David Whiteley
The untold stories of the British talent behind the biggest movie of all time…In the sweltering heat wave of 1976, the filming of Star Wars was underway at Elstree Studios in North London. No one who was working on the movie could have imagined just how successful the film and franchise would be…‘The Galaxy Britain Built’ has tracked down the most modest of British talent who brought the galaxy to life. In this book they reveal the secrets behind the creation of some of the most famous costumes, props and sets in movie history. Think you know everything there is to know about Star Wars? Think again…“We called it the laser sword because we were British! I knew the lightsaber was the Excalibur of this film! I made it from a flash tube from a 1940s camera.”“We were going flat out to fill a cantina with aliens. We made foam latex, which filled the room with ammonia and we were painting with toluene paint. We were probably all high at the time!”“I broke down my script; I had a list of weapons, robots, sets, vehicles. I just stared at it in horror thinking, ‘I can’t do this!’ “We got wheelbarrow wheels, some plywood and some polystyrene and we built a Landspeeder.”“Harrison, Carrie and Mark, being American, said they hadn’t tried Yorkshire puddings before! So on that Sunday, we invited them round for lunch…” About the author: David Whiteley is a British TV presenter and filmmaker. Born on May the Fourth (Yes, Star Wars day!), 1977 (the year Star Wars was released), he was destined to be a life-long fan of the movies. Having hit upon the idea of making a documentary about the Brits behind Star Wars, he always felt there were many more stories to tell. Through extensive interviews from 2016 to 2019, David brought those stories together for this book; The Galaxy Britain Built: The British Talent Behind Star Wars.
