-Notes provided by Twentieth Century Fox-

Production Notes

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away

Twenty-two years ago, these words first flashed across movie theater screens around the world, and a modern legend was born. Hundreds of millions of people would be introduced to a saga that would touch their lives in ways then unimaginable. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and the Special Editions of all three films, became defining events for two generations. The fast-paced action adventures, set in a new and exciting universe, featured grand design and boundless fun. The films inspired countless of viewers with themes that are universal and timeless: the conflict between good and evil and between technology and humanity, the celebration of heroism, and the limitless potential of the individual.
The Star Wars saga is a modern-day fairy tale reflecting the vision of George Lucas. Lucas imbued this new myth with pieces of American pop culture, including movie westerns, swashbucklers and for seasoning - Japanese samurai epics. Star Wars was also a reaction against Watergate, Vietnam and other periods of domestic turmoil that seemed to undermine the concept of the hero for disillusioned Americans.
With the Star Wars saga, Lucas decided to bring together these recognizable, modern-day threads under the umbrella of the basic mythic structure the journey of the hero that has been in place for thousands of years, in hundreds of civilizations. With its mix of the traditional and the modern, Star Wars' new mythology thrilled young and old alike.
Now, with STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE, Lucas takes us back to the beginning, in which Darth Vader is a hopeful nine-year-old boy named Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi is a determined young Jedi knight. This first chapter, which is rich in art, design, costumes, architecture and technology, follows Anakin's journey as he pursues his dreams and confronts his fears in the midst of a galaxy in turmoil.
ORIGINS AND DESIGNS
Bringing EPISODE I to the screen was a journey years in the planning and making. It began in November 1994. George Lucas sat down to write the script, in longhand, in a binder he has used for all his films. After five years, three countries, thousands of designs, scores of cast and crew members, and a new world of groundbreaking special effects including the movies' first "digital backlot" the first new Star Wars film in sixteen years finally arrives in theaters around the world.
The seeds of EPISODE I were planted more than twenty years ago, when Lucas was writing the story for the original Star Wars. During this process, he created a backstory that took place a generation prior to the events that he was dramatizing. "It was just a little story outline with bits and pieces," Lucas remembers. "But it had a structure that hasn't changed much in all these years."
Of course, at that time it never occurred to him that this backstory could actually be turned into a movie until Star Wars became a global phenomenon. "Everybody then started asking, 'How many are you going to make?'" Lucas says. "So I thought I could go back and do the backstories of the original trilogy"
The characters and worlds Lucas envisioned for the new film could not have been created with traditional effects. But once he saw the digital breakthroughs in 1993's Jurassic Park achieved by Industrial Light & Magic a company Lucas created in the 1970s to handle the Star Wars effects Lucas knew ILM was up for the formidable challenge of seamlessly blending digital animation with live action in the new Star Wars movie. "Jurassic Park was a real milestone," Lucas recalls. "That, along with the wrapping up of (Lucas' award-winning television series) The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, led me to ask myself what I was going to do next." A new chapter in the Star Wars saga was the answer.
One and a half years after this effects breakthrough, Lucas began writing EPISODE I of his landmark saga. But he faced some formidable challenges. Audiences around the world already knew the end of the saga; now Lucas had to go back and create the beginning. This story would have to be consistent with the three movies (Episodes IV-VI) that preceded it, plus the two that would follow (Episodes II and III).
These challenges also pointed to a tremendous opportunity: The creation of an even richer saga. The notion of a continuing, epic story has been a critical one since the inception of Star Wars. "Ultimately, it'll be six films and about twelve hours of one story," Lucas points out. "Throughout the writing and making of EPISODE I, I always stayed focused on ten years from now, when the new trilogy will be completed. Then people can watch all six films together as they were intended to be seen."
Lucas likens the saga's structure and themes to a musical piece. "The Star Wars saga is, in a way, symphonic in nature," he explains. "I have certain musical refrains that I am purposely repeating in a different chord, but still repeating."
These thematic echoes emanate from the parallels between the story of Anakin Skywalker in EPISODE I, and of Anakin's future son, Luke, in the original trilogy. "In the first three films, I told a specific story," Lucas continues. "With the new trilogy, I'm telling nearly the same story, with many similar emotional, psychological and decision-making moments." One specific recurring theme is that of courage to leave home, to abandon what is comfortable, to follow one's dreams and to take a risk. In the Star Wars saga, Anakin and Luke both exhibit this courage, but it takes them in very different directions.
EPISODE I's symphonic structure reflects and incorporates other key themes, including the balance between good and evil, discovery, and what Lucas calls "symbiotic relationships." That is, the characters work together and depend on each other to reach their goals and to survive. So there are several other key characters and storylines of near equal import, all of which are carefully interwoven and work together to tell the story.
Lucas' fascination with intricate and interweaving plot structures dates back to his innovative work with multiple, concurrent plot lines in American Graffiti, a device now frequently used by filmmakers around the world. In EPISODE I, Lucas continues to experiment with story structure, enriching the plot to the point that there are five concurrent storylines taking place during the film.
EPISODE I's framing plotline involves Senator Palpatine, an influential politician quietly making moves to consolidate his power in a time of unrest throughout the Republic, during which the government has been weakened and turned into a bureaucratic quagmire.
A specific incident within this framework places Palpatine at the center of a conflict between the gigantic, commercial Trade Federation and the small, peaceful planet Naboo. Naboo is threatened by the might of the wealthy corporate powers, which begin to disregard the constraints of the weak galactic government.
The young queen of Naboo finds herself faced with difficult decisions. Committed to peace, she must choose whether to sacrifice her ideals when war descends upon her people.
Sent into this crisis to negotiate a settlement are two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. Prepared for a political dispute, the Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn and apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi discover that the Trade Federation is about to unleash its mighty forces in open combat against Naboo. Unless the two Jedi can succeed, the planet's fate is grim.
In the course of their adventure, Qui-Gon discovers a young boy, Anakin, who is a slave on the desert planet Tatooine. Qui-Gon senses that Anakin is the individual destined to bring balance to the Force, and makes a fateful decision to train Anakin as a Jedi Knight. At the same time, Anakin begins a friendship with the Queen of Naboo.
To bring these stories and characters to life, Lucas decided to return to the director's chair, following a more than twenty-year hiatus that began after he finished helming the original Star Wars. "I thought I was going to probably have to direct EPISODE I from the start," he says, "because the film involved a lot of experimental ideas." Lucas also figured it would save a lot of time and effort if he just directed it himself. "I wouldn't have to argue with or explain things to the director," he adds with a laugh.
A central figure in helping Lucas bring his vision to the screen is producer Rick McCallum, who was producer of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as well as the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. McCallum's efforts and skills were critical to the smooth running of the production, and hearken back to a time when producers worked in a creative capacity. "Rick's contributions to the film are immeasurable," says Lucas of his indefatigable colleague. "And his creative and organizational skills are remarkable."
McCallum sees his very complex job in simple terms. "It's my job to help make George's vision a reality," he explains. "I had to be on top of everything and make things happen for him."
McCallum's work began very early on as Lucas was putting pen to paper. First off, the producer hopscotched around the globe, scouting locations. Also key among his many early responsibilities was finding and hiring concept artists for a small art department, one that would eventually turn out thousands of designs for costumes, creatures, vehicles and sets for EPISODE I.
This art department would play a critical role in the film. Lucas' story, which encompasses various cultures, planets and styles, necessitated a rich and varied design. "I tried to figure out what each culture was like," says Lucas, "and what kind of design would fit into each." The challenges involved a staggering number of designs for everything from an Art Nouveau underwater city to brooches for a queen, along with dozens of spacecraft, hundreds of costumes and thousands of otherworldly props. The architecture alone involves everything from Ibadite Tunisian adobe and Malian mud styles to futurist mile-high skyscrapers, Renaissance Italian palaces, and very alien free-form interiors.
Doug Chiang, an art director at ILM, came aboard EPISODE I in 1994 to oversee its design. Among the talented group of concept artists working with Chiang were Terryl Whitlatch, whose background in zoology made her ideal for designing the story's hundreds of creatures and Ian McCaig, whose work included the intricate costume designs.
Interpreting Lucas' vision, Chiang brought a new look to the epic saga. Initially, Chiang carefully studied the Star Wars style. But Lucas had something very different in mind: Instead of just duplicating the looks of the original trilogy, he wanted to create many entirely new settings and worlds. The importance that Lucas placed on the film's design was evidenced by the fact that he began meeting with Chiang and the art department in the very early stages of pre-production. "At our first meeting, George told me he wanted something new and different," Chiang remembers. "I was really pleased when George said, 'Push the envelope; make some new discoveries.'"
This envelope-pushing helps define the look of EPISODE I, including its rich fashion and costume design. While concept artist Ian McCaig and costume designer Trisha Biggar were given considerable freedom, Lucas was nonetheless very involved in shaping the film's worlds of fashion.
In less than a year, Biggar and her staff painstakingly designed and assembled over one thousand costumes, from elaborate, embossed formal attire to simple, yet carefully detailed slave outfits. The costume/prop department even manufactured all the accessories, including helmets, headdresses and belt buckles.
For the vehicles of EPISODE I including starfighters, the Queen's ship, Podracers, troop transports, attack tanks and battleships function would often take a back seat to form. According to Chiang, some may even be considered works of art, expressing what Chiang calls "pure craft and aesthetics." To keep his designs unique, Chiang avoided contemporary aesthetics, instead opting to anchor the designs in world history.
After Chiang and his team of artists completed work on the elaborate architectural designs, it fell to production designer Gavin Bocquet to bring them to life. Bocquet, who began work in 1996 nearly two years after Chiang had begun work on the concept designs was responsible for overseeing the construction of the film's more than sixty sets in England, Italy and Tunisia, making a major contribution to EPISODE I's dazzling visuals.
THE ACTORS AND CHARACTERS
With all his films, Lucas has focused on casting the talent he sees as best embodying the characters. "The most important part of directing is casting," he says. "I've been very fortunate over the years in finding people who seemed born to play their roles. They've been exactly as I had imagined the characters when I was writing them."
"I'm interested in the ensemble," Lucas adds, "and how the characters play against one another."
For EPISODE I, Lucas, McCallum and casting director Robin Gurland assembled an impressive troupe that fulfills Lucas' casting imperatives. But first the trio faced some interesting challenges. Not only were they building an ensemble cast that had to fit together, but several characters also had to link physically to later incarnations of themselves, or in some cases, to their children. "For Anakin and the Queen, we had to extrapolate backwards," explains Gurland. "We knew what their children, Luke and Leia, looked like, so we had to draw on that in casting the parents. And of course, the actor cast as Obi-Wan had to resemble the older version of the character."
Liam Neeson portrays Qui-Gon, a new addition to the Star Wars family of characters. Neeson's Oscar-nominated performance in Schindler's List is perhaps the standout of a distinguished career that also includes roles in the films Michael Collins, Rob Roy and Les Misérables, and an acclaimed performance on the Broadway stage in Anna Christie.
Lucas originally imagined an American in the role, but Neeson, who is Irish, impressed the filmmaker with his skills and presence: "It's great to cast an actor who is considered a master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands."
Neeson sees Qui-Gon as a timeless, wise soul with an Eastern-like philosophy. As a Jedi, the character is also skilled in the martial arts. "I think he's as close as you can get to the old time kind of warrior sage who has supreme confidence," Neeson says. "Qui-Gon is like a samurai warrior who has great powers and humility."
Neeson also appreciated the saga's larger themes and scope. "These films are tapping into a void," he claims. "We've lost the oral tradition of storytelling, of myths and legends, and Star Wars helps fill that void."
Scottish actor Ewan McGregor takes on the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy. In EPISODE I, Obi-Wan is a young Jedi apprentice, who sometimes clashes with his rebellious mentor, Qui-Gon Ginn. Obi-Wan prefers not to buck the Jedi Council and wishes Qui-Gon would play by the rules.
One of today's most versatile and critically-hailed young actors, McGregor has made memorable appearances in films such as Trainspotting, Emma and the recent Velvet Goldmine and Little Voice. Lucas, who calls McGregor the "young Turk of the European film community," appreciated the actor's many facets: "Ewan has the energy, grace and enthusiasm to be a young Obi-Wan."
Gurland was impressed by McGregor's similarities to Guinness, which exceeded those of simple physical resemblance. "Alec brought a sense of playfulness to many of his roles," she explains. "Even though Obi-Wan is a serious and strong character, he still has this glint and glimmer in his eyes. And Ewan also has that."
To prepare for EPISODE I, McGregor studied several of Guinness' performances, from both his early work and the Star Wars movies. "It was important that my acting matched Guinness' in some important areas," McGregor points out. "I worked especially hard on getting the voice right, imagining how Obi-Wan would sound as a young man."
The decision to take on the coveted role was an easy one for McGregor. "I obviously couldn't say no when the part was offered," he says. "It's really an honor to be part of this legend and modern myth." McGregor also has familial ties to the Star Wars universe his uncle is Denis Lawson, who played Rebel fighter pilot Wedge in the original films. Finally, the chance to wield the Jedi weapon of choice proved irresistible. "To draw a lightsaber and fire it up ... no one can imagine what that feels like!"
Obi-Wan is serving as an apprentice, or Padawan Learner, to venerable Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn. Despite their closeness, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon have different ideas about key matters that will determine their fates. For example, each has a different viewpoint on Anakin. Qui-Gon takes the young slave boy, whom he thinks will bring balance to the Force, under his wing despite the misgivings of Obi-Wan and members of the Jedi Council.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon come to the aid of a beautiful young queen whose planet has come under attack by the Trade Federation. The role required a young woman who could be believable as the ruler of that planet, but at the same time be vulnerable and open. Natalie Portman, whose film credits include The Professional and Beautiful Girls, and who appeared on Broadway in The Diary of Anne Frank, takes on the role of the Queen. "I was looking for someone who was young, strong, along the lines of Leia," Lucas explains. "Natalie embodied all those traits and more."
Portman embraced the role, showing a quick appreciation and understanding that the character was a role model. "It was wonderful playing a young queen with so much power," she enthuses. "I think it will be good for young women to see a strong woman of action who is also smart and a leader."
Unlike most of her co-stars, Portman was unfamiliar with the Star Wars phenomenon when she came aboard EPISODE I. But some relatives quickly clued her in to the excitement. "My cousins had always been obsessed with the films," she remembers, "yet I hadn't even seen them before I got the part. When it all happened for me, my cousins were exclaiming, 'Oh, my God, you're in Star Wars!'"
The search for Anakin, the 9-year-old Tatooine slave, presented the most daunting casting challenge. The boy's special abilities, some of which are demonstrated during an electrifying Podrace, attract the attention of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, who find themselves stranded on the boy's home planet.
Over a two-year period Gurland looked at hundreds of youngsters to play the resourceful and hopeful boy, who is unaware of the destiny and fearful challenges that await him. Lucas wanted Anakin to be very outgoing, intuitive, inventive and self-reliant. He had to appeal to both young people and their parents.
Following this exhaustive search, the filmmakers finally decided on Jake Lloyd. "I was looking for someone who was a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic. Jake is a natural," says Lucas. Echoes Rick McCallum: "Jake had all the right qualities that George was looking for in Anakin. He's smart, mischievous and loves anything mechanical just like Anakin."
Jake describes Anakin as "always getting into trouble and mischief." But, he adds, "Anakin is very smart and a very good person, who cares more about other people than he does himself." Anakin's future incarnation was, not surprisingly, an important enticement for Jake. "It meant a lot to me to play Anakin because Darth Vader is my favorite Star Wars character."
Jake's mix of humor, fun and skills quickly won over his castmates. Ewan McGregor states, "I've never worked with a child actor as good as Jake. He seems to have always wanted to be an actor, and he was always professional even if he did love to pull practical jokes from time to time."
As the multitudes of fans know from the first trilogy, Anakin's fate will later fall into the hands of Emperor Palpatine. In the first trilogy, Senator Palpatine is a powerful official who begins to move to consolidate his power. Ian McDiarmid reprises his role as Palpatine without the make-up that aged the actor in Return of the Jedi.
The experience was a memorable one for McDiarmid. "Stepping onto the set of EPISODE I for the first time was like going back in time, due to my experience in Jedi," he remembers. "Palpatine's an interesting character; he's conventional on the outside, but demonic on the inside he's on the edge, trying to go beyond what's possible."
Another character on the edge is the Sith Lord Darth Maul, who along with his mentor, wages a brutal war against the Jedi Knights. Martial arts champion and accomplished swordsman and gymnast Ray Park takes on the role. Park was originally brought on board to work with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard, but he so impressed Lucas, McCallum and Gurland that he was awarded the prized role, which represents his motion picture acting debut.
Together with his on-screen opponents, Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, Park worked closely with Gillard on combat scenes that bring a new athleticism and fighting style to the Star Wars saga. Gillard, in fact, created a new martial art by merging together several great sword fighting techniques with some tree chopping and tennis movements thrown in for good measure. The Jedi's climactic lightsaber duel with Darth Maul features intricate, meticulously planned stunts and took weeks to film.
Returning to the Star Wars universe, albeit in slightly different forms, are the beloved droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. Kenny Baker again inhabits Artoo's metallic body, and Anthony Daniels re-joins the saga as protocol droid, Threepio, who in EPISODE I is a work-in-progress being built by Anakin. Since Threepio's is as yet without "skin," Daniels could not work in the suit as he had in the original trilogy; instead he supplied the voice off-camera while a puppeteer manipulated the droid.
Also making a welcome return is Jedi Master Yoda, this time, of course, in a slightly younger incarnation. Frank Oz once again performs Yoda from a puppet built by creature supervisor Nick Dudman's crew, which altogether turned out about 140 characters.
In EPISODE I, Yoda is a member of the Jedi Council, as is a figure new to the Star Wars saga, Mace Windu, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Prior to production, Jackson, a longtime Star Wars fan, was asked during an interview what directors he would like to work with. His immediate response: George Lucas, adding that he'd love to work on the new Star Wars film. Gurland learned of Jackson's interest and approached him to play Mace Windu. It proved to be a memorable experience for the veteran actor. "There I was, with Yoda, acting in EPISODE I," he recalls with a smile. "It was one of my dreams come true."
George Lucas' mandate to find the best actor for each role is also evident in the selection of Swedish actress Pernilla August, who plays Anakin's mother, Shmi Skywalker. The scenes with mother and son bring poignant moments to the story. A veteran of several films by Ingmar Bergman, August, says Rick McCallum, "has all the dignity and power that you could ever want for the role of Anakin's mother."
Also new to the Star Wars family is Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy, childlike creature who speaks in a language all his own. Jar Jar joins Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, the Queen and Anakin on their adventures. On-screen Jar Jar will be a computer-generated character that actually interacts with the live-action characters. Great care was taken to cast an actor who could embody the character physically and vocally, and from whom the CGI figure would evolve. Stage performer Ahmed Best, who was spotted by Gurland during a performance of Stomp in San Francisco, plays Jar Jar.
"Ahmed is Jar Jar," claims Robin Gurland. "His work made the character possible." Adds Liam Neeson: "Ahmed is a very funny and gifted performer who really brings Jar Jar to life." Sometimes Best's unique thespian antics would catch his co-stars off guard. "There were many takes when it was difficult to keep a straight face," Neeson recalls, "because he was hilarious and inventive with his movements and strange, new noises."
To make Jar Jar as comedic and fun as possible, Best gave the character a host of unusual movements that usually result in landing the creature in trouble. "Jar Jar desperately wants to please everybody and get everything right," says Best. "But no matter how he tries, he always manages to break something and stumble over someone."
Also making key appearances in EPISODE I are noted English actor Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, who sees his power as head of the Senate threatened by Senator Palpatine; Ralph Brown as Naboo pilot Ric Olié; and Hugh Quarshie as the Queen's courageous guardian, Captain Panaka.
THE DIGITAL BACKLOT
For more than twenty years, George Lucas has been known as a pioneer in the visual effects arena. The original Star Wars trilogy had a major impact on the way visual effects were created, as well as on the post-production process and on motion picture presentation.
In order to realize his visual effects ideas for Star Wars, Lucas created the effects house, Industrial Light & Magic, which introduced computer technology to the film industry and revolutionized special effects. ILM, which began as what Lucas calls a "commando unit" of 45 and now numbers more than 1,000 employees, has subsequently been honored with 14 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and 14 Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards for its breakthrough work in special effects on more than 120 films.
That tradition of breakthrough effects work continues in EPISODE I, which builds upon ILM's groundbreaking digital work in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump and Twister. In EPISODE I, the digital technology plays a more prominent role than in any film in history.
For this "digital backlot," ILM was challenged to realize worlds of extraordinary fantasy while maintaining a realistic look and accommodating live-action footage of the actors. Not only the fantasy backgrounds, but many of the sets, vehicles and even characters are computer-generated. In fact, 95 percent of the frames in the film, encompassing nearly 2,000 shots, employ digital work more than tripling the greatest number of CG shots ever generated for a motion picture.
Despite the daunting task that Lucas laid out before ILM, he never doubted the company was up to the challenge. "After working with them for over two decades," he says, "I knew they could do it."
EPISODE I's ILM team, which included 250 computer artists, worked for two years on this digital universe. The visual effects tasks of the film were so immense that not one but three of ILM's best supervisors were called upon to share the load, each taking primary responsibility for one or more main action sequences as well as specific effect types that occur throughout the films, such as glowing lightsaber blades. Oscar-winner Dennis Muren, a veteran of the original pioneering Star Wars effects work, supervised the film's huge ground battle effects and the underwater sequences. John Knoll, an original author of the widely used Photoshop program, oversaw the spaceship and Podrace sequences, and Scott Squiers supervised the creation of the exciting Theed City sequences, as well as lightsaber effects. Together these effects wizards literally created entire worlds in the ILM computers an achievement that brings wonder to the screen, but left the actors often standing on empty stages of "blue screen" which would later be replaced by digital backgrounds.
Acting among a world of blue screen and CG elements was a key challenge to the actors, who often found their entire environments up to their imaginations, with only their costumes or an occasional stand-in to help them visualize the universe that would eventually surround them on film. Surprisingly, none of the actors had had any previous experience working against blue screens; but all seemed not only to cope with the process, but embrace it. Says Liam Neeson, who compares the experience to being on stage, "You have to use your imagination. We approached it all in a very intuitive way. For my part, I wanted to make sure I looked like I believed everything was real."
The digital realm also extended into the creation of some of EPISODE I's characters, including a familiar figure from Return of the Jedi and Star Wars Special Edition Jabba the Hutt. Among the more than 60 new CG creations, overseen by animation supervisor, Rob Coleman, Jar Jar Binks; Sebulba, the Podrace champion challenged by Anakin; and Watto, a gruff-speaking creature for whom Anakin toils in servitude. Each CG creature gives its own vivid performance through its expressive face and distinctive body language, created by the film's effects magicians. Even their clothes ripple and move like those of their flesh-and-blood counterparts.
It may have been a digital world, but it was also necessary that more traditional methods worked harmoniously with the envelope-pushing effects. Model making, supervised by Steve Gawley at the ILM model shop, continued to play a strong role in the Star Wars universe, working in conjunction with the CG material.
The digital work plays a key role in the creation of EPISODE I's exotic and disparate worlds, three of which serve as the story's principal locales. The desert planet Tatooine, already familiar to fans of the original trilogy, is home to many alien species that travel through its remote spaceports. This frontier world lies beyond the civilizing influences of the galactic republic, leaving Tatooine a rugged planet ruled by gangsters, where black market trade and gambling drive the economy, and where slaves are owned by the rich.
Naboo is a peaceful, idyllic paradise of green landscapes and few cities, found both above and below the water. This provincial world is the scene of the conflict that ignites the entire chain of events that sets the Star Wars saga in motion.
Coruscant is a world-city where urban sprawl has covered the entire planet in colossal skyscrapers, and it is the center of the Star Wars universe. Here, the Jedi make their headquarters in the mighty Jedi Temple, and from here the Galactic Senate rules the Republic.
LOCATIONS
In addition to the digital work done at ILM, EPISODE I's far-flung locales called for special sets and home bases for the production. To this end, the filmmakers took over Leavesden Studios in the United Kingdom, creating a virtual movie factory under its sprawling roof. The facility's 850,000 square feet were converted to ten stages and sixty sets, plus extensive areas for floor effects, special creature effects and costume manufacturing. It even had its own rigging and fire departments.
Leavesden, which was once a Rolls Royce aircraft engine factory and has the largest backlot of any studio in the world, truly was the ideal choice for the scale and rigors of much of the EPISODE I filming. "It's probably the best place I've ever made a movie," says Rick McCallum. "We were able to shoot and build at the same time, effortlessly and seamlessly."
Filming on EPISODE I began in Leavesden in the summer of 1997, almost three years after Lucas started writing and his design team started putting together initial concept drawings and a year since construction had begun on the sets. The production then moved to the Caserta Royal Palace near Naples, Italy, for scenes set in the Queen's palace on Naboo. Several other locations had been scouted, but the filmmakers agreed that the Caserta Royal Palace, one of Europe's most beautiful and elegant structures, would lend an important realism and authenticity to the sequences.
In the heat of summer, the EPISODE I team made what McCallum calls a "seismic" move to the edge of the North African Sahara Tunisia, home of the Tatooine scenes. Tunisia's distinctive traditional architecture once again adds exotic richness to the film's cultural tapestry, as it did over twenty years ago for Star Wars. The crew made minor changes at some locations, with only a little set dressing needed to complete the illusion of Tatooine in these otherworldly Berber structures.
For logistical reasons, this move and subsequent filming had to be done in July and August, the hottest months of the year in the sun-baked desert. Under average temperatures of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, the crew built not only the set of a large town, but also constructed a village that would serve nearly 200 members of the cast and crew.
One member of the production not only tolerated the heat, he actually seemed to thrive on it. "I loved its intensity," exclaims Ewan McGregor. "We were wearing about eight layers of clothing, kicking around the desert. It was extreme, but I enjoyed it."
The intense heat turned out to be only the first of the meteorological challenges facing the EPISODE I team in Tunisia. One late July evening, cast and crew watched with fascination and then alarm as lightning flashed over the desert sky, followed by a wall of sand that raced toward them. By the time the team had reached their hotels, heavy sheets of rain began pelting the sets.
The aftermath of this night storm gave the Tatooine set the feel of a post-tornado trailer park: Hundreds of costumes had been scattered across the desert, and various structures were twisted or even torn to shreds. Even some droids lay all about, broken and scattered like fallen soldiers on a battlefield.
Early on the morning after the storm, producer Rick McCallum arrived in the middle of the wreckage and immediately began finding ways to put the production back in order. Rather than lamenting the extensive damage, cast and crew were swept into brisk action under McCallum's lead and suddenly the impossible recovery began to seem possible. George Lucas took the main unit to find a relatively undamaged area where it could shoot. Costumes were dug out of the desert and cleaned while buildings and vehicles were repaired. Everyone provided help wherever needed and, miraculously, filming remained on schedule. Lucas himself provided perhaps the most hopeful assessment of what had been perceived as a devastating situation when he pointed out that the same thing had happened over twenty years ago on the set of the original Star Wars. Maybe, he reasoned, the fact that it happened again was a good omen.
The production then returned to Leavesden, where principal photography was completed in the early Fall. Months later, and well into the editing process, the massive studios again served as home base when the filmmakers came together for dialog dubbing sessions and pick-up shots, whose need was identified by Lucas' evolving rough cut.
Indeed, editing, which is Lucas' favorite part of filmmaking, took on an ever more exciting dimension, courtesy of ILM's digital technology. Lucas and his editors, Martin Smith and Ben Burtt, now enjoyed tremendous flexibility: They could actually create shots in the editing room by digitally cutting people and even locations out of one shot and moving them to another. "I could completely reconstruct and rewrite the story in the editing process," says Lucas.
MUSIC AND SOUND
With the Star Wars films, George Lucas has always been intent on using state-of-the-art sound. "I'm very much into sound and soundtracks," he comments, noting that the two work together in telling his stories.
The first Star Wars was instrumental in popularizing the Dolby noise-reduction stereo sound system, as did the two subsequent episodes in the original trilogy.
Motion picture audio technology has since made significant improvements with the introduction of digital sound and Lucasfilm's THX program. So, for The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, Lucas created a digitally-remixed soundtrack, which surpassed even the original's showcase 70mm prints that used magnetic tracks.
Given Lucas' views on the subject, it comes as no surprise, then, that EPISODE I breaks new ground in motion picture sound, as it does with digital effects and editing. The film is the first to feature Dolby Digital-Surround EX, which employs 6.1 channel sound, adding an additional channel to the digital format currently in theatrical use. Lucasfilm THX and Dolby Laboratories jointly developed the new theatrical surround sound system, which was overseen by Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom, director of creative operations at Skywalker Sound.
The new sound system showcases the talents of two artists whose work has been acclaimed worldwide. Once again making their unique contributions to the Star Wars universe are five-time Academy Award-winning composer John Williams and sound designer Ben Burtt.
The importance of John Williams' contributions to the Star Wars saga can not be overstated. His music underscores the films' characters, emotions and action. "I've always said these are like silent movies," says Lucas, "and I'm very fortunate that John understands this."
For EPISODE I, Williams composed nearly two hours of music, creating material that is fresh and new, but also has some textural and thematic connection to the music from the original trilogy. Thus, while almost all the music in EPISODE I is new, there are some familiar themes and music quotes from the first three films. With Anakin's theme, for example, audiences will hear hints of what's to become of him in his later incarnation.
"However, my main opportunity and challenge," says Williams, "was to create new material that offers melodic identification to the new characters, just like we had done with the earlier films." So there is entirely new material for Jar Jar, Darth Maul, and the Queen, among others. "This sort of musical theme book of Star Wars seems to grow as George continues to introduce new creatures to the menagerie," adds Williams.
Burtt, whose ingenious sound designs played a key role in the Star Wars films and their Special Editions, created over 1,000 new sounds for EPISODE I. He collected these sounds from far-off lands, and even his own back yard. The digital revolution also played an important part in Burtt's work, making the manipulation of sound mixes much easier than it was twenty years ago.
While creating the new innovative aural atmospheres, Burtt took great care to stay true to the original Star Wars aural ambiance. "We have so many signature effects that reoccur in EPISODE I that I think it's only appropriate to touch on those because they're familiar to the fans," Burtt explains. With some of the lightsaber sounds, the old was mixed with the new, with Burtt re-working them to fit the faster fighting sequences that take place in the new movie.
The film's rich and varied soundtrack and groundbreaking effects provided the finishing touches on what began as a dream for George Lucas. Now, thanks to the innovative and hard work of thousands of people working together, the dream is a reality. A fantastic new world that still remains true to its beloved predecessors is ready for the millions of fans who have waited years for its arrival.
The beginning is here.

STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
Costume Design

George Lucas' story for EPISODE I, which takes us to the center of the galaxy, and to sophisticated planets whose inhabitants possess majestic wealth, power, political influence and style, necessitated a rich and intricate fashion and costume design. Costume designer Trisha Biggar and concept artist Ian McCaig brought to life Lucas' vision of the world of fashion and costumes of EPISODE I.
The key challenges were the sheer volume of costumes required by the story and the short time frame in which all of Lucas' ideas had to become a physical reality. In less than a year, Biggar and her core staff of 40 people painstakingly designed and assembled over one thousand costumes ranging from a host of elaborate, rich and embossed outfits to simple, yet carefully detailed slave costumes. "Our costume/prop department even manufactured all the accessories including helmets, headdresses and belt buckles," says Biggar who supervised the process. "They did an incredible job."
Many of Lucas' ideas for the costumes were based on the fashions and looks of various countries or periods of history and color schemes in which he is particularly interested. Japanese, Mongolian, Chinese, North African and European influences can all be seen in the myriad of EPISODE I fashions. Yet every costume has a unique look and style. Explains Biggar: "Every wardrobe design in EPISODE I has a historical base, but we've changed and played with the costumes to keep them from looking recognizably ethnic."
McCaig began creating costume concepts at a very early stage of pre-production. "There wasn't even a script yet," he recalls. "George would visit and describe scenes and characters so we could begin working on some designs."
While giving McCaig and Biggar considerable freedom in coming up with their designs and costumes, Lucas was nonetheless very involved in the shaping of these worlds of fashion. "George is really the ultimate costume designer," says McCaig. "He took what he wanted and guided us where he wanted to go."
Echoes Biggar: "George was very involved throughout the entire process. He would regularly call meetings to discuss all aspects of fabrics, colors and shapes."
After McCaig completed his designs and sketches, Biggar took his work and turned it into reality while adding her own ideas and designs.
The richness, variety and intricacy of the EPISODE I costumes can be seen on many of the story's characters, but none more so than Queen Amidala, played by Natalie Portman.
Although hesitant to admit to a favorite costume or character, Biggar concedes finding many opportunities in designing and creating the Queen and handmaiden outfits. "The costumes for the Queen's planet were very interesting to do because we printed distinctive designs onto fabrics," she explains. "We also used various dye techniques which allowed us to incorporate very modern fabrics with antique pieces."
The Queen wears eight costumes. Far fewer were originally planned, but Lucas' desire to expand the saga's fashion universe led to an almost three-fold increase. "George wanted the Queen to have a different outfit every time we see her," Biggar says.
Each of the Queen's outfits has its own special look and design. Perhaps the most complex is the Queen's Throne Room dress, which is illuminated by a series of lights around the hem. Work on the dress, which took almost eight weeks to complete, began with the manufacturing of an undergarment, designed almost like an upside-down ice cream cone; this facilitated a perfect fit for Natalie Portman. The undergarment was made with numerous small panels of canvas reinforced around the bottom to keep the bell shape.
The dress had several layers to take the weight of its lights and wires running to the batteries that powered the lights. While velvet was originally considered, camera lighting requirements necessitated a change to silk. In keeping with the cultural/historical basis of many of the costumes, the dress has what Biggar calls "a sort of Chinese Imperial feel" through its scale and silhouette.
The Queen's costumes inspired Biggar and her team to seek out fabrics from all over the world. They even created a few of their own. "We had fabrics woven, painted, dyed we've done everything you could do to a piece of fabric," recalls Biggar.
The Queen's first travel dress was completely handmade and utilizes a spider-web type of fabric that took one person, working five days a week for ten hours each day, over a month to make. The dress started out being stitched onto a special, very thin fabric backing. This fabric was then placed in water, causing the backing to completely melt, leaving the stitching that had been placed on top. Each panel of the dress was stitched onto another panel without any seams. The result: an intricate and delicate addition to the fashion universe of EPISODE I.
Biggar and her team also used several antique pieces. For the Queen's second foreign residence gown, Biggar found a piece from around 1910, but of whose origin she is unsure. "We think it was a dress," she comments, "but it was in so many pieces we weren't sure what it was." Biggar transformed the piece's motifs into intricate embroidery.
The Queen's battle dress was also time and work intensive it took one person over a month to complete. The costume was made from silkworm pods from India that were woven into a silk net. The pods were removed at the top of the costume, then individually stitched back on to create the proper shoulder shape.
The Queen's Senate appearance gown, with three layers, is even more intricate. The underdress, which is in orange short silk with a green weave a seventy year old fabric is pleated; these pleats catch the light of the outfit's colors whenever the character moves.
A variety of antique pieces of beaded lace decorate the underdress. The costume's middle robe is made of red and green short velvet, embroidered in bronze. A special technique added texture and depth to the material. The robe's collar and cuffs are decorated with metallic gold braid, using a stitching method called trapunto, in which small tubes are stitched in a design into which thread is injected to give a small padded effect. This, too, was a time-consuming process, taking one person a week to do the embroidery and trapunto. Over the robe is a faux fur cape with heavily padded peaked shoulders that were built in the shape of a pyramid. The cape was then lined with red silk.
This costume, like the others, has an elaborate headdress. The Queen's Senate
appearance headdress, which has a Mongolian feel, was the heaviest. The piece was plated in gold to get the right quality of color, then decorated with little jewels. "We felt this headdress was worth the effort, weight and expense of having real gold," says Biggar.
Another headdress was made from an antique piece of beading from an exotic dancer's skirt, circa 1920. Part of the headdress comes down onto Portman's forehead; the beads are then draped up over the rest of the headdress, which results in a bangs-like look. The accompanying dress was based on a Japanese kimono look, with Biggar adding unique designs of her own. She accentuated the sleeves quite a bit, calling them "penguin sleeves" because they were so rounded they looked somewhat like a penguin. Machine and hand embroideries were used for this complex creation.
The costumes presented several unique challenges not only to Biggar and her team, but to Natalie Portman as well. For each headdress, a cast of Portman's head was taken, from which this and all of the Queen's headdresses were built.
In addition, putting on the Queen's elaborate and weighty costumes required both creative and practical thinking. So the filmmakers came up with in ingenious way of getting the actress ready with minimal time and effort: they dressed her in "pieces." The undergarments were put on in the dressing room; Portman then traveled to the soundstage where she would be fitted with the rest of the costume. In addition to making it easier for Portman to movie around between shots, this process helped to prevent wear and tear on the outfit.
The retinue of handmaidens who follow the Queen on her adventures also had to have different outfits to attend to their leader. Their costumes were always designed with the Queen's outfits in mind, receiving the same attention to detail and style. "We tried," says Biggar, "to keep the handmaidens in vertical costumes, with the Queen wearing all kinds of big diagonals and drapery to make her seem bigger than life and her handmaidens small and petite."
The Handmaiden Travel costume was made in part by a special dyeing technique. The costume's color palette shifts from pale yellow at the bottom to a strong orange at the top. In order to ensure the dress would have the same level of dye throughout, it was dyed in small pieces.
The Handmaiden's Senate costume is made up of several panels; if the dress had to be taken in, the number of panels would have to be altered. The costume's undergarment is made out of a canvas-like material and steel, making it very rigid and difficult to walk in. The shape is formed so there is no movement in the outer fabric. The costume also has a hood with panels that were cut to fit the individual actresses who wore them.
Another special fashion opportunity came from the costumes that were intended for non-human characters. Here, too, Biggar and her team spent considerable time designing and manufacturing the costumes. For one particular costume, Biggar and company meticulously placed actual stones, collected from a beach, into the outfit's rubber body. But the Tunisian desert heat caused the rubber to expand and the stones to start popping out. Much time was spent reinserting the critical accessory.
Designing the costumes of the Jedi Knights offered different challenges to McCaig and Biggar. The Jedi "look" was already familiar to countless Star Wars fans. In addition, a principal location in the new film is the desert planet Tatooine, which was last seen in Star Wars. These familiar characters and locales provided McCaig and Biggar with the opportunity to maintain fashion continuity from the first three films, while adding some of their own special touches.
To link these previous looks through to EPISODE I, Biggar visited the Lucasfilm archives, where she studied some of the past costumes in detail. Nevertheless, EPISODE I's story required some new fabrics or design modifications. In a departure from the previous films, all Jedi costumes are made of silk, linen or very fine wool. Some changes were also made in the undergarments to the original costumes; they were now more suitable and wearer-friendly for the new film's acrobatic fight and stunt scenes and lightsaber battles.
While young Anakin Skywalker is a complex character, his costume was one of the simplest. McCaig and Biggar came up with a slave costume that was virtually identical to the one worn by Anakin's future son, Luke Skywalker, in the first film's Tatooine scenes. For the lightning-paced Podrace, Anakin dons a special helmet and World War I-style goggles. The Podrace headgear was based on a surprisingly terrestrial and everyday source a child's bicycle helmet. Of course, some new accouterments were placed on top of the helmet to give it a unique look.

STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
Vehicle and Spaceship Designs

EPISODE I's chief artist, Doug Chiang, has brought a new look to George Lucas' epic saga. Interpreting Lucas' artistic vision, Chiang and his team of artists have created thousands of pieces of artwork for EPISODE I including sketches, sculptures, costume designs, creature models and full-color production paintings.
A fan of the original trilogy, Chiang carefully studied the Star Wars style before beginning work on EPISODE I. But Lucas had something very different in mind: he wanted to create new designs, worlds, cities, costumes, creatures and vehicles.
"We've been saturated with designs derived from the original Star Wars look for over twenty years," Chiang points out. "So I was really pleased when George asked for something new, such as chrome, sleek shapes, Art Nouveau and Art Moderne. That's when I realized that EPISODE I was going to be something new and not just a re-working of the earlier material."
Lucas, Chiang and the EPISODE I art department began meeting in the very early stages of pre-production. During these initial discussions, which were held while Lucas was still writing the script, he described his philosophy on how the new film's look color palettes, shapes and designs would differ from the original trilogy. In the earlier films, it was very easy to determine, through observation of colors and shapes, which vehicles and characters were part of the heroic Rebellion and which represented the Empire. The latter was marked by black, white and red, and its ships were clean, angular and sharp. In contrast, the Rebels tended to have vehicles that had a more shopworn look.
For the designs of EPISODE I, Lucas went in a completely different direction. "George wanted to blur the lines," Chiang explains, "so when moviegoers see a spaceship, they won't easily recognize which side the vehicle represents."
Many of the differences between the vehicles of EPISODE I and its predecessors are a result of the distinct eras in which they were produced. According to Chiang, the original trilogy's designs had an assembly line-like feel, with mass produced aesthetics, hard angles and a "machined" look. But in the new film, set a generation prior to the events of Star Wars, the vehicles and ships are treated quite differently, reflecting the priorities and values of a different time. "The era of EPISODE I is polished, individualized and refined perhaps even overly designed," says Chiang. "It could be called a 'craftsman's era'. Great care is given to even the smallest detail."
In this period, function, while important, takes a back seat to form. "Many of the vehicles are quite elegant and have a romantic feel," Chiang points out. "Some might even be considered works of art. There are artistic values expressed in these vehicles that are pure craft and aesthetics. Several elements make purely visual statements."
But Chiang was very careful not to take this artistic feel too far. "There's a fine line between a hand-crafted look and a design that is too 'sci-fi' or too 'design-y'," he says. To keep his designs unique looking, he avoided projecting contemporary aesthetics into the Star Wars universe, instead opting to anchor the designs to a strong foundation in world history. He eventually drew on, as a starting point, everything from 1950s American car designs to traditional African art. He also invested some of the vehicles with hints of animal forms. "This helped me in my efforts to give the designs some personality," says Chiang, "which is one of the hardest things to do."
These new designs often resulted from combinations of forms that, at first, didn't seem to fit together. "But that's where George's design genius lies," says Chiang, "in the odd juxtaposition of unrelated images. We ended up with some of our best designs by wrestling with direction that seemed impossible."
The usual process for designing a ship took about three weeks. The Naboo starfighter, piloted by several of EPISODE I's heroic characters, took somewhat longer to complete, as the design shifted radically. Chiang and his team came up with over three dozen drawings for the spaceship. Eventually, two starfighter designs evolved from the creative meetings between Lucas, Chiang and the art department. The final starfighters have a sleek, soft shape (with a socket for its droid) that helps them speed into battle, and carefully reflects the artwork and culture from which it evolved. The ship's design artfully brings together purpose and form. "It's like a fully functional piece of jewelry," says Chiang.
The Queen's ship also needed to be very sleek. To that end, Chiang took a conventional design and took away the fins, smoothed out the cockpit, and made the ship out of chrome. Its bold visual style is very different from anything previously seen in the Star Wars universe, but fits well into the elegance and style of the Queen's home planet, Naboo.
One of the great action sequences in the film is a Podrace that takes place on the desert planet Tatooine. Lucas' initial concept of the Podracers two large jet engines tied together with a cockpit in the back did not change significantly when the design was finalized. "We tried to go in different directions," Chiang remembers, "but would always end up with the original concept. Taking the engines out of the context of a jet and putting them in the deserts of Tatooine resulted in a unique image."
Each pod engine was also tailored to its pilot and respective culture. The champion, Sebulba, has the highest budget, so his vehicle is sleeker, more refined and a little more menacing; other pilots had clumsier, or more elegant pods. Anakin Skywalker's Podracer engines had a simple design, resembling two small aircraft engines with three flaps in the front.
In coming up with the variety of Podrace vehicle designs, Chiang and his team always were mindful that the Podracers were racing at very high speeds and would have to be identified very quickly and easily. "That's where adding the bold shapes and dramatic fins and details really helped," notes Chiang. "It made each very distinct."
Another epic action sequence is the final battle, which called for a fleet of mechanical vehicles piloted by a robot army. The droids had animalistic features, which were reflected in their vehicles. Lucas had described the troop transport, the MTT, as resembling a big locomotive that plows through trees. That led to further creative concepts. "The image I saw right away was a charging elephant," says Chiang. He then adapted those features to a mechanical design and interpretation of the racing beast. "I used an elephant's proportions in designing the vehicle: the cockpit resembles the animal's head, the body of the MTT is its trunk, and the vehicle's side arms that culminate into little guns are the tusks."
The attack tanks evolved the same way. "I liked the shape of a spade or a shovel; I felt that suggested something dangerous and deadly," Chiang comments. "I then added a large turret, making it resemble a flying iron, plus some animalistic qualities in terms of the lines, surface and overall shape."
For the STAPS, smaller vehicles used by the battle droids, Lucas wanted a variation on the speeder bikes seen in Return of the Jedi. Chiang toyed with several concepts before settling on design with the driver in an upright position. He again returned to nature, this time using a hummingbird as the principal inspiration. "The pedals of the vehicle resemble the hummingbird's tiny wings," Chiang explains. "The vehicle's sleek 'head' also resembles the hummingbird."
Chiang explored both traditional and exotic designs for a submarine that figures prominently in another large-scale sequence. The sub has a bubble in which the pilot sits. The propellers are squid- or stingray-like, forming an elegant looking tail. Once Lucas had approved this initial idea, the design was refined several times. The sub's original design was spherical, but Lucas wanted something flatter, which would permit a better view of the vehicle, adding to its stingray look.
While most of these vehicles and spaceships represent a new creative direction for the Star Wars saga, some EPISODE I story and location requirements called for vehicles already familiar to fans. The Trade Federation battleship incorporated surface textures from the Star Destroyers seen in the original trilogy. Lucas had considered a flying saucer shape, before deciding on something less conventional a donut shape. A ball was then placed in the center.
The spaceship of one of the film's principal villains was also conceived as predecessors to ships from the previous films. "I took bits and pieces from the original designs and merged them," explains Chiang. "The result looks like a TIE fighter, but it has shapes and angles reminiscent of the Imperial shuttles."
There are several versions of landspeeders in EPISODE I. One is a sleeker version of Luke Skywalker's landspeeder from the first film. Another was based on real car designs, on which Chiang placed specially designed jet engines.
All this work done by Chiang and the EPISODE I art department, whether striking out in bold, new design directions or recalling earlier creations, serves the epic tale told in this new chapter of the Star Wars saga.
"As marvelous as all this design work is," says producer Rick McCallum, "it is one thing to see a beautiful painting or a striking image on a page and another to create it as a physical reality. For that we needed a production designer who could look at absolutely anything and say, 'Yes, I can build that.' Gavin Bocquet was our man." Bocquet, a veteran of the globetrotting Young Indiana Jones Chronicles production, joined the EPISODE I production prepared to provide blueprints for the most exotic flights of imagination. Board by board, Bocquet and his team built a fantasy galaxy, painstakingly bridging the gap between an artistic image and a reality in which Lucas could set up his cameras.
The size and complexity of Episode I, with its many otherworldly environments, presented Bocquet and his team with some extraordinary challenges too-including the fact that a number of the environments would be built partially or entirely in the computers at Industrial Light & Magic, after principal photography was completed.
The digital components did not change Bocquet's basic role as Production Designer: "Generally it's to produce any background that you see behind the actors, whether it's an in-studio set or on location, including props and set dressing. We deal with any inanimate objects," Bocquet says. All together, he and the designers and craftspeople who work with him built around sixty sets. "About 40 of those were constructed on the stages at Leavesden and the rest were on location," he adds.
The designer points out that even with wildly unusual environments, Lucas likes them to relate to environments that are familiar to the audience. "So we'll come up with geographical or environmental things like forests or deserts, or architectural styles that are known such as classical or art nouveau-things that give the audience some sort of key. If you try to design something completely in the abstract, something not of this world, there's less chance that the audience will believe in it. They need to have something to latch on to, even if it's subconsciously."

STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
Stunts and Action

EPISODE I brings a new athleticism and fighting style to the Star Wars saga. Nick Gillard, the film's renowned stunt coordinator, created and oversaw the film's action sequences.
Since George Lucas set EPISODE I at a time when the Jedi Knights were at the height of their powers, Gillard ramped up the action, stunt work and, of course, lightsaber duels for the new film.
First, to justify in his own mind why the Jedi employ an ancient fighting method against enemies who sometimes use more advanced weapons, Gillard created a fictional martial art.
"I figured that since the Jedi had chosen a lightsaber, they'd have to be really good with it," says Gillard. "So I took the essence of all the great sword fighting techniques, from kendo through saber, épée, and foil, and flowed them together."
Gillard's work, which included months of studying virtually all of the world's great fighting styles, had implications beyond providing motion picture excitement. In creating a new form of fighting for EPISODE I, Gillard actually advanced the field of swordplay. While the popular swordplay using épée (a French term for a fencing or dueling sword) employs a combination of six moves, Gillard nearly doubled that number for the new EPISODE I martial art. "We had to come up with a new language in sword fighting and new way of doing things," he explains. "We're way beyond épée now."
To create fight choreography that would demonstrate not just Jedi swordsmanship but also the individual characters of the fighters, Gillard studied the EPISODE I script and storyboards carefully. No two sword masters have exactly the same style, and Gillard wove the subtleties of distinct identities into the choreography of the lightsaber battles. "It was important to me that each character in EPISODE I have a distinctive fighting style," he says.
Although these fighting styles are new for EPISODE I, they nonetheless remain true to the lightsaber styles of the original trilogy. For Obi-Wan, Gillard took into account the lightsaber fighting style used in Star Wars, because Obi-Wan trained both Anakin and Luke Skywalker. Some of their methods were reflected in the style we see Obi-Wan use as a younger man, he says.
Gillard was fortunate to work with actors Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, both of whom impressed the stunt coordinator with their ability to master the fighting technique with little time to prepare. "I couldn't have wanted more from either of them," Gillard says. "Sometimes they learned ten minutes before we shot a scene; they were that good."
The actors' quick training was facilitated by Gillard's practice sessions with stunt double Andreas Petrides and martial arts expert Ray Park. As Darth Maul, Park makes his motion picture acting debut in EPISODE I. Gillard, Petrides and Park would practice the fight scenes and stunts for hours on end so all the moves would be down before beginning work with McGregor and Neeson. "By the time we got to Liam and Ewan, we had run through the choreography at least 500 times ourselves," he says.
Ray Park, who was initially hired to work with Gillard on the stunts, won the role of Darth Maul when Gillard showed Lucas and producer Rick McCallum a tape of Park rehearsing a fight scene with Gillard. Maul's villainous countenance was given a startling look designed by Ian McCaig and executed by chief make-up artist Paul Engelen. Also adding to the character's deadliness was a new, double-bladed lightsaber that Park wielded with maximum effect, providing moves that surprised even Gillard.
One complicated fight involving Park, Neeson and McGregor took almost a month to film, with the combatants fiercely dueling, somersaulting and jumping across three sets. Neeson and McGregor performed many of their own stunts (Park, a champion and accomplished gymnast, performed all his own stunts). Although McGregor had some previous fencing experience, he found the EPISODE I fighting scenes a unique adventure. "We used a style all its own," he points out. "It's aggressive, ferocious and fast. It was hard work and a lot of fun."
Having appeared in films such as Excalibur and Rob Roy, Neeson also was no stranger to cinematic swordplay. But he quickly got caught up in the intensity and excitement of the EPISODE I action. "When Ewan and I began rehearsing a duel in which we're pitted against some formidable enemies, we started making the lightsaber sound effects," Neeson says with a laugh.
In addition to perfecting the moves of a new martial art, Neeson, McGregor, Park and Gillard faced the additional challenge of, as Gillard puts it, "fighting stuff that wasn't there, that's going to be popped in later by the special effects experts at Industrial Light & Magic."
"We had to look, then cut; look then cut, and so on with nothing to look at," McGregor adds. "It was something completely new." For Neeson, it was a liberating experience. "It reminded me of the 'cowboys and Indians' games of our childhood," he says. "It took pure imagination, so we could be really inventive."
This kind of imagination marks the uniqueness of the EPISODE I action. "It's Star Wars, after all, and the action shouldn't need to look like anything else," Gillard concludes. "It should break new ground the same as it did the first time."

STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
Cast and Filmmakers
ABOUT THE CAST
Academy Award-nominee LIAM NEESON (Qui-Gon Jinn ) has become one of the leading international motion-picture figures of our time.
Neeson recently completed the thriller The Haunting, directed by Jan De Bont and also starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor, and Gun Shy, co-starring Sandra Bullock and Oliver Platt. Both films will be released this summer.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher, attending Queens College, Belfast and majoring in physics, computer science, math and drama. Neeson set teaching aside and in 1976 joined the prestigious Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast, making his professional acting debut in Joseph Plunkett's The Risen People. After two years with the Lyric Players, he joined the famed repertory company of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival's production of Brian Friel's Translations and a production of Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars for the Royal Exchange Theater where he received the Best Actor Award.
In 1980, John Boorman spotted him playing Lennie in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and cast him in his epic saga of the Arthurian legend Excalibur. Following his motion picture debut in Excalibur, Neeson has appeared in more than thirty films demonstrating his wide range of characters, including Roger Donaldson's epic remake of The Bounty, the critically-acclaimed Lamb for which he received an Evening Standard Drama Award nomination, Duet For One, A Prayer for the Dying, The Mission, Suspect, The Good Mother, Peyton Westlake, Darkman, Crossing the Line, Shining Through, Under Suspicion and Husbands and Wives.
Other recent credits include Leap of Faith, Nell, Before and After, Ethan Frome and the title role in Rob Roy.
In 1993, Neeson was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award in the Best Actor category for his portrayal of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's highly acclaimed Schindler's List.
Neeson also starred in the title role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, for which he received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination and London's prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor in Venice: The Golden Lion Award. Last year, Neeson starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables in the role of Jean Valjean, and on Broadway as Oscar Wilde in David Hare's critically acclaimed The Judas Kiss.
Neeson made his Broadway debut in 1993 in the Roundabout Theater's revival of Eugene O'Neill's 1921 drama Anna Christie. Co-starring Natasha Richardson and playing to sold out audiences nightly, the run was extended and garnered him a Tony Award nomination.
Having gained his first theatrical experience at the Perth Repertory Theatre, EWAN McGREGOR (Obi-Wan Kenobi ) trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He left Guildhall in March 1992 to play the leading role in Dennis Potter's Lipstick on Your Collar, a six-part serial drama for Channel 4, before traveling to Morocco in October 1992 to film Bill Forsyth's feature Being Human. He went on to star in Penny Cineiwicz's production of Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw at the Salisbury Playhouse early in 1993.
He played the lead role in Ben Bolt's three-part BBC TV adaptation of Stendahl's classic 19th Century novel, Scarlet and Black, and was in Family Style, a short film from a Lloyds Bank Challenge-winning script, directed by Justin Chadwick for Channel 4.
Other television credits include Kavanagh QC, Doggin' Around, "Cold War," an episode of Tales from the Crypt, and a guest part in an episode of ER.
McGregor starred in Shallow Grave, a feature film produced by Andrew MacDonald and directed by Danny Boyle for Figment Films. Shallow Grave was named Best Film at the 1994 Dinard Film Festival. McGregor shared the Best Actor award with co-stars Christopher Eccleston and Kerry Fox, and it won the BAFTA Alexander Korda Award for The Outstanding British Film of the Year and the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Feature Film.
McGregor's additional film credits include Blue Juice, The Pillow Book, Trainspotting and A Life Less Ordinary, again for Danny Boyle and Andrew MacDonald; Emma, Brassed Off, Nightwatch, The Serpent's Kiss, Velvet Goldmine and Little Voice.
McGregor recently starred on stage in Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs at the Comedy Theatre, and directed his first short film, Bone.
NATALIE PORTMAN (Queen Amidala) has established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented and sought-after young actresses.
Portman recently starred with Susan Sarandon in Wayne Wang's upcoming Anywhere But Here for Fox 2000 Pictures. Adapted from Mona Simpson's novel by Academy Award-winner Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People), Anywhere But Here tells the story of a mother and daughter who must come to terms with their volatile relationship in the midst of a move from the Midwest to Beverly Hills.
Last year, Portman completed her Broadway debut run in the title role of The Diary of Anne Frank. Directed by James Lapine and adapted by Wendy Kesselman, the production took a fresh look at the play, incorporating new material from The 1995 Definitive Edition of Anne Frank's diaries.
Portman received international acclaim for her feature debut in Luc Besson's The Professional. Starring opposite Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, Portman played Mathilda, a young girl who seeks refuge from a hitman after her parents are killed by a corrupt DEA officer. Her performance was hailed by critics and she received a "Best Actress in a Drama" for The Hollywood Reporter-sponsored YoungStar Awards.
Portman received critical acclaim for her scene-stealing performance in the Miramax film Beautiful Girls. Directed by Ted Demme, the bittersweet comedy also starred Timothy Hutton, Uma Thurman, Rosie O'Donnell, and Matt Dillon.
Other feature credits include Woody Allen's musical Everyone Says I Love You, co-starring Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn, Alan Alda and Drew Barrymore; Tim Burton's black comedy Mars Attacks! with Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close; and Michael Mann's Heat with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
JAKE LLOYD (Anakin Skywalker) starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All the Way, released by Twentieth Century Fox. The ten-year-old thespian made his feature film debut in the Nick Cassavetes film Unhook the Stars, which starred Gena Rowlands and Marisa Tomei.
Lloyd had a recurring role on the hit television drama ER as a character who periodically visited the hospital due to his mother's illness. He also appeared on television in The Pretender, and was seen in the telefilms Virtual Obsession for director Mick Garris (The Stand, The Shining) and Apollo 11 for the Family Channel.
In addition, Lloyd appeared in numerous national television commercials for such companies as Kodak, Snickers, Oreos, Sara Lee, All detergent, KFC, Ford Windstar and Visa.
When not working, Lloyd can be found riding a bike, playing video games, rollerblading and walking his dog, J.J. (named after his character in Unhook the Stars).
Lloyd is in the fourth grade and lives with his mother Lisa, a development executive, and his father Bill, an E.M.T. set medic. His seven year-old sister Madison also appears in EPISODE I as a young princess.
IAN McDIARMID (Senator Palpatine) has a very successful career as an actor and director, and is joint Artistic Director of the highly acclaimed Almeida Theatre in Islington, north London.
McDiarmid first worked with Lucasfilm playing the Emperor in Return of the Jedi. Additional film credits include Dragonslayer, Gorky Park, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Frank Oz, Restoration, Annie: A Royal Adventure and Tim Burton's upcoming Sleepy Hollow.
His theater credits include Ivanov, Tartuffe, School For Wives, Creditors and Kurt Weill Concerts at the Almeida Theatre, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, The Party, The War Plays, Crimes In Hot Countries and The Castle for the RSC, Danton for the RSC and Almeida, Hated Nightfall and Love of a Good Man at the Royal Court, Raft of the Medusa at the Barbican/Radio 3, Edward II and The Country Wife at the Royal Exchange; The Black Prince at the Aldwych, and Peer Gynt and Mephisto at the Oxford Playhouse.
On television McDiarmid's credits include Hillsborough, Rebecca, Karaoke, Gwyn Thomas - A Few Selected Exits, Heart of Darkness, Final Warning, Creditors, The Nation's Health, Richard's Things and The Professionals, amongst many others.
His directing credits include Venice Preserved, Siren Song, A Hard Heart, Hippolytus, Lulu and The Possibilities at the Almeida Theatre, The Rehearsal at the Almeida and West End, and Don Juan at the Royal Exchange.
Swedish actress PERNILLA AUGUST (Shmi Skywalker) won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992 for her performance in The Best Intentions, directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman.
Additional film credits include Fanny and Alexander, directed by Bergman, Tuppen, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, Jerusalem, directed by Bille August, and The Private Confession, directed by Liv Ullman and written by Bergman.
August's theater credits include The Dream Play, Hamlet, for which she won the British Drama Magazine's Best Supporting Actress Award playing Ophelia, The Doll's House and The Winter's Tale, all directed by Bergman, and performed at the National Theater of Sweden. Other theater credits include Master of Strindberg, The Last Yankee and Three Sisters.
Her television roles have included Play, written and directed by Bergman, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, The Wild Bird and Hamlet.
AHMED BEST (Jar Jar Binks ) is a multitalented artist who has performed in a number of productions, at a variety of venues. He was a principal performer in the San Francisco production of Stomp, where he was discovered by the EPISODE I filmmakers. He also appeared with Stomp on the 68th Annual Academy Awards Show, The Today Show, Good Morning, America, and Reading Rainbow.
He also was seen on stage in Channel to Channel for the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, appeared in several television commercials, and is an accomplished vocalist, percussionist and lyricist.
Within the Star Wars universe, FRANK OZ (Yoda) is known for his masterly portrayal and voice of the Jedi Master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He is credited with bringing to life a mere puppet and making the creation of one of the most memorable characters of the Star Wars saga.
Born in Hereford, England, Oz began puppeteering at age 11. He moved to New York in 1963 to join The Muppets. In 1969, he began puppeteering on the famed children's television series Sesame Street. Among the many characters he brought to life, he is best known for Bert, Cookie Monster and Grover. In 1976, he performed on The Muppet Show as a host of characters, including Animal, Fozzie Bear, the delightful Miss Piggy, and Sam the Eagle.
While originally known as a skilled puppeteer, Oz has also become a successful director whose credits include The Dark Crystal (with Jim Henson), The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, Housesitter, The Indian in the Cupboard and In & Out. He has received four Emmy awards for his work on television.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON (Mace Windu) received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor, and a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, for his performance as a philosophizing hitman in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.
Jackson will soon be seen in the motion picture thriller "Deep Blue Sea," directed by Renny Harlin and also starring Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, L.L. Cool J and Michael Rappaport. He stars opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the currently-shooting "Rules of Engagement" and then begins work on director John Singleton's remake of the 1970s classic "Shaft." Jackson can also be seen in Francois Girad's "The Red Balloon," which opened the Toronto Film Festival.
Jackson recently also starred in The Negotiator, Eve's Bayou, which he produced, and Jackie Brown, his second film for Tarantino. For the latter he was awarded a Golden Globe nomination and the Silver Bear for Best Actor in a Comedy at the Berlin Film Festival.
Jackson's work in the adaptation of John Grisham's novel A Time to Kill netted him a Golden Globe nomination and an NAACP Image Award. Among his other credits are Die Hard With a Vengeance, 187, Sphere, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Hard Eight, Kiss of Death, Losing Isaiah, and Amos & Andrew. For his work in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever at Cannes Film Festival. He also won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor.
On television, Jackson starred in John Frankenheimer's Emmy Award-winning Against the Wall for HBO. His performance earned him a CableAce nomination as Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. He has also worked extensively in theater.
RAY PARK (Darth Maul) makes his motion picture acting debut in EPISODE I. He has been involved in the Chinese martial arts since age 7, and has won numerous championships in the field. He is also accomplished in oriental weaponry, kickboxing, gymnastics and acrobatics. For the last seven years, he has been a member of the British Martial Arts Team, competing and demonstrating around the world on a regular basis.
Next, Park will be seen Sleepy Hollow, directed by Tim Burton. He was a stunt double in Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation, and has performed in commercials and computer games.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
GEORGE LUCAS (Writer, Director, Executive Producer) is the creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars saga and Indiana Jones series and the Chairman of the Board of Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC, Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC., Lucas Licensing Ltd. and Lucas Learning Ltd.
Lucas directed his first feature film, THX 1138, in 1970. The film was produced by American Zoetrope and executive-produced by Francis Coppola. In 1971, Lucas formed his own film company, Lucasfilm Ltd., in San Rafael, California.
In 1973, Lucas co-wrote and directed American Graffiti. The film won a Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics' and National Society of Film Critics' awards, and garnered five Academy Award nominations.
Four years later, Lucas wrote and directed Star Wars a film which broke all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. Lucas went on to co-write the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which he also executive produced. In 1980, he co-wrote the story and was the executive producer of Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, which won five Academy Awards. He was also the co-executive producer and creator of the story for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The film, released in 1984, earned two Academy Award nominations and won an Oscar for its visual effects.
In 1986, Lucas served as executive producer for Disneyland's 3-D musical space adventure Captain Eo, which was directed by Francis Coppola and starred Michael Jackson. Lucas was also involved in the creation of Star Tours, a popular attraction at each of the Disney Theme Parks.
Lucas' next project was the adventure-fantasy film Willow. Based on an original story by Lucas, the film was directed by Ron Howard and executive-produced by Lucas. Willow was released in 1988 and received three Academy Award nominations.
Also in 1988, Lucas executive-produced Tucker: The Man and His Dream. The film, directed by Francis Coppola, garnered three Academy Award nominations. In the following year, Lucas wrote the story and served as executive producer for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, earned an Oscar for Best Sound Design, and became the number one worldwide box office hit for 1989.
Lucas served as story author and executive producer of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which premiered in 1992. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles won a Banff Award for Best Continuing Series, a Golden Globe nomination for best Dramatic Series, an Angel Award for Quality Programming, 12 Emmy Awards and 26 Emmy nominations.
In 1992, George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award. The Award was given by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in producing.
Lucas was the story author and executive producer of Radioland Murders in 1994. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Star Wars in 1997, Lucas updated each film of the Trilogy to bring it closer to his original vision. The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition was released theatrically worldwide with digitally remastered soundtracks, restored prints, enhanced visual effects and newly added footage.
Lucasfilm, established by George Lucas in 1971, has today evolved into five Lucas companies. The Lucas group of companies includes Lucasfilm Ltd., Lucas Online, LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC, Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC, Lucas Licensing Ltd. and Lucas Learning Ltd. Lucasfilm includes all of Lucas' feature film and television productions as well as the business activities of the THX Group, which is dedicated to ensuring excellent film presentation quality in theaters and homes through a series of specialized services.
LucasArts is a leading international developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software, which have won critical acclaim with more than 100 industry awards for excellence. Lucas Digital, which consists of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound, provides visual effects and audio post-production services to the entertainment and commercial production industries. ILM employees have won 40 Oscars working on films which have been awarded 14 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and received 14 Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards. Skywalker Sound employees have been honored with 28 Oscars working on films which have been awarded 15 Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing. Lucas Licensing is responsible for the merchandising of all of Lucasfilm's film and television properties. Lucas Learning strives to create an "uncommon learning" experience by offering engaging interactive software products that provide learning opportunities through exploration and discovery.
George Lucas is the Chairman of the Board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. He currently serves on the boards of the Artists Rights Foundation, the Joseph Campbell Foundation, and the Film Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the USC School of Cinema-Television Board of Councilors.
RICK McCALLUM (Producer) began his career as a producer working with one of Britain's most esteemed screenwriters, the late Dennis Potter, on the screen adaptation of Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. McCallum and Potter then reunited on the acclaimed six-part BBC series The Singing Detective.
McCallum has also established a close working relationship with director Nicholas Roeg and produced two of Roeg's films, Track 29 and Castaway. Other film credits include Dennis Potter's Blackeyes, Neil Simon's I Ought To Be In Pictures, Heading Home starring Gary Oldman with a screenplay by playwright David Hare, who also directed the film, and Strapless, also written and directed by Hare, with Blair Brown and Bridget Fonda. Another of McCallum's pictures, Dreamchild, written by Dennis Potter, won three BAFTA awards and an Evening Standard Award for Best Actress (Coral Browne).
For television, McCallum produced the HBO film On Tidy Endings, written by Harvey Fierstein and starring Fierstein and Stockard Channing. The production received four CableAce Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. He also produced the Rolling Stones' music video "Undercover," which won the MTV Award for Best Video of the decade.
Since 1990, McCallum has worked exclusively with writer/director George Lucas. The two collaborated on the feature film Radioland Murders and the critically acclaimed television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. This series, filmed over a period of four years in 27 countries, received 26 Emmy nominations and won 11 Emmy Awards. It also won the 1993 Banff Award for Best Continuing Series and received a 1993 Golden Globe nomination for Best Dramatic Series. Directors included Bille August, Mike Newell, Nic Roeg, Carl Schultz, Simon Wincer, David Hare, Deepa Mehta, Rene Manzor, Gavin Millar and Terry Jones.
McCallum produced the restoration and enhancement work done on the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, and, on the heels of producing Episode I, is now preparing for the next installment of the Star Wars saga, Episode II.
GAVIN BOCQUET (Production Designer) is a graduate of Newcastle Polytechnic, where he studied product design, and the Royal College of Art, receiving a Master of Design degree in 1979. He started his motion picture career as an art department draftsman on The Elephant Man and Return of the Jedi. Four years later he was promoted to Assistant Art Director for the films Return to Oz and Young Sherlock Holmes.
By the time Bocquet began work on Empire of the Sun, he was a full-fledged Art Director. Other Art Director credits include Dangerous Liaisons, Eric the Viking and Cry Freedom where he had the pleasure of working with Stuart Craig who, along with Norman Reynolds, are the men he considers to be his mentors.
Bocquet's credits as Production Designer range from the British television series Yellowthread Street and the U.S. series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, for which he received an Emmy Award and 2 nominations, to the feature films Kafka and Radioland Murders.
DAVID TATTERSALL (Director of Photography) was born and raised in Great Britain. He attended Goldsmith's College in London where he graduated with a first class BA (Hons) Fine Arts Degree. He then studied at Britain's National Film and Television School, where he specialized in camera work.
Tattersall's student films King's Christmas, Caprice and Metropolis Apocalypse were highly regarded. King's Christmas was nominated for Best BAFTA Short in 1987, Caprice was selected for the Edinburgh and Milan film festivals, and Metropolis Apocalypse was shown at Cannes in 1988.
Tattersall has worked steadily on numerous feature films and television productions. His credits include The Bridge, Radioland Murders, Moll Flanders, The Wind in the Willows and Con Air.
On television, Tattersall worked on the Yorkshire series Yellowthread Street, and for American television, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, for which he won an Emmy Award and A.S.C. nominations for Best Cinematography.
After training at the Wimbledon School of Art, TRISHA BIGGAR (Costume Designer) worked with several prestigious British theater companies including the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and Opera North in Leeds.
Biggar then moved into designing the costumes for films such as the award-winning Silent Scream (winner of the British Academy Michael Powell Award for Best Film of the Year and the Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Festival, among other awards) and Wild West (winner of the Edinburgh Film Festival Critics' Award).
Her television drama credits include the mini-series Moll Flanders (for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design), The Missing Postman and The Mug's Game. She designed the costumes for the BBC films Saigon Baby and Truth or Dare. Other series designed by Biggar are The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Love Hurts, Van der Valk and A Class Act.
PAUL MARTIN SMITH (Editor) grew up in the United States, Canada and Europe. He worked in summer stock theater in Nantucket, Massachusetts before studying photography at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He broke into the film business as an assistant cameraman on documentary films for the USIA. In 1971, he produced the documentary The Animals are Crying, which won several awards.
Since 1973, Smith has worked in London, America and Europe editing over 70 hours of drama, comedy, documentaries, commercials, corporate programs and music videos. Among his numerous credits are the feature films Born American and The Matchmaker, the television movies The Canterville Ghost and Unforgivable, the series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Earth 2 and documentaries Gunfight U.S.A., Cold Spring New Dawn.
It was BEN BURTT's (Sound Designer) sound design work creating the voice of R2-D2, the hum and crash of lightsabers in battle, and the zooming rush of the speeder bike chase that gave the original Star Wars trilogy its convincing feel of audio reality.
Twenty years later, Burtt worked for over six months on the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, re-mixing and re-editing sound effects, music and dialog from the original track.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Burtt earned a college degree in Physics. In 1970, he won the National Student Film Festival with a war movie called Yankee Squadron. For his work on the special effects film Genesis he won a scholarship to USC, where he earned a Master's Degree in Film Production. Burtt has been in the film business for over 23 years as a sound designer, mixer, editor, writer and director. Some of Burtt's interests include "my kids, the history of film, mountain biking, skiing, and reading history, astronomy, and science."
In Burtt's 15 years as a sound designer for Lucasfilm, he won Academy Awards for Sound and Sound Effects Editing in four films: Star Wars, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Burtt also did sound design for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Always, Willow, Alien, More American Graffiti, Howard the Duck, The Dark Crystal, Nutcracker, The Motion Picture, The Dream is Alive, Alamo and Niagara.
In 1990, Burtt became independent and started working as a director. He directed Second Unit for 20 episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, also serving as picture editor for four episodes of Young Indy, and occasionally, sound designer. Burtt directed and co-wrote the Young Indy movie "Attack of the Hawkmen." He directed the IMAX film Blue Planet and directed and co-wrote the IMAX film Special Effects. Burtt was also a writer on the Lucasfilm Droids animated television series, including the one-hour ABC Droids special entitled "The Great Heep."
GARY RYDSTROM (Director of Creative Operations/Sound Designer and Mixer, Skywalker Sound) joined Skywalker Sound in 1983 as an operator in the machine room. Since then, he has contributed his talents to many projects as a sound designer, re-recording mixer, effects mixer and foley mixer. In 1998, Rydstrom was appointed Director of Creative Operations for Skywalker Sound, overseeing the creative and technological direction for the facility. Apart from his feature film and commercials work, Rydstrom has completed several television projects, rides and attraction films. Rydstrom holds a graduate degree from the USC School of Cinema and Television. He is the recipient of 7 Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing for his work on Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, Jurassic Park, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
JOHN WILLIAMS (Composer), a five-time Academy Award winner, has earned an extraordinary 37 Oscar nominations in all, the most recent coming this year for his score for Steven Spielberg's World War II drama Saving Private Ryan.
Williams first collaborated with George Lucas on the original Star Wars, for which the composer received an Academy Award. He rejoined the Star Wars universe for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
He has worked with Spielberg on almost all of the director's films, receiving three Oscars for his work on Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler's List. His other Academy Awards came for the scoring of the screen version of Fiddler On the Roof.
Williams has proven himself a master of every genre, creating many of the most familiar themes in movie history. He composed the scores for such diverse films as Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park; Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, Sabrina, JFK, Home Alone, Born on the Fourth of July, The Accidental Tourist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Empire of the Sun, Superman and all three of the Indiana Jones movies.
In addition to his film work, Williams was Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 13 highly successful seasons and is currently Laureate Conductor of that famed ensemble. As a guest conductor, he appears regularly with many of the world's most renowned orchestras. His composition work reaches beyond the screen, as he has also written many concert pieces, including two symphonies and concertos for flute, tuba, violin, clarinet, bassoon, cello and trumpet.
ROBIN GURLAND (Casting) began her film career as a casting director working in the Bay Area doing casting searches for over 17 films, such as Life With Mikey, Forrest Gump, Little Panda and When a Man Loves a Woman. Her credits as a local casting director include The Joy Luck Club, Dangerous Minds, The Quick and the Dead, Redwood Curtain and Golden Gate. As a casting director, she cast James and the Giant Peach and worked as a consultant on The Education of Little Tree.
NICK DUDMAN (Creatures Effects) is a veteran of several Lucasfilm productions including Return of the Jedi, Willow and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In fact, he got his start in films, working on Yoda, as a trainee to British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn on The Empire Strikes Back.
After apprenticing with Freeborn for four years on films such as Superman II and Top Secret!, Dudman was asked to head up the English make-up laboratory for Ridley Scott's Legend. Since then, he has worked on Mona Lisa, High Spirits, Interview With the Vampire, Batman and Judge Dredd. In 1995, he was asked to oversee the 55-man creature department for the Luc Besson film The Fifth Element.
The ever innovative Dudman has marketed a new prosthetic material called Dermplast that is used to create remarkable aging effects in make-up. The substance is for sale exclusively through Dudman's own company, the whimsically named "Pigs Might Fly."
DENNIS MUREN (Visual Effects Supervisor) is the Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. Recipient of eight Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Muren is actively involved in the evolution of the company, as well as the design and development of new techniques and equipment.
Among his many credits as a visual effects supervisor are The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Casper, Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss, Innerspace, Young Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Return of the Jedi and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
As a pioneer in the use of computer and digital technology for film, SCOTT SQUIRES (Visual Effects Supervisor) combines technical expertise with a highly creative touch. Squires has developed a number of breakthrough techniques including the "Cloud Tank Effect" used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In 1979, Squires co-founded Dream Quest Images and was a visual effects supervisor, as well as the company's president, for six years. His Dream Quest projects included Blue Thunder, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Deal of the Century, One From the Heart and Blade Runner. Squires joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1985.
In 1994, Squires received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his pioneering work in the area of film input scanning. He received an Oscar nomination for best achievement in visual effects for The Mask and received his second nomination for Dragonheart.
JOHN KNOLL (Visual Effects Supervisor) brings a special expertise and innovativeness in computer graphics to the creation of visual effects. Knoll and his brother are the authors of Photoshop, a high-end image processing program for Macintosh computers. Similar to a Quantel Paintbox, Photoshop allows users extensive creative control over the enhancement and editing of images. Knoll was also the Computer Graphics Project Designer on The Abyss, for which ILM was honored with its 10th Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
His additional credits as a visual effects supervisor include Star Trek: First Contact, Star Wars Special Edition, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek Generations.
ROB COLEMAN (Animation Supervisor) joined ILM's team of animators in 1993 to work on The Mask. Coleman's other motion picture credits include Men in Black, Dragonheart, The Indian in the Cupboard, In the Mouth of Madness and Star Trek Generations.
Prior to joining ILM, he began his career working on Captain Power, the first television series to combine computer animated characters to live action. The project won a Gemini Award (the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) for best technical achievement. Coleman has since produced computer animation and graphics for broadcast and commercials, worked on a special cell animated film for the World Health Organization, formed his own small studio for commercial and television projects, and produced a series of special on-air graphics, openings and station identifications.