| Rebel Transport Hold-Out Matte from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi | |
| This photographic cut-out of an Rebel Transport was used in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to shoot effects sequences. It is meticulously cut out and backed with what looks like acid-free board. I was told a great number of these "photo-props" went into the trash after use, which is unfortunate for they make great display pieces.
According to the former ILM employee from whom I acquired this item, pieces like this "were used as background through a window of a Star Destroyer, the Millennium Falcon or even Darth's Ship in Jedi. The stage used a couple of techniques when they shot photo-props instead of the real models. The first method was to attach the photos to framed glass panes which were held by C-stands and placed in front of a blue screen. Using the blue screen made it easier to 'pull' photographic mattes of the ships which allowed compositors to "comp" the photos in front of the stars and in back of the foreground ships. Sometimes the prop-photos were shot against a black background because it was too time-consuming to keep the blue light from spilling onto the photos. In this method they would have to use a different film to pull the mattes of the ship. At any rate both methods meant blacking out the stage and all the shine equipment in the shot. We went through rolls of black duvatene and velvet. The velvet was the best, it only reflects 2% of light hitting it." |
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| Description by: | Steven Petsche |
| Photo: | Steven Petsche |
| From the collection of: | Steven Petsche |
| Country: | United States |
| Film: | Empire Strikes Back |
| Licensee: | Lucasfilm, Ltd. |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Category: | Movie Production Pieces / Special Effects Models |