A specially designed anamorphic reducing lens and computer-controlled optical printer combine to extend the frontiers of photographic effects


The composite-optical photography on The Empire Strikes Back represents about one-and-a-half years' work at George Lucas' San Rafael Special Effects facility "Industrial Light & Magic." During this time period, the facility was physically set-up, equipment was designed and built, compositing procedures were researched and developed until we arrived at a photographic system that could successfully produce the effects Mr. Lucas had in mind.

Since the majority of shots take place on the snow planet "Hoth", our matting problems became particularly difficult. There is simply no room for error when attempting to disguise the matted edge of the foreground subject against the white background.

Most of the matted elements, such as spaceships, asteroids, live action characters, and even birds were shot against a blue screen. Other elements such as background asteroids and planet surfaces were shot against a black backing. Some shots called for studio-generated plates to be combined with matte paintings.

Some of the Walker sequences called for miniatures to be shot on the animation stand, and then matted into a Norway background with a foreground cockpit. These miniature Walkers had to register exactly to the helicopter-shot background plates.

The asteroid sequences called for many separately filmed elements to be matted into a shot lasting not more than four seconds on the screen. The snow battle sequences also required many elements such as Speeders, Walkers, animation flak, lasers, and explosions to be combined into a cinematically believable shot.

The optical department was designed to minimize the amount of dirt and dust contamination of the original negative and the various intermediate stocks used. The room was set up with positive pressure and filtered air to eliminate dust. Temperature and humidity were closely monitored to insure proper conditions for film storage.

In-house processing became a necessity for us because of our lack of proximity to a major lab. We would have lost crucial time had we not processed our intermediate elements in-house. We purchased a Treise Processor, and, with their help and expertise, were able to set-up a black and white processing lab adjacent to the optical department. This gave us better control over our printing elements, with the added convenience of being able to redo them quickly should any problems arise. We found, during the course of the show, that contrast changes were needed for certain shots. With the Treise, we could wedge and shoot with very little hair-pulling. Many thanks to Tom Treise and Company.


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