Sneak Peek at the Star Wars: Episode 7 Camera.

star wars

Camera operator Andrew Bikichky revealed that the 35mm A&B cameras which will be used for the filming of Star Wars: Episode 7 are named “Death Star” and “Millennium Falcon”. He also showed one of them…

JJ’s new #StarWars will be shot on FILM 🙂 here’s one of their cameras, a custom blacked-out Panaflex XL @Panavision pic.twitter.com/RWNNAcEJ4V
— Andrew Bikichky (@AndrewBikichky) March 27, 2014

The A & B 35mm @Panavision cameras on JJ’s #StarWars have names as well, A is “Deathstar” and B is… pic.twitter.com/nAiuHfJeuo
— Andrew Bikichky (@AndrewBikichky) March 27, 2014

@Jude_Nestoroff: @Panavision so, as a pro, these cameras are: The Maserati, Porsche, Ferrari or Chrysler of the category?!” Rolls-Royce 🙂
— Andrew Bikichky (@AndrewBikichky) March 27, 2014

Actually he didn’t reveal the name of the second camera but it’s visible on one of the pictures.

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

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Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

40 thoughts on “Sneak Peek at the Star Wars: Episode 7 Camera.

  • March 28, 2014 at 9:24 am
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    Perhaps we will see not only the Falcon, but also Death Star III in ep7. This time, they aren’t kidding!

  • March 28, 2014 at 12:09 pm
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    O.O they will be overdoing the deathstar, UNLESS they make it really hard to destroy,
    like there is no 1 man fighter blowing it up anymore. only a full on assault by hundreds of capital ships.

    • March 28, 2014 at 2:02 pm
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      Well I know there was that leaked script a while ago (Hope and Change?) where they built only the Death Star superlaser. Granted that script is 99.9% likely to have been totally bogus but someone rebuilding all or part of the Death Star is a possibility. I mean, the designs were never destroyed or anything, it just takes an incredible amount of time and resources.

    • March 28, 2014 at 2:42 pm
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      thats a neat idea. i actually hope they don’t go with a death star type idea tho.
      i think the best thing to do is base this new trilogy on the “yusong vong” invasion. Now before all you EU haters hate on me finish reading this first.
      i said BASE it on the yusong vong. this means make the aliens that invade the star wars galaxy NOT the yusong vong. make them a cooler, different species, with a different plot and story.

      its the one thing that can out do other star wars movies or baddys. a invasion of the whole star wars galaxy by another galaxy’s aliens.
      and maybe if there is a sith in the new trilogy he joins up with them and manipulates himself to a high rank.

    • March 28, 2014 at 2:51 pm
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      I’m reading the EU New Jedi Order series at the moment and I gotta say I love the idea of an extra-galactic threat. However, the Yuuzhan Vong are a bit irritating in my opinion. With all their “technology” (for lack of a better word) being organic creatures. I know Star Wars isn’t exactly realistic anyway but it’s getting even more far-fetched in these books heh. So yeah, if they had the same premise (Galactic invasion) but with a different threat, that’d be good.

    • March 28, 2014 at 3:11 pm
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      Cool, I won’t spoil anything for you then. The organic technology was pretty far-fetched but I think they wanted a fear of the unknown to play a big role. Plus the SW galaxy already had so many alien species I think it was a question of, “OK, how do we do something that’s way different from all of them.”

      Also, regarding that “Hope and Change” script I wonder if that Wedge talk yesterday was just conincidental (he plays a fairly significant role in the script). Probably is but you never know …

    • March 28, 2014 at 5:23 pm
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      I actually really liked the Bio-technology aspect of them, made them feel unique not just in Star Wars but in a lot of sci-fi as a whole. Maybe giant living ships made out of coral isn’t “realistic,” but it’s cool and never broke my suspension of disbelieve

    • March 29, 2014 at 5:04 am
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      I’m sick of you EU fans. You all whine and cry about OT fans with their new ideas, yet all you want to do iz go with EU ideas. NO EU !!!!!
      PERIOD !!!!

    • March 29, 2014 at 2:59 pm
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      That’s not what we said. Chill out and try to contribute to our discussions rationally in the future.

  • March 28, 2014 at 12:45 pm
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    Not that it makes much difference but, I do believe the original star wars was filmed with Panavision 😉 Now JJ, calm yourself with the awful shaky cam and lens flares please.

  • March 28, 2014 at 2:33 pm
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    I don’t think they should nor do I expect the new films to have a deathstar. Otherwise it will start to feel like a Road runner cartoon where the rebels continue to stymie the comically repetitous imperial coyote. We’ve seen it twice, that was enough.

    Now back to what the post is about, this pumps me up. Actual official tweets in regard to the films are alway exciting. I believe we can expect less lens flares etc, less digitally enhanced sets, I’m going to try to read up on these a little

  • March 28, 2014 at 3:02 pm
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    Oooohh man those cameras are awesome! So classy! So classic! So SW Ep IV-VI! Those cameras bring a nice feel to movies. And I don’t think there is going to be another Death Star. I mean, just because a camera is named that, doesn’t mean that that camera is specifically used for the death star scenes and the Millennium Falcon is used specifically for Millennium Falcon scenes. The camera could be just named that to keep track of them and know which one’s which.

    God Bless (an no rude replies please)

  • March 28, 2014 at 3:04 pm
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    That film came from the Deathstar! That things operational!

  • March 28, 2014 at 3:21 pm
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    I don’t think that a new Death Star will be in Episode VII. Perhaps a new weapon, like the Eclipse.

    • March 28, 2014 at 5:28 pm
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      They used loads of cameras for into darkness.
      “Arriflex 435 ES, Panavision Primo, C-, E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses
      IMAX MSM 9802, Hasselblad Lenses
      Iwerks MSM 8870, Hasselblad Lenses
      Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2, Panavision Primo, C-, E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses
      Red Epic (some shots)”

    • March 28, 2014 at 5:42 pm
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      The one in the pictures is the Millennium XL2 right? Sorry I only saw what’s in the videos, I’m guessing they’ll be using loads for SW as well!

  • March 28, 2014 at 5:25 pm
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    What about the C&D cameras? OH NO IT’S SHOT REVERSE SHOT!

    • May 4, 2014 at 3:38 pm
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      A and B cameras are Black XL2’s the rest are off the shelf…..
      and “maybe” Alexa xt’s for some vfx filled shots…..

  • March 28, 2014 at 6:10 pm
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    Wow, a pic of a camera that will be used. Can someone take a pic of the Glass Mark Hamill will drink water out of and post it online. What news.

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:05 pm
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      Clearly you don’t have a lot of anticipation for the film then… In which case, why are you here?

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:09 pm
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      Hey don’t knock Mark Hamill’s used glass of water! I’ll take what I can get.

      But in all seriousness I think it’s cool to see what will be shooting the stuff that we’ll be seeing. Plus the cameras look cool! If anything… this is indeed confirmation that it will be shot on film 🙂

    • March 28, 2014 at 9:58 pm
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      Sadly, I can only get you a shot of a ream of paper they will be printing the script on…. before they send it through the printer

  • March 28, 2014 at 7:17 pm
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    My Father’s, Brother’s, Nephew’s, Cousin’s former roomate is a man in the know. He may have indicated that in Episode 7 that the Death Star is going to be replaced by a small moon that orbits an even larger unfinished Death Star with Exhaust port vent shaft covers.

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:24 pm
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      that’s your cousin Dude! but yeah, i heard the same thing

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:25 pm
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      You seem like someone that would know Luke. That proves it.

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:29 pm
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      whoa! A bigger Deathstar?! I’m impressed at how knowledgeable you two are at StarWars.

  • March 28, 2014 at 7:29 pm
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    That is nuts. an even LARGER Death Star. Has anyone realized that this will require them shooting in IMAX formats due to how big the new Death Star would be. THis entire thing from JJ about these camera is clearly a hoax. He is trying to throw us all off what is really happening.

    • May 4, 2014 at 3:44 pm
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      IT IS PANAVISION XL2’s A+B BLACK EDITIONS! other units regular xl2’s Alexa’s for vfx unit and defo IMAX cameras (film) as no HD imax chip size exists as of now!

  • March 28, 2014 at 7:36 pm
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    Guy’s this is what happend when they started shooting Noah, The boat was to big to fit on the screen so they had to shoot it in IMAX format. This must be a really big Death Star! I mean really big. I can’t wait.

    • March 28, 2014 at 7:42 pm
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      Yeah I was really dissapointed when I watched Noah on a non-IMAX screen today. It was cropped so tight that I couldn’t see the entire boat. Maybe they can just scoot the cameras back farther from the New even larger Death Star Model soe they can get it all in a single 35mm frame. It is a diffucult call though because you lose SOOOO much detail in the madel because of how far away yo uhave to be. Glad JJ is in charge to make these types of decisions.

  • March 28, 2014 at 7:38 pm
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    the Death Star is at least 5x the boat in Noah. We’ll need new movie theaters! Do you think Obama will bail out the movies if they decide not to build them big enough?

  • March 28, 2014 at 11:18 pm
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    Did we really need more proof that they’re going to film VII with non-digital cameras?

    Jeez, I believed them the first time.

    …and yet no clue on casting.

    • March 28, 2014 at 11:38 pm
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      Yeah how dare Andrew Bikichky not give us the cast. Such a bastard.

  • March 29, 2014 at 11:51 am
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    He said the dirty letters! To the gallows with all of them!

    Personally, I think a Yuuzhan Vong movie would be a great SEQUEL. Why not for VII? Well, they aren’t well known, and they have to re-establish te series with a good, and yes, original non-EU based first installment. As much as I cherish the EU and will still hold out faith that the antagonist is some underdeveloped EU character, I do believe Disney would do the right thing to leave the EU out AT LEAST the first movie.

    A Yuuzhan Vong sequel would be perfect since everyone knows that Star Wars has been rebooted.

  • March 29, 2014 at 1:24 pm
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    Whoa whoa whoa ….
    35mm FILM cameras?!?
    WTF is this, 1967?
    Use the latest RED, you oaf!!

    • March 29, 2014 at 2:36 pm
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      Let me correct your blindness.
      The amazing spiderman 1 was shot on RED —
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OVh7qYcYb4

      The amazing spiderman 2 was shot on 35mm (And a lil’ fun fact, with the same cinematographer for episode 7) —
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlM2CWNTQ84

      If you think RED is somehow ‘better’, think again my friend. Aesthetics and tone are better than image detail and image quality, which is why film is far superior. The image quality and detail is pretty much identical anyway between digital and film, yet the overall look is far better on film. Digital is only good for efficiency, cost, and 3D. RED is just BIGGER AND BETTER!! No, bigger is not always better. If you’re still in doubt, and think 35mm should be left in 1967 or whatever, then please educate yourself further and do a bit of research. Here, I’ll even get you started-
      http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/screenshots/war_horse_7.png
      http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/screenshots/john_carter_4.png

    • March 29, 2014 at 2:38 pm
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      Oh and I forgot to put in the quote. “Unlike the first movie, which was shot digitally, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be shot on 35mm anamorphic film. Why? Because it provides an operatic quality, which is what we were going for,”

    • May 4, 2014 at 3:51 pm
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      Did you not see “attack of the clone’s” how bad did it look? rubbish is the answer!
      This time they are taking no chances and using real proper film for the quality and proven longevity,so in 30 yrs time it will still look great!

  • April 23, 2014 at 10:45 pm
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    it Amuses me that some people are stupid enough to actualy think there will be a death star 3. they said NOTHING about that. all they said was that the camera is named the death star.

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