Cinema Alchemist: Designing Star Wars and Alien

by Roger Christian

Overview

For the first time, Oscar-winning production designer and director Roger Christian reveals his life story, from his earliest work in the British film industry to his breakthrough contributions on such iconic science fiction masterpieces as Star Wars, Alien and his own rediscovered Black Angel. This candid biography delves into his relationships with legendary figures, as well as the secrets of his greatest work. The man who built the lightsaber finally speaks!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785650857
Publisher:	Titan
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Roger Christian is an award-winning production designer and filmmaker. His contribution to Alien and Star Wars is legendary. Roger's other work includes Black Angel, The Sender, Nostradamus and Battlefield Earth, as well as acting as first unit director on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Table of Contents

Foreword J.W. Rinzler 7

Author's Note 11

Preface 13

Cinema Alchemy 17

Lucky Lady-the road to Star Wars 17

Star Wars: how it began 20

Star Wars 31

Once Upon A Time In The West 80

Djerba 97

Tozeur 99

Final day's prep for Tunisia 121

Star Wars first day shoot looms 130

Star Wars becomes a movie 132

British attitude at the time Star Wars was made 141

Twin suns-a hero's journey moment 142

Problems mount for George 160

Star Wars summation 173

Marty Feldman's The Last Remake of Beau Geste and the Sex Pistols 174

Monty Python 183

Alien 195

Standby art director 204

Dan O'Bannon 205

Nick Allder and Brian Johnson: SFX 207

Nostromo bridge set 222

The crew fire up the Nostromo 248

Tension on the set 256

Ridley punches through the bridge ceiling 257

Jones the cat in the locker 258

Crew quarters 260

Nostromo commissary 261

Mother 263

Back to Life Be Brian 285

Back to film school 290

Black Angel 293

The script 293

Where do stories originate? 295

The true origin of my story 296

The script evolves 297

Vangelis 313

Giant heavy horses 315

Black Angel: Day 8 332

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 349

Final Words 353

Star Wars 353

Alien 354

Black Angel 355

Acknowledgments 363

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2016
Christian, a film director (The Sender) and Oscar-winning set decorator, describes working on classic films such as Star Wars and Alien in this meticulous memoir. He begins with the less well-remembered 1975 Lucky Lady, where he first worked with junk and scrap to dress a set, and also met designer John Barry. Through Barry, he met George Lucas, who hired him for Star Wars. Christian chronicles key moments from his time on that epochal film, from reading its closely guarded script to unconventionally set-dressing the film with old materials, such as airplane scrap used in the Millennium Falcon’s interiors. Included in this section are gorgeous full-color photographs of early mock-ups for props and artwork. Afterwards, Christian prepared work for Monty Python’s Life of Brian before signing on with Ridley Scott to work on Alien. On that project, he describes creating the look of the main spaceship, and the triumph of winning an Oscar. In the book’s conclusion, Christian discusses deciding to make his own films, beginning with the fantasy short Black Angel. In a ruthless creative industry, Christian has held onto his resilience and patience, which enabled him to do innovative and influential work. His story will appeal to all fans of these films. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"a refreshing in-the-trenches look at how stuff came together on set in the movie that shaped a generation" - Rolling Stone 

"...a fascinating, engrossing tale of the mad dash that leads to movie magic, a tribute to the passion and drive needed to make cinematic art. ...a magic window into the past that only enhances the originals." - San Francisco Book Review (Five Star Review) 

“A really important release...for all Star Wars fans who want to talk with authority about that production I think this is a book you’ve just gotta get” -  Rebel Force Radio 

“After reading Cinema Alchemist, you will absolutely watch Star Wars and Alien differently, and notice details of the film you haven’t seen in your previous 300 viewings of the films.  That is quite a feat.” - Borg.com

 “A wonderful resource for those interested in the movie business” - Adventures in Poor Taste

“Roger is more than just a set designer and art director, he is a creative builder of visual dreams for films.  Film historians and cinema buffs will want to pick-up this book as part of their film library.” - Retrenders

From the Publisher