Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/929567
George Lucas first made Star Wars in a kind of fantasy-documentary style, plopping the audience into the midst of a real/fictional story-in-progress. The technology looked unremarkably purposeful and the environments were presented as if they were just "shot on location on your average, everyday Death Star or Mos Eisley spaceport" as Production Designer John Barry stated—both alien and familiar at the same time. As Joe Johnston advised me when I asked him how he approached the industrial design challenges of the original film, "the future looks old." It was a subtly recognisable galaxy to an audience familiar with mid- century aircraft design, and films like Metropolis and Silent Running. Defining the environments and technology in this way, both in space and in unusual earthly environs, Lucas inspired the beautiful work of his designers, especially Ralph McQuarrie, Joe and others, to establish the signature Star Wars aesthetic. Many of us who remember seeing the film in the theater in 1977 were riveted by the novel and casually inventive world it immersed us in. That's the feeling we wanted to infuse Rian's vision with in order to create a Star Wars which respected what went before, but developed new environments and technology as it explored more complex characters and emotions. A. The Resistance Cruiser Bridge. Art by Rodolfo Damaggio. Modeled and rendered in Maya and finished in Photoshop. B. Resistance Fighter Hangar. Art by Kevin Jenkins. Rough sketch taken into Modo, finished in Photoshop. C. Snoke's Throne Room. Set photo by Ben Munro. D. Resistance Cruiser from Destroyer Bridge. Art by Paul Catling. E. Resistance bombing run. Art by Kevin Jenkins. Modo model, finished in Photoshop. F. The Jedi Village. Art by Paul Catling. Photoshop painted over 3D model. G. The Jedi Village (Pinewood). Photo by Ben Munro. H. The Jedi Village (Dingle, Ireland). Photo by Ben Munro. I. Set schematic: The Jedi Village (Pinewood)— SketchUp model by Dean Clegg and Tim Browning. A B C D E