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.