![]() All of that picturesque snow in Norway proved to be a real problem for the crew. The fire would not be the only unexpected setback during filming. ![]() Mark Hamill, in the snow, shooting the Battle of Hoth sequence.ĭirector Irvin Kernsher leads the shoot through frigid temperatures. But temperatures there could be uncomfortable on a typical day too, with director Irvin Kershner recalling that it reached 100 degrees. The snow in the studio sets was artificial, coated with salt for the shine. The Shining was being filmed at the same studio at the time, and even borrowed some studio space from Empire when one of the stages was rendered unusable after a fire. (The ground scene, that is, as opposed to the establishing sequence of the Star Destroyer and probe droid in space.) Finse, Norway was chosen for the outside scenes, while the interiors and some effects shots would be created inside Elstree Studios in England. Although this is not always or even often the case when it comes to making movies, the first major scene in The Empire Strikes Back was also the first section to be filmed. Initial design work was done in late 1977 and early 1978, shortly before filming began. Meanwhile, George Lucas kept in mind the Martian vehicles from War of the Worlds. He plucked the idea of mechanical legs from General Electric’s Walking Truck, a four-legged robot concept designed by Ralph Mosher, as well as art created by science fiction concept artist Syd Mead for a US Steel promotional brochure about the future of steel. Effects artist Joe Johnston was tasked with creating the AT-AT walkers, originally pitched as tanks. The furry creature seen on screen eventually was developed from these concepts.Īlong with the tauntauns, AT-AT walkers, gun emplacements, and snow speeders also needed to be created as practical props. Lucas told him that it needed to suit a snowy environment and that instead of a dinosaur, it should look more reminiscent of a rat. McQuarrie and model maker Phil Tippett both worked on the design of the tauntaun, which McQuarrie originally drew as a scaly dinosaurian creature, adapted for the desert. Some of the initial ideas for it were adapted from a location from Brackett’s script called “Vader’s Castle,” which would later become the rebel base. Concept artists, including the legendary Ralph McQuarrie, began work on the rebel base. Far from evoking warm hearths on a peaceful snowy afternoon, Hoth was designed to be a place where the rebel heroes would face an unwinnable battle. By late 1977, the same year Star Wars: A New Hope released to incredible success, development on Hoth concepts was in full swing. Lucas’s second draft changed the tone and some detail, but much of Hoth remained the same.Ĭoncept sketches by Ralph McQuarrie showing the evolution of the tauntaun. She detailed the ice planet, the attack by the wampa, and the Imperial assault that forces the Rebels to flee. George Lucas recruited science fiction writer Leigh Brackett to pen a first draft based on his original story. As we try to escape the summer heat, explores what it took to make a planet of snow and ice.Ī top-down look at the practical effects used on the Hoth sets begins with why the Star Wars sequel ended up on the snow planet in the first place. The crew of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, from composer John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra to actors and model-makers, built the world of Hoth in conditions as harrowing as those faced by the Rebels in their hidden snow base. Danger awaits within the caves, where wampas search for living prey - and all of this is evoked through the special effects and music developed for the film starting in late 1977. The air is brittle and cold, fouling up engines as surely as it freezes any human unlucky enough to be caught outside for too long. Snow glitters on rolling hills and sharp-edged cliffs. Herds of tauntauns search for lichen among crevasses of ice. Stepping onto Hoth’s icy surface feels like a fantastical winter wonderland. Escape the summer heat with a closer look at the making of the ice planet in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
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