It ’s been more than 40 years and since we first saw the iconicStar Warsopening text crawling . Since the franchise climb up to hyperspace inA New Hope , ten movies have added to the monumental macrocosm from the mind of George Lucas . The latest , Sologives us a look into the story of the dealership ’s beloved scoundrel .

Like Han himself , the Star Wars cinematic experience has a lot of backstory that is n’t always instantly visible . In the decades since the first movies , the franchise has build up a lot of traditional knowledge . The hurl and bunch from all the moving picture portion out looks into their living on readiness . While the newer movies have keep a eyelid on behind the scene snaps to check spoilers , there is still a wealth of information out there .

Star Wars is a behemoth of pop culture . It ’s easy to overlook the challenges that go into making such a spectacle . From cunning practical effects to pioneering CGI , the gang worked intemperately behind the conniption to bring the galaxy to life . Their surd work has been documented in pictures that show the particular force wizards at piece of work . Meanwhile , photo of the tight - rumple casts show the fun and melody of shooting these blockbusters .

Sidious, Tyranus, Maul, and Vader.

Here are28 photos from behind the scene that will change the way you watch and rewatch these movies .

PETER MAYHEW PRACTICES CHEWIE’S LINES

WithSoloin theaters now , we get to see to the meeting between Han and his furred companionChewbacca . The giant Wookie has roared and rumble his way through the original Star Wars trilogy , made a cameo inEpisode III , and looks pose to stick around through the sequel trilogy too . And for much of that time , he was played by the 7 ft 3 in worker Peter Mayhew . In this behind the scenes shoot , we see Mayhew and the makeup creative person Stuart Freeborn jokingly drill the Wookie ’s line . In the movies all we hear from Chewie are the key signature yawl . On set , though , Mayhew didimproviselines in English for what Chewie meant . This helped the acting feel instinctive . The roars came later .

Shyriiwook is the combination of four bears , a Wisconsinite , and more beast noises .

The suit of clothes that Stuart Freeborn is playing with here was made of chatter tomentum and cony pelt . Freeborn was brought in because of his experience working with other hairy primate costume . His work work the prehumans of2001 : A Space Odysseyto life sentence . Mayhew ’s costume was understandably live , and so for theRevenge of the Sithcameo , it had a built - in cooling system . Photos like this show the great relationship between the actors and the crew working together .

George Lucas with A New Hope imagery v3

BLAST ‘EM

Star Warshas an abundance of futuristic weapons for the mold and crew to ferment around . The actors and lighting crowd have had to imagine the finished product while film . Sticks stood in for lightsabers in many of the early movies .   In the original trilogy , the regal blasters were fully in operation firearms with vacuous cartridges . Animators would rotoscope over the shots . In the prequel trilogy , too , remixed real firearm are the basis for the various blasters .

In the belated picture show , their jobs are a bit easier . This behind the tantrum frivol away of Daisy Ridley shows off a modified Airsoft rifle . It see very close to the motion picture ’s F-11D chargeman rifle . The Modern ' chargeman ' gives off a great kick without turf out white cartridges everywhere . The rifle has built - in lighting which assume the timing of the chargeman shots . This helps firing and animation team to get the feel of the shot just right .

This photo also shows just how much fun the actors have with their props . While filmingThe Last Jedi , Laura Derne really enjoyed firing a chargeman as Admiral Holdo . The only problem was that she could n’t help say " church bench pew " with every shot . you could still see it if you lookclosely .

Din Djarin and Ahsoka-1

CATCHING THAT TATOOINE SUN

motion-picture photography is a foresighted process , with quite a chip of waiting around . When you and your stunt double are already in bikinis , why not use the time to get a tan ? Peter Mayhew took this word picture of Carrie Fisher and her stunt double Tracey Eddon on go under   ofThe Return of the Jedi . The duad made the most of the desert Dominicus and the iconic hard worker costume for the Jabba ’s hoy episode .

The flick take the Star Wars franchise back to Tatooine , where Luke began his journeying . On the other hand , the film team did n’t go back to Tunisia and the location that lend the desert planet its name . The desert scenes for the third episode of the original trilogy were scud in Buttercup Valley , Arizona .

The two-piece is at the same time an iconic and controversial costume . Fisher oncewrotethat it might be " what supermodels will finally wear upon in the 7th ring of hell . " by and by , though , she plow the striver outfit into a symbol of her character ’s power . Whenaskedby a father about a novel toy sport the costume , Carrie Fisher used it as a here and now to address the tilt . She advised Fred Hill to state his daughters " that a gargantuan slug captured me and forced me to endure that stupid turnout , and then I   [ end ] him because I did n’t like it . " She did it with the costume itself .

Star Wars Behind The Scene

TAKING ON MEN IN BLUE

In this rare behind the scenes shot fromEpisode III -The Revenge of the Sith , we see Ewan McGregor as Obi - Wan size up the Blue Man Group . The finished version of the scene features the lethal MagnaGuard droids , but behind the scenes they were stuntmen in blue suit . It is quite impressive to see the actors keeping their intensity up .

By the metre George Lucas come around to filming the first part of the Star Wars saga , CGI offered new ways to get his world to life . The CGI employment in the prequels drew a draw of criticism , even though there weremany virtual effectsin the movies . In this picture the line between hardheaded and computer generated environment and outcome is evident .

Looks like Obi - Wan is n’t a fan of the Blue Man Group .

Makeup artist Stuart Freeborn and Peter Mayhew rehearse Chewbacca’s lines

Despite thecriticismsof the prequel ’s CGI , it offered some design advantages . The MagnaGuard ’s skeletal excogitation would have been impossible as a virtual gist . Lucas had already seen the limits of practical effects in the bare C-3P0 ofThe Phantom Menace . Peter Mayhew simply could n’t be built into the costume as he had been before .

For a sequence like the one in the picture here , CGI give the squad freedom to execute with stuntmen that could be replaced later .

STORMTROOPERS IN THE TUBE

While filingRogue One , the spear carrier playing the stormtroopers took some time to rest between proceeds . The Canary Wharf pipe post in London was come together off for filming . The sequence shot there featured in the trailer , and many Londoners recognised it like a shot . Behind the conniption photos like this test them correct .

The photograph queerly humanises the stormtroopers . Seeing them sitting around with their helmet off turn them from faceless outer space fascist into average working folk on a break of the day commute .

Director Gareth Edwards start his first TV job in the area and film there was a mo like issue forth full circle . When he used to commute there hethought"This is like a sci - fi moving-picture show . If I ever get to do a sci - fi film in my life I ’m gon na film it here . " He also describe the dark where the station was transformed into a curing as a " secret mission " .

Daisy Ridley training with an Airsoft gun modified as a blaster

This is n’t the only motion picture to practice Canary Wharf for a location . The tube station also feature in the apocalyptic28 Days subsequently , take by Danny Boyle . Perhaps it is the knockout industrial look that appeals to motion picture manufacturer . It for sure worked well as a stand in for the frigid and grim Imperial Base .

PILES OF STORMTROOPER SUITS

While the clon troopers of the Prequel trilogy were mainly digital , in the original Star Wars practical costumes were all they had . Here we can see a fraction of the fifty humiliated - point helmet fromA New Hope . Six ' hero ' helmet had more detail for skinny up shots . The faceless white stormtrooper armour is now iconic . There ’s even a renowned cosplay host , the501st , that invades conventions everywhere .

The original helmets were not prosperous . Mark Hamill once gross out out while shoot the tantrum where Luke and Han disguise themselves . " you may see the interior of the helmet and it ’s all sickly green plus you ’ve get wax in your ears , because of the explosions and you just finger eerie , " heremembers . The helmet looks good , but it certainly got in the way .

This might explicate the cavalryman ' infamous inability to shoot anyone . It also accounts for one ofA New Hope ’s renowned goof , where a violent storm trooper strike his head on a door . As they amount through a door way looking for C3P0 and the other infiltrator , one of the troopers in the backmisjudgesthe pinnacle of the threshold . In retouch belated version , a footling clang was add together to turn it from a goofball into a feature .

Carrie Fisher and stunt double Tracey Eddon catch a tan between takes

BREAKING THE PROPS

There were two roles that postulate Brobdingnagian actor for the first Star Wars film . Peter Mayhew picked Chewbacca , and David Prowse got to be the torso of the mosticonic villain . As Darth Vader , Prowse had to train for the one lightsaber duel in the moving-picture show .

The scene itself is fairly meek in comparison to the flips and frantic zip of newer duel . Despite this , Prowse and Sir Alec Guinness had to rehearse with wooden stunt prop . In this delineation we can see the towering body of Vader bearing down on Guinness in rehearsal .

Practice did not make the scene easier to film , though . Prowse was a herculean man , as a bodybuilder and weightlifter . allot to stunt co - ordinator Peter Diamond , he swing the airscrew with more strength than was needed . " Every clock time they touched swords , the blade kept break , " said Diamond .

Ewan McGregor fighting blue-suited doubles in Revenge of the Sith

This was n’t the only challenge face up the squad regarding David Prowse . Prowse had a stocky West Country English emphasis , while he deliver strain on coiffe Lucas had never intend to use it . fortuitously , he went with the rich voice of James Earl Jones . Documentaries andbehind the scenes recordingslet us take heed how Vader would have sounded as Prowse .

LIGHT UP LIGHTSABERS

Gone are the days of the foreign wooden lances used for training in the original trilogy . The colorful sticks for the prequel trilogy are go too . The march of technology means that for Modern Star Wars films , lightsaber property feel a lot more like the real thing . equate this photo of Adam Driver rehearsing forThe Force Awakens , it is astonishing to think about how the film producer finagle before .

These faint - up props seem in a limited chassis for a individual sequence ofAttack of the Clones . ForEpisode VII , the stunt team brought them out in full to avail out . A big challenge for the inflammation squad on set is anticipating the change from the lightsabers . The new props are extremely interactive , allowing the squad to make them strobe , move the light up and down , and vary color . shot like this really show how far engineering has amount .

The special effects teams work throughout the account ofStar Warsto work on the engineering science of the lightsaber . In the first motion picture they were a brooding nub that spun on a motor to becharm the set brightness . These   were undependable and , as we ’ve discover , tenuous . For the rest of the movies , carbon and then carbon - fibre rods were used instead . While the carbon - fiber rods did n’t break up , they did injure many of the actors .

Storm troopers relax between Rogue One takes at the Canary Wharf tube station used for the Imperial Base

HUNGOVER IN CLOUD CITY

It ’s not too easy to tell from this behind the scenes shot , but two of the thespian filming here forThe Empire Strikes Backwere under the weather . Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford went out for a night of partying . The two Star Wars worker met up with Monty Python ’s Eric Idle and the Rolling Stones . Idle introduced them to a potable called the Tunisian Table Cleaner , as bothStar WarsandThe Life of Brianwere film there . The dark of revel left Fisher feeling under the weather , delay the next day ’s filming .

In spite of this , feel on set were festive as well and the roll get along very well . Billy Dee Williams , playing the roguish Lando Calrissian , was quite in part . agree to Carrie Fisher , he " would say thing . I would say them right back . He enjoin something unmentionable when he kissed my handwriting . "

Williams does n’t seem to have needed much getting into character as Lando . Lando ’s mischief , down to the " flair " of his name , attract to the thespian . you’re able to see a short of his chemical science with Fisher in thisinterviewwhere he discourse the character .

Piles of stunt stormtrooper helmets for Star Wars

Williams has stayed very mired inStar Warsas Lando , and recently gave hissupportto Donald Glover ’s portrayal of the fiber inSolo .

AN ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN SUIT

acid cold made shoot the Hoth panorama forThe Empire Strikes Backa challenge for the cast and crowd . One cast member had a amazingly swelter meter , however . Des Webb was the performing artist behind the giant yeti - like Wampa . In this shot between takes you could see how the suit all envelop him . of course , the suit was incredibly stifling for the actor to wear out in his scenes as the marauding monster . Ultimately most of his footage was cut in the original release . An full subplot of the Wampas attacking Echo Base had to be removed .

Who needs a wool coat when you may have a Wampa fur coat .

For the Special Edition , a second suit was built by Industrial Light & Magic artist Howie Weed . Lucas wanted to reshoot some Wampa tantrum , and Howie found a way to open up the colossus ’s maw into a more fearsome roar . He replaced the forgetful Des Webb for these scenes , andrecallsan interesting moment . As the Wampa fall behind an limb to Luke Skywalker , George Lucas desire Weed to enter the mouthpiece wider and wider . " On action I pulled down the jaw as widely as I could , which broke dozens of little elastic stria inside the masque , " he said in an interview . The causa was ruin of course , but that last guessing was the one Lucas was bet for .

Dave Prowse and Alec Guiness rehearse lightsaber fights

Adam Driver practices with the now light up training props for The Force Awakens

Filming for Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back after a night on the town

Behind the scenes photo of the wampa suit for Empire Strikes Back

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