Star Wars Episode 7 Crew Briefly Met in Wales. Key Details on Puzzlewood Scene and Cast.

puzzlewood-roots

*Image by Andrew Cox – uktripper.com

 

After the recent hubbub about the Greenham Common set being scrutinized by a variety of prying eyes, there’s a bit of an unexpected report that comes from Total-Geeks: the crew of Star Wars Episode VII had stopped by in Wales, and while no filming was apparently done there, nobody was the wiser. Even more interesting is that the writer was able to figure out a few details regarding a scene that is important to the plot based on a few observations, and that key cast members were there.

 

From Total-Geeks:

…Welsh ‘Star Wars’ fans can now say that ‘Star Wars VII’ has rocked up on their doorstep. And while the multi-million dollar production is yet to film any scenes in our lovely Welsh valleys, they did pitch up tents in Celtic Manor Resort – a luxury, five-star hotel where they stayed for about a week while filming in the Forest of Dean.

 

The reporter from Total-Geeks, Ryan Leston, apparently got his information from a chat with good ol’ J. J. Abrams. You can see them hanging out together here:

 

Abrams Meets A Writer For Total-Geeks

Abrams, true to form, was pretty tight-lipped about the project, but Leston was able to sleuth out a few details.

…For one thing, actors Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Pip Andersen, and Adam Driver were all at the hotel, ready for the shoot. 

 

One thing I heard while sitting with some crew members was the sheer quantity of extras involved. We’re talking thousands of extra hands on set. I currently have no idea whether this was in reference to the shoot at Puzzlewood, but I would suggest that’s the probably the case. Mostly, because it seems that they were filming a rather large-scale battle sequence out in he woods. 

 

That’s right folks – it looks as though ‘Star Wars VII’ will feature a battle scene with thousands of extras. But that’s not all. I have it on good authority that the Puzzlewood shoot involved a full-scale battle which surrounded a pivotal fight scene with some of our main characters. 

 

The actors involved? None other than John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Pip Andersen. I also have word that Adam Driver was on the scene (and spotted him skulking around the hotel) but I’m unable to establish his role in those scenes. And judging from the state of Ridley and Boyega’s stunt doubles, they were in for quite a workout.

 

Star-Wars-Disney1-300x1571

In addition, there were also plenty of details on the tone that Disney is going for and the approach they’re making with the new movies and spin-offs.

There was a lot of business talk at the resort, and with Kathleen Kennedy also heading back and forth the set, it seems there was a lot to discuss. One thing I do know is that there was a bit of strategising when it comes to the tone of the upcoming sequel trilogy. 

 

It was mentioned that Lucasfilm is aiming to differentiate themselves from the Marvel and Pixar brands within the Disney umbrella. To that end, they’re aiming for more of a unified, cohesive tone with the sequel movies… more so than Marvel’s MCU efforts, which tend to mix and match different film styles to keep things fresh. 

 

One thing I would add – judging from the mood in the hotel, the actors are all having an absolute blast on set… and some just can’t believe their luck. I briefly ran into Pip Andersen who was positively beaming as he arrived back at the hotel. It’s unclear whether or not this was Pip’s first scene in the movie. But it could well be the first that we know about. 

 

That aside, the atmosphere is electric and even Abrams himself is visibly excited. And I have a real good feeling about that. Whether or not ‘Star Wars VII’ will return to Wales in order to shoot some scenes remains unknown… but either way, it seems we’ve had a rare brush with the galaxy far, far away.

 

It’s interesting to hear that, considering how so many people have been trying to break into the sets and spoil the entire movie, that we have only now just heard about this information, weeks after the events in question transpired. Score one for the Mystery Box.

 

Special thanks to the honorable MagnarTheGreat for pointing this lead out to us on The Cantina.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

45 thoughts on “Star Wars Episode 7 Crew Briefly Met in Wales. Key Details on Puzzlewood Scene and Cast.

  • September 27, 2014 at 7:14 pm
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    Makes you wonder what else we have been missing! Great Post.

  • September 27, 2014 at 7:19 pm
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    I just love stuff like this. Just positive buzz from all involved.

    Now I have scenes of hundreds of cool star wars characters battling in the woods dancing in my head. I’m hoping for Stormies but I understand that might be a bit to much like Endor heh.

    I figured these films would be much more cohesive instead of a separate feel. Although if this applies to the spin-offs that is surprising.

    • September 27, 2014 at 8:30 pm
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      How tall are these 1000’s of actors..

    • September 27, 2014 at 7:26 pm
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      The fact that they are real living and breathing humans and not digital CGI extras makes it all the more impressive.

      • September 27, 2014 at 7:37 pm
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        And thus, Star Wars turned into The Lord Of The Rings for however long this scene is!

        • September 27, 2014 at 7:48 pm
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          Its funny I recently rewatched The Lord Of The Rings trilogy a few weeks ago and I’ve got to say that those effects hold up better than the prequel effects unfortunately. Some of the PT still look great like the digital cities and space ship visuals, but the battle on Genonsis (sorry for spelling) really show its age on Blu-ray. Where as the the digital armies for LOTRs while clearly CGI to me have more weight to them and feel more real. I am not saying Rings is better then Star Wars, but some of the effects are just better.

          • September 27, 2014 at 9:25 pm
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            I know for the first film LOTR had a lot of extras… did it ever number in the thousands though?

          • September 27, 2014 at 11:12 pm
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            I think if I remember correctly the most they had was around one hundred to two hundred extras and stuntman. So for long shots the first hundred or so Orcs were real people but everything behind them were digital. If this story is true then Star Wars has them beat

          • September 28, 2014 at 5:56 am
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            The Ten Commandments had 3,500 extras and this movie very well could too.

          • September 28, 2014 at 10:56 pm
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            Why use CGI when you can waste millions by using real people/armor? oh, that’s right…to make fanboys happy.

            Honestly, the CG extras in lord of the rings looked real.

          • September 29, 2014 at 2:19 am
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            If by “real” you mean “totally fake looking” then I guess I know what you mean. You can easily make out what’s cgi and what’s real in LOTR. Those Ents were so convincing!

  • September 27, 2014 at 7:33 pm
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    Wow, just imagined how frickin’ hard is to direct a thousand of extras ‘-‘. That scene must be awesome!

  • September 27, 2014 at 8:22 pm
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    Thousands of extras would seem an exaggeration, given that so many would certainly be noticed by the media. Hundreds is more likely, but still very impressive. And literally anybody could come and go unnoticed amongst that number!

    • September 27, 2014 at 10:20 pm
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      A hundred max. Given the size of Puzzlewood and its carpark.

      • September 27, 2014 at 10:31 pm
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        If they had literally thousands of extras, we would have known. How could they possibly locate that many people that would meticulously stay faithful to their NDAs? But they could have, say, a hundred extras, and with a little digital trickery (combining various takes) they could become a huge army of thousands. I believe the huge pack of wookies in Episode 3 was produced in such a way.

        • September 28, 2014 at 10:59 pm
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          the fact that you don’t know for sure tells me tht the special effects in the prequels were not all that bad.

  • September 27, 2014 at 9:24 pm
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    Hmm. Could Pip Andersen be the third member of the ST’s trio of heroes?

    • September 27, 2014 at 9:40 pm
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      No!

      • September 28, 2014 at 5:32 am
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        With moves and looks like him…YES!!!!!!!

        • September 28, 2014 at 10:58 pm
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          pip is just a glorified stuntman. He is not going to be a lead.

    • September 28, 2014 at 10:38 am
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      Highly doubtful. He wasn’t announced as a member of the principal cast (like Daisy and John) and he has no major credits (like Gwen and Lupita).

      He’s a parkour expert, so he could be a “physical villain” like Boba Fett or Darth Maul (i.e. a character who exists to physically fight/chase our heroes).

    • September 28, 2014 at 12:44 pm
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      pip is zep or another Lasat.

  • September 27, 2014 at 11:40 pm
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    Damn. I work in an office about 10 mins drive from that hotel. Everyday I read all the set reports and rumors and they are all staying practically on my doorstep.

  • September 27, 2014 at 11:46 pm
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    celtic manor is a golf resort , i once met ant andor dec in that hotel after watching west ham beat preston north end in the championship playoffs .

    • September 28, 2014 at 5:34 am
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      Why not?

    • September 28, 2014 at 5:52 am
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      69,000 for around the world in 80 days.
      38,000 performers and 1000 men with shaved heads for Metropolis.
      Many of the extras could be playing dead bodies with others running about in battle.
      Buses can bring in dressed extras by the drones.
      And with people saying about ADA violations, even with this many people with Cell phones does not mean we could make heads or tales out of what they get, look at all the leaks we got already.
      There are many other films that used tons of extras even with having to direct animals in the scenes. JJ has lots of hired help on this one.

    • September 28, 2014 at 11:03 pm
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      You means there are some ‘real’ effects that aren’t practical?!?

      Rats! I was looking forward to seeing Disney build a full-scale model of Cloud City and using electromagnetic forces to keep it up in Earth’ upper atmosphere while filming it with 35mm.

      • September 29, 2014 at 2:21 am
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        Wow way to strawman. Surely you realize the difference being: one method is physically possible in the real world while cloud cities are sort of hard to come by.

        • September 30, 2014 at 11:22 pm
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          Last time i checked the script of reality it said nothing about Bioshock being real.

    • September 28, 2014 at 10:25 pm
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      This would not surprise me if the rumors about Han being the plot driver are accurate. I find it likely that Corellia will at some point make an appearance in Rebels. The Ghost is a Corellian ship. Does Corellia appear in clone wars? Makes me feel like Lucas had been keeping Han’s background and his planet for the squeal series he knew he would eventually sell.

      • September 28, 2014 at 11:55 pm
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        Nope, Corellia has only been mentioned in canonical material. It has yet to make a physical appearance outside of “Legends”.

  • September 28, 2014 at 12:55 pm
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    I visited Puzzlewood the day after the shoot finished -the first time it was reopened to the public. There is no way, in my opinion, that thousands of extras could physically be present on such a small site, characterised by narrow, winding routes. Open spaces are few and small. It’s far more likely that thousands pertains to Episode VII as a whole.
    I can’t add a lot of detail, but Pip’s presence – and his abilities – is consistent with the little info I gleaned. Knew Ridley was there, but Driver and Boyega is news and very welcome. Ford, Fisher and Hamill were not present.
    Two more things I learned: The first is consistent with what been hearing, that stormtroopers were on set (what version, I don’t know). The second thing is there appeared to be at least two specific locations within the site used in filming – these were marked by laminates on poles, but the names were not Star Wars names, rather names descriptive of the locations. That’s all I know.
    Can’t wait to find out whether the supposed forest planet – last seen, with snow, in latest leaked production art – is related to Puzzlewood. I’m not sure. Some reports have said there were treehouses at Pinewood Studios. That’s interesting as Puzzlewood has some man-made camps – not quite treehouses but bridges and so on. Note: these were not built for the shoot, they pre-existed it. For what it’s worth, Puzzlewood is markedly different to Endor. If anything it’s closer in appearance to Dagobah (although I’m sure it isn’t Dagobah).
    Lately I’ve been wondering whether the Greenham Common hangars and Puzzlewood are one and the same planet. As for the snow, I imagine – Puzzlewood or not – it’s a forest / planet where it snowed as opposed to a snow planet. That said, reports of ice or mountains are not going away.

  • September 28, 2014 at 1:15 pm
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    Sorry, forgot to add to my earlier comments that there was some allusion – can’t say from whom – of a villainous presence. I inferred – with little discouragement from source – that the faction was Sith, or something similar. I imagine this is what the parkour skills are for. I doubt Pip is a lead in same way as Driver etc. I imagine, although it’s speculation on my part, that it’s a Ray Park type deal.

  • September 28, 2014 at 7:17 pm
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    I’m thinking either Kira (that’s daisy’s codename) Boyega and Driver are being attacked/chased by Pip (hopefully in a suit) and a gang of baddies Kira and Boyega are being chased by Driver and Pip + baddies.
    Or perhaps they are being chased by mislead Republic Troopers?

    • September 28, 2014 at 11:06 pm
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      …. or maybe they being chased by the Sith… or mybe they’re being chased by Chrome Troopers… or maybe they’re being chased by Jabba the Hutt…

      who’se to say.

    • September 29, 2014 at 1:14 am
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      Could it be Pip Maul? If so, please, please – PLEASE don’t be fetted!

  • September 28, 2014 at 11:50 pm
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    No effects will be used in this movie. All of the technology will be made from scratch to give it that sense of authenticity.

  • September 29, 2014 at 2:27 am
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    @pomojema technically you’re wrong: Corellia made appearances in both Star Wars MMOs 🙂

    • September 29, 2014 at 3:57 am
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      …Neither of which are canon anymore. Both Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars: The Old Republic are branded as “Legends” properties, and not part of the continuity that Disney is going forward with.

      • September 29, 2014 at 5:55 pm
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        I’m not up to speed on what is and is not canon. I SINCERELY hope that they canned The Force Unleashed arc. Darth Vader’s betrayal against Sidious was totally obsolete by the suggestion that he actually tried to do that exact same thing 10 years ago, I mean come on! James Earl Jones clearly is not a star wars fan if he willingly voiced those videogames.

        Kyle was cool though, but he had horrible graphics rendering.

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