Original Trilogy Promo(?) Pictures

Hey all, I’ve been pondering this for a while, and recently started looking into it again. In short, what is the story behind the “iconic” still images from the OT? (You’ll know what I mean when you see them). EXAMPLE ALBUM HERE. I love the look and feel of these images, but as I started to go through the actual movies more closely, I realized that these pictures are most definitely not straight from the movie (the view out the window in the end shot from ESB is completely different, for example, and Darth and Obi-Wan don’t really duel in that position). Additionally, the lightsabers look very different from their film counterparts.

On a hunch, a memory from childhood, I just ordered each of the original films’ storybooks off of Amazon for a few bucks (here, here, and here). ROJ and ESB arrived today, and my memory did serve correctly – the books are filled with exactly these “type” of images. Talk about a trip down memory lane. Just for reference, in a quick count, there were about 70 different images in the ESB storybook, and 65 different ones in ROJ.

So I guess I come to this: as asked above, where and how did these images come about? Shot on set with an actual camera, and then edited later? And would I be correct in assuming they have essentially been promo images for the last forty years? Then, to follow up, are they available in higher res anywhere? I am quite the hoarder of hi-res Star Wars images, and while some seem to be obtainable (for example those in the album I linked to above), some simply elude me, even though I know I’ve seen them all over, whether it is in books or other merchandise.

The Star Wars Screenthemes pack (SEE HERE) made some available in higher resolution, but even then, there are many holes that still exist. For example, THIS picture of Luke and Darth dueling is in the ROJ storybook, and is a famous image, but try as I might, I can’t find a digital version of it in good resolution. Does anyone know where they could be found (if at all)? Or have them themselves? Good resolution images not in the Screenthemes pack are out there, and I am curious as to where they may have come from.

Finally, the other idea I’ve toyed around with is taking actual screenshots from the movies themselves, and trying to imitate the look (just for fun + completion’s sake). If I had to use a word to describe the feel of these images, I guess the word would be dreamlike? Glow-y? Ethereal? They have a very unique style, and I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to imitate it. I’ve only played around a little bit, but a combo I discovered was using the “Glow” + “Soften Portrait” options in Paint.NET to achieve a *somewhat* similar look (although that may be generous). Maybe I should also add some grain? EXAMPLE 1, EXAMPLE 2.

Anyway, I’m interested to hear what people know about them.

That site you posted is really interesting!

How comes The Phantom Menace looks more entertaining in stills than on screen? :D

Maul before becoming Darth Darth: http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-i120915/2dbcbd4e

Who is she? A random bodyguard? http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-i120915/775e8264

"Ani, help me... take this mask off..." http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-i120915/dc700cdf

Laserschwert said:

SS4DarthPayne said:

where and how did these images come about? Shot on set with an actual camera, and then edited later? And would I be correct in assuming they have essentially been promo images for the last forty years?

That's exactly what they are. Tons of these (for all kinds of movies) can be found here: http://www.moviestillsdb.com/search?query=star+wars

But you need to buy download credits to actually download the full size versions.

 Gah I love OT. Thanks for the help, I'm going to enjoy poking around that site.

SS4DarthPayne said:

The Star Wars Screenthemes pack (SEE HERE) made some available in higher resolution, but even then, there are many holes that still exist. For example, THIS picture of Luke and Darth dueling is in the ROJ storybook, and is a famous image, but try as I might, I can’t find a digital version of it in good resolution. Does anyone know where they could be found (if at all)? Or have them themselves? Good resolution images not in the Screenthemes pack are out there, and I am curious as to where they may have come from.

 Many questions to answer but I'll focus on this.

Firstly, all ScreenThemes pics are cropped, original images are wider/taller that have been cropped to 1600x1200. Also McQuarrie art from the Themes have been squished.

Secondly, LFL does have all promotional photos digitalized. They have had catalogs and probably still do which I also have where are thumbnails of most promo images (but still there are slight variations of the same set as could have taken a couple of photos and you can see a slight movement between them, and also harder to find images that have not been touched up e.g. blaster bolt missing, lightsaber blades missing etc.). They could offer the catalogs to press/other media that wanted to use hires pics, and they would have to order them from LFL if they had the luxury to choose. There is the elusive Kodak Photo disc which has all these images in hires but haven't ever found it. Anyways, the only chance to get the original hires images is from press material, that's where they usually originate. "Unofficial" hires pics are scans of photos made outside LFL.

LexX said:

SS4DarthPayne said:

The Star Wars Screenthemes pack (SEE HERE) made some available in higher resolution, but even then, there are many holes that still exist. For example, THIS picture of Luke and Darth dueling is in the ROJ storybook, and is a famous image, but try as I might, I can’t find a digital version of it in good resolution. Does anyone know where they could be found (if at all)? Or have them themselves? Good resolution images not in the Screenthemes pack are out there, and I am curious as to where they may have come from.

 Many questions to answer but I'll focus on this.

Firstly, all ScreenThemes pics are cropped, original images are wider/taller that have been cropped to 1600x1200. Also McQuarrie art from the Themes have been squished.

Secondly, LFL does have all promotional photos digitalized. They have had catalogs and probably still do which I also have where are thumbnails of most promo images (but still there are slight variations of the same set as could have taken a couple of photos and you can see a slight movement between them, and also harder to find images that have not been touched up e.g. blaster bolt missing, lightsaber blades missing etc.). They could offer the catalogs to press/other media that wanted to use hires pics, and they would have to order them from LFL if they had the luxury to choose. There is the elusive Kodak Photo disc which has all these images in hires but haven't ever found it. Anyways, the only chance to get the original hires images is from press material, that's where they usually originate. "Unofficial" hires pics are scans of photos made outside LFL.

So, let me make sure I understand this all. Regarding Screenthemes, no matter what, it was cropped, and in the case of McQuarrie, it was also squished? I knew that McQuarrie was squished, but that's good to know that everything else has also been cropped. 

Next, LFL has, yes, digitized all of the photos, but they are only available via a catalog? Is this catalog digital or in print? And, have you seen the catalog? I'm not quite sure if you were implying that or not. So then, if a big media company, say Time Magazine for example, wants one, they can order it directly from LFL? But us commoners are out of luck?

Finally, this Kodak disk.... Is there any info or any links to learn more about it? Sounds intriguing. Or do you have any other info about it?

Thanks for the info! And sorry for all the questions 

SS4DarthPayne said:

LexX said:

SS4DarthPayne said:

The Star Wars Screenthemes pack (SEE HERE) made some available in higher resolution, but even then, there are many holes that still exist. For example, THIS picture of Luke and Darth dueling is in the ROJ storybook, and is a famous image, but try as I might, I can’t find a digital version of it in good resolution. Does anyone know where they could be found (if at all)? Or have them themselves? Good resolution images not in the Screenthemes pack are out there, and I am curious as to where they may have come from.

 Many questions to answer but I'll focus on this.

Firstly, all ScreenThemes pics are cropped, original images are wider/taller that have been cropped to 1600x1200. Also McQuarrie art from the Themes have been squished.

Secondly, LFL does have all promotional photos digitalized. They have had catalogs and probably still do which I also have where are thumbnails of most promo images (but still there are slight variations of the same set as could have taken a couple of photos and you can see a slight movement between them, and also harder to find images that have not been touched up e.g. blaster bolt missing, lightsaber blades missing etc.). They could offer the catalogs to press/other media that wanted to use hires pics, and they would have to order them from LFL if they had the luxury to choose. There is the elusive Kodak Photo disc which has all these images in hires but haven't ever found it. Anyways, the only chance to get the original hires images is from press material, that's where they usually originate. "Unofficial" hires pics are scans of photos made outside LFL.

So, let me make sure I understand this all. Regarding Screenthemes, no matter what, it was cropped, and in the case of McQuarrie, it was also squished? I knew that McQuarrie was squished, but that's good to know that everything else has also been cropped. 

Next, LFL has, yes, digitized all of the photos, but they are only available via a catalog? Is this catalog digital or in print? And, have you seen the catalog? I'm not quite sure if you were implying that or not. So then, if a big media company, say Time Magazine for example, wants one, they can order it directly from LFL? But us commoners are out of luck?

Finally, this Kodak disk.... Is there any info or any links to learn more about it? Sounds intriguing. Or do you have any other info about it?

Thanks for the info! And sorry for all the questions 

 Yes, that is correct. No original photo was in 4:3 ratio originally, I don't remember the correct ratio by heart but it should be closer to 3:2. Also all the ScreenThemes pics are horizontal, so originally vertical photos have been cropped a lot (there aren't that many of those but still).

Not sure how the catalog actually work but my guess would be pretty similar to yours. I have the catalogs which are just PDFs that are made from screencaps from the real catalog. There are 8 catalogs, photos from the films themselves, poster art from all the films, McQ catalog and misc. catalog. Even then they don't have all the photos or art that are really out there but still there are many I haven't seen elsewhere.

Unfortunately I don't know anything else about the Kodak disc even though I've known about it for ten years. IIRC, someone here hinted about having it but that's about it. I doubt anyone would share it anyways as it's quite of hush hush.