BY MADDY MORIARTY
*SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.*
As the credits began to play after the fulfilling final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many different reactions arose from the audience surrounding me.
Some sat in awe of the movie, others began talking about the first time they saw Star Wars, and some were already darting out the door. As for me, I was clambering to get my phone out and disable the flash in time for my most anticipated shot of the movie: my aunt’s name flashing across the screen.
“Visual Effects Producer: Janet Lewin and Luke O’Byrne”
Sitting there in the audience seeing the glory of her bolded name made it easy to forget about the many moments that must have led up to such an accomplishment.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity (after seeing the movie 3 more times) to have a phone interview with my aunt and learn of the story behind the title, and the story of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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Janet Lewin began as an intern in the purchasing department for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) with a Mass Communications degree from Boston University. ILM is a division of the film production company LucasFilm, founded by George Lucas, and was created when Lucas began his work on the Star Wars saga in the 1970’s.
Two years after, Lewin began her work at ILM where she worked on her first movie: 101 Dalmatians (1996), directed by Stephen Herek. Gradually working her way up, Lewin’s work on Star Wars began in 2005 on Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
As well as visual effects producer for Revenge of the Sith, Lewin appears in the film twice (once in the Galaxies Opera House and once in a funeral procession).
Flash forward to October of 2013, when the new Disney-owned LucasFilm announced a revival of the saga with the new movie titled “The Force Awakens,” directed by J.J. Abrams. While Lewin would not be seen on camera in the new movie, her name was set to be big, blue, and illuminated by the stars of a far, far away galaxy.
“For Star Wars, every 5 or 6 weeks for a week or so I would fly out to the set in London to be in charge of day-to-day management of the visual effects production, be available for meetings to figure out how to get the shots and assess the work, and meet with J.J. to talk about the project,” says Lewin.
With two Star Wars movies under her belt, Lewin has an interesting perspective on the different filming processes under different directorship.
“George Lucas is notorious for rearranging his movies and doing a lot of editing–he loved to edit. He did a lot of shooting at ILM as a result. J.J. shot most of the shots on set in London with the actors, so I guess in a way he was more fluid about it,” says Lewin.
This change in directorship did not go without concern from the Star Wars fan base.
A concern many Star Wars fans had when the movie was announced was the possibility of the “Disney-fying” of the story–meaning that the writing process would be overtaken by Disney writers unfamiliar with the essence of the saga. However, Lewin assures this wasn’t the case during the creation of the film.
“Disney pretty much let Lucasfilm manage the story on their own. J.J. was a very strong writer and director himself, which is why he was the right choice for the reboot of the franchise. Disney weighed in towards the end with some notes, but otherwise they let Lucasfilm do their thing. I think we proved what we are doing based on how well the movie is doing,” says Lewin.
The movie has done well, considering it’s title as the the fastest film to gross 1 billion dollars–in only 12 days. Clearly, having J.J. Abrams revive the saga has proven a success story.
“J.J. is a great leader and really approachable on set as well as very decisive and creative. He was like a kid in a candy store about bringing Star Wars back to life. He would often give speeches about how grateful he was. It always felt like we were doing something monumental,” Lewin says.
All of the people flocking to the theaters and have been shocked by the death of Han Solo, a remnant from Lucas’ days dramatically killed off by the pen of J.J. Abrams. “It [Han Solo’s death] was story driven. I think that J.J. felt strongly about transitioning the story to the new characters. You have to say goodbye to some of the old characters to explore the new world. It was like a passing of the torch,” Lewin explains.
Even though Solo’s death may have been vital to the new storyline, it is still an upsetting surprise for anyone who holds Han Solo as their favorite character featured in the movie. For Lewin, however, her favorite character is much more round, orange, and animated.
“BB-8 is my favorite character. About half the shots you see in Force Awakens are digital, and BB-8 is definitely a part of a lot of those. The puppeteer of BB-8 was able to get an amazing puppy-like performance with the head tilts and the way he moves with his lower body,” says Lewin.
While BB-8’s persona is completely digital, Lewin was able to work with the real cast of the movie as her position required.
“I wouldn’t say that I overtly have been introduced [to the cast], but during Force Awakens one fun experience I had was going down to Bad Robot (J.J. Abrams’ studio) for reshoots. It was a very small conference room, reshooting the table scene at Maz’s castle, and it was the last day that Harrison Ford ever acted as Han Solo which was really, really cool,” says Lewin.
