The Tatooine - Sailbarge Set
Jabba's Sailbarge
Click the
thumbnails for a full-size view.
Trailorpark-living.
- Here's Carrie in her slave-costume (concealed
under a robe), Mark (also in a robe) and Billy
Dee on their way to take their places on set.
A
huge wooden structure was constructed for
the set of Jabba the Hutt's Sailbarge.
Speaking
of huge... the set of Jabba's
Sailbarge was so big the crew used a kind of
3-wheeled motorcycle to get from one end to
the other. The ship itself was inspired by
the pirate movies of the 40's in design, with
canon shutters and the board leading to
a certain death.
Here's
a collection of different angles of the gigantic ship. (Notice the smaller
ship mounted on two pillars, in the first of these six pictures.)
With
a set as huge as this, is easy to imagine how
hard it must have been to keep the location of the shoot
a secret from all the fans, interested in catching a
glimpse of the stars. So what they did in order to
stop this invasion of uninvited visitors was; that all
involved were instructed to say they were shooting a
horror movie called: "Blue Harvest- Horror beyond
imagination" when asked. All personnel also wore T-shirts
and caps with Blue Harvest printed on them to make it
authentic. From what we hear, they're little scheme worked
quite well.
Boba
Fett, getting ready to use his rocket-pack.
Next to him on the right is Luke, with his
back to the camera.
This
is another angle, this time also showing
Han and Chewie to the right.
Not
even here were all the scenes shot out
in the open. Parts of the liberation-fight to
save Han, was filmed against a bluescreen, like
this one.
Brave
crew members work on putting the final touches
on the almighty Sarlacc, before Boba Fett is to meet his
gruesome fate.
Carrie
gets her makeup refreshed before a take.
Carrie
had to get into really good shape to fit into the
infamous metal bikini. It still didn't fit her
perfectly though. Apparently Jeremy "Boba Fett" Bullock
who stood right behind her could see "all the way to
heaven" as Carrie put it in an interview.
Here's
Carrie and the pupeteer, from Jim Henson's studio,
who operated Jabba's pet - Salacious Crumb.
A
relaxed moment on the set between takes.
This is what
Jabba looked like before he was all put together. As you can see he
was hollow. That was so that the guys inside (there were 3) who
operated him could fit in.
(Read the interview with one of
the men who were inside Jabba the Hutt!)
Jabba being
slimed up for the next take.
Lucas, hanging over the railing of the Sailbarge,
checking the angle of an upcoming shot.
Inside the barge Max Reebo was operated
by 1 puppeteer who was inside him, and 2 others keeping him in place since the
"Reebo-suit" was very heavy.
Not only were the costumes very heavy,
they were also extreemly hot. The actors inside had to be let out as often as
possible for air.
How to solve the problem with Sy Snootles,
the singer aboard Jabba's barge, was one of the most challenging of Return of the Jedi.
Here George tells the team, who builds the creatures for the movie, that he wants Sy's
lips to be able to move.
The result was a complicated process where
pupeteers pulled Sy's lips open and shut with strings. A string was also attached to
her mouth and the microphone, which you can clearly see here.
This scene was one of the main reasons why Lucas wanted to do the "Special Editions".
In the remastered version, as I'm sure you know, the old Sy was cut out completely
and replaced with a computer generated creature. No strings attached.
Making Sy dance was even more complicated.
One man stood directly underneath Sy. He moved her feet with strings that were
attached to his feet and moved her body with other strings, while watching her on
a monitor. Another man stood directly above Sy and pulled a couple of other stings.
Kind of makes you wonder which sollution was the more time consuming. The old puppet
Sy with all her strings and pupeteers, or the Special Edition 3D model.
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