I went to ‘The Art of Star Wars’ to keep my fiance company – I enjoy the films, but have to admit, I am not a massive fan.
I expected to be standing by, waiting until we could move on, however, how surprised was I when I discovered that I was enjoying myself at this exploration of the work of the creative artists involved in making the Star Wars films.
Within this exhibition (which is situated in the City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh – right next door to Waverley Station, very handy for out-of-towners), you will find the work of set and costume designers, model-makers, graphic artists and others.
The exhibition is spread over 5 floors – this means that things are not too crowded, and you are not
peering over someone’s shoulder to get a look.
I’ll try to give you a taster of what I saw:
ARTWORK – Ground Floor Here you will see the work of graphic artists – these artists produce ‘concept designs’, used as sources of information and inspiration during the making of the film. Apart from probably being worth a huge amount of money, these pictures are fantastically detailed. I would go so far as to say, I would not be averse to having a couple of them hanging on my wall.
VISUAL EFFECTS AND ‘CREATURES’ – First Floor On this floor, you can discover how visual effects were used to create characters in the Star Wars films – the use of latex models and digital effects etc. There are also models of famous characters, such as Yoda. Plenty here for kids to do, as there are masks that they can try on.
MODELS – Second Floor As you can imagine, there were thousands of models used in the making of the films – spaceships and vehicles. You’ll be amazed how detailed these are on closer inspection, yet also how much they look like kid’s toys, which have been played with a lot!
COSTUMES – Third Floor Costumes always tend to be my favourite bit of exhibitions, and, again, it’s great to see these close up (although, isn’t everyone in Hollywood soooo slim?!). Princess Leia’s outfit looks tiny. And Chewbacca is huge. You can also see Queen Amidala’s elaborate costumes from The Phantom Menace.
DROIDS, SOUND AND (MY FAVOURITE!) DARTH VADER – Fourth Floor Many youngster’s favourite characters, C-3PO and R2D2 are here. Apparently, a golden fibreglass and aluminium suit was designed to a life cast of Anthony Daniels (who plays C-3PO), and it weighs 60 pounds, and took 2 hours to assemble.
You can learn more about the sound effects by listening through the headphones at listening posts – I won’t ruin for you the unexpected way some of the sound effects were done.
OK, my favourite bit – Darth Vader’s room. Oh yes, he gets a room all to himself – pitch black except for blood red lights illuminating his costume, along with the scary breathing sound. Now, I’ve just written a review of Blade 2 – I wasn’t particularly scared of that, but on a sunny Sunday afternoon, in the heart of Edinburgh, I pushed my fiance in before me, and stuck close to the wall!! Fantastic.
There are gift shops and a café, however, I didn’t think the gift shop was up to much. I had expected to see prints of the artwork I’d seen on the first floor, but my fiance bought cd’s of the sound tracks, so he was happy. It sells the usual t-shirts, models of the characters, and dressing up outfits.
I would recommend you go and see this exhibition, even if you are not a huge fan. After all, Star Wars is a huge piece of cinematic history.
DETAILS:
Location: Market Street, Edinburgh (opposite Waverley Station) Price: £6.00 adults (sorry, not sure about kid’s prices) Opening hours: Monday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm (Late opening on Wed and Thurs until 8pm) Sunday, 12noon to 5pm (we went last Sunday at 12, and there were only about 3 people in front of us, so I’d recommend going then) Duration: 23rd March to 8th September
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