While compiling guests for RADIO 1138 I’ve been fortunate enough to either meet or interview via print or Skype a number of performers from The Force Awakens. Here are parts of those interviews, looking at moments behind or in front of the camera while making episode 7.
Oliver Steeples (Artoo operator)
You could see Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. writing scenes on the fly. The picture of J.J. and Larry sitting down on the Imperial hangar, that was one of the scenes where we were on a lunch break and they obviously weren’t happy about something, so they decided to rewrite the scene on the fly.
One scene that was a lot longer was the map reveal and Artoo waking up. There was a lot more filmed of Artoo being asleep and finally waking up, and Anthony Daniels had an absolutely amazing scene beforehand just as Artoo is waking up, giving a whole speech about Artoo and it was perfect, Anthony nailed it, but unfortunately it was one of the scenes that was probably too long, in retrospect.
Warwick Davis – (Wollivan)
Inside my creature head I unable to see very much at all, just little glimpses of the surroundings. Imagine looking through a hole that’s about the size of a grain of rice. There was a few of those holes that I could catch glimpses through. I remember just before a take, this was in Maz’s castle, I remember catching a glimpse through this little hole of the clapperboard. Clapperboards are something that they usually scrawl on with a whiteboard marker, they’re not chalk any more, but the one for Ep 7 was actually quite fancy because it had engraved in the plastic, in yellow, the Star Wars logo. And it was just a really cool moment because I thought ‘Wow, it IS another Star Wars movie we’re doing.’ I felt very fortunate to have a small part in it and it took me right back to when I was eleven being on Jedi and thinking ‘I’ve come full circle doing the same thing. I’m in a creature and we’re doing Star Wars.’ I shared this moment with J.J. Abrams and his feelings about doing the film and thinking back to when he first experienced Star Wars was very similar to mine and the fact that he was coming at this as a fan of the films as much as anybody else. Yeah, it was a cool moment to have a glimpse of that logo. And while the films have evolved, and some of them have been quite different over the years, that logo has never changed.
The experience on The Force Awakens was more similar to Jedi than to the prequels, a much more similar, tactile experience because we were surrounded by creatures and animatronics. Some of the people I even remember from that film, just the way it was being done because stuff was there, it existed whereas in Ep 1, as with many of the prequels, many of the things we were working with weren’t there, they were going to be created digitally. It felt much more similar to the making of Jedi for me. You could look around 360 degrees, and obviously there are enhancements in post-production but it all looked pretty damn good from where I was standing.
For me they’ve been more than just brilliant entertainment, it’s what’s become my life and career, basically. There’s not a day goes by where I don’t end up talking about or thinking about Star Wars in some way. With all the heat and the noise of the servos inside the head, it was a moment just to think ‘this is what it’s all about’.
Bern Collaco – (First Order General)
I recall my scene clearly which was shot at one of my favourite studios, Pinewood Studios in Iver, Buckinghamshire. It was a blazing hot summers day. I was dressed in my all black uniform and black cap with the First Order insignia on the front playing a First Order General. We were all melting, but you knew we were making movie history. I remember we did take after take, I was lucky to be on the raised platform in which General Hux gives his speech. When you’re working with CGI and green screen you have to imagine everything happening around you and react to these triggers. Although it’s a platform with bits of scaffolding and green cloth behind you, you know the end result is going to be truly awesome; it’s Star Wars after all! Sometimes I was directed to go down and join the troopers in the ranks. This was a very dusty experience and I remember covering my nose between takes as I didn’t want to inhale the dust that had been created.
I also filmed inside the studios where we were filming the ship scenes with Kylo Ren. I remember Kylo passing me several times but there was no time for introductions as everyone was there to do their little bit. Kylo Ren always had his full black costume and helmet on so although I was sometimes within inches I never saw his face on set. The opportunity to work on a Lucasfilm/ Disney Production was one of the best experiences I have had as an actor. J.J. Abrams is such a wonderful director and I feel honoured to have been part of such an iconic movie.
Rony Bridges – (First Order Admiral)
While being set up for a scene with Captain Phasma, J.J. Thought there was something not right with me. He called for make-up and wardrobe, still felt something wasn’t right and then he got it!, “Get a box for Rony” he shouted. Now, I’m 6’2″ but Gwendoline with the helmet on was towering above me. I expect that happens to Tom Cruise…a lot.
I was taken off-set one day and had to wear a black secrecy cloak and hood. The person who took me through the streets of Pinewood said “I can’t tell you where I’m taking you and you can’t tell anyone where you’ve been!” I found out later it was for CGI and 3D scanning.
Even my hair, the way they styled it is ‘branded’. You’re not allowed to have it styled that way on “The Outside”
Arti Shah – (Maz Kanata Motion Capture Double, Fueller, Gonk Droid, Gwellis Bagnoro)
Oh gosh! I have so many wonderful memories and stories I could share from working on The Force Awakens. Whether it was the decidedly NOT grumpy Harrison Ford joking around with us on set (or watching him drive his assistant on the soundstages), or me sitting in makeup having my hair done, yapping away at 7am about the previous days’ antics, not realising that my energetic storytelling is being overheard by the Mark Hamill himself, sat in the chair behind mine!
Those were all either fun (or embarrassing, depending on your point of view) moments. But there is one moment that stands out. I’ve mentioned how much I loved filming in the desert? Well as you’re all probably aware, Abu Dhabi has an extremely hot climate and because of that we were very well looked after and constantly kept hydrated.
When I wasn’t filming, I would be helping out where I could, chatting to colleagues or just sitting there waiting patiently. I remember – early on in the shoot – I was doing the latter when I heard the sound of an ice cream van. For a moment, I thought to myself “I must be going mad. I’m hearing an ice-cream van!” Like the audio version of a mirage or something. I decided I needed some water as I was sure I was hearing things and this could only be down to dehydration. As I got up to get some water, the sound of the ice cream van became louder and louder, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. I asked a few friends who were around me at the time if they heard the same thing. They could hear it too! We couldn’t ALL be going crazy at the same time, could we?
We looked in the direction the sound was coming from and to my surprise; there it was; an ice cream van, in the middle of the desert, heading directly for us! You can imagine how quickly I forgot about the water and made my way to the ice-cream van instead. I remember thinking to myself just how amazing this was. We were being very spoiled indeed. In my many years in the business, I’ve never seen anything like this before. And I certainly would never have thought that an ice cream van would be visiting us in the desert! Who needs water when you can have ice-cream?
Ana-Maria Leonte – (Dasha Promenti)
I am happy you’re asking me this because there is actually a moment we all enjoyed. Between takes, both villagers and stormtroopers were waiting in the same room. As our scene was shot during the night, at times it was cold so in an attempt to warm up, one of the stormtroopers, Aaron Ayamah, who is also a dancer, started to dance the Robot Dance. Not only was he an amazing dancer but the uniform greatly enhanced his moves and then other stormtroopers and villagers joined in as well. It was so much fun!!
Lee Towersey – (Artoo operator)
The highlight of my filming was Greenham Common, because that was one of those sets that when you walked on to it, you walked in to Star Wars. With the X-wings out and the Millennium Falcon at the end of the runway, all the bunkers. And Greenham Common is a very interesting, historical place anyway given what happened there in the 70’s. One of the shots we did with Artoo, when the Falcon leaves at the end of the movie to go off to find Luke, you see Artoo go on to the Falcon, he drives up the ramp. Now me and Oliver used to share Artoo. Each time we did a shoot we’d do a different scene each and it turned out that driving up the ramp was my turn. It was a difficult one. I was hiding behind a box, so I wasn’t straight on, I was looking at Artoo and driving at quite an awkward angle. I had Neal Scanlan with me for moral support, he and I were hiding behind this crate and we did about 5 shots and thankfully I hit my mark each time. The Millennium Falcon is iconic enough but being able to drive Artoo up the ramp and into the Falcon was such a buzz. After the second take Anthony Daniels was asking where I was and he found me in between shots and said he’d never seen an Artoo being driven like that before. Sadly (that scene) was cut, so we didn’t learn that Artoo had travelled on the Falcon until he was seen at the side of the Falcon on the island.
Sandeep Mohan – (First Order Stormtrooper)
As the film starts we’re taking Max Von Sydow to his execution. J.J. comes over to me and says ‘I’m J.J’ and I said ‘I know who you are, I’m Sandy.’ And he looked at me in a strange way and he said ‘Sandy? I’ll be back in a minute.’ And off he goes. I thought that was a strange conversation. And he comes back to me and he says ‘Your name isn’t Sandy, it’s Sandeep and I’m going to call you Sandeep.’ And he started talking to me about my life. There’s a major film going on and I’m in the corner having a chat with J.J. about my so-called acting career. Such a surreal moment. Jakku village is on fire and we’re holding up production but he said ‘Don’t worry, I’m doing this film.’ And then we carried on.
I was given a line in the film. J.J. said ‘Sandeep, come over here’ and I thought ‘what have I done?’ He said ‘I’m going to give you a line.’ I had to give a line to Adam Driver. Stuff like that doesn’t happen every day.
David Acord – (Traitor trooper)
I worked on The Force Awakens for about 11 months. During the “Final Mix” phase of our sound post-production schedule (the last 7 or 8 weeks of mixing, which typically finishes a couple of weeks before the film is released), we recorded our Loop Group (A Loop Group is a group of actors that give voices to background characters or provide beds of group conversation to mixed in later) session for the movie. One of the characters to be voiced was a First Order trooper that we referred to as “Mace Trooper”, because of his melee weapon of choice. He would later be known as TR-8R and later still as FN-2199. The temporary voice in our track prior to Loop Group recording was actually JJ’s voice, who never intended to ultimately use his own voice in that role. First we brought in Kevin Smith to record for several Trooper lines, among them the “Traitor!” line. Kevin’s voice was ultimately used for another Trooper voice, leaving FN-2199’s voice still in need of recording. A couple of Matthew Wood’s loop group actor’s then recorded their versions, as well. Not quite satisfied, JJ asked for another alternate version to be recorded. Matthew asked me to give it a shot, so I did. I recorded four or five different versions of the “Traitor!” then four or five versions of all of his grunts and “arghs!” and efforts as he fights Finn. The next day, we played back the scene for JJ on stage and lucky for me he was happy with what he heard!
Very early in the sound design phase of The Force Awakens, I was tasked with creating a few creature voices, specifically the two junkers that harass Rey as she cleans parts with the old lady on Jakku and also Teedo, the Jakku desert scavenger. Teedo had the most lines and would require a fairly significant amount of design and performance. The tricky thing about alien language, although it may sound obvious, is that it has to sound believable as a language. What I try to do is base the language on an existing “Earth” language. I was preparing for a vacation in Thailand, so I chose Thai language as Teedo’s root alien dialect. By this, I mean I chose specific Thai words or phrases and then tweaked them, rearranged syllables, etc. So, I would write a rudimentary script of what I thought Teedo was saying to Rey then roughly translate it on paper. In the recording booth, I took a few liberties to throw in a few extra words (and some names of people, as Easter Eggs). I processed the voice in Pro Tools with a few plugins and sent it off to Bad Robot for approval (which it was).
A few weeks later, I was in Thailand and I got an email from Matthew Wood. They wanted a few pickup lines for Teedo, specifically they wanted him even angrier sounding. And they wanted the lines ASAP – which because of the time zone difference, was basically immediately. Fortunately I’d brought a small portable recorder with me. So… in my hotel room at 8am in Chiang Mai, I set out to record new lines. This time, I grabbed a room service menu for language guidance! Fortunately, what I recorded then was mostly single syllable shouted lines, so I didn’t have to generate a lot of cohesive material on the fly, but I had to do it quickly. I shipped the recordings off to Matthew Wood who quickly cut and processed the lines and got them to Bad Robot.
Joonas Suotamo – (Chewbacca)
When Harrison walked on set it was always quiet anticipation because he was this wealth of charisma. I was a big fan of him growing up, Indiana Jones, Han Solo. He was the focal point for me. I knew working with Chewie, he does have a lot of scenes with Han Solo, so I was aware that there was going to be that interaction going on.
There were a few moments on set where maybe I was a little too outward, projecting my happiness. I think I was making it hard for everyone to concentrate because I was a loudmouth. It was this feeling of being in a candy store while filming, and I don’t think you can blame anyone for that.
