Tag Archives: Star Wars Return of the Jedi

3 Lessons from the Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer Model from Star Wars

31 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by in Imperial Star Destroyer, Star Destroyer, Star Wars, Star Wars A New Hope, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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I still remember watching Star Wars A New Hope for the first time at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco in 1977. The opening scene was absolutely stunning with the  Devastator Imperial Star Destroyer filling up the entire screen, while it chased the Tantive IV Blockade Runner. It blew me away and introduced me to the Star Wars Franchise in a huge way. This got me hooked instantly to the Star Wars Universe.

It is really interesting that the Tantive IV Blockade Runner model was larger than the Star Destroyer model. The Tie Fighter model also looked gigantic next to the Star Destroyer.

Seeing the actual movie filming model of the Star Destroyer was a Star Wars fan’s dream. The entire Star Wars exhibit at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose in 2013 was the best Sci-Fi exhibit experience for me.

As I review these old pictures, I am amazed at the detail on the Star Destroyer. As indicated in the the signage for Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer, the fine details were magnified by filming closely to the model. Even though the model was small compared to their other single seat supporting fighter models like the Tie Fighter, their technique of slowly filming up close to give the impression of a large Star Destroyer was most impressive.

3 Lessons about Perspective in shooting objects

  • Reflections can give interesting dimensions to pictures as seen in my photos of the models in the clear cases.
  • Size does not matter, but positioning and proximity does matter. i.e. The Star Destroyer looked much larger due to the proximity and speed of filming the ship. Positioning the different models also gave a different impression of their sizes.
  • Accentuate details of an object to create a different impression. Focusing on the details of your photo’s subject is important to capture. Experiment to see how the details can give another unexpectant dimension to your picture.

Study photos to learn how to improve your skills as a photographer!

Photos Teach!

Stunning Movie Model of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter

29 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Star Wars, T-65 X-wing Starfighter, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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I spent about 3 or 4 hours at the Star Wars Exhibition at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose back in 2013 and had a blast viewing and photographing the items on display. I wished I would have spent more time as I felt I was rushing through the exhibit. I have not seen a Star Wars Exhibit of this magnitude since. I wish I could time travel back to 2013 to see this exhibit again and spend multiple days viewing and photographing the items on display.

Why am I so fascinated with the various models from Star Wars?

When I was a boy, I was fortunate to have lots of playmates. We would regularly visit our grandparents and could play with our cousins. So what do little boys do? We enacted different scenarios of shooting and fighting games. My cousins and I are still skilled at making our own gun sounds. We were able to run around to shoot and attack one another. My mother would not allow me to own any toy guns. So we used our imagination to find ways to shoot each other. Of course, there were no fatalities in our world of fighting.

Examining the AA-589 model (which is the designation of the T-65 X-wing star fighter piloted by Luke Skywalker) is a continuation of my love of fictional fighting. My love for fighting vehicles has become more sophisticated with the development the Star Wars’ World of technology.

It is interesting to see how my initial love of saying “Bang Bang” has grown into my interest in examining and shooting photographs of these models.

Examining what we loved as children and seeing how it has changed over time is a good exercise. 

What did you love doing as a child? Have we forgotten about our former self? It also helps us to understand who we are today by remembering what we loved in the past.

Photos help us reflect!

Fastest Hunk o’ Junk in the Galaxy! Millennium Falcon for Star Wars IV – VI

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Millennium Falcon, Millennium Falcon Movie Model, Star Wars, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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Here are more photographs from my visit to the San Jose Tech Innovation Museum during the Star Wars exhibition.

I love the Millennium Falcon ship. This was my favorite part of the exhibition. The actual size of the model was larger than I expected. There are several models of the ship. There were smaller models used for certain scenes. The display lighting for the Millennium Falcon was good for shooting these photographs. Unfortunately, there was a display case that creates unwanted reflections in the pictures. But of course, the case was there to protect the model. Everyone would want to touch the model which could cause damage.

It is interesting to note the Millennium Falcon, Rebel Blockage Runner, and the Imperial Star Destroyer were all displayed at different locations at the exhibit. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures of the models together.  The models are roughly the same size as per the description in the above picture. They just filmed the models away at different distances to give the illusion of different sizes.

Do you remember Lando’s quote in reference to the Millennium Falcon?

“You know, that ship’s saved my life quite a few times? She’s the fastest hunk o’ junk in the galaxy!”

See above Hans Solo’s quote about the Millennium Falcon?

“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”

Here’s another one of Hans’ quotes about this ship.

“You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!”

So even though, this ship may not have had a polished finish or maybe even the latest technology, it was able to perform quickly and efficiently. It still could race thru and get its crew to their destination and win the important battles.

Luke Skywalker’s initial reaction to seeing the ship was “What a piece of junk!”. Why was the Millennium Falcon able to perform? Well, thanks to the expertise of Lando Calrissian, Hans Solo, Chewbacca, and Rey’s special modifications to the ship, it was able to exceed expectations for speed and maneuverability.

Even in “The Force Awakens, Rey said “That one is garbage” when she first saw the Millennium Falcon. When the other ship they ran to blew up, she exclaims “The garbage will do”.

So appearances can be deceptive.

Be careful not to judge that all Junk is actually Junk!

Interiors can be better than the Exterior – Understand the inside and outside of people and objects

Photographs Teach Great Lessons! Keep photographs to teach!

Star Wars Tie Fighter at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Star Wars, The Tech Museum of Innovation

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I love models! I especially love the models used in the Star Wars movies.

Here’s a photo of the original Imperial TIE fighter from Star Wars Episodes IV-VI. It was on display at “The Exhibition” Star Wars Where Science Meets Imagination at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. The Exhibition was from October 19, 2013 to February 23, 2014. I am hoping that there will be more Star Wars Exhibits of actual movie models and props in the future.

It is interesting to see the progression of technology for using the models with a blue background made it difficult to distinguish a blue TIE fighter. Thus the TIE fighter had to be grey to be seen with the blue backdrop. Fortunately, technology improved and the color of the TIE fighter became bluer.

Poe Dameron was excited to fly one of the new TIE fighters with Finn in the new episodes of Star Wars. He knew about this fighter’s reputation for being fast with great maneuverability. So he had been itching to try out this fighter. The Force perhaps influenced Finn to make the drastic decision to end his life as a Stormtrooper and get out with Poe. They were fortunate to come across a fighter at a convenient time during their escape from Kylo Ren who was seeking the map to find Luke Skywalker in The Force Awakens. They crash on Jakku and are thrown from the ship, before it is sucked under the sand.

I am reminded it is always a blessing to have someone to help pull you out of difficult situations. Having someone around to support you when you are down or facing a big problem is a wonderful thing. It would be pretty cool especially if they had a speedy TIE fighter to quickly fly you out.

When I was single, my good buddy was always around to go out to eat dinner with me on Valentine’s Day. He knew I would be blue about facing another Valentine’s Day as a single person. In fact a month after I met my “future” wife, I still went out on Valentine’s Day with my good buddy instead of my new girlfriend. I made the announcement I met someone. He was excited and perplexed why I was going out with him instead of her. I obviously was not thinking about my logic for this action either. I guess I am a creature of routine. Fortunately, I did make it up to my girlfriend later.

Learn to be a wingman to someone. Be consistent and faithful.

Be Speedy and Flexible to go with the flow. Life is unexpected, and we need to adapt to the changes. The TIE Fighter is known for being speedy and easily maneuverable. This is a good lesson for me since I love routine a little too much.

Stand out from the background colors – learn to distinguish yourself. I am trying to figure out how to do photography with my own style. I would like to distinguish myself as a photographer which is why I do not alter my photographs to make them brighter or colorize the images – etc.

Photos Inspire! Learn from photographs!