@Scott Robinson what do you mean "when", now dumbass. If you think Mark Hamill is some "SJW bitch boy" (a term noone has used besides the alt right since 2016) then you have no place in the star wars fandom. Wait until you realize that the bad guys, the empire are a direct analogy to the U.S. in the Vietnam war.
Totally agree. Star wars empire strikes back and return of the Jedi we're hands-down the best Star wars trilogies. Along with the old three Indiana Jones movies
Thanks for sharing this. I always love seeing how the masters did this back in the optical/practical/film days! Something has been lost in movie making today
My copy of Empire Strikes Back as a kid was taped off TV and had this on the tape before it, so every time I watched Empire as a kid I watched this beforehand! Glad someone thought to upload it!
Its so funny how special effects have evolved from then to now. I loved watching this when I was a kid. I still, to this day, look forward to getting and watching the bonus discs of all the Star Wars movies.
I find it pretty sad. Hollwood directors never continued pushing practical effects to perfection when we reached the early 2000's people started to abuse Green Screen and CGI more loosely. I just wish people would know that CGI dates more quickly than a well made puppet, an animotronic that is puppetired by 2 or 3 people and you should always get the best of both worlds.
if anything i prefer the prequels look and style over the rest. and dont get started on how the prequels are bad and i m not a star wars fans. guess people cant take it when they opinions are the same as others
This is one of my favourite documentaries ! In fact, my favourite Documentary on Film-making, because it's not just documenting what special effects were made, but it's also shows the special effects being performed in the Film Studio and then how it is incorporated into all other elements of the Film.
I really appreciate that this and the Jedi special make a point of acknowledging the movies that preceded Star Wars and helped lay the tracks towards it, so to speak. Sadly, there's a real reluctance by many nowadays to try to explore the great works that led to the movies and shows they currently enjoy.
This was excellent. Specially because it showcased the creativity of those young children's stop motion. I hope they are all still creating. They were doing amazing stuff.
Thank you for posting this, a fascinating look into traditional FX techniques. I think a lot of film makers could learn a thing or two from Mark Hamill's words at the end there.
The "making of" of a masterpiece... When Star Wars was a masterpiece, a product made with passion and skills... So faaar away from the dark age of Disney we know today :-(
5 років тому+17
Man, the Dark Age started way before Disney with a little dumpster fire call Phantom Menace.
Ignacio Cañas I’ll say this. The prequels had some great ideas and such potential. However Lucas is a great Idea man not a director and really should have jobbed our directing to others. His producer Rick McCallum was little more than a yes man and that got George in trouble. Empire was so good because Kirshner was a good director of people. As far as the Disney sequels they started out with no clear direction other than a political point of view they wanted to promote and it overtook the consideration of. lucas’ story ideas for the sequels so these films are far worse than the prequels.
@@joes9954 gonna have to disagree there. Lucas shouldn't have just been restrained by his peers in terms of directing, but also in writing. Midi-Chlorians, JarJar and boring scenes of barely political drivel were all things that show how George's writing had gone way downhill by this time. That in addition to the fact he no longer had technological limitations like he did in the original films ended up in more of a poorly written CGI showreel with lightsaber fights that were practically dancing.
@@robzilla730Glad to see someone gives credit to Lucas for creating Raiders of the Lost Ark and the character of Indiana Jones. I feel like George deserves as much credit and I’m sick and tired of the film always being associated with Spielberg.
Brings back my 1980 childhood memories. Look at TESB cinema advs in our local newspaper. Never got to watch it at the cinema at that time because both my parents are anti-scifi films. Then this came on the TV.I figured the plot of TESB by watching the documentary. It's only 15 years later I finally bought TESB VHS video cassette with my own salary and watched the full movie. No doubt one of the best film of all time.
"...Anywhere where the temperature wasn't negative 35 degrees sounded nice to me..." "... Besides, anywhere you can learn more about the Force is fine with me..." Oh Mark, it's a good thing you weren't sent to Ilum. Man, I do enjoy the behind the scenes look at films, growing up, I enjoyed learning about how movies were made, and even wanted to do something myself along those lines.... Maybe some day.. But for now, I'm thankful for my job.
Thanks for uploading this on UA-cam! Mark Hamill sounds and looks like a kid almost. God, this was so long ago. 1980? Wow! Forty years ago! Where did the time go? The decades flew by! And call me crazy but I really enjoyed the stop motion animation from the past. I know it’s old tech compared to today’s CGI effect’s but some how it seemed more real. It was all done by hand. Today it’s just way too slick. And of course, it’s all computer software driven. I know it was clunky but that’s what made it appealing. I wish stop motion would come back. I have seen laserdiscs occasionally at thrift stores but never a player so there’s no way I’d get to see this otherwise. This is what makes UA-cam great! 😎🙏🏻👏🏻
my husband’s father collected laserdiscs since they were living at Ramstiën AFB and that laserdisc opening is nostalgic for both my husband and his family
Great Video! Very glad I could find this. As a huge Star Wars fan, this gave me a good insight and a great view on special effects and video production. Wonderful
The Laserdisc and Magnetic video logos and music brings this 42 year old way back. Wow. I remember when Laserdisc came out I had to rewatch all my old movies on “HI-DEF” -ish Laserdisc. 😂 in the Philippines we went from Betamax to Laserdisc to DVD and skipped over the VHS format.
The first time I saw this, about 40 years ago, starting at the 36:13 frame, I thought Hamill was saying that the one kid's short film had the full title, "The Mighty Forces That Do Battle in Space War Three Hundred." My brain still does that to this day.
I was 5 in 1977,when my dad took me to see Star Wars. Wow! It blew my mind away into imagination,always pretending with my figures and models,trying to act out a continuance, of the story on screen. Truly a magical time to have grown up in. No wifi no internet,none of the worries children have trying to be happy in today's world!
Almost every type of SP FX used in the making of Empire Strikes Back is dead. Blue screen is now green screen. Stop motion, models, matte paintings and other practical FX have been replaced with CGI. Unless the FX teams shown in this video made the transition and became computer animators they were all out of jobs by 1993. It's amazing to watch this program in 2020 and hear Mark Hamil talking enthusiastically about special effects methods that would be phased out in just 13 years. By the time all of the young people seen making crude stop motion animations were old enough to get movie studio SP FX jobs the industry had largely abandoned the decades-old technique. They had to learn a completely new way of animating. While some SP FX artists like Greg Nicotero still use practical effects, they are not the industry standard anymore.
@ they are far easier overall. You don't need 9 months anymore to create a flying spaceship sequence. It's done within weeks. They are also way less expensive.
ESTO ES LA VERDADERA MAGIA DE LOS EFECTOS EXPERIENCIALES ECHOS A MANO CON TALENTO HUMANO, MUSICA, MATERIALES, ACTUACIONES, SONIDOS TODO CON CARIÑO E IMAGINACIÓN, NO SE COMPARA A LO QUE SE HACE AHORA EN DÍA EN TIEMPO Y DEDICACION. MERCI.B.
daniel jimenez yes!!! I was actually surprised how many effects and props they used in the prequels. But they digitally changed it and gives it a crap look
They should mix practical with CGI. Foreground practical background cgi. Could work. I think Independence Day used practical models and computer compositing. Worked brilliantly
Well, actually Lasersword is a little bit more accurate name then lightsaber, since at least the form is described right. But technicly, they are more like Plasmaswords/Sticks.
@@Phobero In Germany, the words "Laserschwert" and "Lichtschwert" are used interchangeably since 1978. Lichtschwert is more common, but Laserschwert is what it's called in its first appearance. And the Phantom Menace. And The Last Jedi.
Since this was made in 1980, I believe this was created just before the Edit Droid system was put into use. In case you didn't know, George Lucas helped to transform the editing process from film to digital with his Edit Droid system. though. To learn more watch this great documentary "Edit Droid: Rise and Fall." ua-cam.com/video/z99wO2utddo/v-deo.html
Mark Hamill narrating the entire thing is my ASMR.
Just came from asmr videos to this and all of a sudden I realized this too
@Scott Robinson Don't you have another failed coup to plan?
@Scott Robinson when you're so delusioned you can't even appreciate mark hamill
@Scott Robinson what do you mean "when", now dumbass. If you think Mark Hamill is some "SJW bitch boy" (a term noone has used besides the alt right since 2016) then you have no place in the star wars fandom. Wait until you realize that the bad guys, the empire are a direct analogy to the U.S. in the Vietnam war.
@Scott Robinson you type like a teenager in an Xbox party
I remember when CBS first aired this hour-long special in the fall of 1980. Wonderful times to be in back in those heady-days of Star Wars.
I was a little wide-eyed eight year old. This made such an impression on me that I still remember it almost forty years later.
Before the dark times before Disney and Kathleen Kennedy
Totally agree. Star wars empire strikes back and return of the Jedi we're hands-down the best Star wars trilogies. Along with the old three Indiana Jones movies
Omg, I miss my laserdisc player. This was a treat for many reasons.
I recorded this on VHS when it came out in the 80s and I would listen to it at night to fall asleep. Very cool to see it again after all these years!
Back in the day when special effects was a true art
*were a true art.
Thanks for sharing this. I always love seeing how the masters did this back in the optical/practical/film days! Something has been lost in movie making today
My copy of Empire Strikes Back as a kid was taped off TV and had this on the tape before it, so every time I watched Empire as a kid I watched this beforehand! Glad someone thought to upload it!
Its so funny how special effects have evolved from then to now. I loved watching this when I was a kid. I still, to this day, look forward to getting and watching the bonus discs of all the Star Wars movies.
I find it pretty sad. Hollwood directors never continued pushing practical effects to perfection when we reached the early 2000's people started to abuse Green Screen and CGI more loosely. I just wish people would know that CGI dates more quickly than a well made puppet, an animotronic that is puppetired by 2 or 3 people and you should always get the best of both worlds.
Everything is CGI these days. Sometimes makes the whole movie look like a video game
This is pure gold. Was aired on my country national TV back in 1980, but never saw it.
These documentaries play with our memories as kids, and made us remember scenes and images that we thought were in the films but never were.
50 minutes of why this film will forever look and feel better than any of the prequels and maybe even the sequels.
Surpasses all of today's digital effects. This is why no Star Wars movie will ever again feel like those of old.
if anything i prefer the prequels look and style over the rest.
and dont get started on how the prequels are bad and i m not a star wars fans. guess people cant take it when they opinions are the same as others
The sequels make the prequels look like the originals.
The sequels can go into the non canon hell that Disney itself created
This is one of my favourite documentaries ! In fact, my favourite Documentary on Film-making, because it's not just documenting what special effects were made, but it's also shows the special effects being performed in the Film Studio and then how it is incorporated into all other elements of the Film.
Everything in this documentary is explained so well !
Love it..honestly ♥..Great choice to have him narrate it..Mark has a sweet voice which makes the documentary more enjoyable ♥
Watching an 80’s show about special effects from a laser disk 🤣🤣🤣 classic
I really appreciate that this and the Jedi special make a point of acknowledging the movies that preceded Star Wars and helped lay the tracks towards it, so to speak. Sadly, there's a real reluctance by many nowadays to try to explore the great works that led to the movies and shows they currently enjoy.
This was excellent. Specially because it showcased the creativity of those young children's stop motion.
I hope they are all still creating.
They were doing amazing stuff.
Thank you for posting this, a fascinating look into traditional FX techniques. I think a lot of film makers could learn a thing or two from Mark Hamill's words at the end there.
too bad George didn't pay attention to it
I wish a studio would do their effects the old fashioned way, with stop motion and models. I imagine it would look beautiful.
The "making of" of a masterpiece... When Star Wars was a masterpiece, a product made with passion and skills...
So faaar away from the dark age of Disney we know today :-(
Man, the Dark Age started way before Disney with a little dumpster fire call Phantom Menace.
@ Yep, they keep baiting us into thinking we're out of the dark age
Ignacio Cañas I’ll say this. The prequels had some great ideas and such potential. However Lucas is a great Idea man not a director and really should have jobbed our directing to others. His producer Rick McCallum was little more than a yes man and that got George in trouble. Empire was so good because Kirshner was a good director of people. As far as the Disney sequels they started out with no clear direction other than a political point of view they wanted to promote and it overtook the consideration of. lucas’ story ideas for the sequels so these films are far worse than the prequels.
@@joes9954 gonna have to disagree there. Lucas shouldn't have just been restrained by his peers in terms of directing, but also in writing. Midi-Chlorians, JarJar and boring scenes of barely political drivel were all things that show how George's writing had gone way downhill by this time. That in addition to the fact he no longer had technological limitations like he did in the original films ended up in more of a poorly written CGI showreel with lightsaber fights that were practically dancing.
The Dark Side of Sith Mouse
This has always been my favorite documentary about the making of any of the Star Wars movies.
Great find, thanks for sharing. And Laserdisc, wow!
😆 these original, pre modern and digitally enhanced clips are quite funny, and instantly dismiss over 40 years of my life and I'm a child again ♥️
Damn this is so old school, love it!!
The amazing thing is, this movie is over thirty years old, and it still holds up today!
Mark's speech at the end. That would have served Georgie boy well if he'd taken them to heart.
@wespozo don't forget Raiders. It's more Lucas's baby then Spielberg.
@@robzilla730 how so?
@@swtoni4464 Lucas's story & concept and he was executive producer.
@@robzilla730Glad to see someone gives credit to Lucas for creating Raiders of the Lost Ark and the character of Indiana Jones. I feel like George deserves as much credit and I’m sick and tired of the film always being associated with Spielberg.
that stop motion short in the kitchen was the actual film lucas did. he did not liked it so he added r2d2.
Wow, this will be 40 years old in a few days.
1968 and still one of the most realistic.
Brings back my 1980 childhood memories. Look at TESB cinema advs in our local newspaper. Never got to watch it at the cinema at that time because both my parents are anti-scifi films. Then this came on the TV.I figured the plot of TESB by watching the documentary. It's only 15 years later I finally bought TESB VHS video cassette with my own salary and watched the full movie. No doubt one of the best film of all time.
I've been looking for this documentary for about 7 years! I'm so glad I can see it again, thank you.
LOL the Yoda impression at end is spot on! Thanks for this! Great feature!
+organicskating I think thats just Frank Oz (the voice of Yoda) talking, and Mark Hamil is just lip reading, not actually talking.
@@Bigbaccala1 There's other video of Mark Hamil doing the Yoda voice. Remember, he does a lot of voice work.
He should definitely take over for Troy Baker, Yoda’s second voice actor, considering he’s retiring due to a stroke.
great video ,thank's. it's like a time travel back to the 80s
"...Anywhere where the temperature wasn't negative 35 degrees sounded nice to me..."
"... Besides, anywhere you can learn more about the Force is fine with me..."
Oh Mark, it's a good thing you weren't sent to Ilum.
Man, I do enjoy the behind the scenes look at films, growing up, I enjoyed learning about how movies were made, and even wanted to do something myself along those lines.... Maybe some day.. But for now, I'm thankful for my job.
This is a treasure! Thanks for sharing!
It’s sad knowing that modern making of documentaries just feature one thing of how they made the movie…. Computer.
Thanks for uploading this, it was great to see the old special effects. :)
What a bloody awesome bloke Mark is 👍🏻🇦🇺
Thanks for uploading this on UA-cam!
Mark Hamill sounds and looks like a kid almost. God, this was so long ago. 1980? Wow! Forty years ago! Where did the time go? The decades flew by!
And call me crazy but I really enjoyed the stop motion animation from the past. I know it’s old tech compared to today’s CGI effect’s but some how it seemed more real. It was all done by hand. Today it’s just way too slick. And of course, it’s all computer software driven. I know it was clunky but that’s what made it appealing. I wish stop motion would come back.
I have seen laserdiscs occasionally at thrift stores but never a player so there’s no way I’d get to see this otherwise. This is what makes UA-cam great! 😎🙏🏻👏🏻
all the movies shown are great, i need to see them all. as a film student this video is priceless, thank you
Mark is my hero
my husband’s father collected laserdiscs since they were living at Ramstiën AFB and that laserdisc opening is nostalgic for both my husband and his family
Impressive ! Most impressive ! :)
Great Video! Very glad I could find this. As a huge Star Wars fan, this gave me a good insight and a great view on special effects and video production. Wonderful
speechless, nobody will take such risks again EVER..
Cinemagic Magazine and Super-8 cameras were in full swing then and with the help of them and this show I created my own spfx short movies!
The Laserdisc and Magnetic video logos and music brings this 42 year old way back. Wow. I remember when Laserdisc came out I had to rewatch all my old movies on “HI-DEF” -ish Laserdisc. 😂 in the Philippines we went from Betamax to Laserdisc to DVD and skipped over the VHS format.
The first time I saw this, about 40 years ago, starting at the 36:13 frame, I thought Hamill was saying that the one kid's short film had the full title, "The Mighty Forces That Do Battle in Space War Three Hundred." My brain still does that to this day.
I remember watchong this on network t.v. back 8n the 80s
Great video, glad I found this it's always interesting to see how something is made.
I was 5 in 1977,when my dad took me to see Star Wars. Wow! It blew my mind away into imagination,always pretending with my figures and models,trying to act out a continuance, of the story on screen. Truly a magical time to have grown up in. No wifi no internet,none of the worries children have trying to be happy in today's world!
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU SystemJinx
THANKS FOR UPLOADING THIS !
You're welcome.
My best childhood memories
Almost every type of SP FX used in the making of Empire Strikes Back is dead. Blue screen is now green screen. Stop motion, models, matte paintings and other practical FX have been replaced with CGI. Unless the FX teams shown in this video made the transition and became computer animators they were all out of jobs by 1993. It's amazing to watch this program in 2020 and hear Mark Hamil talking enthusiastically about special effects methods that would be phased out in just 13 years. By the time all of the young people seen making crude stop motion animations were old enough to get movie studio SP FX jobs the industry had largely abandoned the decades-old technique. They had to learn a completely new way of animating. While some SP FX artists like Greg Nicotero still use practical effects, they are not the industry standard anymore.
There is still blue screen, dumbass. Green screen was just added. Blue Screen was never removed, idiot!
This archive is great!!
You can see this now on Star Wars blu-rays disk special features.
That stop motion has come before CGI replaced it.
Cgi didn't replace it. It is still used.
19:43 that set really fooled me!
I'm glad it panned to the animator so that you got to see the reality of it!
This is 100 percent a gem thx XD
i love youtube, i've watched this so many times when i was a kid
Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this!
When special effects became easy they were no longer special.
What is easily attained is never appreciated and is often wasted.
Special effects now aren't easier, they're just diferent.
@ they are far easier overall. You don't need 9 months anymore to create a flying spaceship sequence. It's done within weeks. They are also way less expensive.
Great times😭
ESTO ES LA VERDADERA MAGIA DE LOS EFECTOS EXPERIENCIALES ECHOS A MANO CON TALENTO HUMANO, MUSICA, MATERIALES, ACTUACIONES, SONIDOS TODO CON CARIÑO E IMAGINACIÓN, NO SE COMPARA A LO QUE SE HACE AHORA EN DÍA EN TIEMPO Y DEDICACION. MERCI.B.
Star wars saga has no end. You got that right! It's still here. Now we have the Mandalorian!
Awesome! Practical effects in these movies are way better than the crap CGI effects from the prequels. Thanx for uploading...
daniel jimenez yes!!! I was actually surprised how many effects and props they used in the prequels. But they digitally changed it and gives it a crap look
the effects were pretty good at the time the prequels came out, we are spoilt now
They should mix practical with CGI. Foreground practical background cgi. Could work. I think Independence Day used practical models and computer compositing. Worked brilliantly
daniel jimenez
Lucasfilm practically invented CGI 👀
Love the practical effects!!!
When I watch star wars I always forget that all that had to be created by many people. They didn't just send a camera to a galaxy far, far away...
this clip made me feel like im in 2999 or something
"The woosh of a lasersword" What now Luke? A "lasersword"? That my fly in scribblenauts, but not here sir.
Also, starships were described as "rocket ships". Someone else, not very familiar with Star Wars, wrote this.
"Laser swords" is what lightsabers are called here in Italy - and I think somewhere else in Europe.
Maybe this was written by someone not from the US?
Well, actually Lasersword is a little bit more accurate name then lightsaber, since at least the form is described right.
But technicly, they are more like Plasmaswords/Sticks.
George Lucas himself calls them laser swords.
@@Phobero In Germany, the words "Laserschwert" and "Lichtschwert" are used interchangeably since 1978. Lichtschwert is more common, but Laserschwert is what it's called in its first appearance. And the Phantom Menace. And The Last Jedi.
Cool to see the pre Special Edition footage
35:25 now that it’s been said i always look for that poor Tie Fighter pilot being tossed into space on fire by an asteroid
my dream is to see a channel like this with videos like this subtitled in Portuguese BR.
Thanks so much for sharing
They always cut out the part where the claymation brontosaurus eats the pilot and it caused the audio to unsync for a good thirty seconds.
this RULES
2:28 malcolm in the middle
WOW LOL
You’re not the boss of me now!
But CGI artists don’t have a union so here we are.
GET YOU SOME OF THAT!!
love it always have
I didn't know Mark was narrating?
His voice has gotten deeper
I think he'd passed puberty by the time "EMPIRE" was made.
This only works because of Mark Hammil
the analogic world was complicated indeed
If I only had a time machine!!!!!!¡!!
Consider this the documentary the closest thing.
In the largest sense it can never end... because Disney won't let it.
Awesome
8:54 The Screaming was...
20:43 Baby At-At playing
Who had better FX. Empire or ALIEN?
2:25 Yes, no, maybe, i dont know...
i have in fact big troubles in accepting new CGI E.T. scenes replacing stop motion expressions, i find CGI not giving inner resonance inner affection
Star Wars without Ben Burtt = Not Star Wars.
7:59 when did George create R2-D2 🤖 I know star wars came out in 1977
Those guys made a parody called "Hardware Wars". How cool was that?
Since this was made in 1980, I believe this was created just before the Edit Droid system was put into use. In case you didn't know, George Lucas helped to transform the editing process from film to digital with his Edit Droid system. though. To learn more watch this great documentary "Edit Droid: Rise and Fall." ua-cam.com/video/z99wO2utddo/v-deo.html
26:48 "sorry i had to find out if they were real..."
Fantastic watch,and right before the 4 episode of Asoka
thanks for video sharing
I think that this was made by Magnetic Video Corporation.
Disneys people should watch this to see how its done
"The Force is what you make of it"
George Lucas: No
Is that high technology?