BTW, does anyone know why they didn’t build the entire set for some of these shots, like in the photo above? Al the windows are clearly there in some BTS photos, and its really obvious (pre-SE anyway) that all but the central window has been added in post when you watch the actual movie.
I’m assuming that middle shot is from ROTJ? They built the entire bridge for Jedi but only the single window for Empire (as far as I know).
Ah, that makes sense. The person who uploaded all the photos to imgur had it among the ESB photos so I just assumed it was from that movie.
Still an odd thing to do though. I can’t imagine adding a few more windows would have cost them much, seems more like the kind of budget cut you’d do for a TV series not a big blockbuster movie.
Apparently there was a concern that Ralph McQuarrie’s bridge design with the different sizes and angles of the windows might be too expensive to build. Some of Joe Johnston’s ESB storyboards show a simplified version with rectangular windows instead. I guess they compromised by choosing McQuarrie’s design but executing it mostly via matte paintings.