Art Imitates Life: Are The Force Awakens Concept Artists Taking Inspiration from Real Photos?

TheForceAwakensSeveral members from our forum The Cantina, conducted some impressive detective work and created a thread with several real life photos that probably have been used by The Force Awakens concept artists for inspiration while working on the movie…

 

 

BEWARE OF POTENTIAL SPOILERS

 

 

A seemingly goofy behind the scenes photo that Mark Hamill took during filming of the Return of the Jedi could supply the basis for a now famous and divisive piece of concept art. During production of the Rancor pit scene in Return of the Jedi, Mark Hamill posed for his own silly take on Hamlet. It was just picture of a man having some fun with the props laying around on the set. But it bears a striking similarity to a certain piece of concept art that was leaked early during production of The Force Awakens. A piece of concept art that had fans divided over who exactly we were looking at in this image.

 

Luke

 

The similarities between the next concept art and the photo with Adam Driver are unquestionable. In the photo Adam Driver poses for Vogue magazine.

 

 
Adam Driver

 

In the next image you can see a concept art with Max von Sydow’s character (that we described before HERE), and photo with the actor from the movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. You can see that the art is a complete copy of the photo. You can even notice some of the background elements from the photo used in the art.

 

Max von Sydow

 

The next one is a comparison between a new concept art with what appears to be cave and Ralph McQuarrie’s art with the Emperor’s original throne room from ROTJ.

 

Cave

 

And the last one is a very cool observation on the background of the famous Grave Robber concept art and where it originated from.

 

Grave Robber

 

We’re in no way trying to draw any conclusions based on these images. We’re not saying that this is Luke in the first image gazing at his father’s helmet. We don’t even know if these concept arts will be used in the movie. So treat this article just as a fun piece. Artists using real life images for inspiration is also completely normal so this shouldn’t surprise us at all.

 

 

Thanks to all the Cantina members that contributed to the thread HERE.

 

Website | + posts

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

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

59 thoughts on “Art Imitates Life: Are The Force Awakens Concept Artists Taking Inspiration from Real Photos?

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:12 pm
    Permalink

    I dont understan whats the relation with episode iii screenshot… someone?

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:18 pm
    Permalink

    Concept art is fake. 🙁

    • July 3, 2015 at 8:24 pm
      Permalink

      Source? A lot of it has been confirmed via trailers

      • July 3, 2015 at 10:24 pm
        Permalink

        Disney’s star wars is rakennettiin 🙂 🙂

        • July 3, 2015 at 11:32 pm
          Permalink

          “fake”

        • July 5, 2015 at 2:08 pm
          Permalink

          When I wrote “fake”, it transformed it “rakennettiin” because my tablet has finnish system, which repair words has written “in wrong way”. So it was my mistake because I didn’t check it before it was too late. You don’t have to hate my people due to this case. It’s also very racist to say so, and I have understanding this site is permissive for different races.

          • July 5, 2015 at 10:44 pm
            Permalink

            Uhm finnish isnt a race, its a nationality … just trying to help you understand the difference before you start flinging around the word racist

          • July 7, 2015 at 4:47 pm
            Permalink

            What is funny, as a non-Finnish speaker, I thought you were making up a new way of saying “raking it in”, as in “it will rake in the money when it is released.”

    • July 4, 2015 at 8:21 am
      Permalink

      The concept art is concept art, as in not a finished representation. Also it is common for conceptual artists to use real photos as a visual reference.

      There are zero clues about the plot to be found here.

      Srsly.

    • July 5, 2015 at 1:30 am
      Permalink

      yeah, and Jakku is really Tatooine. yeah, yeah, I’ve heard your conspiracy theories before. You sound like those Ancient Aliens people on History channel.

      • July 5, 2015 at 5:59 pm
        Permalink

        I have not ever claimed Jakku is Tatooine.

        • July 6, 2015 at 6:11 pm
          Permalink

          Its Jakkooine. Everybody knows that.

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:19 pm
    Permalink

    Even if these hypothetical comparisons don’t materialise in the final footage, this is a great reminder of the depth of love, knowledge and pragmatism that envelopes many Star Wars fans.

    I really enjoyed this post and the ponderings it suggests!

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:40 pm
    Permalink

    Wait, didn’t that thread stuff just happen today or yesterday? That’s quick to the news board!

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:43 pm
    Permalink

    Forgive me if I’m being dense, but with the exception of the vader-skull, don’t these pictures suggest that the leaked art is fake? Why would a concept-artist like-for-like copy pre-existing photos like these if they’re trying to create something new and original? This was how we could tell that the still of Luke was faked earlier right? Looks suspect if you ask me…

    • July 3, 2015 at 10:20 pm
      Permalink

      Yeah that’s part of what’s being discussed in the Cantina thread. Go check it out.

    • July 4, 2015 at 12:00 am
      Permalink

      This is done all the time in concept art to save time… nothing else… not everything an artist does has to be hand painted… and the details of the art are not the background… it’ essentially filler…

    • July 4, 2015 at 5:26 am
      Permalink

      Concept artists, especially these days, do that all the time. They are also setting the movie in an established universe with an established aesthetic. They probably copy pasted tons of stuff for the initial brainstorming phase.

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:47 pm
    Permalink

    I am kinda affraid the man who holds Vader helmet could be Luke, because it’s the only of the big three who hasn’t been revealed, and the fact that Hamill repeatedly says his beard is contractual could be a huge misinformation. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but Luke is the hooded guy with mech arm in the teaser (I think the voice over kinda confirms that as it did with Leia), so i am not imagining a movie with this same concept repeated. I am confused, and if thats really the case, i regreat to have seen this concept.

    • July 4, 2015 at 2:29 am
      Permalink

      I agree, the minute he said contractually obligated beard, I thought it might be a red herring

      • July 5, 2015 at 4:07 am
        Permalink

        Didn’t Abrams say they would be doing an unprecedented misinformation campaign for TFA?

    • July 4, 2015 at 3:12 am
      Permalink

      It’s not. It’s a character that is a friend of Daisy Ridley’s character and is a survivor from the Clone Wars.

    • July 4, 2015 at 8:49 am
      Permalink

      I am in agreement with you on this perception. Very well articulated my friend.

  • July 3, 2015 at 8:51 pm
    Permalink

    Interesting…very interesting

  • July 3, 2015 at 9:08 pm
    Permalink

    I was Googling for Star Wars Spoilers and someone has released “Star Wars Spoiler Antidote Hypnotherapy”. https://www.google.com/search?q=%22star%20wars%20spoiler%20antidote%20hypnotherapy%22&rct=j&qscrl=1

    I downloaded the track and it’s a soothing voice that you’re meant to play while you sleep I guess, that tells your subconscious to forget all the spoilers you’ve heard before you go to watch the film for real.

    I can’t avoid the spoilers! But I don’t want to read the spoilers! Maybe this will give me the best of both worlds. I’m going to try it, but I guess I won’t know for sure till December 21st!

    It’s on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play etc. Let us know how you get on.

  • July 3, 2015 at 9:13 pm
    Permalink

    To be perfectly honest, this has always been done with concept art. Especially if the actors have been cast prior to some of the art being done or if their targeting a specific actor for that part. As for the star destroyer control panel and windows being used, this is also normal. They used the readily available photo of the Star Destroyer console and windows as the background for the piece. What they probably did was use the oil paint filter from Photoshop on the console/windows and then painted the foreground on separate layers in Photoshop. This is done with concept art nowadays (for more than a decade actually) so that changes can be made to a picture rapidly and as needed without having to repaint the whole thing.

  • July 3, 2015 at 9:23 pm
    Permalink

    All I know is that this movie will be fu#$&ng dope. I hope they make Luke a powerful bad ass mother$@cker.

  • July 3, 2015 at 10:11 pm
    Permalink

    You lost me at the last one. It was explained so bad, it took me 10 minutes to finally figure out wtf we’re looking for. And once I figured it out, it was not even worth the time and effort. Weak.
    All the other ones before that were great tho!

  • July 3, 2015 at 10:31 pm
    Permalink

    Looks like Luke might be the cyborg after all. I was so cheering for this! Great detective work.

  • July 3, 2015 at 11:10 pm
    Permalink

    Luke is a cyborg….

    • July 4, 2015 at 5:46 am
      Permalink

      Luke isn’t a cyborg, bet you

    • July 4, 2015 at 9:33 pm
      Permalink

      He’s more practical effect now than man. Tangible and evil.

  • July 3, 2015 at 11:59 pm
    Permalink

    Funny they didn’t employ famous hack tracer Greg Land. I heard Greg Land has a Star Wars Marvel comic in his future. Beware.

  • July 4, 2015 at 12:07 am
    Permalink

    As a designer I can tell you that tracing and using source images, often called “scrap” is an age old practice. Why create from scratch when you can modify existing images. You have to remember this concept art is ALLl for work, does your job pay you for long processes or the results? There is a fantasy that these artists are just doing it for the love and every image is a masterpiece. The film is the goal, concept art gets them there, the efficiency of tracing and using scrap be happen as long as there are deadlines.

  • July 4, 2015 at 12:40 am
    Permalink

    Well the above image the throne room, which I believe to be the part filmed on Skellig Michael….If that is like like people think it is his boots and lower body look very much like Kylo and not Luke.

  • July 4, 2015 at 5:54 am
    Permalink

    Doesn’t Max von Sydow look a bit too much like Alec Guiness?? hmmm

  • July 4, 2015 at 6:58 am
    Permalink

    There are 2 possibilities.

    1# the Cyborg is Andy Serkis as “Snoke”.

    2# the Cyborg is Luke,

    but consider this:

    What if Luke is UNDERCOVER?

    Suppose Luke fakes his death, and then being a cyborg, INFILTRATES the first Order Regime, gaining Kylo Ren’s trust to discover who Kylo’s TRUE master is.
    Mind you, this would require a ton of balls for JJ and KK to attempt, this making Luke a cyborg is VERY risky to say the least,

    but for the sake of argument, let’s assume Luke is the Graverobber who has access to Star Destroyer accomodations and presumably Kylo’s trust,
    what is the significance of the Anakin’s lightsaber?
    Is the lightsaber perhaps a SIGNAL?
    Suppose Luke made a “prophecy” to Leia, saying “When the saber of the chosen one and the redeemer makes itself shown, the war against evil will recommence” or something to that effect, then he disappears, the First Order becomes more reckless and out-of-control, then “Cyborg Leader” sends the Stormtrooper Finn [whom Luke/Mr. Cyborg realizes has his doubts] to go on some mission where he discovers the lightsaber, and then Luke manipulates the behind-the-scenes around the characters to make Finn end up at Leia’s doorstep, thus Leia sees the Lightsaber, and assumes this is the prophecy, and commences the war against the First Order tyranny [hence, we ONLY see the X-Wings AFTER Tatooine, the Forest planet is the first battle of the new war].

    Meanwhile, Rey starts getting wise that someone is following them / manipulating them, and ends up tracking the Cyborg to some remote mountain place, where she then meets Cyborg Luke, where Luke explains that he has been a counter agent all along, setting the First Order into a trap that would force it into an early defeat at the hands of the [up to this point diplomatically hesitant] Resistance.
    However he further explains that Kylo has figured out the deal, and that the Time is nigh that he will reveal himself to be Luke the Jedi, and do battle with the Sith once again.

    Or the concept art is fake to throw us out of the loop…. *crickets*

  • July 4, 2015 at 8:22 am
    Permalink

    The force is strong in my family! My father had it … I have it … you have it! What was really meant by that phrase? My father had it: Original Trilogy 1977-1983 represents J.J. Abram’s introduction to the Star Wars saga came from what his father educated him in his life with VHS tapes of 1980s! I have it: was EP I-III and special editions on DVD (to also include EP IV-VI from 1995 special editions brought back to theatres with small changes)! You have it: now is 2015 and everything before in blue-ray (NOT DVD … NOT VHS ALSO)! Blue Ray and 4G for 2015, 2017 and 2020’s should be held to movie formats, widely, until technology finds cheaper higher picture clear resolution! Note: symbolism in trailers of pictures.

    • July 5, 2015 at 3:57 am
      Permalink

      The line is “my father has it” not “had.”

  • July 4, 2015 at 10:20 am
    Permalink

    The cyborg is definitely snoke IMO. Also, I think perhaps the cyborg holding vaders hermit was drawing on hamlet as inspiration rather that mark Hamil instating hamlet in a random set photo. Likewise I think the throne room images are just both creepy thrones drawn in a vaguely similar way. It’s cool that you guys made the connections since It’s fun to speculate, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. The MVS pic looks legit though!

    • July 5, 2015 at 4:00 am
      Permalink

      They clearly used Mark as inspiration for that pic as it has Mark’s mouth. I don’t think Luke is a cyborg, though. I think that is either Kylo (most likely to me) or Snoke.

  • July 4, 2015 at 12:35 pm
    Permalink

    @Viral Hide & everyone else who even suspects that the person in the concept art holding Vader’s helmet is Luke…

    ALL of the concept art is flipped because the trailer shows the actual view of Vader’s helmet. WHICH MEANS the person holding the helmet has a robotic LEFT HAND. Luke lost his right hand.

    It’s not Luke. It’s either Snoke or Kylo Ren post credits scene. End of story.

    • July 4, 2015 at 1:55 pm
      Permalink

      Luke was hooded in the trailer to throw everyone off. He is a cyborg under that. Trust me.

  • July 4, 2015 at 12:57 pm
    Permalink

    No post credit scene:that shiz should be left for Marvel…it ain’t starwars.

  • July 4, 2015 at 4:34 pm
    Permalink

    concept artits art will always take inspiration from real photos, thoughts, memories, dreams, landscapes, books, sounds…mixed with their imagination, all kind of photos they keep in their minds, visual information they have been watching over the years.
    In this case, photos from the actors and a movie of the same saga.
    Or whatever…
    Probably not. i’m not a concept artist.

  • July 4, 2015 at 4:39 pm
    Permalink

    No Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens book. All the concept art is from the OT. No reason to rehash this. ” I’ve got a bad feeling about this” art being recycled. These concepts aren’t original, they’re just finally used in a movie, instead of ideas tossed about for a movie. I hope the movie is going to be good, since it’s just cutting room floor scraps from the OT. Let’s see if the dialog lives up to the newly anticipated hype.

    • July 5, 2015 at 4:02 am
      Permalink

      Empire and Jedi both used unused concepts and art.

  • July 4, 2015 at 5:45 pm
    Permalink

    I can’t believe I been reading this site for almost 3 years lol Happy 4th everyone!

  • July 5, 2015 at 10:20 am
    Permalink

    “My father HAS it” accompanied by a picture of Vader’s burnt out helmet (may very well refer to Luke as it uses present tense, or even Han in reference to his discovered force ability – he is renowned for his uncanny “luck”). “I have it” together with an (unidentified – maybe Luke, but my gut says Kylo Ren) exposed mechanical hand. “My sister has it” with a picture of a person (that seems to be Rey) receiving a lightsaber (or could this be Leia? I’m not feeling this one). “And you have it” immediately gives the sense of a family connection, but could easily refer to Fenn. So, does “Father” = Vader or Luke or Han? Does “I” = Luke or Kylo (the Kylo connection being he is Han’s son), does “Sister” = Leia or Rey (the Rey connection being she is Kylo’s sister), does “You” = Kylo, Fenn or Rey? My guess is the dialogue is Luke speaking to Rey, or Kylo speaking to Rey (as in ROTJ when Luke is revealing the force/family connection to Leia). I have trouble seeing how this could be addressed to Fenn, but welcome suggestions 🙂

    • July 5, 2015 at 2:24 pm
      Permalink

      I think it can’t be Luke because “my father has it” would be improper English holding the helmet (signifying death like Mark Hammill holding skull in set of Rancor pit) to now a “spiritual entity” should Anakin still speak to Luke! The helmet is a relic of the past and “had it” is the proper tense to teach (since Anakin’s spirit will nor has spoken to the other person)! — AND WE WOULD THEN TALK ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IN THE NEW MOVIE! I then think it is Kylo Ren (referring to sister as Rey, father as Luke) who has a child (cross breed to aliens similar to the prequel younglings)!? ONLY WAY ENGLISH TENSE MAKES SENSE!

  • July 5, 2015 at 12:45 pm
    Permalink

    Hmm, Kylo and Rey as siblings? (Twins?) The offspring of Han and Leia? One hidden away on a desert planet involved in peddling junk? The other caught up in politics, maybe even succumbing to the lure of power (the dark side) hence the need for the force to “awaken”?

  • July 5, 2015 at 1:25 pm
    Permalink

    Kylo, on his quest to discover his true potential, finds his (twin) sister (maybe even discovering he has a sister for the first time) has in her possession a powerful artifact (Vader’s lightsaber), and will stop at nothing to obtain said artifact. Rey seeks out Luke, and here begins the dialogue of trailer 2…?

  • July 5, 2015 at 5:03 pm
    Permalink

    Mystery of who is holding Vader-mask saying,”The force is strong in my family … father has it (!? Alive) … sister has it … I have it … and you have it!” The English tense would have to differ from Luke Skywalker telling his “twin sister” Ewok-gown Leia before facing their father, “… Just like my sister has it! Yes! It is you, Leia! You have it too!”

    If Anakin is now part of the “life-force (surrounding and binding)” that Obi-Wan and Yoda share then father is “alive spiritually” for Luke Skywalker? What about uncle Owen and aunt Beru? The term father would be loosely applied there, perhaps? Knowing a foster step-father all one’s life makes them a father! Ben Kenobi watching over Luke would and did know Owen and Beru’s fate! A POSSIBLE STAGED DEATH MEANING LUKE SKYWALKER CAN NOW RE-UNITE WITH UNCLE OWEN SINCE IT WAS NECESSARY FOR LUKE TO FULFILL HIS DESTINY!? It was said after ANH Luke Skywalker would not have gone on if his foster parents, he knew were alive!?

    Next theory!? Did Emperor Palpatine see weakness in Stormtroopers unable to shoot straight or his bumbling officers to ever stop the rebellion? Using Anakin’s “midi-chlorids” blood to create clones NOW BROTHER AND SISTER NEW TROOPERS ON IMPERIAL SHIPS GROWING UP (also in 1970s movie Manchurian Candidate)! One on Jakku, named Rey … another on Hoth, named Kylo Ren!?

  • July 6, 2015 at 8:23 am
    Permalink

    Could it be….that both hands are robotic. It doesn’t show his other hand holding Vader’s helmet.
    I don’t think it’s Luke, it can’t be because this person is on imperial ship.

    • July 6, 2015 at 11:36 am
      Permalink

      It could be another droid designed by Anakin as Darth Vader! Remember C3-PO was supposedly built by Anakin as a slave child; and, on the imperial ships he felt enslaved to another master, Emperor Palpatine instead of Watto! Also! I mis-stated my Emperor clone theory movie above: Not Manchurian Candidate (1962 cold war leader placement) but rather “The Boys From Brazil” movie (1978 Gregory Peck cloning children of Hitler)!

  • July 6, 2015 at 1:32 pm
    Permalink

    I was guessing Rey looks like young Shmi Skywalker rather than Padme (or Queen Amidala) and Princess Leia to support my Emperor Palpatine creating clone children for Darth Vader theory! The imperial children created by Kamino cloners Taun Wei and Lama Su was put in place since 2nd death star as the Emperor knew what Sith bargain he had for Anakin’s compliant turn to the “dark side” (save pregnant Padme).

    Other theories to Rey (and Kylo Ren) could be that the only politically powerful Princess married! Han Solo is appearing to just be a millennium falcon driver, again like in original trilogy! If Princess Leia did not marry Han Solo then she married Snotke (mysterious Sith lord of TFA) or Max Von Sydow’s character who may be an old Jedi (Luke and Leia’s age but untracked rebel)! Then Rey can have parallel looks to Shmi, Padme and Leia – SINCE THAT IS THE ONLY RELATIBLE FACE WE SEE IN THE TRAILERS!

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET