Art Andrews Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 From the forthcoming book "The Making of Star Wars:" One item that stood out [of the wardrobe budget] was te cost associated with the stormtroopers, tho ran up a tab of ($93,000) [The total wardrobe budget for Star Wars was $220,000, so the stormtroopers were almost hald the budget!] - and whose final outfits were still not ready a week before location shooting was to begin . "Stormtroopers were the nightmare costume," Mollo explains. "We got a model in of a suitable size, did a plaster body cast, and Liz Moore modeled the armor onto this figure. Then everybody used to go in and say, "Arm off here, arm off there," and George changed all the kneecaps. This went on for several weeks. Finall that was all taken away and produced in vacuum-form plastic - but the next question was: How does it all go together? And I think we had something like four days before shooting , but we just played around until we managed to string it all together in such a way that you could get in on and off the bloke in about five minutes. If you haven't preordered this book yet... ORDER IT! Interesting that it seems that AA's only involvement in this project was as the vacuformer. Also, this makes me even more resolute in my theory that the sandtrooper armor was not purposefully different, simply unrefined and almost a prototype as I point out on my website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'dib Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 This book is going to be awesome! I can't wait for this! I was a die-hard Fett fan until I got my first FX TK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Andrews Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 A bit more info. There were 6 sandtroopers in Tunisia (could this be were AA came up with the thing about there being 6 "hero" helmets? Perhaps he was thinking about the sandies... or maybe 6 was just a coincidence.) The stormtrooper scene in the desert is scene B32 which was shot by the first unit utilizing " six local men" who were paid $6.50 a day. "We had a black all-in-one leotard for the stormtrooper costume," Mollo says, "over which the front and back of the body went together; the shoulders fit onto the body, the arms were slid on - the top arm and the bottom arm were attached with black elastic - a belt around the waist had suspender things that the legs were attached to. They wore ordinary domestic rubber gloves with a bit of latex shoved on the front; the boots were ordinary spring-sided black boots painted white with shoe dye." And there we have it ladies and gentlemen... the mystery... REVEALED..."suspender things" I did like the confirmation that the hand plates are latex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethB6025 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Its nice to be getting some good info, even 30 years on. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'dib Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 $6.50 a day! And I troop for FREE?!? Man, I'm getting ripped off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiBes trooper Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Great info BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearden6521 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks for sharing BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Peter Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks for sharing BraksBuddy :shock: $6.50 a day! And I troop for FREE?!? Man, I'm getting ripped off! Hey at least you get the chance to be immortalized as a Sandtrooper and wear those cool props and get immortalized 30 years later! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakengine Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Awesome info. I can't wait to get my hands on this book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1536 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Wow... it's like Christmas morning! Thanks Braks for making me smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eifion Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Nice excerpt Braks! Given that location shooting in Tunisia took place prior to filming at Elstree, it makes perfect sense that the Sandtropoer look was refined and evolved into the Stormtrooper look. I think this is awesome because it means that the Sandtroopers were the original troopers, or at least the first to be "realised" and filmed. TD's rule! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1536 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 I think when we do a trooping event now, we ask for $6.50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks Braks Awesome stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dirty Trooper Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 :shock: $6.50 a day! And I troop for FREE?!? Man, I'm getting ripped off! If George asked me nicely I would do it for free. And I mean "plllllleeeeeeeaaaaassssseeeeeeeee" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD2802 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 I'd be interested in tracking the locals down and hearing their story too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 I order mine for about 2 weeks ago. Can wait to get it home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCKo Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 thanks Brak´s for sharing these infos! The stormtrooper scene in the desert is scene B32 which was shot by the first unit utilizing " six local men" who were paid $6.50 a day. what? that much? if they had asked me, i would have done it for only $6.00 a day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingoBongo_275 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thats very interesting, Braks - did the book say when the articles were written - i.e. were they written recently or at the time? The reason I say this is Ive heard it from a couple of sources (including the man himself) that Brian Muir sculpted the original stormtrooper costume, although not the helmet. When asked whether Liz did a helmet or some kind of prototype (which I personally wondered) the answer was a clear "no". I'm trying to keep an open mind on this but i cant help but wonder if this is rather convenient for LFL that it fits in with their claims in the UK SDS court case, yet was not mentioned in the preceeding US case. Mollo confirmed the suspenders and the latex hand plates to me a couple of years back and I think I added that info to SWH, but some interesting points nonetheless. There's a drawing by Mollo I mentioned here of a suit assembly showing the suspenders in place, done in 1978 I think. Cheers Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'dib Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 As far as the timeframe of the interviews, the article in the latest SW INSIDER mentioned that they are from around the original release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Trooper Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 As far as the timeframe of the interviews, the article in the latest SW INSIDER mentioned that they are from around the original release. Yes thats correct. Jez, do you have that drawing anywhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingoBongo_275 Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 This is all I have. Mollo was keen to do a book and stuff like this he wanted to keep to himself, understandaby. Jote that like I said before this was done in 1978, after SW. I suppose its possible Liz Moore could have done a clay prototype Stormtrooper armour sculpt at the same time as she did the 3po, although its strange that Muir was so adamant that she didnt (and that he had to finish off the 3po after she quit the project). The legal case at the moment is bound to centre on how much Ainsworth did and how "his" version of the armour varies from Muir's clay version. The thing that bothers me is we've all seen lots of pics of Liz's 3po in producton, but never EVER any of the stormtrooper. Thats the bit I find very odd. Cheers Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dirty Trooper Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 I have moved these threads here as this is such a fantastic find and is full of trooper knowledge it would be better all together. This is fantastic stuff, probable one of the best threads in a while with some good references to being a sandtrooper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk7602 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 del ray was at new york comiccon, and had a few copies of the book to flip through. but i was trooping as fett at the time, and boba isn't so good at reading books. i'm all pre-ordered though, so soon enough i'll have it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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