New Photos from the Episode VII Set at Greenham Common. Close Ups of the X-Wings and the Falcon.
Hit the jump for another batch of pictures with much better look at the two types of X-Wings and the Falcon straight from the Episode VII set at Greenham Common. No spoilers…
A Spanish website reports that an aviation club who were working with drones accidentally came across a set for Star Wars Episode VII, and that they snapped five images showing a variety of ships, including an unfinished Millenium Falcon that is in the process of being built. Special thanks to Cantina user Altgr0160 for letting us know about these!
Have you noticed the Falcon’s new rectangular antenna?
And some more pictures from last week:
some of the film set props used at the filming in Abu Dhabi are being used at Greenham Common #StarWars pic.twitter.com/1WxuYaQPgg
— neil warren (@neilwarren76) September 14, 2014
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
If we’re going with the Luke parallel, then Daisy’s character
-Has likely been lied to about her ancestry, as was Luke.
-Becomes a Jedi following the death of her parents. (There’s no other way around it) And since were are more invested in Han & Leia, their deaths will be all the more powerful/tragic than that of Uncle Owen & Aunt Beru, whom we barely knew.
-Probably has a brother out there somewhere.
I hope the parallels aren’t that literal. Otherwise, I’ve already seen parts of this unfinished movie before.
Then prepare for a major disappointment. Just from looking at these unoriginal costumes and McQuarrie-obsessed designs, I feel that IV is going to be paralleled to sickening lengths.
“McQuarrie-obsessed designs.”
Hey, it might even look and feel like a Star Wars movie!
Looks f*****g perfect to me. No dissapointment at all. Go watch that terrible looking Rebels show then.
There’s no reason to hide her ancestery. If anything, knowledge of her ancestry might give her character an interesting edge. How does she deal with it: Granddaughter of the biggest villan in the galaxy?
Is this person actually inside the fencing? Or does he have a zoom lens on the camera? Pretty ballsy.
If the guy is a professional in the movie business consider his career over.
Maybe he’s another extra or got a good zoom lens indeed.
ZOOM
Nerds should form some kind of covert equivalent of military black ops. Unlike the paparazzi, their payday would be the thrill of getting their spoils posted online. 🙂
Are those elephants I see in that video? The possibility of Banthas, or something even better?
I think you are seeing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle
Wow, I really WAS tired when I watched this video this morning 😛 Thanks for the clarification anyway 😀
Well if the lasers of the falcon are out that means there are some shooting action scenes right?
Possibly, or maybe just rearmament, maintenance, or upgrading / exchanging, maybe? Doesn’t look much like the kind of place to a) set the mood for a gun battle, or b) the kind of location that would really experience any kind of skirmishes.
I’m not so sure about that, I’m guessing it will mostly serve as a Rebel base, but after seeing battles going on in Theed, and in Echo Base on Hoth, I could definitely see a small scale skirmish going on around the area, where the Falcon gets involved.
If I remember right the main lazers on the belly of the falcon don’t retract so their visibility doesn’t necessarily suggest they will be used in the scene. I like how they look though.
We have photos showing what may be Adam Driver, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Harrison Ford and Daisy Ridley all wearing what could be x-wing suits and Alliance uniforms? If you had a suspicious mind, you might think we’re being had! – That’s it’s all a deliberate setup.
I don’t think they would build half a Falcon and hire 50-or-so people just as a massive decoy operation. If so, they must be _really_ desperate to cover up something important going on elsewhere.
(sorry not meant as a direct response, this was the only way to post)
It’s cool to get some more news/leaks but I’d prefer JJ do the leaking. It would be nice to get perhaps a few characters names with a photo of the actor in costume. I feel like his pics are just a bit too ambiguous, while funny I think He might be repeating his over-the-top secrecy mistake.
It’d be no more than pocket change for them and not really much of a challenge either. I’ve no doubt at all that they’ve been involved in lots of misdirection in the media over the last few months. The stakes here are colossal!
What If the entire movie is one elaborate hoax?
I think thats how a lot of fans feel. Like they dont ‘really’ belive they’re making a new movie. I dont think it’s truly going to hit home until the first trailer surfaces, at which point grown men will exit theaters crying.
Correction sir, I will cry only once I’ve seen the opening crawl lol
So…they’re spending a couple hundred million dollars to make it *seem* like they’re shooting a movie?
I’m intrigued by the helicopter. the only case of an aerial shot in OT is maybe in the opening sequence on Hoth. Star Wars to my knowledge is not very big on overhead flying shots that would require a heli’ to film, EXCEPT for shots from within the cockpit of a spacecraft. The helicopter suggests JJ opted to show the entirety of the rebel (i still call them rebels?) base from above in a moving shot – which would be unprecedented in a sw movie, and would be in my opinion a little bit of a departure from the traditional Star Wars aesthetic and would be a little off-putting and cliche’. However, suppose their plan is to take the shot, matte in some CG countryside (or city?) around the real-life set, and then paste it into the window of the millennium falcon, so you could see the base as ‘falcon pilot “X” lands the thing, that would be a very good and immersive shot that would feel right at home in a sw movie
agreed.
Wasn’t that horrible shot of obiwan vs grievous chase a cg aerial shot? Don’t worry. After the prequels, its mostly impossible to b upset by the visuals of this movie. Everyone involved talks about the old fashion feel. In the other hand, I don’t think an aerial shot would destroy the essence of StarWars. Each episode of the original trilogy was innovating and bringing something new technically.
I know they did big sweeping aerial shots in SW Special Edition, but I always felt those scenes were jarring and a little off-putting, and it would be nice to see JJ and crew NOT do that.
There were helicopter shots over the plains of Hoth in ESB. Problem with that? Or the wide aerial shots over the Guatemalan jungle in SW? Stop complaining and wait ’til you see the damn film.
Here we go with more complaints from you peeps. Everytime i come here to this web site, most of you all cry and bytch about everything no matter what is a rumor or fact. Do yourselves a favor and get a life, or dont follow the saga anymore. Picky fans will never be satisifed no matter what scenes they film. DAM !!!!!!
BE THANKFULL THEY MAKING A PART 7 !!! YOU ALL WANT TO GO BACK TO THE DAYS WE ALL THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE NO MORE SW MOVIES ?
QUIT CRYING !!!!
I somewhat agree, Anonymous. The best news about the rumors I’ve heard so far is that the movie will be far better than most, if not all, of the ridiculous fan speculation surrounding them.
Hear, Hear, Anonymous! This bickering is pointless! Ep. 7 will soon crush all of this silly skittishness and anxiety in one swift stroke.
Anon 04:40 AM:
Stop crying and bitching about an exaggerated problem. It’s not that bad.
The site was a usa nuclear weapons silos in the 1980’s with alot of greenery and trees. So a endor fell about it
im not bi***ing, i’m stating my aesthetic opinion from a cinematographic point of view. Maybe you shouldn’t take these comments so seriously eh? That said I loved reading your “appraisal” of my statement, keep up the counter-bi***ing!
If some props were in Abu Dhabi, maybe they’re using only the “base part” and will replace digitally the rest with the desert planet (not to say Tatooine and avoid endless discuss on the subject…).
Forgive my ignorance but where do the ariel pictures come from? Camera mounted on a drone perhaps? Seems a tad sus for my liking.
Yes, it’s been explained on other websites that this footage has been obtained by using a drone. Nothing sus about it at all.
I made this for u fanboys >> http://i.imgur.com/772VGHe.jpg
For a minute, I thought that was going to be a shock site. Phew! No trouble, only a clever little image. It’s neat and funny, good job.
Oh my Lulz! That is hillarious!
Thanks for clearing that up 😀
Has anybody else noticed that the falcon has a square antenna/dish now,
the original round one was destroyed inside the second death star on ep. VI….
who is the a*hole who is taking these drone photos? and why is this website endorsing this unethical (and criminal) behavior??
His Name is most likely JJ Abrams
It will be difficult to smuggle in milk and beef without the empire noticing any activity. That`s why the cows are there.
Check out the two X-Wing shots, especially the one with blue stripe and its arrangement of how the two cannons are attached to air foil, it make me wonder how the “S foil” splits this time, looks to me the foils in its open position will look like a dragonfly, maybe?
Yes i saw that. Pretty sure the front half of the wing will drop down whilst the back half will raise up when in attack. 🙂
Sooo this brings us back to the CGI discussion on the falcon. Maybe the Batman video was filmed at a stage where the falcon was not yet finished as we see above. So they finished the model with CGI. 😉
The falcon needed a new antenna dish as the last one was lost in the Death Star assault – Lando must have replaced it with an upgrade! Love the attention to detail
Very cool indeed! And I also notice that it looks a lot like the dish that gets blasted off of the hull of the blockade runner at the beginning of ANH, which is a nice touch.
haven’t you seen the other photos of the MF?? It has a complete side.
Sure I have seen those photos but you don’t know WHEN the Batman shot was filmed. It’s exactly the parts that look more CGI’ish that are not yet finished in the images above (e.g. the cockpit)
ill say the whole thing is real. the camera just has a softish look
These are the best pics I have seen yet! I LOVE the modifications to the X-Wings and Falcon – and that comes from someone who grew up with the original trilogy. I am sure there are going to be many who completely disagree with me, but I always wanted to see what an upgraded or new Falcon would look like (was hoping to see that in the Prequels) and now we may finally get a chance to see that! I think that it is perfect too given the rumored story in the Cantina. Keep up the good work J.J. and give us the most epic space battle ever seen on film – no pressure 🙂
Did anyone notice one of the X wings is bright white? This is going to be awesome… they all look cool. I Love the burned exhaust on the engines… nice touch.
I was hoping to see something about the Falcon in the PQs too..
This is so obviously misdirection its funny, it would not cost much to set that up to look real. Every single last detail has probably been planned out before this including all the misdirections. The real filming is probably happening somewhere else and this is just bait to lower eyes away from the real stuff.
I bet if you saw the accounts for the film it would even say misdirection budget somewhere.
When were these Spanish drone pics taken? The intro to this article says these are photos of “an unfinished Millennium Falcon that is in the process of being built”, but if these are really pics from a few weeks back, then why are they only surfacing now? No, I think these are current pics of the set being dismantled, now that filming at this location has wrapped.
And in reply to Anonymous (13:28), the X-wing with the blue stripe is a flat plywood cutout, so the way the cannons look like they are attached to the S-foils is most likely an illusion due to the forced-perspective of the painting and the angle we’re seeing it at vs. the angle it was intended to be seen (the filming camera). Down at the bottom right in the last Spanish drone pic, the ship with the blue tarp on it is actually the backside of one of the painted X-wing flats. Flats like these were used in ANH to help fill out the background X-wings in the Massassi hangar (as well as other things in the film like the distant vent pipes hanging from the ceiling in the Death Star chasm swing-across scene. Painted plywood flats were also used for the background pod racers in TPM).
Prequel fanatics ready to *practical effects* troll in 3… 2… 1…
“I think these are current pics of the set being dismantled,”
Exactly. If these photos are more recent it’s obvious they are dismantling MF
The shoot at Greenham is probably over and the crew is dismantling the Falcon. The reason why it was half “complete” in previous photos is because that is the only side of the Falcon that will be in the shot. There is most likely no fighting going on here and its probably just a Yavin or another Rebel base scene.
Love how we get photos of this kind, without having a clue what the story is. Excellent distraction, and It keeps me happy.
Yeah totally… would prefer JJ leaked this stuff instead though!
I want to see a few promo shots of actors in costume from JJ, I think that could be done without revealing anything that would spoil the plot.
These are fantastic pics, and that shot of the black X-wing may give us another clue as to how the wings open.
From the front views we’ve seen, it looks like the engines themselves don’t split when the wings open (though the four exhausts visible in the black X-wing pic suggest that I may be wrong about that.) But it looks like there is a broad collar-type hinge encircling each engine about a third of the way aft of the engine intake.
Perhaps the wings themselves open on these rotating hinges, with the engines themselves remaining stationary?
I would put money on the engines coming apart / being part of the opening mechanism. The McQuarrie paintings show the engines separating, like on the cover art for “the art of Star Wars, episode IV a new hope”
Actually, you’re absolutely right. I did some more hunting and found the following photo of JJ standing in front of the engine intake of the X-wing from the Force for Change video.
http://www.fanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/jj-abrams-star-wars-episode-vii-x-wing-530×301.jpg
You can clearly see the horizontal line where the engine splits.
So yes, we’re definitely looking at a very close approximation of the early McQuarrie production painting. ;^)
Beautiful hangar for a republic/rebel secret base with those big holes for land and take off.
Wow, was not expecting such a different radar dish on the Falcon. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to, but I can already see how it could work really well.
And of course I like that real modifications HAVE been made to it over the last 30 years, which is only what you would expect to happen.
I love it. Yes. I love it.
Any doubts Star Wars Episode VII will win the Oscar? But, talking about Oscar, how it will work? Can Star Wars 7 be nominated to Oscar 2016 or it will nominated for Oscar 2017?
It will be too good to get an Oscar.
The 88th Academy Awards in 2016 is for all films released between January 1 and December 31, 2015.
Given Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled for release before the nomination deadline, the 88th is the ceremony to watch.
Anyone else notice the large tree roots on the sides of the bunker/hangar walls behind the X-Wing? Possibly some very large CGI trees will be added on top of the bunkers.
If there are roots then perhaps it is that Dantoonie Jedi bunker base? Because it’s looking more like it is…
@Paulo
It’s ok to be excited- even a little giddy but calm down sparky. At least wait until you see a trailer first before climbing up to that diving board 😉
Damn good call on the tree roots on two hangers so we are looking at a lot of action above these areas. It’s got to be a Yavin style local
Someone surely must have commented on the crane by now, the one next to the Falcon, the one that’s painted green. The green color means that the crane will be digitally removed in post, so I assume that there are a couple of shots, where they film the Falcon landing on the rebel site, and they will do it as a 1:1-sized practical effect in-camera, simply lowering the ship to the ground. (Or it’ll be a take-off… or both.) Add glowing lights into the landing thrusters, smoke galore, digitally add some hot plasma exhaust etc., remove the crane & cables, and you will have the real thing on film. No miniature, no CGI spaceship… this will look awesome, I’m pretty sure.
Hmmm…there seems to be an awful lot of green around that green crane though. Blue would be a better colour to use one would think.
However, if the camera is down on the ground and pointing skyward to film the underside of the Falcon ‘coming in for a landing’, then from that angle the green crane would most likely be set against the sky, not the green grass.
I want this movie to come out NOW.
Patience, my young padawan 😉
drones …… stuff like this will force future films to use totally cgi locations and not real ones so they can get on with making the film instead of trying to keep idiots away.
So far i have much like for what I have seen.
I like
– the falcon’s new radar dish.
– the real rebel base set
– the real falcon
– the desert pig
– the real desert set
– the cast
– the stormtrooper design
– the new xwing design.
What could make it all look crap is the film stock or the grading and post – but JJ has stated he wants a gritty realism – which is what works in the OT. I also think another thing that works is the locations being relatable to as kids playing – when it snows its hoth, the sandpit is tatooine, playing in the forest is endor… that works very well for kids! Let’s hope they keep that – red trees from startrek or Avatar glowing landscapes are not as easy for kids to recreate in playtime! I also hope each film opens on space – with an imperial vehicle setting up a threatening presence from the empire. Come on JJ… you can do it…
I am pretty sure the black xwing is Luke’s fighter.
1. Take a look at the markings on the wing. Clearly denoting it as “red 5”. Luke’s ship had 5 red marks on it in OT.
2. It has a unique paint scheme denoting it as some sort of major character’s ship. it is amongst a lot of other “regular” xwings with what looks like a common paint scheme (blue squadron?)
3. It is with the millennium falcon… Highly probable that is is a “hero/good guy ship”. Falcon is Han ship…xwing is Luke’s ship.