From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is the classic documentary chronicling the creation of the original Star Wars trilogy. Narrated by Mark Hamill, it features rare behind-the-scenes footage from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and is officially available on YouTube for the first time.

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From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is the classic documentary chronicling the creation of the original Star Wars trilogy. Narrated by Mark Hamill, it features rare behind-the-scenes footage from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and is officially available on YouTube for the first time.

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In part 7 of From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga, George Lucas discusses the characters of a galaxy far, far away.

According to Lucas, actors play a huge role in creating characters for film. “Threepio is just a hunk of plastic,” he says, “and without Tony Daniels in there, it just isn’t anything at all.” Originally, C-3PO was meant to be more of a used-car salesman; Daniels’ fussy-servant interpretation was so good, it forced Lucas to abandon his original idea.

Since Lucas killed off Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first Star Wars film, he had to create a new character for Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back who could train Luke Skywalker — and someone who would be interesting to watch. Enter Yoda: small, alien, and green, with a backwards way of speaking. Lucas was apprehensive, worried Yoda — a puppet voiced and manipulated by Frank Oz — could be a disaster. Thankfully, it turned out much better than that. “When it goes on the screen, it’s magic,” he says.

In Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Lucas introduced yet another set of intriguing characters: Ewoks, a deceptively cute species who had the power to overthrow the Empire.

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In From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga part 6, George Lucas discusses the visual speed in Star Wars films and the themes of the saga.

According to Lucas, audiences are more accustomed to fast visuals and able to process imagery better than ever before. This is in part, he says, thanks to the influence of television; one of his experiments with his films is to see how people “digest information rapidly.” As narrator Mark Hamill states, this is evident in the blinding speed of the trench run sequence from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. There’s a lot happening visually, and a lot being conveyed through visual metaphors — reinforcing the meaning of spoken words. When Obi-Wan encourages Luke to use the Force and not rely on his targeting computer, the message is really about the triumph of the human spirit over machines and technology.

Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi’s fastest scene was the speeder bike sequence. In this video, ILM’s Dennis Muren and Joe Johnston use miniatures and toys to create animatics — moving storyboards — that would inform the scene’s finished visual effects. The final shots would take another year to complete, requiring Steadicam to create high-speed images, blue-screen work, and compositing. Puppets were used for shots that could not be filmed full-scale, such as rapid pullbacks giving the illusion of a speeder bike moving away from the camera. Lucas feels that speeder bike chase is more realistic than the famous trench run; it’s in a familiar location to viewers and there are trees that you can crash into…

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Part 5 of From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga picks up in Arizona: the filming location of the Jabba’s sail barge sequence from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

According to narrator Mark Hamill, the sail barge was the biggest set ever constructed for a movie, measuring 212-feet-long and 80-feet-high. Yet it only appeared on film for a couple of minutes. This is intentional; according to George Lucas, a fatal flaw in science fiction is spending too much time showing off sets and locations. “You don’t have to spend too much film time to create an environment,” he says. “The story is not the settings. The story is the story. It’s the plot.” The scene also represents the Star Wars storytelling style: fast and energetic.

The Star Wars style is accomplished through editing and the speed of movement through the frame. Lucas was always fascinated with speed due to his interest in car racing, which heavily influenced the Star Wars films. This is evident in the space battles of Return of the Jedi, featuring quick glimpses of TIE fighters, the Millennium Falcon, and Rebel ships, as well as the Falcon gunner sequence from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.

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From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is the classic documentary chronicling the creation of the original Star Wars trilogy. Narrated by Mark Hamill, it features rare behind-the-scenes footage from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and is officially available on YouTube for the first time.

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In part 3 of From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga, narrator Mark Hamill details the creation of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi’s giant, slug-like crime lord: Jabba the Hutt.

The early designs for Jabba didn’t quite hit the mark. According to George Lucas, the first design was too human; the second was too snail-like; the third was just right. Jabba became the most complex puppet ever constructed for a movie. His head neck accommodated two main puppeteers, while other operators were placed elsewhere in his body; the gangster’s eyes and facial muscles were radio-controlled. Stuart Freeborn oversaw the creation of Jabba, who took three months and close to half a million dollars.

Jabba was originally supposed to be in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, and a scene was shot featuring a human male standing in for the role — as seen in this video. The creature was to be super-imposed, but the sequence was left unfinished. When it came time to use Jabba in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Lucas took the opportunity to redesign and improve the character.

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In part 2 of From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga, we learn about the genesis of the Jabba’s Palace sequence and creature creation in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. George Lucas says that he was disappointed with the cantina scene from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. He wanted it to have more exotic creatures, but production problems and a lack of funds prohibited this. Jabba’s Palace — “The monster rally of George’s dreams” as described by narrator Mark Hamill — gave him another chance. It featured more than 80 creatures, including the Max Rebo Band (designed by Phil Tippett), which was more monsters than had ever been assembled for a single movie. They all began life as maquettes, sculpted over and over until the designs were right, and then built into full-scale puppets and masks. Muscles controlling expression were accomplished with either wire cables or air tubes hidden inside the masks, giving aliens like the Gamorrean Guard the ability to emote.

Lucas made frequent visits to the creature shop, and is seen in the documentary advising on how the Sy Snootles puppet could convincingly work for the film. Ultimately, it took three puppeteers — two below, one above — to bring the singer to life.

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From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga is the classic documentary chronicling the creation of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Narrated by Mark Hamill, it features rare behind-the-scenes footage from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and is officially available on YouTube for the first time.

In part 1 of From Star Wars to Jedi, Hamill explains the main plot of the saga and the story of Luke Skywalker, a Tatooine farmboy who discovers his Jedi destiny. On his journey across the galaxy, Luke would confront evil in the form of Darth Vader, Sith Lord; learn from Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda; and discover both the dark side and light side within himself. Princess Leia, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and other companions would join Luke — but he would face the ultimate villain, the Emperor, alone. Filming of the original Star Wars began in Tunisia in 1975, with George Lucas serving as writer/director; Irvin Kershner helmed The Empire Strikes Back; and Richard Marquand was behind the camera for Return of the Jedi. As seen in the video, Lucas was heavily involved in all the films, including effects sequences like the Death Star attack and Hamill’s costume fitting from Return of the Jedi. In an interview, Lucas explains that creating the world in A New Hope was a big hurdle. With that done, he was free to tell bigger and better stories with its sequels…

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