Lightsaber

An assortment of lightsabers. From left to right: Luke Skywalker's second lightsaber, Darth Maul's, and Asajj Ventress's.

The lightsaber is a weapon that plays a key role in the movies, games and novels that constitute the Star Wars universe. Lightsabers are science fiction versions of their namesake, the saber. Instead of a metal blade, the lightsaber generates a brightly colored energy blade about three feet in length. Though they often behave like regular swords, they are also depicted as able to cut through most matter with little or no resistance and to deflect projectiles and other weapons in the Star Wars universe. The lightsaber first appeared in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977). Rotoscoping was used to create the lightsaber's distinct appearance in the original trilogy. For the prequel trilogy, the effect was created using digital rotoscoping.

Contents

Production

Concept and creation

Nelson Shin, renowned South Korean animator, was approached by his manager to work on the visual effects for a live action movie. He was tasked with drawing the lightsaber to match the film scenes that the film producers brought. Shin explained to the people from Lucas Film that since the lightsaber is made of light, the sword should look "a little shaky" like a fluorescent tube. He also suggested that when printing the film on an optical printer, one frame should be inserted that was much lighter than the others, making the light seem to vibrate. Shin also recommended adding a degausser sound on top of the other sounds for the weapon since the sound would be reminiscent of a magnetic field. The whole process took one week, surprising his company, and Lucas Films demonstrated the film to him, having followed his suggestions, including using an X-Acto knife to give the lightsaber a very sharp look.[1]

Visual effect

When the prequel trilogy began filming, George Lucas said that all Jedi would have blue, green, or similarly-colored lightsaber blades, not only to differentiate themselves from the Sith, but also to give them their own visual identity. Whenever there were flashes of blaster fire or explosions around, the color of a Jedi's lightsaber would shine through.

Prop construction

For A New Hope, the original film prop hilts were constructed from old camera-flash battery packs and other pieces of hardware. The 'switched-on' sword props were designed with the intention of creating an 'in-camera' glowing effect. The 'blade' was three-sided and coated with a retroreflector array—the same sort used for highway signs. A lamp was positioned to the side of the taking camera and reflected towards the subject through 45-degree angled glass so that the sword would appear to glow from the camera's point-of-view.

Choreography

In writing the prequel trilogy, George Lucas said he wanted the lightsaber combat in the prequels to be "reminiscent of what had been done in the previous films but also something that was more energized. We'd seen old men, young boys, and characters who were half-droid, but we'd never seen a Jedi in his prime. I wanted to do that with a fight that was faster and more dynamic-and we were able to pull that off."[2]

According to prequel trilogy stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, various lightsaber combat styles were devised for the prequels and intended to further characterize their practitioners.

"I developed different styles for the characters, and gave each of them a flaw or a bonus. So with Obi, for instance, he's got a very business-like style--when he was younger he could border on the flashy and might twirl his lightsaber a bit, because he was taught by Qui-Gonn. Qui-Gonn was brash, that rubbed off on Obi and Obi then taught Anakin, who was way too old to learn anyway." "I think the style really worked well. The Jedi style of fighting is an amalgamation of all the great swordfighting styles. Melding them together is the difficult part--to move from a Kendo style to, say, Rapier requires a complete change in body and feet movement, and this must look effortless. The style moves seamlessly between the different disciplines, but remains technically correct throughout. It's unlike any other style of fighting and I think it's beautiful to watch." [3]

For The Phantom Menace, Gillard set out certain styles and faults for the saber-wielding characters.[4] He added that the Jedi's use of such "a short-range weapon" meant "they would have to be very good at it"; combining a variety of disciplines from various fencing styles to martial arts "with a touch of tennis and tree chopping," he created the style seen in the Episode I lightsaber battles."[5]

Appearances in popular culture

References

  1. ↑ "Interview with Nelson Shin", CNN (2007-11-09). Retrieved on 2008-07-11. 
  2. ↑ Bouzereau, Laurent; Duncan, Jody (1999). Star Wars: The Making of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Hardcover ed.). New York: Ballantine Publ. Group. ISBN 0345431111. , page 99
  3. ↑ "March-Interview with stunt co-ordinator Nick Gillard (Mr. Optimism)". Retrieved on 2008-11-28.
  4. ↑ "Nick Gillard Talks ROTS Game". TheForce.Net (2005-05-08). Retrieved on 2008-11-28.
  5. ↑ Episode I Video: Prime of the Jedi -(part of the "Making Episode I" series).
  6. ↑ Mike Butcher (2008-11-14). "Greatness within its grasp", Irish Times. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  7. ↑ Robert Z. Pearlman (August 28, 2007). "NASA Shuttle to Launch Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber", Space.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2008. 

External links