Star Wars Episode I: Production Notes

A central figure in helping Lucas bring his vision to the screen is producer Rick McCallum, who was producer of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as well as the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. McCallum's efforts and skills were critical to the smooth running of the production, and hearken back to a time when producers worked in a creative capacity. "Rick's contributions to the film are immeasurable," says Lucas of his indefatigable colleague. "And his creative and organizational skills are remarkable." McCallum sees his very complex job in simple terms. "It's my job to help make George's vision a reality," he explains. "I had to be on top of everything and make things happen for him."

McCallum's work began very early on -- as Lucas was putting pen to paper. First off, the producer hopscotched around the globe, scouting locations. Also key among his many early responsibilities was finding and hiring concept artists for a small art department, one that would eventually turn out thousands of designs for costumes, creatures, vehicles and sets for Episode I.

This art department would play a critical role in the film. Lucas' story, which encompasses various cultures, planets and styles, necessitated a rich and varied design. "I tried to figure out what each culture was like," says Lucas, "and what kind of design would fit into each." The challenges involved a staggering number of designs for everything from an Art Nouveau underwater city to brooches for a queen, along with dozens of spacecraft, hundreds of costumes and thousands of otherworldly props. The architecture alone involves everything from Ibadite Tunisian adobe and Malian mud styles to futurist mile-high skyscrapers, Renaissance Italian palaces, and very alien free- form interiors.

Doug Chiang, an art director at ILM, came aboard Episode I in 1994 to oversee its design. Among the talented group of concept artists working with Chiang were Terryl Whitlatch, whose background in zoology made her ideal for designing the story's hundreds of creatures and Iain McCaig, whose work included the intricate costume designs.

Interpreting Lucas' vision, Chiang brought a new look to the epic saga. Initially, Chiang carefully studied the Star Wars style. But Lucas had something very different in mind: Instead of just duplicating the looks of the original trilogy, he wanted to create many entirely new settings and worlds. The importance that Lucas placed on the film's design was evidenced by the fact that he began meeting with Chiang and the art department in the very early stages of pre-production. "At our first meeting, George told me he wanted something new and different," Chiang remembers. "I was really pleased when George said, 'Push the envelope; make some new discoveries.'"

This envelope-pushing helps define the look of Episode I, including its rich fashion and costume design. While concept artist Iain McCaig and costume designer Trisha Biggar were given considerable freedom, Lucas was nonetheless very involved in shaping the film's worlds of fashion.

In less than a year, Biggar and her staff painstakingly designed and assembled over one thousand costumes, from elaborate, embossed formal attire to simple, yet carefully detailed slave outfits. The costume/prop department even manufactured all the accessories, including helmets, headdresses and belt buckles.

For the vehicles of Episode I -- including starfighters, the Queen's ship, Podracers, troop transports, attack tanks and battleships -- function would often take a back seat to form. According to Chiang, some may even be considered works of art, expressing what Chiang calls "pure craft and aesthetics." To keep his designs unique, Chiang avoided contemporary aesthetics, instead opting to anchor the designs in world history.

After Chiang and his team of artists completed work on the elaborate architectural designs, it fell to production designer Gavin Bocquet to bring them to life. Bocquet, who began work in 1996 -- nearly two years after Chiang had begun work on the concept designs -- was responsible for overseeing the construction of the film's more than sixty sets in England, Italy and Tunisia, making a major contribution to Episode I's dazzling visuals.