Dolata@SUMEX-AIM (12/29/82)
I recently saw SW-ANH (IV) in a situation where we could examine the film closely. In the fight between Darth Vader and Obiwan, Obiwan's brown cloak starts to collapse 2 frames (at least) before Darth's light sabre hits it!!!!! So, did Darth kill Obiwan, or was he gone already? Or am I picking nits with the editor? -------
sjb (12/29/82)
He was gone already. I seem to recall that that scene gave the people doing the filming great headaches. They tried putting dummies in for Obiwan just before Vader strikes him, but every time Vader hit the dummy with the light saber it (no kidding) burst into flames (now there's an effect: Obi Flambe!)! So, I guess they just hung up Obi's robe and let Vader swing away at it.
VAF@CMU-CS-C (12/30/82)
From: Vince Fuller <VAF at CMU-CS-C>
Date: Tuesday, 28 December 1982 19:23-EST
From: Dolata at SUMEX-AIM
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-MC
Re: The FORCE, or bad editing?
I recently saw SW-ANH (IV) in a situation where we could examine the
film closely. In the fight between Darth Vader and Obiwan, Obiwan's
brown cloak starts to collapse 2 frames (at least) before Darth's
light sabre hits it!!!!! So, did Darth kill Obiwan, or was he gone
already? Or am I picking nits with the editor?
This, I would say, was intentional. Obi-wan's grin (and the music we
hear) just before he turns off his light sabre indicate that he knows
what is going on. I think he decided that he needed to make an impact
and had no real use for his corporeal form any longer. He therefore
fled his body BEFORE Vader "killed" him.