How Were Computer Graphics Created for the Original Star Wars Movie?

Posted by Chris Jensen | Apr. 21, 2008 10:29AM PST | 15682 views | 0 comments

FILED UNDER: Videos. Movies.

There are several scenes in the original Star Wars film that depicted computer graphics on monitors, most notably during the briefing prior to the attack on the Death Star. May not seem like such a big deal today, but back in 1977 it was quite an achievement. How were these primitive graphics created? The answer arrives in a recently unearthed video by Larry Cuba, who performed the services for Lucas while working Circle Graphics Habitat at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

(Source: Electronic Visualization Laboratory)

Tags cgi, special effects, star wars