Composite of the interior of the Death Star laser gun.(Above) Composite consists of a miniature background that is the laser tunnel, a blue screen component (which includes the actors), a hand-drawn platform (the white patches) and Adam Beckett’s sophisticated multiple-pass animated laser effect.

An X-wing ship racing across the surface of the Death Star.(Above) This frame sequence illustrates one level of composite difficulty, where the ship, which was shot against a blue screen, is composited against a light background. No place to hide the matte line here!

Composite of an exploding X-wing against the Death Star Surface. (Above) This represents perhaps the peak level of blue screen composite difficulty. The ship explosion consists of tiny particles and smoke, which must be matted in so that it is transparent, without blue fringing or matte lines.

Darth Vader’s wingman is destroyed by a laser bolt from Han Solo’s Pirate Ship. (Above) This shot occurs at the peak of the battle, and consists of stars, a trench background, the two ships, the explosion, and the laser bolts (which are not in these frames). Ship elements and explosion were shot blue screen.

The Rebel ships approach the Death Star, preparing for attack. (Above) The shot consists of two X-wing ships, one Y-wing ship, the Death Star, the planet Yavin, and the stars. All elements except the planet and stars were shot blue screen.