The Star Wars Episode 7 Production In Review: A Writer’s Roundtable (Part 3 of 3)

Action

In the first two parts of the roundtable review of Episode VII, we covered the pre-production days leading into Principal Photography as well as the first Forty-six eventful days of production. In Part 3, we will cover the remaining days of production that led into the two-week hiatus . . . after the break.

 

DAY FIFTY-ONE:

JULY 7th, 2014 > A Twitter report reveals that Episode VII is being filmed in a location called “Puzzlewood” in the Forest of Dean. A flurry of reports come in that “Jedi wigs, speeder bikes, and wooden swords” are seen on location. Eventually, it is also reported that allegedly Sith as well as other actors wearing long black cloaks (presumably to disguise costumes) have also been spotted as well as the AVCO sign:

 

 

DAY FIFTY-TWO:

JULY 8th, 2014 > Two more new cast members are Officially announced at the Official site. Relative unknowns, Pip Andersen and Crystal Clarke, bring fresh faces as well as mad Parkour skills, suggesting they may be playing very acrobatic lightsaber wielders. It is also confirmed that there will be a two-week hiatus but that the production will NOT be delayed and will be released on its December 18th, 2015 target date:

In August, the team will take a brief two-week hiatus while adjustments to the current production schedule are made as actor Harrison Ford recovers from a leg injury. Harrison is doing well and is looking forward to returning to the set soon. Shooting remains on track to wrap in the fall with the film scheduled for release on December 18, 2015.

 

DAY FIFTY-FIVE:

JULY 11th, 2014 > We learn of reports that little people were used for the brief four day Puzzlewood shoot. It is immediately presumed they are Ewoks and that Puzzlewood is Endor. However, both assumptions are NOT confirmed and information we received suggested that there will NOT be Ewoks in Episode VII. From a tip we received:

I registered with casting agency in Bristol 2 weeks ago and I was waiting for my photo and asked a full time extra if he was working on AVCO and what my chances were. He said his mate was a Stormtrooper on it and there was only a shortage of little people for this big battle scene they wanted to film.

Vicious

Little people were apparently used during the Puzzlewood shoot . . . Who did they play, Ewoks, Jawas, Ugnaughts, or some new alien species?

 

Pomojema: Ideally? Noghri. I’d love to see them re-instate aliens and planets from the EU after integrating McQuarrie’s unused concepts.

 

Viral Hide: Well I know for sure they are not Ewoks. Maybe a new race…

 

Echo-07: Yeah, Ewoks would set off almost as many riots as Gungans. I wouldn’t mind seeing a new species.

 

Dekka129: Unless this is an Endor scene, which I suppose it could be, I’d say we’re probably looking at a heretofore unseen alien species (or perhaps a previously-seen background alien that we’ll now see a homeworld/society built up around, which might be cool too.)

 

Echo-07: I think it would be cool to see where Ugnaughts come from. Clearly they weren’t born on Cloud City. LOL

 

 

DAY FIFTY-NINE:

JULY 15th, 2014 > Ian McDiarmid confirms that he will NOT be reprising his role as Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine at the London Film and Comic Con. Earlier rumors reported that McDiarmid would reprise his role as a Sith Spectre.

 

Island Locale

 

DAY SIXTY:

JULY 16th, 2014 > Some interesting Tweets reveal that a set is being built for the production on the little island of Skellig Michael off the coast of Ireland. We eventually learn that shooting is to be a brief three day affair dating from July 28-30. In true Star Wars fashion Skellig Michael marks the fifth different, known location in which production has filmed, joining the forest of Puzzle-wood, the glacier of Iceland, the desert of Abu Dhabi, as well as the Pinewood Studios & Back Lots. This obviously suggests we’re going to see some unique environments like the island, as well as some familiar ones like Tatooine and an ice planet that may or may not be Hoth.

 

X-wing - Star Wars: Episode 7

 

DAY SIXTY-FIVE:

JULY 21st, 2014 > JJ Abrams releases his last For For Change video, this time from the Tatooine back lot set at Pinewood Studios. Similar to the first FFC video we were afforded a sneak peek, this time of a Episode VII generation version of an X-Wing fighter, as confirmed by the Official Site via Twitter.

 

 

JJ filmed a second Force For Change video featuring an X-Wing . . . What did you think about the new X-Wing?

 

Pomojema: T’was good. I’m really digging the way that the wings are set to separate, with one set of wings opening slightly forward and the other set opening slightly backward. It’s a really neat design.

 

Viral Hide: Well we’ve actually already seen it in the leaked photos from the Pinewood set. So personally it was not a big deal for me. And obviously the latest trend is everything to look like taken from a Ralph McQuarrie art. I love Ralph’s work. For me he is the second most important person in SW after George Lucas but I hope they don’t overuse his genius. They’re already doing this with Rebels.

 

Dekka129: Personally, I like it. The nod to the original McQuarrie concept art is cool, and I dig the idea that Incom would have continued to make more advanced variants on the T-65 as the years passed – though it’s also possible that this is a vintage model that predates the OT X-wings, which could also be an interesting idea.

 

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker

 

DAY SIXTY-EIGHT:

JULY 24th, 2014 > Mark Hamill, looking particularly Jedi Masterly, gives an interview to the BBC and reveals that his beard is “contractually obligated.”

 

At one point we saw a BEARDED Mark Hamill (Luke), how did you react?

 

Pomojema: I was mainly like “okay, that’s neat”, given that I had figured he was bound to have grown a beard anyway, keeping in line with the standard established by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

 

Viral Hide: Man, the crazy Old Wizard Luke is back!

 

Echo-07: LOL

 

Dekka129: I turned into a nine year-old kid again, which is exactly what Star Wars is supposed to do. For the first time since all this was announced, I saw Luke Skywalker in those photos rather than an older Mark Hamill. It wasn’t just the familiar old shaggy hair, either. I think it was more the fact that Mark had been filming scenes and had genuinely gotten back into character – and that came through in the photos.

 

stormtrooper

 

On this day it was revealed that JJ Abrams did an interview with Flickering Myth in which he confirmed Stormtroopers. Obviously they will be back with some significance, featuring prominently in all their various incarnations as numerous rumors and reports suggest. In fact, many Bothan spies died lost their jobs to bring us this information and the leaks continue . . .

 

Kevin Smith and JJ Abrams both confirmed Stormtroopers . . . What are we to make of all these Stormtrooper rumors?

 

Pomojema: Lock the door and hope they don’t have any blasters. I hope they have the blocky designs of McQuarrie’s earlier work.

 

Viral Hide: I hope we finally get some deadly and vicious Stormtroopers. Actually I really like how the Clone Troopers were portrayed in the Clone Wars. Not like the moronic soldiers from the OT and as it seems from Rebels.

 

Dekka129: That even 30 years on, sharpshooter school washouts still need a job in the GFFA?

 

Echo-07: So cynical. LOL After 30 years I would hope their training is better, but, according to rumors, they will clearly be more badass than ever.

 

 

DAY SEVENTY-TWO:

JULY 28th, 2014 > Marks the first day of filming on Skellig Michael. JJ Abrams is spotted, indicating that this is, in fact, Principal Photography. Two cast members are spotted throughout the short three day shoot – Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley. This is especially interesting for the fact that, although we have seen a water location with Kamino, we have yet to see an island setting.

 

 

DAY SEVENTY-NINE:

AUGUST 4th, 2014 > Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew, made a recent appearance at the Wizard World San Antonio Comic Con where he was interviewed about his involvement in Star Wars: Episode VII. Peter had some resoundingly exuberant praise for the production saying:

“after joking that he was working on a little project that he thinks some people might show up to watch, he said the J.J. Abrams-directed Episode VII ‘will be the best Star Wars film I will have seen.’”

 

Rising Star

 

DAY EIGHTY-THREE:

August 8th, 2014 > We reported via Deadline that Daisy Ridley is signed-on for the entire trilogy. thus far she is the only Episode VII actor that we know of signed for the duration, although it’s suspected that Anthony Daniels, as C-3PO, is also a likely candidate to survive the trilogy.

 

Deadline reported that Daisy Ridley is signed-on for the whole Trilogy — What are your thoughts on this? What about the rest of the young, new cast?

 

Pomojema: They all sound like they’re really talented, even with such a small amount of experience. I actually really hope that the Sequel Trilogy has her as the female lead, especially if she’s an Organa-Solo child like fans have speculated. I’m hoping John Boyega serves as the supporting male lead, as I feel that diversity is important both in the film industry and within the Star Wars universe. I also hope that Domhnall Gleeson is Luke’s kid, if only because that would make my dream of seeing Mara Jade (or a character like her) in film that much more likely.

 

Viral Hide: Well she will be definitely the main focus for the first movie. At least that’s what all rumors point to. And it looks like she’s closely connected to Boyega’s characters. I guess the third leading character will be Gleeson. Still we haven’t seen much from him in the filming process. Clouded the future is…

 

Echo-07: Yes, Ms Ridley seems to be in the middle of a lot of the shooting action, known to be in Abu Dhabi and Skellig Michael along with Mark Hamill.

 

Dekka129: As long as they’re good actors and have film characters that bring out the best in them, I’m looking forward to seeing what the younger cast brings to the table. It makes sense that most of them would play characters who will persist throughout the entire trilogy. Whether or not we’ll WANT to continue to see them all in repeated appearances, of course, remains to be seen. (Hopefully, Episode 7 will be good enough that we’ll look forward to seeing them all return in the next adventure.)

 

Han Solo

 

Fans around the world were heartbroken happy to learn that DC Barns was the grand prize winner of the Force For Change sweepstakes, of course, winning a paid trip for he and a friend to go and spend a day on the London set of Episode VII as well as be extras in a scene! That’s an awesome prize! However, it may get even better than that as Viral Hide recently wrote a report with photos of Harrison Ford boarding his plane (presumably) for a return trip to London. The Episode VII production seems to be getting ready to ramp-up again. Since acting legend Harrison Ford was unable to film for the last couple of months, his scenes almost assuredly were pushed back to the latter half of the schedule, which means DC has a very good chance of being an extra in one of Harrison Ford’s scenes. An already awesome prize just gets better! Congrats DC!!!

 

What can we look forward to from the remaining month and a half or so of the production?

 

Pomojema: Silly rumors, fan complaining, and actually interesting bits and pieces every now and then. It’s a shame that we probably won’t be seeing any new footage this year aside from the inevitable Winter 2014 trailer, though.

 

Viral Hide: Probably more hours spent in Pinewood than on real locations, but who knows. No one expected the Puzzlewood and the Skellig Michael Shoots. There were still some rumors about Scotland and New Mexico… 

 

Echo-07: Yes, with all the excitement thus far we’ll have to keep an eye on those locations, especially New Mexico to see if the rumors pan out. Course, they could also be used for the spinoff movie as well . . .

 

Dekka129: More rumors and rumors of rumors, with occasional nuggets of truth occasionally surfacing in a roiling sea of utter balderdash. A few more leaked set photos, not showing us much that we can put in any context, but just enough to lose some poor sod his or her job. Lots of interviews with cast members telling us how excited they are to be in the picture, and how they can’t tell us anything about what they’re doing or who they’re playing.

 

Echo-07: I think you guys all nailed it on the head! So, to finish-up, I will ask one more question —

 

Cool to see Han Solo, the ol’ pirate, with a limp?

 

Pomojema: That crutch was awesome-looking. Even more awesome – the fact that Harrison Ford is so dedicated to recovery that he got better far sooner than was expected.

 

Viral Hide: Yeah it would definitely fit with his character. But seeing his last photos I highly doubt it.

 

Dekka129: Sure! Not that it’s particularly cool WHY we’d see this, of course, but if they have to integrate Harrison’s limp into the film, it would add a little more visual texture to Han’s character.

 

Episode IV

Now that Harrison Ford’s scenes take place at the end of Principal Photography, this shoot may just become a very emotional one. IF, and we have no idea one way or another, but IF one, or several, or all, of these returning characters — Han, Luke, Leia, or Chewie — should perish, then this last leg of the production will be the last time any of these iconic actors return to Star Wars. Let’s hope not, but it’s a distinct possibility. IF this should be the case, of course we fans owe them a great debt of gratitude for their return and dedication to our galaxy far, far away . . .

 

Episode VII

That puts a wrap on this “Episode VII In Production Review.” I would like to thank the StarWars7News crew — Pomojema, Dekka129, and of course Viral Hide — for the great feedback as well as taking time out of their busy schedules (and away from their own articles) to help me with our first ever Writer’s Roundtable. We attempted something a little different and I hope everyone enjoyed our takes on some of the highlights of production thus far. Perhaps we’ll do it again sometime. In the meantime we have a good two months, or so, left with Principal Photography and then another year before the film if finished and released on December 18th, 2015. Until that eventful midnight, stay tuned to StarWars7News for all the latest news, rumors, and speculation regarding everything Star Wars.

+ posts

26 thoughts on “The Star Wars Episode 7 Production In Review: A Writer’s Roundtable (Part 3 of 3)

  • August 20, 2014 at 8:43 pm
    Permalink

    …yep,me too – really do appreciate all the hard work you guys do,it`s just a brilliant site – always brightens my day up,so thanks guys:}

  • August 20, 2014 at 8:46 pm
    Permalink

    Seeing the roundtable meetings made me wonder something that may have already been addressed but what happened to that Dandino guy?

    • August 20, 2014 at 9:42 pm
      Permalink

      He would’ve been a part of this, but he couldn’t make it. I don’t quite know the specifics, but I think that Viral Hide might.

    • August 21, 2014 at 12:23 am
      Permalink

      Yeah, dandino is around. He was too busy and couldn’t make the writers roundtable. Hope he does next time.

  • August 20, 2014 at 8:49 pm
    Permalink

    This series of articles has been pretty good and very informative. You can tell the starwars7news team has a lot of passion! 🙂

  • August 20, 2014 at 8:52 pm
    Permalink

    So Gleeson is the 3rd lead? I thought it was Isaac.

    • August 20, 2014 at 10:07 pm
      Permalink

      I thought it was Adam Driver. The truth is… No one knows.

      • August 20, 2014 at 10:27 pm
        Permalink

        All rumors point to Adam Driver to being a villain, some even say he’s the main villain, so he can’t be the 3rd member of the trio.

      • August 20, 2014 at 11:25 pm
        Permalink

        What do you mean “No one knows”?! Deck officer! Deck officer!

    • August 21, 2014 at 12:18 am
      Permalink

      I’d prefer it to be Domhnall or Adam. Oscar Isaac is a fine actor but not very interesting at all in regards to a leading character. He’d be great as an imperial general or a bounty hunter or something, but he couldn’t carry a film like Han could. Plus it would be such a ripoff anyway to have a young male lead, a female of the same age, and then also finish it off with an older guy. Particularly if the rumours are true that he has a relationship with Daisy’s character and owns the falcon. Is there anything else they want to ripoff of Han’s role? Plus to be honest Oscar is nowhere near as charismatic as Domhnall or Adam Driver anyway.

  • August 20, 2014 at 10:10 pm
    Permalink

    The next big announcement at this point would be the title.

    • August 21, 2014 at 12:24 am
      Permalink

      Do you guys really think we’ll be seeing a trailer this December?? That’s really soon!!

  • August 20, 2014 at 10:36 pm
    Permalink

    Or the next big thing would be the big three in costume, that’s honestly what I can’t wait for!

  • August 20, 2014 at 10:59 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks for the info….come here many times a day. The info on JJ Abrams first “charity video” was wrong I believe. They were filming in Abu Dhabi at the time and I believe that is where I heard it was filmed not pinewoods tatooine set.

  • August 21, 2014 at 12:12 am
    Permalink

    I would love to see the Noghri appear – maybe that’s what Andy Serkis is being primed for? Didn’t Timothy Zahn have a big meeting with George Lucas prior to production starting – perhaps there’ll me be more elements from his Thrawn trilogy than we realise? Mara Jade, Solo/Skywalker children, Talon Karrde – what price Max Von Sydow as a Joruus C’boath type character? If only the big blue meanie would pop up

  • August 21, 2014 at 12:13 am
    Permalink

    Oh, and big thanks to StarWars7New team for all the info/rumours!

    • August 21, 2014 at 12:28 am
      Permalink

      TK-421, why aren’t you at your post?

  • August 21, 2014 at 1:18 am
    Permalink

    I have heard that the rumored and much talked about Scotland shoot is not happening as they have shot in Iceland and Ireland instead.

  • August 21, 2014 at 2:03 am
    Permalink

    Somebody playing mind games again!
    AVCO – Asajj Ventress C Organa.

    • August 21, 2014 at 10:54 am
      Permalink

      I have suggested that AVCO simply means A Very Cool Offering …

  • August 21, 2014 at 10:49 am
    Permalink

    That alien isn’t new they’re called Trandoshans. Lizard humanoids, Hence Bounty Hunter named Boosk is one.

    • August 21, 2014 at 11:50 am
      Permalink

      I’m not normally one to do the geeky nitpicking thing, but you’re clearly an absolute cretin with the reading comprehension skills of a two year old.

  • August 21, 2014 at 1:03 pm
    Permalink

    These roundtable articles really make me giddy, love it. Perhaps you could ask a few more people the next time to get even more thoughts to fill it up a little more 🙂
    (I mean, there’s a lot of recapping compared to commentary)

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET