Vader's Suit Shines in TESP and ROTJ but is dull in ANH

Did Vader's costume get remade with different materials for the sequals to Star Wars, or was it a matter of lighting and camera work?

I know the first shot of Vader has some smoke in it from the door being blasted open, but the costume still comes off pretty dull. In the sequels it's as if the costume got a coat of armor-all or was remade with different materials, perhaps aluminum and a high gloss paint. Also, I havn't seen the films in a while but I think some grey was added to the upper portions of the suit as well. I imagine in the context of the story, Vader likely had new suits built for him as old ones wore out, given the fact that he's a busy man.

Anyway, I'm currious if anyone here has knowledge of this small bit of trivia from the costume dept.

This is a bit off topic, but I wonder if Lucas will digitally add that shine in later on a future version of the film?

 

Vader's costume did change in every movie.

 

Yes, various parts were changed about.

For an in-universe explanation, let's just say Vader switched his choice of polish between films

 

Vader remade his suit each time the Emperor gave him a raise...

 

he has got a collection of nice helmets and suits. in ep. 4 he just thought "let's wear thisone today".
nah, seriously, i think he had some new ones made fromtime to time.

 

I guess the suit is like cloths for him. He has a dozen in his closet. Maybe the ANH home, with out the lights on the chest, etc is his "Going over to a rebel ship" outfit. One he doesn't care if he gets dirty. Then he has his "I got to meet my boss suit" its more have a shine on it. Then he has the "I want to look like a bad ass" light up chest so he can look cool on Bespin.

 

I guess you missed Episode 4.5: Queer Eye for that Vader Guy.

 

Obssessive Vader fans know that every suit was different and they have their own favorites.
Mine is TESB.

The reason they're different is because George Lucas had more money and time while making ESB and ROTJ due to the success of ANH.IT's as simple as that.
This is because GL is a obsessive/compulsive perfectionist and he wants to fix any little thing that bugs him (as with the SE).
I was just reading an interview with him where he said that he hated 75% of what he saw at the first ANH screening and Mark Hammil said that when they first watched it,GL looked like he was going to burst into tears.

He probably watched ANH and thought,"How stupid.Vader's the #2 guy in the Empire.He should be more shiny,like a cherried-out '57 chevy!".So when it came time to make ESB,that's what he told the crew.

 

I think it looks like Vader's helmet/head is much bigger and clumbsier looking in ANH than the other movies...

 

9 years ago I went to a comic book convention at the convention center in Anaheim, California...and they had the Vader suit from TESB on display. Of course, I took a picture of it. I'll scan it later...

...

So the point of this post is, I like the suit from ROTJ the best

 

Vader's suit will probably be shiny in Episode 3, so Lucas will digitally make it shiny in ANH... and add flickering lights to his chest plate.

 

I also heard he might digitally resize Dave Prowse so that he is exactly the same height as Hayden Christensen in order to help tie the saga together and enhance his "vision" of the movies.

 

My favorite is the one from ESB.
The suit is very close to that of ROTJ, the biggest difference being the helmet, and how it fits with the mask. It looks more menacing than the other two, especially when Vader's face is filmed from above. Kershner uses that a lot.

The one from ROTJ would be the one I like less, because it is the less "expressive" (mask-helmet).
It shines a lot when he meets JerJerrod and then Palpy in the docking bay, and then it becomes more and more dull. And even dusty in the end

The one from ANH is not that bad, and it is very different from the other two, from head to toe.
Its biggest problem is that the helmet keeps moving around. Which sometimes makes Vader look strange, and not that impressive.

There were also a few costumes made for public appearances which were different from those from the movies.
Many, many Vader promotional pics (not movie stills) used these : toys, books, SE97, DVD 2004, ...

It must also be said that Prowse got much more direction from Kershner than Lucas and Marquand.
In ANH Prowse's body language isn't always convincing, and doesn't really try to make Vader impressive, except for his big entrance scene.

In ESB, Kershner uses the lighting on the helmet, the angle from which he films him, to make Vader menacing. He dominates everyone.

In ROTJ, Vader has less presence, and Marquand never really tries to make him impressive.
It's a man in disguise acting in front of a camera, nothing more.


AniKaufman : is there a site where all differences between all three suits are listed, and illustrated ?

And, if you've seen the EpIII costume, which version does it comes closer to ?
I'd say "public appearances" Vader costume. Definitely not ESB (helmet-mask) or ANH (suit) anyway !

 

Ok,

check it out !

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/real_vader_props.htm

 

WHOAH.THAT.IS.COOL.

 

Yup. Too. Many. Cool-looking... Vader photos! Sensory overload!

 

Be careful when talking about EP III suits... some of us are spoiler free...

 

Another one, not as interesting, but not bad.
Scroll down a bit once you're there :

http://momentin.com/david/darthec/helmet.htm


Sorry for the EpIII costume comment.
Since it is on the OT DVD, I didn't realize it could be a problem. Well, not that big a spoiler anyway !
Sorry still ...

 

So does the Vader in AOTS look more like ANH, or more like ESB or Jedi?

 

Well changes in budget, location of shoots and whatnot certainly played a roll in dull to luster.

The best way to think of it is this;

After the Battle of Yavin, Vader took such a beating from the TIE battle that when he got back to the Empire he had some work done on both himself (injuries) and the suit (repairs)

 

OMG...*defiant spoiler*

ESB-Vader WILL look cooler than RotS-Vader.


Hope I don't get banned for that!

 

Wow. That's a pretty hardcore analysis of the changes in Vader's mask on the second site linked to. Interesting, though! *adds to favorites*

The stunt helmet is a bit less high tech-looking on the inside than I generally figured Vader's gear should be.

The ESB costume was always my favorite. The larger "eyes" on the RotJ mask look sort of innocent and child-like when filmed from the correct angle, as in the tight shot of Vader's eyes while Luke's getting zapped, but I don't think the RotJ mask works as well in the other scenes as the ESB one did.

 

I was hoping that site might explain what they did to fix the eyepieces so that Prowse's eyes aren't visible in ESB or ROTJ, but it seems like all the eyepieces are just tinted a little. I don't see what's so different from ANH but they only had the problem in ANH.

 

I remember reading a Dave Prowse interview in the 80's, in Starlog or Starburst (back in the days when I was a hardcore SW fan, and now they call me a basher and want to have me banned just because I criticize the SEs and Prequels, pffff ... ), where he said that they kept blackening the lenses all along.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that not only did they blacken the lenses, but they also added a "second layer" behind the lens, some kind of synthetic fabric (or was it plastic ?) with a multitude of little round holes in it for the actor (Prowse/Anderson/Shaw) to see through it. Like a very tight net.

You can see it in the "Reveal Mask" close up pic in the "Lucasfilm Archives" book (back in the 90's). It can be seen through the lenses of the empty mask.

Its is most likely that different techniques were used from 1978 to 1982, when they made the ESB and then ROTJ masks.
Most likely also that there were different mask versions, with different lens blackening systems, depending on what they used them for : action, stunt, or just dialogue (close ups) : see for exemple the ESB stunt mask, made to allow Anderson to have a better vision.

 

Back to the ANH Vader Helmet :

Here are a few incredible pics of a replica made from an original ANH mold (mould for brits ).

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/vaderfananh1OFF.htm (first model on the page).

Vader Helmets experts seem to believe that different models were used for ANH :
-same face mask with different helmets ?
-different face masks and helmets ?

Experts (well, hum, fans, geeks, whatever, ...), also believe that the ESB face mask was very close (same mold ?) to the ANH one, except for a few obvious differences (chin exhaust vent bigger, glossy paint job, ...), and that it is the helmet which really makes the difference.

On ROTJ they changed the face mask a bit,.
btw, they changed a lot of things on ROTJ. Stormtroopers helmets change too for that one, more than they had between ANH and ESB (ESB stormies were made from the ANH stormies stunt helmets).