Research: Roger Christian As Set Decorator

Roger Christian is famous for creating one of the most iconic sci-fi weapons of all time; the lightsaber and dressing the sets of George Lucas' Star Wars. I've watched Christian on Cinema Summit and have since began to read his book Cinema Alchemist. Whilst he is also known for directing his own short Black Angel, he has had significant input in the dressing and design of Star Wars; much of which is relevant to our project.

"One word that sums up what you need to survive in the film industry: tenacity"

I believe Christian is explaining that the film industry demands that everyone involved has a clear understanding of how the process works and what they are responsible in their role in the production crew. Also, the determination to continue when things go wrong is paramount as well. This is something we need to have in our group as we face challenges and obstacles over preparation and production.

"George [Lucas] never wrote what could be done technically, he wrote what he wanted and made the technology catch up."

Fox had given Lucas a budget of around $4 million to film Star Wars and on the condition that the studio sets must be constructed and filmed in the UK. Already Lucas has obstructions to overcome; however as Christian described that did not hold him back from visualising what the story needed. As such, Christian and the art department only had a few hundred thousand dollars to work with in the beginning; which meant he had to become really creative with what he could find. 

For example, RD-D2 the robot's buttons were made almost completely out  of aeroplane lights and buttons Christian could pick up. His round head was also made out of a large lampshade that they could find and the art department had to find an actor small enough to fit under it to control the mechanisms of RD-D2.

In a way, we are in a similar situation. We will be shooting this film on a low budget of just under £300 at this point; so we will need to go around looking for what we can use and where we can pick things up at a cheap price or for free; whilst retaining the quality of a professional production. 

"[Lucas'] entire philosophy all the time was that sets and dressings and props should be natural and in a way unseen...the great Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, was the master at this"

Christian embraces George Lucas' ideals of keeping props and sets with spectacle minimised on screen. It's easy to want to show off work that's taken a long time to construct and is one of the most invested parts of the film; but this is showing it off for the sake of it and not to benefit the plot of the story.

Christian referred to the design of The Millennium Falcon in his book Cinema Alchemist, and how it was a heavy cost on the low budget Fox had set them. Christian had to travel to aeroplane scrap yards all across the country to find the right parts for the ship. However, despite his hard efforts; Lucas didn't want it to constantly stand out like it was a trophy and Christian agreed with this.

What's interesting is that Christian points out that Akira Kurosawa was "the master" at this method of shot design. I will be researching further into Kurosawa's work following on from my research on Roger Christian.

I've chosen to further my Research on Roger Christian because I admire his determination to embrace Lucas' vision for Star Wars given the limitations he had to work with. It goes to show that with the right planning and design; you can make a film's sets, props and costumes immersive enough to make the audience stay with the story; with a low budget and simple things you find that in turn create a successful turn out in the box office.

*All quotes referenced from:

- Christian R. (2016) Cinema Alchemist, Titan Books