Roger Christian on building George Lucas' galaxy

05/18/20 • 91 min

The Oscar winner behind Star Wars' most iconic weapons and sets joins us to talk about making cinema history and getting his hands dirty with George Lucas.
As the Academy Award-winning Set Decorator of Star Wars, Christian helped turn George Lucas' dreams into reality, and defined the grimy 'used future' aesthetic that made the galaxy far, far away feel so authentic.
Christian went on to earn another Oscar nomination as the Art Director of Alien, before directing the second unit on Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace and carving out a career as a director in his own right.
The industry legend joins us to talk about:

Making the first lightsaber
Building Han Solo's blaster
Giving Chewbacca his bowcaster
Bringing the Millennium Falcon's cockpit to life
Taste-testing Blue Milk
Shovelling salt and supergluing props with George Lucas
Woodworking with Harrison Ford
Directing the cult classic Black Angel and the notoriously ill-fated Battlefield Earth
His upcoming Star Wars documentary, Galaxy Built on Hope
And much more!

For more of Roger Christian's incredible life story, you can read his memoir, Cinema Alchemist.
Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Making the first lightsaber
Building Han Solo's blaster
Giving Chewbacca his bowcaster
Bringing the Millennium Falcon's cockpit to life
Taste-testing Blue Milk
Shovelling salt and supergluing props with George Lucas
Woodworking with Harrison Ford
Directing the cult classic Black Angel and the notoriously ill-fated Battlefield Earth
His upcoming Star Wars documentary, Galaxy Built on Hope
And much more!

Previous Episode

Jon Knoles on Shadows of the Empire, Episode I Racer and the legacy of LucasArts

LucasArts legend Jon Knoles joins us on Star Wars Day to share secrets from the making of Shadows of the Empire , Episode I Racer , Revenge of the Sith and more!

Today, Jon Knoles is a Design Director at Turn 10 Studios, where he works on the popular Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games. But in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, he was the resident Star Wars guru at LucasArts.

He worked on a huge array of classic titles, including the Super Star Wars series, Dark Forces, Rebel Assault II, X-Wing and TIE Fighter, and led the development of blockbuster games like Shadows of the Empire, Episode I Racer and Bounty Hunter.

Knoles joins us for a very special May the 4th episode of Force Material to discuss all things LucasArts and Lucasfilm, including:

The creation of Dash Rendar and the origin of his infamous shoulder pads
The epic Darth Vader game that George Lucas rejected
The unlikely inspiration for the physics of podracing
How the Revenge of the Sith video game inspired an iconic Revenge of the Sith scene
The original plan for Shadows of the Empire to star Boba Fett
Why Han Solo is a “boring video game character”
How Shadows of the Empire almost shipped without its signature moment
The dread he felt before the release of The Phantom Menace
Designing the worlds of Episode I Racer
The influence of Lone Wolf & Cub on Jango & Boba Fett
The legacy of yesterday’s LucasArts on today’s Lucasfilm
And much more!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Next Episode

The ESB we'll never see

On the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back , we look back at Leigh Brackett's wild first draft of the film!
The Empire Strikes Back was the first Star Wars film for screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who later returned for The Force Awakens and Solo. But before Kasdan came onboard, George Lucas hired the legendary Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, The Long Goodbye) to write the first draft of the film, which she completed just one month before she died of cancer in 1978.
This week, we discuss Brackett's draft of the film, which differs in some major ways from the film that made it to the screen.
Are you ready for an epic adventure with Clone Lando, Class Tourist Han Solo, Luke Skywalker's Ghost Dad, psychedelic battles on the astral plane, and an awkward dinner with Darth Vader? Then strap yourself in for Leigh Brackett's The Empire Strikes Back!
Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.