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Author
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Topic: Lightsabers
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trinity
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posted 08-21-1998 04:15 PM
Does anyone know exactly how the Trilogy's lightsaber effect was achieved??? I've tried to reproduce it, but can never get it "just right". I appreciate the help !!!
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Geoff
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posted 08-21-1998 10:15 PM
im not sure if this is right or not but i heard that in the first film they painted the beams onto the film. if anyone knows if this is true or not lemmeknow.
geoff
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Big Al
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posted 08-22-1998 01:56 AM
For the first film, the handle of the light sabers contained a small motor that had a rod attached to it that had strips of Scotchlite tape running the length of the rod. Scotchlite is covered with microscopic glass beads that act as reflex lenses; that is, it reflects light like a mirror, most strongly in an axis straight back the way the light came at it. Scotchlite is what is used on street signs and highway signs , to make them reflective enough to be seen at great distances at night.
Anyway, with a beamsplitter in front of the lens of the camera to get the strong co-axial beam of light, the result was a thin, glittering shaft of light....but it didn't have the type of menacing look of power Lucas wanted, so an optical effect was laid over the physical effect.
The finished light saber scenes were rotoscoped, that is, the developed film was threaded into an animation stand, and each frame was projected down onto a piece of animation paper, one piece per frame. the image of the sabers were traced onto the papers, and colored in solid with ink. These were then shot onto high contrast negative film, which resulted in clear areas (the light saber images) moving through a dense black frame. These were doble exposed on an optcal printer over the original footage, with appropriate color filters, giving the results you see.
The latter two films did away with the Scotchlite hand prop, as that effect didn't work, and the artists went right to the rotoscoping.
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nik
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posted 08-22-1998 01:59 AM
[This message has been edited by nik (edited 08-22-98).]
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nik
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posted 08-22-1998 02:00 AM
Yeah, they did digitally add the glow of the sabers in post. I do know that the sabers used in "A New Hope" Episode III we're rods that reflected light a bit, to help give the sabers their unique look. The rods may have even been made of glass I heard once, but don't quote me on that. Being that the first film was low budget, they had a tough time fighting with these sabers. Sometimes thay would break and have to be fixed again. Good luck with whatever your using sabers for, but be sure and stay true to the epic of Trilogies.
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John O
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posted 08-23-1998 03:23 AM
Sorry Nik.But when the Star Wars trilogy was made (1977, 1980, 1983) there was no Digital Post! Obviously you read some bad information. considering that Star Wars: A New Hope is not Episode III! It's Episode IV. BIG AL is exactly RIGHT! Reflecting rods where used in the first film, but they suck and were rotoscoped over. Empire and Jedi went Straight to Rotoscoping. Watch "The Making of Star Wars as told by C3PO and R2-D2" they show the Lightsaber seen as it is being shot, and explain the process slightly. Some lightsaber shots where enhanced last year via digital. But only one or two shots. John O. [This message has been edited by John O (edited 08-23-98).]
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