed up the bestseller lists, and
Luke’s story began to be spread by word-

of-mouth in science-fiction circles. One
could say that even before the fi rst frame
of the film was projected in theaters, a hero

was born in the popular imagination, and
his legend has only grown in size ever since.
More than 40 years later, as The Last
Jedi arrives to reveal more about the story
of Luke Skywalker, it seems an appropriate
time to reflect on his role in the Star Wars

saga. Here are 10 “greatest moments”
from his onscreen adventures, with some
thoughts as to just why they are vital in
showing his growth as a character—and
as a hero.














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LUKE SKYWALKER

10 After Luke’s snowspeeder crashes cannons could not: penetrates


during the Battle of Hoth in The
the AT-AT’s armor and turns the
Empire Strikes Back, he doesn’t call
clanking war machine into smoking
trash from the inside out. While
it a day and rush to one of the
evacuating transports. Instead,
he takes the fight to a four-legged

teamwork from the snowspeeder
AT-AT walker and hauls himself toppling the other walkers requires
pilots, the very fact that Luke
up to its armored body via a tow brings one down single-handedly—
Bringing down cable. Slashing open the walker’s with such effi ciency—demonstrates
the beast underside with his lightsaber, Luke that he’s a hero who thinks on his
throws in a detonation charge that
feet and has no fear of monsters,
does what his snowspeeder’s blaster mechanical or otherwise.





























09 Luke first holds a lightsaber in the


home of Ben Kenobi. But it is not
just any lightsaber, it previously
belonged to Luke’s father—Anakin
Skywalker—who had wanted his
son to have it when Luke was old
enough, at least according to Ben.
When Luke ignites the lightsaber, it
Drawing of marks the first time the original Star

the Sword Wars audiences had witnessed a blue
energy blade hiss into existence.
Sound designer Ben Burtt mixed the
whirr of an old movie projector with and justice through the galaxy.
the hum from a television screen The blade looks and sounds so
to give the laser sword a sense of tangible, so real, and Luke seems
weight as Luke swings through so transfixed by it, that one never

the air. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan adds questions its authenticity or its
a layer of history, explaining that legend. In this brief scene, both
the lightsaber is the weapon of the Luke and the audience realize the
Jedi Knights, an order of mystical galaxy is a much bigger place than
warriors who once defended peace they had ever thought.



STAR WARS INSIDER / 53




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LUKE SKYWALKER
08 07 06












Luke confronts Man in Black Rey of Light
Vader AT BESPIN


When Luke introduces himself in
Return of the Jedi, he does so as a
holographic message to Jabba the Hutt,
declaring that he is “Luke Skywalker,
Jedi Knight.” He wears a sleek new
uniform and speaks in a deliberate
fashion, far from the brash kid we saw
in A New Hope. Yet it’s not until we see


him for the first time in the flesh that
the full extent of his change is realized.
Luke strides into Jabba’s palace as
a silhouette dressed all in black. He
dismisses the Gamorrean guards
with a wave of his hand and calmly
convinces Jabba’s majordomo to give
him an audience with the crime lord. If Return of the Jedi introduces
Luke doesn’t tremble in fear before the Luke Skywalker as a changed
slimy Hutt. When he pulls back the man, The Force Awakens
Luke’s first face-to-face cinematic hood of his cloak, Luke reveals a face introduces him as having

confrontation with Vader has so that is slightly older, wiser, and almost changed again, in a scene that
much power because it’s both a serene—it is the face of a man who has is perhaps the antithesis of
physical and a mental duel, and accepted the mantle of a Jedi. his debut as a Jedi Knight in
one that reveals much about both Jabba’s palace. When Rey finds

the original trilogy’s hero and its Luke at the end of the film, he

key villain. “The Force is with you is similarly cowled in a cloak,
young Skywalker, but you are not a though underneath he wears
Jedi yet,” Vader announces before dirty white garb in place of
languidly igniting his lightsaber. black. As he pulls back the hood,
The two spar, but as the fight we see the skin graft is gone


progresses, it becomes clear that from his artificial hand, showing
Luke’s nemesis has little intention metal fingers, joints, and wrist

of killing him. Instead, after plates. The face that’s revealed is
maiming him, Vader gets inside also decades older than before,
Luke’s head. Suddenly, the Dark coupled with a thin, graying
Lord is talking in a way that we’ve beard and a mane of shaggy hair.
never heard before; persuasively This Luke is not the clean, sleek
appealing to Luke to join him, even knight of his youth; now he
suggesting that the pair could work is a worn and weathered older
together for peace. Finally, with just man, a solitary druid on the
four words, he changes everything. windswept island, Ahch-To. The
“I am your father.” Luke is horrifi ed film never reveals exactly what

by the revelation, but instinctively happened to him and neither
understands its truth. Rather than does he utter a single word, but
try to save his own life, however, the sullen, confused look he
Luke stands firm, choosing to leap gives the newcomer Rey is all

towards, he believes, certain death, we need to know that he has
rather than choose the dark side. suffered—and he has changed.



54 / STAR WARS INSIDER



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05












The Princess
and the Pit


Luke accomplished many physical
feats in the classic Star Wars
trilogy, often using the Force, but
one particularly impressive use
required a blend of quick-thinking,
acrobatics, and a grappling
hook. While being chased by
stormtroopers on the Death Star,
Luke and Leia come to a ledge that
overlooks the battle station’s central
reactor shaft. Luke shoots the access
panel to lower the blast door behind
them, unintentionally destroying
the controls for the shaft’s extension
bridge. As stormtroopers fire at them

from the opposite ledge, Luke gives

Leia his blaster rifle and unwinds the
coil of his grappling hook. Before
they swing across the shaft to safety,
Leia gives Luke a peck on the cheek,
“For luck,” she says. This quick kiss
from a princess is a big reward for
Luke—he’s now entered the ranks
of swashbuckling heroes.



































STAR WARS INSIDER / 55



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04












Friends in Need

































Luke was levitating equipment crates
on Dagobah and listening to Jedi
Master Yoda’s encouragement when
he had a sudden vision of his friends,
Han Solo and Princess Leia, in peril
in a city among the clouds. The
vision broke his concentration and
caused the crates to come tumbling
down, R2-D2 with them. Despite
warnings from Yoda and Obi-Wan
Kenobi’s ghost, Luke cuts short his

Jedi training and flies off to Cloud
City on Bespin. One never knows
how powerful a Jedi Knight Luke
may have become if he had stayed
under Yoda’s tutelage, but the choice
he makes to go rescue his friends is
the choice of a true hero. Friends
and family are more important to
him than anything else, including
the Jedi path. He is willing to
sacrifice his own life and destiny

to ensure the destinies and lives of
others. Of course, in doing so he
encounters Darth Vader once again
and discovers a shocking truth...




56 / STAR WARS INSIDER



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LUKE SKYWALKER
03 02 01












Tatooine Dreamer
Tat ooi Like Father, One in a Million
Unlike Son


Redemption is the overarching theme
of Return of the Jedi: redemption of the
Jedi, redemption of evil, redemption
of those who have been terrible to us.
Darth Vader is one of those seemingly
irredeemable characters, a man who
has perpetrated mass violence across
the galaxy. Few in the audience would
have protested if Luke had slain Vader,
but Luke makes a different choice.
He turns off his lightsaber and casts it
aside. He refuses to bear the weapon
of the Jedi, because by brandishing
the blade he will continue the cycle of
violence that has plagued the galaxy.
Instead, he puts his faith in Anakin,
sensing that there is still good inside
the man who has done such great evil. Luke comes out of A New Hope with
And Luke is right—Vader turns on the a medal, friends, and a newfound
Emperor and brings his reign to an end. celebrity as a hero. He earned his
The most indelible image in all
The most But beyond this, Anakin’s redemption status by destroying the planet-

ar
t
e
S
of the Star Wars films is that of a reveals a deeper truth. For in order for killing Death Star battle station that
of th
oung Lu
y
young Luke watching the binary Luke to redeem his father, he must do had threatened the rebels and the
k
sunset on that very thing children often find it so rest of the galaxy. While his torpedo
sunset on Tatooine. Clouds pass

over the
over the pink-red orbs as they hard to do: forgive their own parents. shot down the Death Star’s reactor
p
descend toward the horizon. It
d e sc e nd t o shaft was “one in a million” as Han
is a somewhat alien image for the
is a some w Solo called it, that action was the
audience, yet it is also an eerily
audience, consequence of a more personal
familiar one. For how many of us
familiar o n choice. In what is perhaps the
have admired the beauty of the
have adm i pivotal moment in the entire Star
su
n
g
settin
setting sun? How many of us have Wars saga, Luke Skywalker, racing
had thoughts about our place in down the Death Star trench in his
had thou
g
this world
this world—in this universe—as we battered X-wing, pursued by Darth

contempla Vader in a TIE fighter, decides to do
contemplate nature? Perhaps most
telling is t the unimaginable. To the shock of
telling is the way Luke walks out
to his perc Princess Leia and the rebels, Luke
to his perch: head down, shoulder
slumped, feet kicking up dust. This
slumped, f turns off his starfi ghter’s targeting
is someone who goes to the sunset
is someon computer. Rather than rely on the
for refuge, feeling that no one
for refuge, instruments of precision, he listens
understan
understands him, especially his aunt to that voice in his head—and
and uncle
and uncle. Though he may be stuck follows his dreams. This is why Star
on a moist
on a moisture farm on Tatooine, his Wars resonates beyond the cinema
desires and dreams stretch to the
desires and screen, across the globe. Luke’s
horizon, and to the suns and stars
horizon, a decision offers the purest and
beyond. L simplest of messages, a message of
beyond. Luke knows he will never
be at peac
be at peace as a farmboy—he must hope: believe in yourself and good
become so
become something else. will follow as a result.
STAR WARS INSIDER / 57
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INTERVIEW






IN CONVERSATION WITH...

Mark Hamill, 1978





As Luke Skywalker returns to cinema screens in The Last Jedi, this interview goes all the way
back to April 1978 when the Offi cial Star Wars Fan Club newsletter met up with actor Mark
Hamill, then 26, to discuss his casting as Luke and his friendships with rest of the cast.
Interview by Craig Miller



Did you like the character How did you get the part?
of Luke Skywalker? A friend of mine named Robert
Very much. Getting the part Englund told me about the
and making the fi lm are auditions. I heard there was a
memories I’ll have forever. picture George Lucas was doing
I admire Luke’s sense called The Star Wars. Robert
of loyalty and adventure. I said he’d been out for it. I asked
mean, I’m on a farm and I him what it was like, and he
want to see what’s over the said, “I don’t know, I haven’t
horizon. “What am I missing seen the script. George Lucas
out on?” It’s so brilliant of and Brian De Palma are doing
George Lucas, because I’m auditions. George is the guy on

trying to figure a way out of the left who never talks.” So I
that humdrum, void kind of go, “OK, I’ll go out for it.”
lifestyle, and boom! I buy two I asked him if it was like
robots and one of them has a 2001. Robert said that he
hologram in him. It’s a classic thought it was probably like
thing, and I’m thrilled at it. Flash Gordon.
I went in on one interview,
Do you see yourself didn’t see a script, didn’t do
as Luke? anything. I just talked about
When I see the movie, I myself. “Hi, I’m Mark Hamill.
don’t feel like it’s really me. I I have four sisters and two
see Luke Skywalker, and I’m brothers. I grew up in Virginia,
A New Hope
embarrassed when he’s naïve. New York, and Japan.” They
publicity photo.
Like when Han Solo says, Little did Mark said, “Thank you,” and I went

“Who’s going to fly this thing, Hamill know away. This was in November
he’d be playing
kid, you?”, and I say, “You bet the part again of 1975. In February of 1976,
I could!” I find myself going, 40 years later! I tested. The way I found out

“Oh, don’t be such a nerd!” about the test was an envelope
But reacting like that is right in arrived in the mail, and there
character, I guess. George Lucas has created an ensemble were six pages of dialogue and a note
that works together well. saying to be there Tuesday to test.
Do other people like him? I had totally ruled the part out. I had
Sure. The kids are going in and seeing a What do you think of your co-stars thought George was unimpressed, and

fantastic film, and by fantastic, I mean on the film, Harrison Ford and I went out and tried out for Apocalypse

unworldly. They see banthas. They see Carrie Fisher? Now. Fred Roos was the casting director,
Jawas. They see Tusken Raiders. They We’re sort of like a family. Carrie is like and he’s very instinctive. I think he
see Darth Vader. There’s just so much. my little sister, and I’m Harrison’s little really helped me get the part. I think he
And they see Luke. I think they brother. Harrison is a serious actor, and pressured George to pick Carrie, Harrison
feel comfortable with his character. a brilliant one. I’m surprised that he and me. We were cast as an ensemble.
He provides a nice balance, and didn’t get an Oscar nomination for Best There were two sets of three actors. We

fits in nicely with the others. I think Supporting Actor. were never mixed and matched.


58 / STAR WARS INSIDER




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R R R R R R R R R R R’S EDITION
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T T THE OFFICIAL COLLECTOR ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ R R R R R R R R R R ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ S E D I T I O N
T T T
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JL_CE_HA_v7_osn.indd 1 30/10/2017 16:33

JOHN DYKSTRA






Developing the






Dykstraflex








The motion-control camera system designed and built for A New Hope made the fi lm’s
groundbreaking effects shots possible. Jon D. Witmer charts its evolution and speaks to its
Oscar-winning developer, John Dykstra.


W ORDS B Y JON D. WITMER




TIE fi ghter elements would all line up, but Inspired by existing

shoots its made the finished effect look systems at other facilities, but
A lasers as it static, and obviously a piece combining functions in ways
of carefully staged camera
never done before, the camera
chases an
X-wing. trickery. Lucas’ innovation was that would become known
Both ships to demand effects imbued with as the “Dykstrafl ex” helped
bank as they skim over the energy and motion. He wanted to usher in a bold new era of
surface of the Death Star, A New Hope’s battle scenes visual effects.
space stretching to infi nity to look like they had actually

in the background. been filmed from inside the TEAM BUILDING

A shot like this from fighting, by a combat camera In April 1975, Lucas and Kurtz
A New Hope might be on operator following the action found Dykstra working at
screen for only a second, wherever it took him. Future General, an effects
but its execution would have To realize this vision, Lucas company headed by Douglas
spanned days or even weeks. and producer Gary Kurtz opted Trumbull—a man celebrated for
Separate pieces of fi lm needed to start from scratch, setting his visual effects work on 2001:
to be created for each of the up an effects facility all their A Space Odyssey (1968). With a
elements—the TIE, the X-wing, own. They found a willing and background in industrial design,
the Death Star, the background enthusiastic collaborator in Dykstra had joined Trumbull’s
starfield, the lasers—which the 27-year-old John Dykstra, previous company, Trumbull

would then need to be who pulled together the team Film Effects.
successfully combined using a that Lucas would soon name “I was a designer, so I did
device called an optical printer. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). design work for Silent Running,”
As well as those elements, Among the team’s fi rst tasks explains Dykstra, referring to

there was something else that was the development of a the 1972 sci-fi thriller directed
writer-director George Lucas motion-control camera system by Trumbull. “I was also a
was determined to see in his for the model photography: photographer, and I did some
film’s effects: movement. When a machine that could be miniature photography for The

A New Hope was made, the programmed to carry out Andromeda Strain (1971).
standard method of producing precise movements in seven I had gone to Long Beach State
special effects scenes involved axes—track, traverse, boom, [University], which didn’t have

using a “locked-off” camera swing, pan, tilt, and roll—and a film program, but I took some
that couldn’t change position. to repeat those moves exactly, still-photography classes.
This ensured that overlaid again and again. “In those classes, we did



60 / STAR WARS INSIDER




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JOHN DYKSTRA































01


a lot of different things: placed to oversee development 01 X-wings (Dick), Alvah J. Miller, and
posterization; solarization; of a cutting-edge new camera. attack the William Shourt, would focus
Death Star in

extracting elements from Dykstra soon found and rented A New Hope. specifically on the development
complete images and bringing a disused warehouse in Van of the motion-control camera
those elements back together Nuys, Los Angeles (just north system. When Richard Edlund
in new confi gurations; of Hollywood), that would joined the fl edgling facility
using high-contrast house all of ILM’s departments. soon after as the production’s
fi lm; overdevelopment; “For better or worse,” he says, effects director of photography,
underdevelopment; controlling “the facility was patterned his input was solicited, too.
contrast; controlling color by after Doug’s, which meant “Don Trumbull had a
creating masks… It was kind of that it wasn’t particularly background in mechanical
the essence of optical printing. corporate.” With an eye toward effects,” says Dykstra. “He’d
So I was well suited for doing streamlined communications been building things for Doug

optical elements when I went and workflow, Dykstra brought for years. He was a genius in
to work for Doug. I also did together collaborators who mechanics and he understood
some model building. We all “knew one another and had optics. He was a really brilliant
did a lot of everything—and it worked together before. We guy. Dick Alexander is a
was great.” had a shorthand that allowed precision machinist, and he
Within a few weeks of us to present fairly complex and Don collaborated on the
meeting Lucas and Kurtz, hypotheses and prove or best way to design and build
Dykstra had offi cially signed disprove them without having the camera. Bill Shourt was
on to A New Hope. He was to go through a whole lot of involved in the mechanics of
well qualified to be the fi lm’s research and development.” the boom that we constructed.

special photographic effects As Dykstra assembled his And then Al Miller was the
supervisor, but there was a team, he enlisted the services electronics guy. Making a
whole other business side to of Trumbull’s father, Don, who, camera run was small potatoes
the job: building an all-new along with Richard Alexander for Al, but he had to fi gure
effects facility from the ground
up, and sourcing the tools and
staff for all of its departments. “THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT WAS TO
Was he confident that he was

up to the task? He laughs. “Of SIMULATE THE REALITY OF [LIVE-
course I was! What was I, 27?
I knew everything!” ACTION] CINEMATOGRAPHY AS OPPOSED
Youthful enthusiasm aside,
Dykstra was certainly well TO STOP-MOTION ANIMATION...”



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“THE AMOUNT
OF POWER THAT

THE SYSTEM
DREW WAS

ENORMOUS
COMPARED TO

TODAY’S DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGY.”




out how to make the camera
interface with the motion-
control system, and he had
to coordinate with Don and
Dick with regards to motor
placements, heat issues, all of
that stuff.”

EARLY INSPIRATIONS
Lucas’ decision to form a
new effects company did
not necessarily mean that
everything about the company
had to be new. Much of the 02
impetus to establish custom
tools and workfl ows came
from Dykstra himself. “If there specifically, he adds, “The idea certainly more than the sum of

was anything that my youth was, if you didn’t have to use its myriad inspirations. “There
afforded me,” he refl ects, “it an existing camera, this is the was a huge amount of stuff
was the naïveté to go to the camera you would make.” that we had to borrow from
producers and say, ‘We’re Dykstra’s inspirations for the other environments,” explains

going to build it all from Dykstraflex were several. One Dykstra. “Medical, military… It
scratch.’” With the Dykstrafl ex of its forebears had existed was eclectic. We didn’t have
at Trumbull’s facility, while a lot of time, and we harvested
another had been developed from a variety of fi elds and
by Alvah Miller and Jerry combined it all for our
WINNING BID Jeffress at the University of unique applications.

Lucasfilm’s Pete Vilmur explains how California at Berkeley. Dykstra “The concept of seven axes
he came to own Don Trumbull’s original had met the pair while working of motion that are continuously
mechanical drawings for the Dykstrafl ex, as

seen in this article. on a 16mm film project for the variable but still synchronizable
“Back in 2008, I picked these drawings National Science Foundation. at a variety of speeds didn’t
up from a poorly publicized auction on eBay. “They had created what exist, as far as I knew. If you
The seller, who has a long career in visual essentially amounted to a want to talk about it in terms
effects, but never at ILM, said the drawings
were originally transferred to [John Dykstra’s motion-control camera,” he of patentability, it would be a
company] Apogee in 1977 or ’78. When recalls. “The Dykstrafl ex was design patent, not necessarily
Apogee was acquired by Sony around 1992, really an extension of the an origination patent.”
they transferred again. Sony shut their visual system that Al and Jerry had As for the name,
effects department around 2000, at which

time the seller bought some equipment from been designing.” “Dykstraflex” was in keeping

their fire sale. Don Trumbull’s drawings were Many of the ideas that with the nomenclature of
in one of the boxes, and eight years later, he went into the camera were motion-picture fi lm cameras.
decided to give them a new home via eBay.”
completely new, however, Prior to ILM’s system, there was

and the finished article was a camera at Trumbull’s facility
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JOHN DYKSTRA




the effects shots, however,
ILM opted for the all-but-
forgotten VistaVision format,
which runs standard 35mm

film horizontally through the
camera’s gate to create a
widescreen frame that is eight
perforations across.
“VistaVision was something
that Doug had lodged in my
mind,” Dykstra recalls. “Optical
printing gives you an inherent
degradation: an increase in
contrast and reduction in
resolution. But by using the
larger negative and reducing
it in optical printing to the
four-perf negative that would
be cut into the movie, you
ended up with an image that
was comparable to original
photography.”
VistaVision’s sideways
orientation also meant that

the film magazine would sit

03 flat at the back of the camera.
This was an important
consideration when fi lming
that had been nicknamed which you ran the camera. We 02 (Left) The dynamic space scenes, as it
Dykstraflex
the “Trumbullfl ex,” and chose to move the camera gave the camera a lower profi le,
system is set
that camera’s predecessors relative to the model—rather up to film a and allowed it to get very close
included Panavision’s Panafl ex than move the model relative to TIE fighter to the starship miniatures.
model
and, before that, ARRI’s the camera—because otherwise “Another critical component
against a


Arriflex. The Arriflex got its the lighting would have had to bluescreen. in making the miniatures
name from the fact that it was travel with the model, which look big,” says Dykstra, “was
03 Don Trumbull

the first motion-picture camera would have been a nightmare. was essential swinging and tilting the lens
to incorporate a refl ex-viewing “Al Miller had to build all to the to tailor the depth of fi eld. If
camera’s
system, allowing its operators the microprocessors that ran you put a spherically ground
development.
to see through the lens while the motion-control system. lens too close to an object, the
the camera was rolling. This was all custom-designed, foreground’s going to be out
purpose-built, and custom- of focus and the background’s
DESIGN DETAILS programmed. Pins were going to be sharp. But with
The Dykstrafl ex system inserted through blank circuit swings and tilts, you can tip the
comprised three main elements: boards according to Al’s lens to offset the focus plane
the camera; a mechanical drive design, and then wire-wrapped and end up with the entire
system that could track, boom, for connections. It was TTL thing in complete focus.” With
pan, tilt, and roll the camera; [transistor-transistor logic], the Dykstraflex, this complex

and the electronic control which required a huge current process was built-in, with a
device for programming the draw. The amount of power follow-focus system offering
drive system’s sequence that the system drew was programmable control of the
of movements. enormous compared to today’s focus ring on the lens and the
“The purpose behind it digital technology.” position of the tilting lens board.
was to simulate the reality of Principal photography on The VistaVision format
[live-action] cinematography A New Hope was done in the was also compatible with a
as opposed to stop-motion anamorphic 35mm format, wide array of 35mm-format
animation,” Dykstra explains. which squeezes a widescreen still-photography lenses. “I’d
“The system could operate image into an almost-square been using still-camera lenses

with mechanical accuracy film frame measuring four with Doug,” says Dykstra. “But
independent of the speed at perforations on a film reel. For with A New Hope we were


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JOHN DYKSTRA



























04


photographing the miniatures could control a single-axis
at deep f-stops [focal lengths] move. The joystick helped give
for depth of field, so we needed shots a sense of having been

sharp optics that had a deep operated by a human hand—
stop.” Dykstra opted to use off- rather than mathematically
the-shelf Nikon optics, some of programmed—bolstering the
which Edlund customized with sense that these shots were

even deeper f-stops. actually filmed by a combat
The Dykstraflex camera ran pilot, at the controls in the 05

on a modular track that could midst of the action.
be rearranged for different The movements for each
shots. At its longest, the track axis were recorded on cassette, 04 John Dykstra separate camera motion from
inspects
could carry the camera 40 creating a “map” of distances, object motion. But they did it!”
X-wing props.
feet—as required for some of speeds, accelerations, and the Not every element of a shot
the Death Star trench shots. corresponding frame on which 05 Dykstra’s called for the Dykstrafl ex’s full
most recent
Motors controlled the camera’s each would occur. After a credit was as array of capabilities, of course.
tracking and booming for shot’s completion, the cassette Visual Effects Background starfi elds were
Supervisor
frame-accurate positioning in would be filed in case any of meant to exist at a distance

on Ghost In
relation to the subject. “The the elements might need to be The Shell that wouldn’t register whether
motors gave us precision and re-created for any reason down (2017). the camera tracked in or out,
repeatability,” Dykstra says. “All the line. so these were shot on another
06 (Left to
of the motion-control stuff was Dykstra estimates that the right) John stage to save time. For these
based on numeric control that Dykstraflex system could have Dykstra, shots, a less complex sister

Richard
was being done at the time for gotten up to 12 frames a second, Edlund, Rose camera to the Dykstrafl ex
the nascent robotics industry.” but in order to maximize the Duignan, was used, working from the
George Lucas,
depth of field it was most often and Joe cassette maps to match most

ROLL CAMERA set for much longer exposures, Johnston of the axes on another custom-
The team completed the design in the region of one frame every discuss the built system.
storyboard

for the Dykstraflex in July 1975. three seconds.
layout for
Over the next six months, they For the Dykstrafl ex’s an effects 40-YEAR LEGACY

assembled the system on-site operators, including sequence. The Dykstraflex cannot be
at ILM, and in December it was Edlund, Dennis Muren, and claimed as the progenitor of
ready to roll.. Douglas Smith, the trick was motion-control photography
As a shot was programmed, remembering that each camera or even complex, multiple-
the operator could view the move was making the miniature element and multiple-axis
scene through the lens via the spacecraft appear to fly. “It was visual effects. What it should

camera’s viewfinder. A joystick almost Cartesian coordinates,” be celebrated for, however, is

offered control over multiple Dykstra says. “There was a lot of making such shots signifi cantly
axes, while a potentiometer mental calculation required to easier to execute and repeat
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06


within a tight production audiences and was met with an Ghost in the Shell (2017).
schedule and budget. Without Oscar for Best Special Effects, Within that vast body of work,

the Dykstraflex, it’s safe to say shared between Dykstra, though, one job stands apart.
that A New Hope’s 365 visual Edlund, mechanical-effects “A New Hope was by far my
effects shots (comprising some supervisor John Stears, chief best experience, and the most
3,838 different elements) would model maker Grant McCune, satisfying,” Dykstra refl ects. “It
have been vastly different. and optical-photography was brilliant and it was fun. I
“I’d like to believe,” says supervisor Robert Blalack. was working with my friends;

Dykstra, “that if we hadn’t built The Dykstraflex itself earned with like-minded people who
the stuff from scratch, and Dykstra, Miller, and Jeffress an were geniuses in their own
had allowed ourselves to be Academy Award for Technical rights. We were inventing. We
limited to what was currently Achievement. were taking on a challenge
available, we would not have In 1978, the year those and creating something that
achieved the same dynamics in Oscars were awarded, Lucas hadn’t been seen before. How
the fi nal product.” moved ILM from Van Nuys to much better can it get?

The Dykstraflex, he adds, the California Bay Area city of
“was quite a capable machine, San Rafael. Dykstra remained
probably with a broader range in Los Angeles and formed Special thanks to John
of capabilities than it needed the effects company Apogee, Dykstra for participating
to do the movie. We were but the motion-control system in this article. Thanks also
trying to make a device that that bore his name went north to Lucasfilm’s Pete Vilmur

would do everything rather with ILM. There, it was further for providing the technical
than just the specific thing we modified, remaining a vibrant drawings and the photo of


needed it to do. It’s that kind part of the company’s workfl ow Don Trumbull, and to Lucas
of desire and drive that causes for years. ILM artists continued Seastrom for additional


you to find and break through to find uses for the camera, research support. The
boundaries. You overcome even as it inspired subsequent author is further indebted
physical or technological motion-control systems with to J.W. Rinzler’s The Making
limitations in order to meet still more sophisticated controls. of Star Wars, as well as
some new challenge, and then In the 40 years since A the July 1977 and June
it has other applications.” New Hope, Dykstra has lent 1980 issues of American
ILM’s effects work on A his visual effects skills to an Cinematographer magazine.
New Hope universally wowed array of features, most recently



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ASAJJ VENTRESS


























A Walk on the Dark Side:





















Sometimes a hero, sometimes a villain, Asajj Ventress is one of the most complex and
fascinating characters in all of Star Wars...

W ORDS: ME G AN CROUSE

































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ASAJJ VENTRESS




icked laughter actions of the Separatist leaders. “The Banshee”
peals through Darth Sidious felt that Ventress As a fighter, Ventress cultivates a

W the dark. The was becoming powerful beyond frightening persona. She uses two
lightsabers in an acrobatic and
rustle of fabric,
just a mere assassin, and began

perhaps the threatening the balance maintained ferocious fighting style. As well as
hem of a skirt by the Sith “rule of two.” To test being proficient enough with the

swishing along the ground—or Dooku’s loyalty, Sidious demanded lightsabers to hold her own against
is it just the wind? Then you’re that he eliminate her, destroying Anakin and Obi-Wan, she is also
certain. Two red lightsabers fl ash what stability Ventress had and powerful in the Force, able to choke
through the shadows. sending her on a journey to fi nd both Jedi at once, and apt to end

During the Clone Wars, Asajj allies who would not abandon her. fights with a brutal display of Force
Ventress struck fear into the hearts That series of abandonments power. In hand-to-hand combat
of her enemies. She also used terror continued in the novel Dark she uses body blows and throws,
to her advantage when she became Disciple, in which Ventress and taking advantage of her long limbs
a bounty hunter. A powerful Force Quinlan Vos team up to fi ght and luring the enemy close to her
user, she was nevertheless rejected Count Dooku, only for Quinlan to center of gravity. She also uses the
by both the Jedi and the Sith. edge toward the dark side himself. Force to subtly speed up her attacks
Despite this, by the end of her Ventress’ story is not just about the and predict where an opponent’s
life she had learned how to interact light side and the dark side, but the next move might come from. She is
with people as something other place in the middle. deadly even without her lightsabers.
than targets for her underworld
missions. Ventress’ life confi rms
01
what it says in the opening crawl
for Revenge of the Sith. There are
heroes on both sides of war.
Ventress wasn’t introduced
as a hero, however. As a major
antagonist in both the Clone Wars
micro-series and The Clone Wars
television show, she clashed with
Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan
Kenobi thoughout the galaxy.
While the Jedi had their own
interpersonal dynamics—with
Anakin getting used to training
Ahsoka Tano as his Padawan and
Ahsoka learning her own diffi cult
lessons in wartime—personal
struggles were also shaping the
02





























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Ventress is also a driven and and a sense of purpose, something anyone who stands in the way.
focused warrior. When working as she always needs. She feels that The Nightsisters themselves
a bounty hunter, she forcefully he appreciates her, and that seems are cruel, and Ventress feels right
tells her Jedi partner Quinlan Vos at least partly true. When Sidious at home with them. Karis says
that she won’t permit any “foolish tells Dooku to kill Ventress, he that she is honored to consider
errors. No lost quarries because you hesitates—before agreeing to have Ventress her sister. Mother Talzin
want to make a grand gesture. I Ventress assassinated. also encourages Ventress to side
won’t tolerate laziness or stupidity.” with the Nightsisters against Count
She named her starship the “Nothing There but Fog Dooku, and seems to reassure her
Banshee after people referred to and Witches” when she says: “You have your
her by that monster’s name for One of Ventress’ greatest strengths breath, your skill, and your sisters.
her triumphant laughter and raspy is her ability to survive no matter Everything you need to survive.”
voice. In the real world, the banshee the odds. Dooku thinks that he can It might indeed be reassuring
is a creature from Irish mythology. control her story, but he cannot. for Ventress to know that these
Her screams are said to foretell She survives the assassination things can guarantee her survival.
the death of a family member. attempt and returns to the one But Talzin is also trying to use
That association is particularly place she thought she might fi nd a Ventress for her own ends in the
appropriate for Ventress, since she future, Dathomir, her homeworld. same way Dooku did. Reassuring
has lost almost everyone who cared Ventress that no one except the

about her in a life filled with pain. Nightsisters will support her is just
The first loss, and “IT TAKES VENTRESS another way to bring her more

the one that set her firmly under their control. Ventress

on her dark path, is IDENTIFYING WITH likes this warlike family, but it also
the loss of her true OTHER PEOPLE FOR shows one of the fundamental
parents. Ventress’ themes of Star Wars: that the dark
mother belongs to the HER TO TURN AWAY side corrupts its users, seducing
Nightsister clan, the them with power and comfort
society of Force-using FROM HER VISCIOUS before leading them to misery
witches led by Mother and destruction. This is the case
Talzin. Ventress is PHILOSOPHY.” when Dooku sends Grievous to get
given up as part of revenge against the Nightsisters.
a deal made with Grievous’ forces massacre
a Siniteen slaver Though she is still steeped in dark Ventress’ people, leaving her
named Hal’sted. side magic as she attempts to get adrift once again and saddened
When Hal’sted revenge on Dooku, Dathomir is that she doesn’t know how to
is shot and killed the first place she has visited in a perform any of the funeral rites

by Weequay pirates, long time where she feels she is that gave the Nightsisters the
however, Jedi Master among family. Mother Talzin nurses power to raise undead soldiers.
Ky Narec fi nds the her wounds and offers her a place It takes Ventress identifying
young Dathomirian to stay among the Nightsisters. with other people for her to turn
alone. He takes her Ventress even fi nds companions, away from her vicious philosophy.
under his wing and, the warriors Karis and Naa’leth. Two people in particular help her
for a time, the pair defend the Unfortunately, another one begin to turn toward the light:
people of the planet Rattatak of Ventress’ most important Pluma Sodi and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
from pirates and warlords. When relationships at this time mirrors
Ky Narec is killed, however, exactly what caused Ventress so Finding a Home
dying in Ventress’ arms, she much suffering in the fi rst place. Late in the Clone Wars, Jedi
embraces the dark side as a She essentially enslaves Savage Council member Mace Windu
balm for her loss and presents Opress, training him ruthlessly says that Ventress has “failed at
herself to Count Dooku as a as Dooku trained her. She even being the perfect Sith.” He points
01 Asajj was
potential apprentice. a hero, a oversees while Savage kills his out that she has tried to kill Dooku
Ventress does not fi nd villain, and a own brother, forcing someone several times without success.
smuggler in
the security and triumph she her storied else to experience the same pain She does succeed at making
desires by working with Dooku, life (left). she experienced when she lost the a precarious living as a bounty
either. Their relationship is a Jedi Master with whom she was so hunter, living on Tatooine and
02 Jedi training
twisted version of the loyalty helped make close. Throughout her life, Ventress on Coruscant’s infamous Level
shown between Jedi Masters Ventress adheres to the Sith belief that in 1313. While there she joins a
lethal with
and apprentices, but it does order to gain power, one must group of bounty hunters under
a lightsaber
allow Ventress some stability (left). be willing to kill anything or the command of a young Boba


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03































Fett, but they aren’t what she’s When he refuses to share the “VENTRESS HAD AN
looking for in a new family, and bounty, Ventress stuffs him in the
she has no respect for the still girl’s cage and lets Pluma go free AFFINITY FOR OBI-
inexperienced Boba. It is during instead. Ventress’ smug expression
WAN, BANTERING
one of these jobs that she meets afterward shows her glorying in
Pluma Sodi, a girl that the bounty her own ability to control the
hunters were assigned to escort. situation. She also distributes WITH HIM AS WELL
Pluma was kidnapped from the bounty evenly among all the
her family by the corrupt Belugan hunters, even Boba, showing her AS FIGHTING.”
dictator, Otua Blank, who wanted own sort of honor.
to make the girl into his bride. At With the money from the job

first, Ventress has no emotional in her pocket and Pluma (and them allies. When Obi-Wan asks,

stake in the fight. Interested only Boba) both safely freed, Ventress “When did you become the good
in the money she could get at realizes that she now has the guy?” Ventress responds with
the end of the job, she fi nds the freedom to do whatever she wants. “Don’t insult me.” Ventress helps
girl’s plight distasteful, but still There are still some loose ends that Obi-Wan escape, but it will take a
doesn’t understand the appeal of she needs to tie up, however—ends couple more encounters with Jedi
doing good for its own sake. She that will lead her right to the Jedi. for her to reach the light.
was too young to internalize her Ventress always had an affi nity
Jedi Master’s compassion, and to Obi-Wan, bantering with him as Deals With The Jedi
subsequent teaching from Dooku well as battling. The pair become The Ventress of level 1313 is a
and Talzin, who are both more unlikely allies when Ventress driven woman without a purpose
than willing to manipulate other sneaks onto Savage Opress’ in life. Her bounty hunting jobs,
people’s lives to serve their own ship in an effort to tie up that while prestigious enough for her
ends, had only overwritten her particular loose end. She fi nds 03 Asajj comes to keep her fearsome reputation,
natural capacity for kindness. Darth Maul, who forces her saber-to- do not pay enough money for her
saber with
Pluma tries her best to appeal into an alliance with Obi-Wan to leave Coruscant’s dangerous
Anakin.
to Ventress. “I never asked to be in a four-way lightsaber fi ght. lower levels. She clings to the idea
ripped away from my home, from As well as showing off Ventress’ 04 Ventress’ of her own determination.
skills were
my family. You’ll never know impressive martial skills and a match for Her next bounty brings her
what it’s like,” she says. While how her intimidation tactics any opponent to an encounter with Ahsoka
(right).
Ventress doesn’t change her mind, work on even the Sith Lord, Tano, while the Padawan is on
it does make her think about how she also shows some trust in 05 Despite her the run. Ventress is still driven
their situations are so similar. Obi-Wan. She lets him use one prowess, primarily by money and a need
Ventress is
However, Boba gives her an of her lightsabers, but assures for revenge, but Ahsoka offers her
not invincible

opportunity to change her mind. him that one fight doesn’t make (right). a pardon and a chance to fi ght a
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person who might be Dooku’s new Revenge of the Sith, he may well way to entrap her victims before,
apprentice. Ventress again is not think back to this moment and she has never been in a true, equal
swayed by the philosophy of the remember Ventress’ words to him partnership with someone before.
Jedi, and makes sure Ahsoka knows and how the Council put Ahsoka This change brings her both joy
that her help is not guaranteed. on trial. and tragedy. In the end, she elects

However, it’s a conversation after Ventress’ last defi ning personal to sacrifice her life for Vos and, of
Ahsoka has returned to the temple relationship is with a very different the two of them, she is the one who
that really reveals the emotion that Jedi: Quinlan Vos, with whom she argues that the path to the dark side
has been stewing beneath Ventress’ develops a romantic relationship. only leads to suffering.
surly surface. She tells Anakin: “I Her relationship with Vos is “Nothing is ever enough,” she

realized that your fallen Padawan one of her first in which there is tells Vos. “You get more, and more,
and I had a lot in common... my no power struggle. Unlike her time but you’re never happy. It’s a trap
Master abandoned me and that’s with Savage, Ventress does not baited with all the things you want
exactly what you did to her. You see Vos as an attack dog whom most in life—and it’s not worth
and your precious Jedi Order.” she can send out on missions as living. I already left that behind.”
Ventress identifies with Ahsoka she pleases. They work together, She sees that her quest to fi nd

now that she is on the run and and she begins to experience what a family led her down a dark path
cut off from her adopted family. it’s like to have an easy, equal with the Nightsisters, and that
Looking ahead, we can also see that partnership with another person. her existence as a bounty hunter
this might also be a pivotal moment Their partnership taking afterward was merely one job after
for Anakin. When Darth Sidious a romantic turn is also a new another, without any friends or
begins to plant doubt about the experience for her. While she family to support or enrich her.
Jedi Council in Anakin’s mind in has used her physical wiles as a This change of heart and
new-found wisdom
comes about not
04
only because of Vos,
but also because of
her encounters with
the other Jedi and
her personal search
for meaning. The
decision to sacrifi ce
herself is hers alone
and—similar to Luke
Skywalker’s willingness
to lay down his
lightsaber instead of

fighting Darth Vader—
it shows that she has
developed an inner
strength. In Ventress’
case, however, she
does not get to live
to see her new future.
She is gifted one final vision, in

which she sees that “burning
vengeance that only increased the
hunger for more” is not the only
path open to her. She tells Vos to
return to the Jedi, then joins her
sisters in death, fi nally recovering
the family that she once lost.
Ventress was a Jedi, a would-be
Sith, and a bounty hunter—almost
everything except a quiet citizen.
She survived enough loss and pain
for four lifetimes, becoming in the
process both a memorable hero and
05 a complex villain.



STAR WARS INSIDER / 71




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STAR WARS: CATALYST - A ROGUE ONE NOVEL

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WORLDWIDE


WORLDWIDE






CELEBR A TING THE S A G A
Compile d b y K ri stin Ba v er



INSIDE THE

VADER VAULT



Bill McBride takes us inside his
impressive shrine to the Dark Lord...

or over 25 years, Bill McBride has accepted
the mission of amassing over 63,000 items
Fmade in the image of the Sith.
He’s been enamored with Luke’s father since
he first glimpsed the menacing black-armored


figure striding into A New Hope when Bill was six
years old. “Star Wars was something everyone
was talking about, even my teachers and parents,
and I begged my father to take me to see it.”
The collection started soon after with a pair
of now vintage 4-inch and 15-inch Vader action
figures that he received as gifts. But it wasn’t

until adulthood that he began seriously acquiring
and displaying memorabilia, including carded
toys, props and storyboards, and some of the
strangest Vader merchandise around. Among
the oddest items: a vintage-era handmade Darth

Vader action-figure case, carved entirely from
solid oak. “Someone spent a lot of time and
effort making that piece,” McBride says. “And it’s
absolutely amazing.”
A cataloguing of the collection in 2015 led to
him being crowned the Guinness World Record
holder for the largest Vader treasure trove. In fact,

McBride is so confident about his claim to fame
and wealth of Vader memorabilia knowledge that
he often challenges guests to name an item that
Vader hasn’t been featured on.
McBride is a connoisseur of both the mass-
produced and the one-of-a-kind. “I’ve spent

well into fi ve-figures for a few prop items,” he
says. “Playing with the toys, acting out scenes,
the range of items that made us feel like we
owned part of the movie. Prop collecting is the
actualization of that idea.”
Some of his most treasured pieces are

artifacts from film history, like a concept drawing
sketched by Ralph McQuarrie and one of Vader’s
helmets from A New Hope. “Those pieces never
fail to give me goosebumps,” he says.



74 / STAR WARS INSIDER




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INSIDER NEEDS YOU!
We want to hear from you! Tell us about your
Star Wars experience. What made you want
to become a fan? What have you done in the
name of Star Wars? Tell us your Star Wars
story by sending your photos, art, and ARTISTS’ ALLEY
letters here:
[email protected]
Talented Star Wars fans share their amazing
Or via regular post:
UNITED STATES UNITED KINGDOM drawings inspired by the galaxy far, far away...
Star Wars Worldwide, Star Wars Worldwide,
Star Wars Insider, Star Wars Insider,
Titan Magazines, 144 Southwark
2819 Rosehall Lane, Street 01. DROID DUO
Aurora, IL, 60503, London, SE1 0UP,
U.S.A. U.K.
These two sketches
offer views of BB-8 and
the First Order’s evil
counterpart, BB-9E.
Dryden Graham,
Toronto, Canada


























02. PROTOCOL PICTURE

A regular contributor to our Worldwide pages,
Jose has sent us this image of C-3PO with his
red arm from The Force Awakens. He is currently
working on some Rogue One-themed art.
Jose Sanchez, email

03. PORTRAIT OF THE
PRINCESS
“I recently completed
this oil painting of
Princess Leia. Carrie
Fisher has such a lovely
face, and I hope that I
did her justice with the
painting.”
Elizabeth Hashimoto,
Kailua, Hawaii















ARS INSIDER
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WORLDWIDE
BOUNTY HUNTERS
Scouring the galaxy for the
stars of Star Wars...




Meet the stars, show the evidence, win
the bounty! Bounty Hunters is sponsored
by Kotobukiya. Each issue's winner will
receive a fantastic Kotobukiya Star
Wars statue kit! To see more,
visit www.facebook.com/kotobukiya

F
an Mark Fakhry had the pleasure of
meeting Luke Skywalker himself at
this year’s New York Comic Con. He
has previously met Peter Mayhew and
Jeremy Bulloch at Planet Comicon in Kansas FORCES OF ANIMATION
City in 2016. Of meeting Mark Hamill, he
said, “I felt five again. As Mark was Young fan Ine Vercruysse makes own Star Wars cartoons

autographing my Luke Skywalker maquette,
I told him I became a pilot because of Luke ne 10-year-old fan of the 1,000 likes and retweets on
and Han. He took an interest asking what Forces of Destiny series Twitter alone. “I thought it was
airline I worked for. Awesome guy!” O has been creating her very really amazing that so many
own stop-motion home movies. different people from all around
Ine Vercruysse, who lives in the world liked my video and
01
Belgium, says the project was commented on it!” Ine says. “It
inspired both by a classmate who made me feel really special.”
had made stop-motion animation, Ine’s second video was a
and her affi nity for Star Wars. “I more ambitious undertaking that
watched Forces Of Destiny this already shows off her growing
past summer and loved it!” says skills. Using the “BB-8 Bandits”
the longtime Rebels fan. short as her inspiration, this
She realized she had almost all time she incorporated music, a
the action figures in her collection nightwatcher worm drawing, and

and decided to bring “Bounty over 100 additional individual
of Trouble” to life. “I collect the shots for a more fl uid fi lm that’s
female figures because I like that nearly a minute-and-a-half long.

they are strong characters and that She also had a little help from

they are equal to boys,” she says. her mom, who figured out how to
Ine bought herself a book incorporate Rey’s theme into the
about animation to learn the basic final cut of the video and crafted

principals, studied the episode, a speeder bike out of a cereal box.
cast the right figures from her “The biggest challenge for

toy collection, and sketched out me was to remember the position
a storyboard. “I also made some of the camera after I changed the

props like the datapad.” Some action figures,” she says. You can
02
leftover confetti stood in for an see Ine’s videos on YouTube by
explosion effect. searching for “Stop-motion video
Then she crafted a simple inspired by Star Wars Forces
white background, secured it Of Destiny”.
with some tape, and started her
abridged shot-for-shot remake
using the family iPad and an app
for editing. The final video was

21 seconds long, with three still
images per second.
“She did everything herself,”
her mother Veerle says. “I was
01 From one pilot to another. Mark Fakhry meets
Mark Hamill. blown away by it!” She wasn’t
02 Mark also met Billy Dee Williams last year at the alone. When Veerle shared the
Kansas City Comic Con. short online, it garnered nearly



T
S
AR W
6
ARS INSIDE
/
7
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WORLDWIDE



WALKER ON PARADE been building innovative kinetic
machines since 2009, when
they first entered the derby

An Imperial walker took to the streets of
with a miniature version of their
Philadelphia earlier this year Kenzinger beer delivery truck.
With the help of his colleague

he “Imperial March” blaring The float was built by Tyson Billy Westervelt, the pair spent
in the streets of Philadelphia Tarbell, 40, and his crew for the about 50 hours converting a truck
T heralded the appearance of Kensington Kinetic Sculpture into a pedal-powered parade

an Imperial walker. But instead of Derby & Arts Festival, an annual float, using an original chassis
a hulking four-legged machine that design competition and parade of from a 2004 Chevrolet S-10. But
could only be thwarted by a circling quirky, handmade human-powered each year they add new art to the
snowspeeder and a length of cable, vehicles. Tarbell, in charge of exterior, and each year, the designs
this beast was only operational maintenance and fabrication for get a little more out of this world.
with the help of a crew of cadets Philadelphia Brewing Company “In 2011, the year they were
pedaling to keep it on the move. by day, says the company has retiring the space shuttles, we paid
homage with the Fermenterprise,”
Tarbell says. He’s also built a viking
war ship and a Doof Wagon from
Mad Max: Fury Road. But the AT-
AT has been on his wish list for a
long time. In 2017, he fi nally felt
like he was up for the challenge.
The dimensional restrictions
of the cart base and the tall and
lean proportions of the armored

vehicle made it difficult to marry
the two, Tarbell says. His wife,
Cameron, a graphic designer for
the brewery, helped him to get a
handle on the scaling.





R2 BUILDERS UNITE IN STOCKHOLM


Lars-Åke Siggelin tells us of a gathering of R2 builders in Stockholm

or the second year of Comic for their contribution to the It was followed by a
Con Stockholm (Sept 15—17), Star Wars saga. That ceremony dinner with the troopers in the
F R2 Builders Sweden invited was conducted by Alexander evening. During the Con the
staff from The Creature Shop of Arvidsson, the C.O. of the Nordic 501st/RL collected a little more
Star Wars to join us for a couple of Garrison, at the end of their droid than 22,000 SEK for the Swedish
days of fun. panel on Saturday September 16. Children’s Cancer Fund.
Lee Towersey is one of the two
U.K. R2 Builder fans that got hired
to make and operate R2-D2 on
The Force Awakens. Matt Denton,
engineer of BB-8, participated at
last year’s Comic Con and was
happy to return again, this time
expanding his BB-8 talks to include
a panel about animatronics and his
experience in visual effects.
Both Lee and Matt were
also inducted as honorary
members of the 501st Legion



STAR WARS INSIDER / 77




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Star Wars: Star Wars: A New Hope
Heroes of the Force The Official Celebration Special

ISBN 9781785851926 ISBN 9781785864605
THE BEST OF ST AR W A RS IN S IDE R
THE BEST OF STAR WARS INSIDER















The Best of Star Wars Insider The Best of Star Wars Insider The Best of Star Wars Insider The Best of Star Wars Insider Star Wars: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Volume One Volume Two Volume Three Volume Four Lords of the Sith The Official Mission Debrief

ISBN 9781785851162 ISBN 9781785851179 ISBN 9781785851896 ISBN 9781785851902 ISBN 9781785851919 ISBN 9781785861581
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: TITAN-COMICS.COM

© & TM 2017 Lucasfi lm Ltd.




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WIN!





WIN!























The prize
also includes...









1/144 scale Millennium
Falcon kit.




Build your own


!
Millennium Falcon 1/72 scale Poe’s Boosted
X-wing fi ghter kit.

Your chance to win more than $500 worth of Bandai model kits!


It’s been called a piece of junk, and it’s had more Which alien junk boss owned the
owners than Tatooine has suns, but the Millennium Millennium Falcon on Jakku?
Falcon remains the coolest starship in the galaxy. It 1/144 and 1/350 scale
played a vital role in the war against the Empire, and it A) LUMINARI UNDULI Resistance vehicle set.
continues to be a force for good against the First B) ZUVIO *Some of the assembled products are painted for advertising purposes
Order now that it’s piloted by Rey and Chewbacca. C) UNKAR PLUTT
This Perfect Grade 1:72 scale model from Bandai
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© & ™ Lucasfi lm Ltd.


STAR WARS INSIDER / 79




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The

Star Wars

Archive


Lights! Camera! Action!
Rare images from the
Star Wars photo archives.






































































80 / STAR WARS INSIDER




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A trio of hope!
Harrison Ford, Mark
Hamill, and Carrie
Fisher hanging out
on the set of A New
Hope—a film that
would change all
their lives!






STAR WARS INSIDER / 81




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