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For my FMP (2020-21) at LSA, I was aiming to honour one of the most influential figures in my childhood and the creator of the most iconic film franchise in history: Star Wars and George Lucas. To achieve this, I crafted a short story within the Star Wars universe while emulating George Lucas' signature style, incorporating elements such as lightsabers, Jedi and Sith characters, spaceships, planets, costumes, visual style (including the opening crawl), and narrative.
To pay the fullest tribute to George Lucas, I first gathered as much information about him as possible. This research then informed my approach to incorporating various aspects of the Star Wars universe into my film. For instance, when investigating the history and creation of lightsabers, I compared the original techniques with modern methods to determine the best approach for my project.
In this case study about George Lucas, I delved into his background before establishing Lucasfilm, the reasons for my admiration, the evolution of his work (including an infographic), and the changes that have taken place within Lucasfilm since its acquisition by Disney in 2012. By thoroughly researching and understanding these aspects, I created a film that truly reflects the spirit and essence of George Lucas' iconic contributions to the world of cinema.
George Lucas holds a special place in my heart as one of my all-time favourite directors, writers, and more importantly, a master world-builder and storyteller.
Since childhood, I have been captivated by movies like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the other prequel films, along with the latest Indiana Jones installment. These films not only introduced me to the larger world of their respective franchises but also transported me to entirely new universes. Each time I watch these iconic movies, like countless others around the globe, I feel immersed and connected to the extraordinary worlds George has created.
It is this remarkable talent that I wish to honour. I wanted to craft a short story in his distinctive style, envisioning a new world of my own that seamlessly integrates into the Star Wars universe. I drew upon his iconic elements, including lightsabers, costumes representing various character types (Jedi and Sith), and interstellar travel, all of which I have thoroughly researched for this project.
The theme of Good vs Evil is a universal concept deeply rooted in human societies, faiths, and religions, dating back over three thousand years. This timeless theme takes two forms: internal and external conflicts, where characters face moral dilemmas or fight against opposing forces. Originating in ancient artifacts like cave paintings, the theme evolved through religious texts and literature, such as the Bible and Jekyll and Hyde, serving as a moral compass for readers. It has since become a foundation for modern film narratives, particularly in blockbuster action films.
In essence, good characters are empathetic, compassionate, and prioritize others' needs, while evil characters lack empathy and prioritize their own needs above all else.
In the Star Wars universe, the theme of Good vs Evil is showcased through the conflict between the Jedi (good) and the Sith (evil), who have fought for thousands of years over power and control. Costume design plays a vital role in distinguishing between these factions. Jedi wear light-coloured robes with blue or green lightsabers, creating a calm and peaceful appearance, while Sith don dark, hooded cloaks with red lightsabers, signifying danger and evil. Throughout the Star Wars saga, these opposing forces are also represented through conflicting military and political factions, such as the Republic vs the Separatist Alliance, the Rebellion vs the Empire, and the New Republic/Resistance vs the First & Final Order.
In my short film, costume design is the primary way to convey Good and Evil, but character writing was also crucial for creating dynamic, nuanced villains. My aim was to make the villain more relatable by giving him a backstory and motive, possibly involving the tragic loss of his mother due to a Jedi's actions, fuelling his hatred for the Jedi. By connecting the villain to iconic Sith Lord Darth Maul, I wanted to create a dilemma for the audience as they empathize with both protagonists and the villain. This complexity would then keep the audience engaged and invested in the story.
The idea for Star Wars came from George Lucas' inspiration from 1940s pirate sword fighting and romantic movies. He wanted to create a romantic fantasy with a focus on honour, which influenced the concept of Jedi and the lightsaber as an elegant weapon from a more civilized age.
In the original trilogy, the lightsaber hilts were made from camera flash attachments, while the blades were created using various methods. Initially, they used rotating poles with reflective surfaces, but this had limitations. They later used metal poles and combined practical and rotoscope effects, allowing for more dynamic movement. As visual effects technology improved, tracking and rotoscoping became more accurate, enabling better lightsaber effects.
Ben Burtt, the creator of the lightsaber sounds, was inspired by the humming of idle film projectors. He combined this with the buzzing sound from a broken microphone cable picking up TV static, creating the base sound of an ignited lightsaber. In a professional setting, he added swooshes and pass-by sounds for dynamism and immersion. Over time, minor changes were made, especially in the prequel trilogy, but the sounds always remained based on the same method and recording.
To create lightsabers for my project, I used accessible technology and visual effects software like After Effects. I planned to use a straight wooden stick as the base for rotoscoping and tracking the glowing blade in post-production. Video Co-pilot's free Saber plugin helped achieve a realistic look.
I would have used prop lightsabers for a more immersive feel and natural environmental lighting. However, the wooden stick was a cost-effective alternative. One challenge with this approach was creating ignition shots, as I needed to make two versions of each lightsaber (one with the hilt only and another with a full-length blade). To overcome this issue, I used the hilt alone for ignition shots and estimated the blade's position during post-production.
In Star Wars, planets serve as gateways for audiences to explore various environments within the galaxy and can symbolize or address real-world issues. For instance, the prequels depict core worlds as modern and civilized, while outer rim planets like Tatooine showcase poverty and criminal activity, symbolizing the contrast between first and third-world countries.
Additionally, planets help establish the tone and environment for scenes. Establishing shots of green planets like Yavin-4 or Naboo suggest forest or Earth-like settings, while different colors or landscapes evoke distinct atmospheres and expectations.
The chosen planet for the story is an Earth-like terra planet, as it was both efficient and cinematic while paying homage to Star Wars. This type of planet was more accessible for filming in London's forest locations and allows for numerous references from the movies. The chosen hooting location was Epping Forest.
The film follows Star Wars tradition by opening with a crawl, followed by a camera pan to a planet or ships. This approach pays homage to George Lucas's style. References from existing Star Wars terra planets and high-resolution images are used to create the desired look for the planet in 3D software, Blender.
Using procedural textures in Blender, the planet's material is created with full control over the textures, ensuring high quality even in close-up shots. However, this method increases render time due to the additional calculations. To reduce render time while maintaining quality, procedural textures can be baked into high-resolution images.
The short film was set during the Clone Wars era, between Episodes 2 and 3. To maintain immersion, ships from that period, specifically Episode 3, were used. The Jedi characters Del and Cyrus used the classic ETA-2 Jedi interceptors, which were recognizable and symbolic of the Jedi Order. These ships had unique colors to make them stand out.
Darth Navil, the Sith character, used a ship with a red and black color scheme, resembling the colors of the Sith and the pattern of Darth Maul's face. The ship's design was sharp and fast, giving it a dangerous look. The ship also inspired a backstory for Darth Navil, who was once the apprentice of Darth Maul and painted his starfighter in his style to honor Maul's "death" in Episode 1.
After downloading the 3D model for the Jedi interceptor and setting up its materials in Blender, I started testing landing animations using a reference clip. I encountered a problem as the model wasn't fully rigged, so I had to manually separate the wing flaps and animate them with shape keys. To make the animation more realistic, I added a bounce effect when the ship landed.
Later, I tested space animations, specifically ships approaching planets, inspired by a scene I wanted to recreate. I used an image of the planet I rendered as a background and animated two ships along a curve/path going towards the planet. This proved to be more challenging than expected, but after a few hours, the animation was complete. I added post-processing effects, including color grading and camera shake. After receiving feedback from professional 3D artists, I reduced the camera shake and noticed a significant improvement.
How is Music Used in Star Wars?
Throughout the decades, many themes/scores by John William from Star Wars have become iconic and universal across the world even to those who never watched star wars, the most obvious examples of this are The Imperial March, Duel of the Fates, The Force Suite.
Generally speaking, music in star wars is used for several reasons and instances: 1- To introduce characters and set their tone, for example, when we are first introduced to the emperor (episode 6), there is a very ominous theme playing in the background, which mirrors his mysterious character which is only now being shown, or darth vaders theme, which instantly makes the audience think hes very powerful and robust. The same goes for the good guys, for example when characters like Yoda are introduced, it gives off a very calm, peaceful and positive tone to the scene which directly reflects his character.
What are the other different types of music?
Music is also used to set the atmosphere of locations and planets, for example, Naboos Theme feels very angelic and luxurious, which is directly shown as the planet is beautiful and filled with italian-like architecture and there is also a monarchy, in contrast to this Tatooine's Theme gives off very western and outlaw vibes which is exactly what the planet is like.
Action + Space battle music is also really common in star wars and is used to amplify the sense of urgency during the battle, some really iconic music/scores are from The Battle of Endor and Death Star Trench Run/ Battle of Yavin.
Lastly, these are the most iconic and constant scores in star wars, which are the opening title and closing credits.
For my final film, I used 4 different types of music: Planet introduction/ambience, Character Theme (Darth Navil) and Darth Mauls theme , action music for the fight scenes and also the opening title and credits music.
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