When most people think of Star Wars, several names might immediately come to mind. It may be the series’ original creator, George Lucas, or any one of the major stars attached to the films – like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, or Carrie Fisher. It may be individuals who played vital roles behind the scenes, like John Williams with his triumphant score or Lawrence Kasdan with his dazzling screenwriting abilities.
But no matter what, it’s doubtful the first name that springs to mind is Gilbert Taylor, the unsung hero of 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope.
An influential creative mind who worked on several classic films over the years, Taylor’s artistic sensibilities greatly informed George Lucas’s original Star Wars, giving us some of the most iconic shots in the entire series.
Who Was Gilbert Taylor?
Born in 1914, Hertfordshire, England native Gilbert Taylor’s career began when he accepted a job as a camera assistant when he was just 15 years old. Working on several silent films from the late ‘20s into the early ‘30s, Taylor’s first big break came courtesy of 1932’s Number Seventeen, a comedy thriller directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock. Though only a junior member of the crew, Taylor helped provide the future Master of Suspense with some special effects shots later used in the film, ensuring his continued rise in the film industry at the time.
After a six-year stint in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during World War II, Taylor returned to the medium of film by the late 1940s, eventually working his way to a position of cinematographer. For the next two decades, Taylor worked on dozens of movies with world-renowned directors, starting with Stanley Kubrick on Dr. Strangelove and continuing with Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night) and Roman Polanski (Repulsion, Cul-de-sac, Macbeth).
In the mid-’70s, the now reputable Taylor was contracted to work on a little-known sci-fi project by indie director George Lucas. As with most aspects of the film, Taylor’s work on the movie played a major role in Star Wars’ success, helping set it apart from other sci-fi movies of its era.
Taylor’s Work on Star Wars
Taylor himself was well aware of his unorthodox approach to shot composition, his plans for Star Wars every bit as ambitious as Lucas’s own creative outlook. “I wanted to give Star Wars a unique visual style that would distinguish it from other films in the science fiction genre,” Taylor later said in an interview with Jedi News. “I wanted Star Wars to have clarity because I think space isn’t out of focus.”
Getting hands-on with virtually every aspect of the film’s settings and special effects, Taylor helped create some of the most recognizable shots in the entire series. For example, Taylor personally oversaw the opening shot of the Imperial Star Destroyer coming into focus, pursuing Princess Leia’s ship over the barren desert planet of Tatooine.
Even more notably, Taylor was the person responsible for dreaming up the now-iconic image of Luke Skywalker looking out at the twin suns of Tatooine, pondering his future in the binary sunset before him.
Nearly 50 years and ten sequels later, these shots remain some of the most iconic in cinematic history, the latter scene recreated in numerous Star Wars films and parodies that followed.
Taylor’s Relationship with George Lucas
As important a part as Taylor’s shots played in the near instantaneous success of Star Wars, his time on the film was not without its fair share of issues. Most tellingly, his working relationship with George Lucas proved tumultuous at the best of times, with often lengthy periods where the director was unable to meet with Taylor to discuss the movie’s cinematography. This left Taylor to interpret his own creative view of the film from studying the script.
“George avoided all meetings and contact with me from day one, so I read the extra-long script many times and made my own decisions as to how I would shoot the picture,” Taylor told the American Photographer. “I took it upon myself to experiment with photographing the lightsabers and other things onstage before we moved on to our two weeks of location work in Tunisia.”
The chaotic weather of the Tunisian desert also similarly proved difficult to work around, the entire movie’s production battling rain and other weather mishaps, further hampering Taylor’s shot compositions. “You couldn’t really see where the land ended and the sky began,” observed Taylor. “It was all a gray mess, and the robots were just a blur.”
The few occasions that Lucas did speak to Taylor, it became increasingly evident that the two had differing views on what they wanted the film to look like. Whereas Taylor wanted the cinematography to be crisp and clear, Lucas wanted to heavily filter the camera through diffusion (a process that reduces an image’s resolution).
The fissure between the two escalated so quickly executives from 20th Century Fox stepped in to mediate. Playing back both Lucas and Taylor’s individual shots from the film, the company’s executives were more favorable towards Taylor’s footage, similarly taking into consideration Taylor’s past body of work. As Taylor’s wife, Dee, said in an interview with Slate, “George went to 20th Century Fox with it, and Gil had just done The Omen for them. So they said, ‘Go with Gil Taylor, he knows what he’s talking about.’”
As a result of their artistic differences, Lucas and Taylor seemed to evenly divide their work in later parts of the film. In the Death Star sequence that makes up a majority of the film’s second act, Taylor focused more heavily on the Death Star itself, while Lucas took to working more closely with the cast. “George concentrated on the actors while I took care of my end,” Taylor remembered. “But he still wouldn’t talk to me, really. He was very much preoccupied.”
Despite how frayed their relationship was at times, Lucas’s film owed a serious debt of gratitude to Taylor and his indelible influence on Star Wars. Years later, he seemingly acknowledged Taylor’s inherent creative talents, paying respect to his former cinematographer when Taylor passed away in 2013 at the age of 99.
“Gilbert’s work truly stands the test of time,” said George Lucas. “I had long admired his work on films such as A Hard Day’s Night and Dr. Strangelove, and I had the privilege of working with him on Star Wars. He was a true expert in his craft. Gilbert’s inspired work will live on in the many films he contributed to throughout his long career.”
Taylor’s Lasting Legacy
There are many reasons accounting for Star Wars’ success and popularity in 1977 and the decades that followed. Its fascinating universe, inventive utilization of special effects, cadre of talented actors, and incredible score by John Williams all helped propel the film into the annals of pop culture. But without Gilbert Taylor’s expert shot composition, Star Wars simply wouldn’t be the same, nor would it have caught audiences’ attention and imagination as fully as it did in the summer of ‘77.
Due to his strained relationship with Lucas, Taylor himself was never invited back to participate in any future Star Wars movies, but his seminal work on Star Wars speak for itself, every gorgeous shot bearing Taylor’s signature. His time on the film later helped Taylor capture a Saturn Award for Best Cinematography, and almost assuredly had a hand in Taylor winning a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Society of Cinematographers.
After Star Wars, Taylor continued to work as a respected cinematographer in the film industry, working on 12 more movies. Following the release of 1994’s Don’t Get Me Started, Taylor effectively retired from the medium of film, although he continued working in the years that followed (mostly on commercials and other advertisements).
On August 23, 2013, Taylor peacefully passed away in his home in the Isle of Wight. In honor of his achievements in the world of film and in Star Wars in particular, Star Wars.com paid a loving homage to the departed cinematographer, writing, “From the iconic opening shot of a massive Imperial Star Destroyer chasing the Rebels’ Tantive IV to the setting of twin suns on Tatooine, Taylor played a large role in establishing the visual identity of the entire series.”
In a true testament to his character, Taylor remained deeply connected to Star Wars’ fan community throughout his life, viewing his time on the film with reverence and pride. “It was a great experience,” said Taylor. “Although my career is at its end, I still communicate with Star Wars fans from all over the world with autographs and photographs.”
Richard Chachowski is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. He loves reading, his dog Tootsie, and pretty much every movie to ever exist (especially Star Wars).
