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Star Wars: The Blueprints
Star The Blueprints gives an all-access pass into the Lucasfilm Archives to unveil the original technical drawings of the galaxy far, far away.
With more than 250 blueprints , 500 photographs and illustrations , and ten stunning gatefolds , Star The Blueprints is a deluxe volume that reveals the work of the engineers, designers, and artists who dreamed up the look and feel of the Star Wars universe.
Best-selling author J. W. Rinzler explores the complex process of envisioning and creating the Star Wars films throughout this collection. Witness first-hand the technical expertise and jaw-dropping detail involved in every part of the process, from concept sketches to final scenes . Star The Blueprints showcases the transformation of careful technical drawings to now-iconic sets--the rebel blockade runner , the Millennium Falcon , the bridge of General Grievous’s flagship , Jabba the Hutt’s throne room , and many others.
Meticulously researched and packed with gorgeous artwork and little-known details, Star The Blueprints tells the story of the brilliant minds and technical prowess that brought this extraordinary epic to life.
With more than 250 blueprints , 500 photographs and illustrations , and ten stunning gatefolds , Star The Blueprints is a deluxe volume that reveals the work of the engineers, designers, and artists who dreamed up the look and feel of the Star Wars universe.
Best-selling author J. W. Rinzler explores the complex process of envisioning and creating the Star Wars films throughout this collection. Witness first-hand the technical expertise and jaw-dropping detail involved in every part of the process, from concept sketches to final scenes . Star The Blueprints showcases the transformation of careful technical drawings to now-iconic sets--the rebel blockade runner , the Millennium Falcon , the bridge of General Grievous’s flagship , Jabba the Hutt’s throne room , and many others.
Meticulously researched and packed with gorgeous artwork and little-known details, Star The Blueprints tells the story of the brilliant minds and technical prowess that brought this extraordinary epic to life.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2011
14 people are currently reading
944 people want to read
About the author
J.W. Rinzler
64 books103 followersJ. W. Rinzler has authored over 20 books including two New York Times bestsellers and a #1 best-selling graphic novel. With more than 600,000 copies in print, his books have been translated into seven languages.
J. W. Rinzler grew up in Manhattan, New York City, and then in Berkeley, California. He fell in love with old monster films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as Robin Hood and other adventure movies. He was an avid comic-book and novel reader, an intrepid moviegoer, and had his mind blown by The Beatles, Star Trek, Bruce Lee, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Frank Frazetta, Michelangelo, and Mad Magazine.
Rinzler drew his own comic books (badly), then, in his 20s, moved onto figurative oil painting (okay-ly, but self-taught). He lived in France for almost 10 years, where he began writing. Back in the USA, he worked as executive editor at Lucasfilm for fifteen years, chronicling the work of George Lucas and his genial collaborators in a series of books about Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
During this time, Rinzler also directed and wrote an animated short Riddle of the Black Cat, based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, which was accepted into several festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival.
His latest book is an epic historical fiction thriller called ALL UP, an epic about the first Space Age, published in July 2020. The sequel will be out in a year or two...
Meanwhile his book on Howard Kazanjian, producer, is due in May 2021; and on Kubrick's The Shining in fall 2021.
Rinzler is married and has two daughters and one grandson. He lives on the northern California coast.
J. W. Rinzler grew up in Manhattan, New York City, and then in Berkeley, California. He fell in love with old monster films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as Robin Hood and other adventure movies. He was an avid comic-book and novel reader, an intrepid moviegoer, and had his mind blown by The Beatles, Star Trek, Bruce Lee, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Frank Frazetta, Michelangelo, and Mad Magazine.
Rinzler drew his own comic books (badly), then, in his 20s, moved onto figurative oil painting (okay-ly, but self-taught). He lived in France for almost 10 years, where he began writing. Back in the USA, he worked as executive editor at Lucasfilm for fifteen years, chronicling the work of George Lucas and his genial collaborators in a series of books about Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
During this time, Rinzler also directed and wrote an animated short Riddle of the Black Cat, based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, which was accepted into several festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival.
His latest book is an epic historical fiction thriller called ALL UP, an epic about the first Space Age, published in July 2020. The sequel will be out in a year or two...
Meanwhile his book on Howard Kazanjian, producer, is due in May 2021; and on Kubrick's The Shining in fall 2021.
Rinzler is married and has two daughters and one grandson. He lives on the northern California coast.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 2, 2016
This is book for the die hard Star Wars fan (and I guess the terminally curious). Do not get me wrong I guess I class as both of those and hence why I find this book fascinating even if it does pose a risk to my health (its HEAVY!!).
The book covers off the first 6 star wars films (in chronological order) and the stories behind their production mainly through the use of original blue prints and designs of sets, props and characters.
I guess to a non-fan there is very much a case of "so what" here however for anyone who is interested in set design or even how they pulled off some of the most iconic and famous scenes in cinematography this book throws some fascinating insights in to how they did it.
And all of that in a massive beautifully presented book, it was a great read even if you need to think ahead and prepare a study reading area first.
The book covers off the first 6 star wars films (in chronological order) and the stories behind their production mainly through the use of original blue prints and designs of sets, props and characters.
I guess to a non-fan there is very much a case of "so what" here however for anyone who is interested in set design or even how they pulled off some of the most iconic and famous scenes in cinematography this book throws some fascinating insights in to how they did it.
And all of that in a massive beautifully presented book, it was a great read even if you need to think ahead and prepare a study reading area first.
January 9, 2020
Very much NOT what I expected, and I'm disappointed in that regard, but it does deserve a solid rating for what it actually is.
I expected this to be a collection of blueprints of the vehicles, buildings, and so on featured in the movies (I mean, it's in the title, right?). It's not really that ... it's more like a collection of photos, storyboard images, and drawings for the sets, props, vehicles, locations, and other things that appeared in the movies. There are "blueprints" here, but that's a small portion of the content.
It's all quite interesting, as are the descriptions of the design and building processes. Still, not what I was expecting or looking for.
I expected this to be a collection of blueprints of the vehicles, buildings, and so on featured in the movies (I mean, it's in the title, right?). It's not really that ... it's more like a collection of photos, storyboard images, and drawings for the sets, props, vehicles, locations, and other things that appeared in the movies. There are "blueprints" here, but that's a small portion of the content.
It's all quite interesting, as are the descriptions of the design and building processes. Still, not what I was expecting or looking for.
August 8, 2013
This is one for anyone with a penchant to win the sort of trivia quiz questions that involve minutiae: “Just how big was the Millennium Falcon in real life?”, etc etc.
Star Wars Blueprints is a book that covers all six movies to date, in production order: so from Star Wars (A New Hope, Episode IV) to Revenge of the Sith (Episode III), which will be a nice closure before the new Disney/Lucasfilms appear in 2015. For each film Rinzler gives the reader a potted background as to how it came about from a production point of view.
Star Wars Blueprints is a fascinating look at the practical aspects of a film set and the people involved in the mechanics of creating the look of a movie. The more-than 250 blueprints have been photographed from the Lucasfilm production archives, to show the original (and used - torn edges and all!) copies. The quality generally is great.
This book oozes quality, from the page layout to the quality stock it’s printed on. Don’t let those 336 pages fool you into thinking this is a lightweight book: it’s big and heavy. Each page is large format (375 by 310mm by my reckoning.)There are also ten gatefold pages which fold out to a mighty 375 x 930 cm, and one as a double gatefold of over one metre in length!
Of the blueprints themselves, some are excellent: some just made me go “Huh?” We have a nice range of set blueprints – the Millennium Falcon hangar at Mos Eisley and the Death Star Trench from Star Wars (Episode IV), to the Hoth Command Centre and the Reactor Control Room (Empire Strikes Back, Episode V) to Jabba the Hutt’s throne room and barge from Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). It was also pleasing to see some of these still labelled ‘Blue Harvest’, the secret name for Jedi’s early production drawings. Of the omissions, I was surprised not to see more drawings of the iconic Death Star or the Imperial Cruiser here, although they have been covered elsewhere.
Of the machinery, there’s robots and spaceships, from R2D2 (or Robot R2 as he’s referred to here) to Count Dooku’s solar spaceship. Of the spaceships, most of what you expect are here, from the Tie Fighter to the Hoth landspeeder to the scooter in Return of the Jedi. There’s a few of the iconic X-Wing across the movies and it’s interesting to see how these change (or not!) from production to production.
As the productions become bigger and more expensive, the plans become more complicated: at least until Revenge of the Sith, when the number of blueprints are fewer (presumably more sets were green-screen digital). However we do have Darth Maul’s Sith speeder, the Starfighter from Episode III and the Trade Federation tank as well as various craft from the Theed hangar to look at in un-digital format. It’s impressive to see how much more complex and detailed the diagrams from the second trilogy are when compared with the Episode IV drawings. I was surprised not to see a drawing of the Star Destroyer here, although they have been covered elsewhere, but the set of the Command Center is included.
Despite the book’s title, not all here are blueprints. There’s some lovely drawings to help designers set the scene – a charming gatefold of the Empire’s assault on Hoth is an attractive surprise – and some general drawings are given as well. Ralph McQuarrie colour production pictures are often given on the early productions, photos from the filming as well.
In addition throughout there’s photos from the behind the scenes of the films themselves. The photos, often colour, offset the blueprints & diagrams nicely.
The drawings are supplemented by text from JW Rinzler, an executive editor at Lucasfilm, and the author of The Making of Star Wars. As you might therefore expect, his details on the importance of the production drawing/blueprint, background on the production designers of John Barry (Episode IV), Norman Reynolds (Episodes V and VI) and Gavin Bocquet (Episodes I, II and III) are insightful and make great reading. Interviews with staff such as Reynolds, Star Wars set dresser Roger Christian and others throughout are both interesting and enlightening. It’s nice to read something that’s as intelligent and as detailed as what is here. There’s a lot of work gone in to the telling of their story. With many of these people now deceased, the book is meant to be a tribute to these unsung heroes in the art of cinema-making, and this book does them justice.
This is a hefty book with an equally eye-watering price tag of just under £60 ($90) (although there was a limited edition a while back at nearly five times the cost of this one): but you can see the quality of the work involved. It is a lovely thing to read and a book to spend happy hours poring over.
Star Wars fans, of course, will love it.
Star Wars Blueprints is a book that covers all six movies to date, in production order: so from Star Wars (A New Hope, Episode IV) to Revenge of the Sith (Episode III), which will be a nice closure before the new Disney/Lucasfilms appear in 2015. For each film Rinzler gives the reader a potted background as to how it came about from a production point of view.
Star Wars Blueprints is a fascinating look at the practical aspects of a film set and the people involved in the mechanics of creating the look of a movie. The more-than 250 blueprints have been photographed from the Lucasfilm production archives, to show the original (and used - torn edges and all!) copies. The quality generally is great.
This book oozes quality, from the page layout to the quality stock it’s printed on. Don’t let those 336 pages fool you into thinking this is a lightweight book: it’s big and heavy. Each page is large format (375 by 310mm by my reckoning.)There are also ten gatefold pages which fold out to a mighty 375 x 930 cm, and one as a double gatefold of over one metre in length!
Of the blueprints themselves, some are excellent: some just made me go “Huh?” We have a nice range of set blueprints – the Millennium Falcon hangar at Mos Eisley and the Death Star Trench from Star Wars (Episode IV), to the Hoth Command Centre and the Reactor Control Room (Empire Strikes Back, Episode V) to Jabba the Hutt’s throne room and barge from Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). It was also pleasing to see some of these still labelled ‘Blue Harvest’, the secret name for Jedi’s early production drawings. Of the omissions, I was surprised not to see more drawings of the iconic Death Star or the Imperial Cruiser here, although they have been covered elsewhere.
Of the machinery, there’s robots and spaceships, from R2D2 (or Robot R2 as he’s referred to here) to Count Dooku’s solar spaceship. Of the spaceships, most of what you expect are here, from the Tie Fighter to the Hoth landspeeder to the scooter in Return of the Jedi. There’s a few of the iconic X-Wing across the movies and it’s interesting to see how these change (or not!) from production to production.
As the productions become bigger and more expensive, the plans become more complicated: at least until Revenge of the Sith, when the number of blueprints are fewer (presumably more sets were green-screen digital). However we do have Darth Maul’s Sith speeder, the Starfighter from Episode III and the Trade Federation tank as well as various craft from the Theed hangar to look at in un-digital format. It’s impressive to see how much more complex and detailed the diagrams from the second trilogy are when compared with the Episode IV drawings. I was surprised not to see a drawing of the Star Destroyer here, although they have been covered elsewhere, but the set of the Command Center is included.
Despite the book’s title, not all here are blueprints. There’s some lovely drawings to help designers set the scene – a charming gatefold of the Empire’s assault on Hoth is an attractive surprise – and some general drawings are given as well. Ralph McQuarrie colour production pictures are often given on the early productions, photos from the filming as well.
In addition throughout there’s photos from the behind the scenes of the films themselves. The photos, often colour, offset the blueprints & diagrams nicely.
The drawings are supplemented by text from JW Rinzler, an executive editor at Lucasfilm, and the author of The Making of Star Wars. As you might therefore expect, his details on the importance of the production drawing/blueprint, background on the production designers of John Barry (Episode IV), Norman Reynolds (Episodes V and VI) and Gavin Bocquet (Episodes I, II and III) are insightful and make great reading. Interviews with staff such as Reynolds, Star Wars set dresser Roger Christian and others throughout are both interesting and enlightening. It’s nice to read something that’s as intelligent and as detailed as what is here. There’s a lot of work gone in to the telling of their story. With many of these people now deceased, the book is meant to be a tribute to these unsung heroes in the art of cinema-making, and this book does them justice.
This is a hefty book with an equally eye-watering price tag of just under £60 ($90) (although there was a limited edition a while back at nearly five times the cost of this one): but you can see the quality of the work involved. It is a lovely thing to read and a book to spend happy hours poring over.
Star Wars fans, of course, will love it.
January 17, 2021
This was another interesting behind the scenes book about Star Wars. Like the others I have read, I found it beneficial to have previously read the making of books for each of the original trilogy. The blueprints were often very neat, although I don't think I came away with much other than an appreciation for the talent of the artists. My biggest take-away was an understanding of how detailed they planned the sets. In my head, I envisioned them having the general idea of what they were doing along with the size of the area they could build the set in. The blueprints showed that practically everything was measured out and specified exactly where it would go. It sounds like they did this for practically every set and prop, which sounds exhausting. It would be bittersweet to have so many people put this amount of work into building these sets for them to film a few minutes in a movie before tearing them down. It's a little mind-blowing that they just let the sets rot outside. I understand on the first one since they didn't know it would be a hit, but it seems like they could've auctioned them off or something that would've allowed them to be preserved.
Beyond just appreciating the blueprints, there are a decent amount of behind the scenes pictures that I haven't seen in other books that were really cool.
I don't think they ever define the acronym, so I'll do it here in case anybody is confused. CAD means computer aided drafting.
Some of the random things I learned:
-IG88's head was a repurposed decanter from the cantina.
-Kenny Baker quit at one point.
-C3PO's leg pistons were also the hyperdrive levers on the Flacon.
-All of the background people in the hangar on Hoth are children using forced perspective.
-Darth Maul's speeder bike didn't even have handles. The entire upper half was CGI. It seems like handlebars wouldn't be that much extra and would take longer to add them in digitally then just create the prop.
Beyond just appreciating the blueprints, there are a decent amount of behind the scenes pictures that I haven't seen in other books that were really cool.
I don't think they ever define the acronym, so I'll do it here in case anybody is confused. CAD means computer aided drafting.
Some of the random things I learned:
-IG88's head was a repurposed decanter from the cantina.
-Kenny Baker quit at one point.
-C3PO's leg pistons were also the hyperdrive levers on the Flacon.
-All of the background people in the hangar on Hoth are children using forced perspective.
-Darth Maul's speeder bike didn't even have handles. The entire upper half was CGI. It seems like handlebars wouldn't be that much extra and would take longer to add them in digitally then just create the prop.
July 1, 2018
This book is 15" x 12" x 1.5" and is, I believe, somewhere between 10 and 15 lbs.
It needs to be this big to allow for details to be seen on the blueprints -- and some are still fairly blurry.
It features working drawings not normally seen outside of studios (though I feel like the LEGO architects and builders have used them for accurate designs). These drawings are ESSENTIAL in set manufacturing. Without them, sets could not be designed.
The reader (can one say they read this?) gets insight on set design, blueprint design, and the importance of competent and detailed artists. In particular to the SW 'verse, the vaulted OT drawings were important in the development of the PT.
We get the history of some people and the British studios, even before "Star Wars." We learn of how the initial crew came together. George's independent work with THX and Graffiti allowed him to understand how to dialogue and collaborate with the art department, and was thus able to help in ways most directors don't/can't.
I love the detail of the blueprints and the information provided with them. I also like seeing both constructed sets and final scenes. I like how some blueprints are seen pieced together as one drawing, though a lot is missing so there will be a "see DRG 80" and there is none for a particular movie.
Can't expect all thousands to be here.
It is truly amazing how much goes into building a set that is only briefly in a movie and must be immediately taken down following its shots to allow the next set to be built. It's no wonder films take at least three years to develop!
ANH:
- GUH R2 is fantastic
- I didn't know Kenny Baker once quit!
- The X-Wing is so very beautiful
ESB:
- The work ethic of the artists was such that they worked until they [literally] dropped. It's really sad to see the conditions and pressure they were under.
- With this movie, the crew became even more creative, and I gasped aloud at more than one blueprint, moreso than I did with ESB. For example, the Main Hangar Deck made me 'woah' aloud.
- The Med Center by Michael Boone introduced a new scale factor of 3". And actually, there were a lot of "non traditional" scales here. This is fantastic geometry.
- The colored blueprint of Star Destroyer I was so beautiful! I'm glad more colored images followed this.
- The composition of the Hoth battle is stunning.
- We learn that Aurebesh was inspired by Hebrew.
ROTJ:
- I love the additional information on "Raiders" and how the SW artists were used there. Lucas really is a fantastic boss. He even created job descriptions like 'concept designer.'
I like that the intro included some final aspects of some of the artists' lives.
- I feel like the art department went even bigger and more intricate here. I can't believe I was awed even more often than before.
- I love the Red Ball Jett Organ. It was huge! The entire Throne Room was ginormous!
- In order to get to the Ewok Village Set, the cast and crew needed a forklift. The blueprint itself was very awesome.
- The fact that Peterson drew exploded Ewoks made me laugh aloud.
Prequels:
- It's sad that Rinzler clumped all the PT together into one category, even though I know a lot was CGI. Still, sets and objects had to be made. It's interesting to see how the art department adapted to a greater use of blue and green screens. While it made for more interesting and complex blueprints, in a way, it also meant I was less in awe than with the OT.
In a way, the technology has stunted creativity, even while allowing for more precision (and clearer drawings).
- I find it fascinating that NINE full scale podracers were made.
- The CAD blueprints were definitely pretty. Jacinta Leong did a FANTASTIC job with ROTS.
- It's sad that there was only one foldout for the entire PT.
It needs to be this big to allow for details to be seen on the blueprints -- and some are still fairly blurry.
It features working drawings not normally seen outside of studios (though I feel like the LEGO architects and builders have used them for accurate designs). These drawings are ESSENTIAL in set manufacturing. Without them, sets could not be designed.
The reader (can one say they read this?) gets insight on set design, blueprint design, and the importance of competent and detailed artists. In particular to the SW 'verse, the vaulted OT drawings were important in the development of the PT.
We get the history of some people and the British studios, even before "Star Wars." We learn of how the initial crew came together. George's independent work with THX and Graffiti allowed him to understand how to dialogue and collaborate with the art department, and was thus able to help in ways most directors don't/can't.
I love the detail of the blueprints and the information provided with them. I also like seeing both constructed sets and final scenes. I like how some blueprints are seen pieced together as one drawing, though a lot is missing so there will be a "see DRG 80" and there is none for a particular movie.
Can't expect all thousands to be here.
It is truly amazing how much goes into building a set that is only briefly in a movie and must be immediately taken down following its shots to allow the next set to be built. It's no wonder films take at least three years to develop!
ANH:
- GUH R2 is fantastic
- I didn't know Kenny Baker once quit!
- The X-Wing is so very beautiful
ESB:
- The work ethic of the artists was such that they worked until they [literally] dropped. It's really sad to see the conditions and pressure they were under.
- With this movie, the crew became even more creative, and I gasped aloud at more than one blueprint, moreso than I did with ESB. For example, the Main Hangar Deck made me 'woah' aloud.
- The Med Center by Michael Boone introduced a new scale factor of 3". And actually, there were a lot of "non traditional" scales here. This is fantastic geometry.
- The colored blueprint of Star Destroyer I was so beautiful! I'm glad more colored images followed this.
- The composition of the Hoth battle is stunning.
- We learn that Aurebesh was inspired by Hebrew.
ROTJ:
- I love the additional information on "Raiders" and how the SW artists were used there. Lucas really is a fantastic boss. He even created job descriptions like 'concept designer.'
I like that the intro included some final aspects of some of the artists' lives.
- I feel like the art department went even bigger and more intricate here. I can't believe I was awed even more often than before.
- I love the Red Ball Jett Organ. It was huge! The entire Throne Room was ginormous!
- In order to get to the Ewok Village Set, the cast and crew needed a forklift. The blueprint itself was very awesome.
- The fact that Peterson drew exploded Ewoks made me laugh aloud.
Prequels:
- It's sad that Rinzler clumped all the PT together into one category, even though I know a lot was CGI. Still, sets and objects had to be made. It's interesting to see how the art department adapted to a greater use of blue and green screens. While it made for more interesting and complex blueprints, in a way, it also meant I was less in awe than with the OT.
In a way, the technology has stunted creativity, even while allowing for more precision (and clearer drawings).
- I find it fascinating that NINE full scale podracers were made.
- The CAD blueprints were definitely pretty. Jacinta Leong did a FANTASTIC job with ROTS.
- It's sad that there was only one foldout for the entire PT.
May 26, 2013
I actually bought this book on sale on Amazon, but thought it was something else. I had no idea this was a massive coffee table book in league with Chronicle Books' Star Wars Chronicles hardcovers though it not the same publisher. These are the detailed set blueprints for all six films, particularly the classic trilogy. Very well put together and worth owning for any fan out there. Also good for those interested in production design and the like. The book came housed inside three boxes, including the shipping box from Amazon.
January 20, 2015
An oversized, beautiful book with most of the blueprints used in making the sets for the movies (especially the main three). I just love how blueprints look-- all the details, and the halo of information around them, and the way it distills things down to their essence. A blueprint is the spirit of a thing.
October 30, 2017
Interesting Star Wars book!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews