A Visual History of STAR WARS Princess Leia

The design of Princess Leia in the Star Wars films went through many design changes and many outfits.

Check after the jump to see the many hairdos and bikinis of everyone's favorite princess: Princess Leia Organa.

Click on the pictures to enlarge. In Monty Python Mock Swedish it would be "Klik un de piks to maken dem bigr."



In 1976, when Ralph McQuarrie began designing Princess Leia based on the rough draft of A New Hope, Leia was a 15-year-old princess the spoiled daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae.

The following sketches are from the early stages, mostly by McQuarrie.

Now, here are some designs by McQuarrie in the final stages of production

Leia tends to his brother as the medical droid repairs his arm (not just his hand).

 Notice the similarity to the final scene in the finished film.

Han Solo and Princess Leia in Bespin. Chewbacca comes in the with remains of C-3PO in Star Wars VI: The Empire Strikes Back.

After Carrie Fisher complained about not having interesting costumes in the previous two films, costume designers Aggie Guerard Rodgers and Nilo Rodis-Jamero designed a bikini-style outfit for Princess Leia Organa to wear when she was captured by Jabba the Hutt. It was partly inspired by fantasy artist Frank Frazetta's Egyptian Queen.

 Aggie Guerard Rodgers

Nilo Rodis-Jamero

Frank Frazetta's Egyptian Queen via frankfrazetta.org

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first film released in the Star Wars saga and is the fourth in terms of the series' internal chronology. Groundbreaking in its use of special effects, unconventional editing, and science fiction/fantasy storytelling, the original Star Wars is one of the most successful and influential films of all time.

Set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", the film follows a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmboy Luke Skywalker when he inadvertently acquires the droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the Empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia, and save the galaxy.

See more of the artist's work by following the links below

• Ralph McQuarrie - RalphMcQuarrie.com (currently http://dreamsandvisionspress.com)
• Aggie Guerard Rodgers - AggieRodgers.com/

 Source: mark-pierre.livejournal.com, Pinterest

What do you think of the illustrations? Which is your favorite outfit Leia wore?
 
@ Copyright 1977 LucasFilm. All rights reserved

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER Storyboards by Dean Sherriff

Check out storyboards for the film Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) and get another look at the scene where Silver Surfer meets Doctor Doom.

In the original scene, it has Doom arguing with Silver Surfer before he gets blasted. In this version, the interchange is much longer and it ends with him being atomized by Cosmic Energy and sent through a wall.

Check out the storyboards after the jump.






I wish I could find a better video of the scene, but there you go.


See more of Dean Sherriff's portfolio at DeanSherriff.com.

Official Synopsis:
The Fantastic Four meet their greatest challenge yet in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As he races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery before all hope is lost.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the second installment of the live-action film series based on what fans around the globe know as “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine. “Fantastic Four" directed by Tim Story and released in the summer of 2005, had a worldwide theatrical gross of $330 million and became one of Twentieth Century Fox’s most successful DVD titles ever.

The Silver Surfer joins the returning family of superheroes from the Marvel Comics universe, including Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, who can stretch and contort his body into any shape he can imagine and, as the group’s leader, is known as Mister Fantastic; Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, who is able to render herself invisible and to create and project powerful force fields as Invisible Woman; Chris Evans as Johnny Storm, known as The Human Torch, who can engulf his body in flames and take flight at will; and Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm, whose freakish transmutation into a rock-like, superhumanly strong creature led him to be called The Thing. Julian McMahon reprises his “Fantastic Four” role as the Four’s steely-eyed, iron-fisted nemesis, Dr. Doom. Kerry Washington is back as Ben’s love interest, the blind sculptress Alicia Masters.

What do you think of the storyboards?
 
@ Copyright 2007  Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Constantin Film Produktion, Marvel Studios, All rights reserved

LOOPER, IRON MAN Concept Art by Ron Mendell

Ron Mendell is a professional concept artist, designer and modeler for Hollywood films like Star Trek (2009) and The Hunger Games (2012). He's shared some great concept art in his portfolio and I thought I'd share some with you.

Check after the jump for designs for Whiplash's chest arc reactor in Iron Man 2, Looper's time machine and more. All commentary comes from his site.

Click the images to enlarge.  In Esperanto, that would be "Alklaku la bildojn por fari ilin pli grandaj." Sometimes I get bored writing that last sentence...



IRON MAN

"Well of course this was an awesome film to work on. IM was one of my favorite characters growing up as a kid, who'd of thought I would be involved as much as I was. One of my attributes is being able to designas well as build, so both talents were put to use on IRONMAN 1. 

"First of all I did many designs for a case that would hold Tony Stark's suit for travel..."

"I also built the wall mounted JARVIS computers that were around his house. They had an actuating knob and backlit screens."

"Other designs I worked on include GRENADES, SUIT WEAPONS, MISSILES and CHEST X-RAY'S of TONY STARK showing the shrapnel in his chest along with the RT [Repulsor Transmitter]. I did not design the RT on this IRONMAN, but did for IRONMAN 2."

 Iron Man 2
"On IM2, I concentrated on Tony's RT. The power source in his chest. All these concepts were done in solidThinking, my software of choice for 3D modeling. The 3D files of the final design were sent to a vendor who built them directly from the solidThinking export."

"These are concepts for Ivan's RT, along with the final design as it appeared on screen."

"Among many other projects, I worked on designs for Tony's Formula 1 car and helmet as well as jewelry pieces."

Looper
"In the future, Rian wanted gasoline to be so costly and un-available that it was reserved for the super elite. Ed had the concept that the cars ran off their own emissions with the support of solar power. So I came up with the V.E.R.B. - Vehicle Exhaust Re-Breather. This system allowed the exhaust fumes to circulate thru a VERB that contained a readily available power cel, then back into the combustion system to power the cars. The solar panels powered the VERB and assisted other electronic functions in the cars.

"On the whole project I was responsible for styling over 40 different cars. I had my design space at Picture Car Warehouse in Reseda, CA where most of the fabrication happened. Final paint and tweaking happened when i traveled to New Orleans. Special thanks to Ted, Steve and Marty at PCW!"
 

V.E.R.B. Concept 

"Rian, Ed Verroux and Ram Bergman allowed me to have a huge design influence on everything LOOPER.

"The TIME MACHINE is another key item in the movie. Ed gave me initial sketches and as with the bike, I moved into 3D to generate drawings to build from. And the cool thing is... Sony gave the TIME MACHINE back to me, so it is sitting in my shop on display!"

The HOVER BIKE or SLATT BIKE as it was scripted was a great build. Rian gave me a photo of Bob Dylan riding an old red Triumph and he said... " Like this, but powered by a jet engine ". Ed did some initial drawings which [laid] down the overall concept. I took over and ran with it working in 3D and generating files to be water jet. The bike was pretty much made from scratch with the seat and handle bars donated from a scooter. The tank was stretched and modified from an existing bike. We built 2 bikes and had additional tanks and saddle bags to play them as multiple vehicles in the background. SPFX built a rig that supported the bike from the side of a pickup which was digitally removed later.

"After filming was complete, Rian asked me to do some concept design for VFX. These designs were used by the VFX department to create background vehicles."

Looper Official Synopsis:
In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a "looper" - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good... until the day the mob decides to "close the loop," sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. The film is written and directed by Rian Johnson and also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels. Ram Bergman and James D. Stern produce.

See more of Ron Mendell's portfolio at http://www.ronmendell.com/

What do you think of the illustrations?
 
@ Copyright 2012 Endgame Entertainment, DMG Entertainment, FilmDistrict, Ron Mendell. All rights reserved