Page 17 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2020)

TEASER TRAILERS

episode FOUR

STAR WARS

T E ASER T R AILER, 1976

he first footage of Star Wars

that audiences saw came in
this portentous trailer, which
T promised the story of “a boy,
a girl, and a universe,” and “aliens from
a thousand worlds!” The narrator signed
off with the boast that the movie was
“a billion years in the making,” but we
can forgive a bit of hype, especially as
Jurassic Park (1993) would use a similar
line in its ad campaign 16 years later.
A highly unusual trailer for the time,
the film uses fast editing as opposed to

the slow takes that were more common
in the late 1970s. These swift, dramatic
shots are built around a slow, somewhat
menacing reveal of an early Star Wars
logo, which gradually moves toward
the audience before exploding.
What’s most notable about the trailer,
however, is what it doesn’t feature. John
Williams’ famous score and Ben Burtt’s
sound effects were some of the last things
to be added to the movie in 1977, so
neither are present. Instead, this teaser is
“TWENTIETH Century Fox and George soundtracked by a variation on Vivaldi’s
“Winter” from The Four Seasons.
With many other post-production
Lucas, the man who brought you American processes still to be completed, the

Graffiti now bring you an adventure unlike trailer also includes a different cry of “No

blasters! No blasters!” from the finished

anything on your planet—Star Wars film, a cruder lightsaber effect, and no
!”
hint of what Darth Vader sounds like.

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