Category: Making of Star Wars

Dev explores what makes Star Wars one of the most loved, successful and hyped franchises of all time, and interviews new stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and director J.J. Abrams.

What is the secret of Star Wars? For nearly 40 years it has broken box office records, inspired devotion amongst millions of fans worldwide, and created unprecedented levels of hype in the lead-up to each new film. What is the reason for the franchise’s appeal, even amongst young people who may never have seen one of the previous six films?

In the week of release of the latest Star Wars Episode 7, Dev talks to the stars and director of ‘The Force Awakens’, industry experts, and a real-life Jedi to discover what makes Star Wars such a cultural phenomenon.

How does Star Wars’ simple good versus evil storyline echo ancient mythology to connect with people of all ages? How have the films pushed back the boundaries of scale and technical achievement in cinema? How has the series stayed at the forefront of popular culture despite no new film for 10 years and a mixed audience reaction to the more recent ‘prequel’ films? What is it about ‘The Force’ and Jedis that intrigue audiences at such a profound level, even inspiring some people to adopt Jedi-ism as their religion?

In an effort to get closer to ‘The Force’, Dev tries his hand at lightsaber combat training and attempts to experience the power of Jedi mind-tricks with magician Chris Cox. To help him understand the meaning of ‘The Force’ and the religious philosophies of Jedi-ism, Dev spends time with a 23 year old student who lives his life as a Jedi.

Featuring interviews with new young British stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and director J.J. Abrams and some fascinating footage from the BBC Archive.

The Stunning Beauty of Episode III

Cool Sci-Fi Concept and Background Art, Film, Making of Star Wars, Star Wars

All these are stunning and I have seen them, well, thousands of times. It is a testament to George’s genius, and to the talent at Lucasflim that he put together to work on his films. George was just great at picking great people to work for him, this was his greatest talent. He was a good man, a great man, and a visionary and he is terribly missed.
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All art directors at Lucas were very strong. The other company i know of with really excellent art direction is Pixar, a legacy of excellence. And this was only because of peer pressure. Meetings at Lucas were essentially a committee picking everything in a scene apart. A weak art director would never last long, i’d say the greatest and real form of meritocracy i have seen in a company. Every artist that joined the team was handpicked and went through grueling round of interviews where everyone pretty much needed to weigh in if the candidate is worthy. Every art meeting was also a committee where everyone got to see everyone else’s work so the peer pressure was enormous. The equality of the art reflects exactly that great meritocratic process. In other words, if you sucked – you were out.