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Star wars in the UK
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George Lucas and his film crew used the studios at Elstree for most of the interior shots for Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For The Phantom Menace he used Leavesden Aerodrome and some of the surrounding woodland. The crew also used Shepperton and Ealing Studios for pick-up shooting for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Elstree Studios
Ealing Studios
Hever Castle
Leavesden Film Studios
Whippendell Woods
Elstree Studios – the UK home of Star Wars
Located in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, just north of London superbly located by a motorway network, international airport as well as being close to hotels, restaurants, shops and taxi services.
Elstree’s filmmaking history began in 1914 when Percy Nash and John East two early British filmmakers decided Elstree was their ideal location for a film studio.
Director George Lucas started filming on A New Hope (ANH) on July 16th 1976 on stage 8 at the studios. After the problems with the Tunisian shoot Lucas was hoping for an easier time – he was wrong. It was a difficult shoot, the atmosphere on set was tense, no one had any idea about what was going on, Harrison Ford is quoted as saying “ you can type this shit, but you can’t say it” with regard to the script. It didn’t help that George’s direction amounted to little more than “Faster, more Intense”. Another headache was the British Union rules which meant that no filming could be done after 5:30pm.
Nonetheless, principle photography wrapped in July 1976 and Lucas turned his attention to pick-ups and post-production at ILM.
The sad passing of screenwriter Leigh Brackett of cancer in 1978 just after handing in her first draft marred the pre-production of The Empire Strikes Back (TESB). There were many other complications to overcome during the filming of TESB in 1979.
Following the gruelling Finse shoot the crew were already behind schedule and over budget. Plus, a now infamous fire in January on stage 3 five weeks prior to principle photography put more strain on the production team who needed to build the film’s 64 required sets.
On Wed 6th June while talking to Robert Watts (producer) in his Elstree office, John Barry (production designer) collapsed and was taken to hospital. He died the following morning.
For Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) the production would use nine sound stages to house the Millennium Falcon and all the major interiors.
Star Wars came back to Elstree in 2002 for Attack of the Clones (AOTC) pick-ups.
Lucas and Crew finally returned to Elstree almost 29 years after ANH to film some pick ups for the last part of the new trilogy, Revenge of the Sith (ROTS). Rick McCallum (producer) admitted “we could have shot anywhere in the world, but Elstree is our home”.
Ealing Studios
Ealing, still located at Ealing Green in West London, can lay claim to being the world’s oldest movie studio.
British film-producing company headed by Michael Balcon 1937–58. The studio made a distinctive series of comedies, which had an understated, self-deprecating humour, such as Passport to Pimlico, Kind Hearts and Coronets (which made English actor Alec Guinness an international film star).
Digital cameras rolled once again as Star Wars Episode II AOTC resumed at Ealing Studios in England for the next stage of production as additional shooting was scheduled to take place March 24 to April 8.
"The England shoots will be mostly in front of bluescreen," said McCallum. "Though we've been really busy since we wrapped in September, it's always exciting to get back in front of the cameras."
Among the scenes shot the last week in March and the first week in April 2001 were the droid factory sequence, Anakin and Padme in the Naboo Starship Much of the Padme conveyor belt chase was filmed here as Lucas added the scene/s during re-writing sessions. Lucas still felt there were some missing scenes and scheduled to return in October/November 2001.
November 6th 2001 the scene where Count Dooku is given the secret Death Star Plans in the Geonosis War Room and all of the Anakin and Obi-wan arrival to Padme’s apartment including the elevator scene were filmed more than a year after principle photography.
Hever Castle – missing Bongo.
Built in the 13th century the castle is located approximately 30 miles from London in the west of Kent, taking junction 5 or 6 from the M25 near the village of Edenbridge.
Its most famous inhabitant was Anne Boleyn, one of King Henry XIII’s wives.
Today the castle is owned by the Broadland Properties Limited. The castle and gardens are open daily from March 1st to November 30th.Filming for TPM took place for a day in 1997 on the grounds by the ornate Italian Loggia featuring a marble fountain (see pics).
Sadly the scene where the “Bongo” goes over the waterfall and the Jedi and Jar Jar Binks have to make their way to shore was cut from the theatrical release but is available on the DVD deleted scenes. As you will see there has been some digital effects work to replicate the look and skyline of Naboo.
The castle and gardens are definitely worth a visit – look out for the water maze!
Also note the similarities between the stonework in Hever and at the Villa Balbaniello on Lake Como, Italy.
Leavesden Film Studios – a defiant queen.
Leavesden is on the site of a former Rolls Royce factory at Leavesden aerodrome in Hertfordshire. It is approximately 20 miles northwest of central London near the town of Watford.
Like Elstree and Shepperton before it, Leavesden can now boast as being part of the Star Wars history and geography!
Most of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (TPM) was shot here due to the scale and breadth of the first film in the new trilogy all of the 286 acre site was taken over.
Gavin Bocquet (production designer) and a small art department arrived in August 1996 to start making the ideas into reality. Leavesden was also perfect for Rick McCallum (producer) as he was able to lease the facility for two and a half years; which allowed the sets to be left up for pick-up shots months later.
Lucas arrived at Leavesden in June 1997, after three years of preparation it was time for the cameras to roll.
On Thursday June 26th 1997 JAK Productions began principle photography. A momentous day; the first time George Lucas has directed in over twenty years. The first shots would be of Darth Maul and Darth Sidious on the balcony overlooking Coruscant.
For the next four weeks this would be the new home of Star Wars.Even with the advances of CGI, over sixty sets were constructed and built high enough to accommodate the towering figure of Liam Neeson. Many sets were built like the Queen’s Royal Palace to replicate the location shooting in Caserta, Italy, interiors for Watto’s junk shop on Tatooine and the Galactic Senate chamber. Most of which were backed by blue screen for digital enhancement later by ILM.
Again pick-ups were undertaken and completed in August 1998 with most of the main cast reprising their roles. A single old hangar housed a bluescreen stage and the four indoor sets, with part of one exterior set remaining out on the main Leavesden runway.
Whippendell Woods – meessa Jar Jar Binks.
Another, if small addition to the location filming for TPM is Whippendell Woods, Grove Mill Lane, Watford, Hertfordshire.
Parts of this 160 acre woodland are classified as ancient semi-natural woodland; although records date it back only to Anglo-Saxon times. An ideal day out for scenic walks and nature trails.
The woods served as the backdrop for the opening scenes on Naboo with Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks and Obi-Wan evading STAP’s . Also in the GunGan sacred place segments.