Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983
- Thread starter Roy Batty
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Joek3rr
Master Member
Actually Vader's FX blades does have a black line. It just doesn't appear to be as thick.
And I don't know if any has seen this, but it's got some neat BTS stuff
I honestly don’t believe this black line stuff... (besides obiwans)
I really never believed the black line on the round sabers, because it’s ironic how the black line seems to stay on the same edge in every picture (except the v3 pic, and I think that is a lighting issue)
I think the lack lines we are seeing since every time we see them is in the edge of the saber blade is a reflection or shadow!
I have no proof.. but in real life I find it hard to believe every time the black line is almost in the same place on every saber
And a lot of the time it’s the side facing the floor.. we know the floors were polished black.. so is this the reflection we are seeing?
I just find it hard to believe, not saying it’s not true
Then again, this is coming from the crazy old guy who can’t see the sail boat
Joek3rr
Master Member
If you watch that video I provided. There's a BTS shot of them filming Mark on the Falcon set. Not only does his saber flicker, but you can see the black line show up a couple of times at the base of the blade
I have always seen square, slightly thicker at base than top, and one side painted black to help enhance the flicker effect as it span. The one I tried coated all around didn't flicker. You had to rely on action of the hand movement of the hilt in the light to get a shimmer.
Joek3rr
Master Member
Joek3rr
Master Member
So what I think is going on is........
I believe they were experimenting with two different kinds of blades. I think that the Luke/Vader had a round blade with a black stripe. While Obi-Wan's may have been square with one whole side blackened.
I stick with my story. They experimented, they were on a tight budget and tight time frame, and used what they had. They made 3 functioning lightsabers
Luke, Vader, Kenobi (v3 was abandon)
I think they experimented with the square/triangle blades and it didn’t work, I think it’s overly complicated to switch the blade on the v2, so since the v2 actually worked they rolled with it
We know there was a recently found Vader saber used while filming but never made the screens final cut
That sucker broke, and they used Luke’s as a fill in for Vader, since it still spun too BUT
Someone mentioned they couldn’t hide the white wires on Luke’s stunt with Vader’s black body, so chose to leave it as a static blade
I have a real hard time believing Guinness blade is square or triangle but that’s what they are all saying, and I now have that 1 photo..
This photo I still believe if they taped the end. The square shape could be a trick of the eye from the tape... but I seriously don’t know
I’m not really concerned about accuracy of the blade for my build.
I am concerned on making my blade pull off the same effect as kurtboy. He’s really helped me out with how he did his. So I’m going to follow his instructions
I have to run to Lowe’s today, gonna grab a 5/8th square dowel and whip out the table saw and see what I can come up with today..
I still would prefer to get the effect on my golf club. Because this v2 is going to travel with me and I need the blade easily removable for transport
And the golf club is SUPER light, am I lying Tom?! This thing is like a feather.. and even kurtboy mentioned the square dowel is heavy and the blade slows down when on the side. The motor can’t keep up..
So we shall see
Hopefully this thread lives on this weekend.. I need things to keep my mind busy.
Luke, Vader, Kenobi (v3 was abandon)
I think they experimented with the square/triangle blades and it didn’t work, I think it’s overly complicated to switch the blade on the v2, so since the v2 actually worked they rolled with it
We know there was a recently found Vader saber used while filming but never made the screens final cut
That sucker broke, and they used Luke’s as a fill in for Vader, since it still spun too BUT
Someone mentioned they couldn’t hide the white wires on Luke’s stunt with Vader’s black body, so chose to leave it as a static blade
I have a real hard time believing Guinness blade is square or triangle but that’s what they are all saying, and I now have that 1 photo..
This photo I still believe if they taped the end. The square shape could be a trick of the eye from the tape... but I seriously don’t know
I’m not really concerned about accuracy of the blade for my build.
I am concerned on making my blade pull off the same effect as kurtboy. He’s really helped me out with how he did his. So I’m going to follow his instructions
I have to run to Lowe’s today, gonna grab a 5/8th square dowel and whip out the table saw and see what I can come up with today..
I still would prefer to get the effect on my golf club. Because this v2 is going to travel with me and I need the blade easily removable for transport
And the golf club is SUPER light, am I lying Tom?! This thing is like a feather.. and even kurtboy mentioned the square dowel is heavy and the blade slows down when on the side. The motor can’t keep up..
So we shall see
Hopefully this thread lives on this weekend.. I need things to keep my mind busy.
Correct, but there were two Vader stunts. The one in your picture is the "Barbican" but I didn't spot it or it's striped blade on screen. As far as I've been able to tell only the repurposed Luke stunt with unplugged wires was used.
I was going to post this in the other thread, but since we're having this conversation here - A decent amount of flat surface area is needed to reflect light. a skinny copper pole (remember that halliwax?) barely works because the surface facing the camera is rather small. Think the apex of an arc, since the rest of the arc is curving away.
I believe this is why they used flat sided blades. The round ones will look round when rotating, and wouldn't need black paint or anything.
I believe this is why they used flat sided blades. The round ones will look round when rotating, and wouldn't need black paint or anything.
In one of the making of videos you can see the black line spinning on obis saber at the cantina.
Zombie!!! Thank you so much for this!! I was wondering if they used the b2 in this scene! I’ve never seen this photos before I really really appreciate it
Looking at the quality of my screenshots it must have been from the DVD box set. Probably the "Empire of Dreams" documentary. Kurtyboy and I were just discussing this subject in the last few weeks.
I take back my last post... I just spotted the square shroud "Barbican" in ANH. Right before Obi-Wan and Vader step into the hanger doorway. The blade didn't appear to be spinning but can't say for sure.
Here's Vader with the Graflex stunt.
I've been watching the original theatrical release of Star Wars (it has no ANH title) on a 4K projector non-stop for a week now and I want to watch it again. It's like being a kid all over again...
I'm not really sure what this one is as I can't recreate the look of this emitter with neither my Barbican replica, nor my Graflex stunt.
And here's Alec Guinness holding a wooden stick. Compare it to Halliwax's post above. This was before the '97 Special Edition glow was added to try and make it less obvious.
Here's Vader with the Graflex stunt.
I've been watching the original theatrical release of Star Wars (it has no ANH title) on a 4K projector non-stop for a week now and I want to watch it again. It's like being a kid all over again...
I'm not really sure what this one is as I can't recreate the look of this emitter with neither my Barbican replica, nor my Graflex stunt.
And here's Alec Guinness holding a wooden stick. Compare it to Halliwax's post above. This was before the '97 Special Edition glow was added to try and make it less obvious.
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