Stormtrooper's gaffa tape

[stukatrooper]

I had some time on my hands today,so did what we all do and got my once a month fix of ANH.got looking at the gaffa tape positions on the suits,seeing if they were split or damaged.then along came set for stun with mr no strips,look what happened!

 

Gaffa tape left side chest as you look at the picture.

 

"theres one set for stun" Leia gets in first.

Sets the Squib off on the left chest area were the gaffa tape is.

 

 

 

Just goes to show you can never see enough of this film.So the gaffa tape we see are squibs,also Mr no stripes has one on hes right chest side as we look at the screen,so maybe Leia was ment to blast both troopers (Maybe)

Edited April 5, 2010 by stukatrooper

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Very nice find Pete! That was probably an easy way to cover the armor, just tape the squib over the armor, or drill a hole in the armor, tape a squib inside, then back it with some fireproof / safety material of some sort.

 

Likely that they had to do a few takes, so perhaps the tape also covered multiple shots instead of getting new armor each time. The guy on the left might have been a backup, depending on how GL wanted to shoot the scene. Interesting both of these guys are right handed shooters, perhaps framing wise they "played" better to the camera for framing purposes.

[stukatrooper]

This maybe old news to some of you but i love to find stuff out like this.Like you said Panda it almost puts you in the minds eye of GL as he plays the sceen through.

 

 

Mr no stripes tape as he looks down at hes fallen buddy and the stunned Leia.This tape is in the same place as Set for stun trooper but on the opposite side.

[stukatrooper]

Mine you if you look at this picture the trooper on the right has mr no stripes chest plate on with the tape.Maybe this is just a split chest plate? OOOOHHH i dont know

 

 

As far as i can see he only has the chest plate,the shoulder bells and arms are not the same.One hell off a free for all in the costume dept.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

very interesting. The bump under the tape seems very prominent and consistent all the way through. I think a crack would be more tapered, bigger at the open end near the armpit and tapers to nothing / smooth transition towards the center of the chest plate.Looks more like a wire, etc.. that triggers the squib.

 

My thinking (from a directors perspective as you mentioned) is that GL might have had multiple troopers "squibbed up" for various takes from different angles, and cycled through them just to get the shots he needed. The tape wouldn't be that noticeable on screen / moving, so it's more like:

 

"OK, let's get 3 troopers squibbed up" - Take one!

 

- Take

 

"OK, I don't like the right side, let's switch sides to TK #2. Patch up the shot guy and put him in the back" - Take 2!

 

- Take

 

"OK. Let's get one more take for safety from that angle. Patch up that other guy, and put him in the back. - Take 3!

 

OK, we got what we needed. Nice work guys, let's move on to scene number..."

 

Having worked on TV / film sets as an art director and AD, this would be a very common practice (getting multiple people ready for a shot and conserving the time / people on set).

[troopermaster]

Great theory Pete!

 

You've had me searching my reference material and I know 100% (for Mr. No Stripes) that they are cracks taped up. Even though I had never even considered them to be wires, you had me thinking mate

 

What you are seeing is the tape bunching up over the crack. Remember that these suits are not like your replicas. They are made from thinner plastic and strapped differently. The strapping from the abdomen to the chest makes the chest push up if you are shorter than intended, resulting in the top of the chest pushing into your neck and bulging the sides of the chest out. This bulging is making each side of the crack overlap each other and with the tape covering the crack, it looks like there is something under it, which there isn't.

 

I can only say this for Mr. No Stripes as his suit still lives on today. The SFS guy I cannot say for sure, but I cannot see why it would be any different. If it was a wire, it looks like it just stops dead. Surely a squib would be visable on the chest, even if it was covered with gaffer tape?

[SupaTrooper]

I thought I would put more light on the subject.

[stukatrooper]

Great theory Pete!

 

You've had me searching my reference material and I know 100% (for Mr. No Stripes) that they are cracks taped up. Even though I had never even considered them to be wires, you had me thinking mate

 

What you are seeing is the tape bunching up over the crack. Remember that these suits are not like your replicas. They are made from thinner plastic and strapped differently. The strapping from the abdomen to the chest makes the chest push up if you are shorter than intended, resulting in the top of the chest pushing into your neck and bulging the sides of the chest out. This bulging is making each side of the crack overlap each other and with the tape covering the crack, it looks like there is something under it, which there isn't.

 

I can only say this for Mr. No Stripes as his suit still lives on today. The SFS guy I cannot say for sure, but I cannot see why it would be any different. If it was a wire, it looks like it just stops dead. Surely a squib would be visable on the chest, even if it was covered with gaffer tape?

 

The three pictures showing the set for Stun trooper getting blasted by Liea in #1 are frame after frame pictures.the blast seems more like a fuse rather than a squib charge.So maybe we are calling them wrong,they are fuses not squibs as we know them today.

 

The blast starts small fizzes then fizzes red with lots of smoke just like setting off a fuse made of gun powder (sort of thing).I have no idea how these things are made,are they powder wrapped in paper?

 

Im glad this thread has got going (A slow fuse)

[troopermaster]

I don't know Pete. That might not be a wire after all. Maybe it's one of those red pieces of string you get with your firework kits, slowly burning away under the gaffer tape

Edited April 7, 2010 by troopermaster

[pandatrooper[TK]]

It could be primacord / detonation cord which is like a thin hollow rope, filled with combustible materials. It's used for film FX, military, etc..

 

It flares up very quickly, and looks a lot like the effect in ANH. Squibs usually result in a single "bang" like an old mob gangster movie gun shot. Primacord comes in different types / forms with different properties (color, duration, etc.) Some can "explode" and some can spark / fizzle like we see in the above shot. Might be what they used?