In Focus: Movie making

The Ewok village of Endor high in the redwoods from 'Return of the Jedi,' filmed near Smith River in 1982. ().

By Kelley Atherton

In the quiet of the forest, broken only by the crackle of breaking twigs and the creaking of gently swaying redwoods, the sounds of drums and singing in an unfamiliar tongue can almost be heard even after all these years.

Just walking around remote places in Del Norte County can bring back cinematic memories, like an Ewok village or the spot where an extraterrestrial was reunited with others of his ilk.

Del Norte has provided the backdrop for several popular movies. Most memorable and recognizable is the heavily wooded land of Endor, where rebel forces and Ewoks take down the evil Empire in the "Star Wars" saga, "Return of the Jedi."

A handful of films have been at least partially shot here, including the 1936 version of "The Last of the Mohicans"; a 1981 horror film, "The Final Terror"; "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" in 1982; and an independent cult favorite, "Dead Man," starring Johnny Depp and an aging Robert Mitchum, in 1994.

Lucasfilm shot the scenes on the mythical planet of Endor for "Jedi" just outside Smith River on Miller-Rellim Redwood Company land from April 26 to May 26, 1982. A crew was in the area for almost a year building sets.

Up to $3 million was spent in Del Norte during filming. About 200 locals were hired as stand-ins and extras. Others did hair and makeup, built sets and washed laundry for the actors.

Lots of people have their stories about the crew and the excitement of a major motion picture being filmed in their back yard.

The redwoods — what Del Norte is most famous for — were precisely the look George Lucas wanted for the third installment in his epic tale.

A hush-hush operation

The Daily Triplicate caught wind of filming and the hundreds of people, including a few famous actors, who were staying at Ship Ashore Resort and ran a story on May 12, 1982.

At that time the movie's working title was "Revenge of the Jedi." It was also referred to as "Blue Harvest" to throw off anxious fans and would-be plot spoilers.

Producer Howard Kazanjian gave vague details about the filming and refused to allow a Triplicate reporter on the set in order to keep surprises intact for "Star Wars" fans. He also wouldn't explain what role 39 little people would play in the film.

The May 12 article noted that the exciting news of a film crew in town had distracted people from the "grim reality of a severely depressed economy."

Today's grim economic news lacks such a local distraction.

"The opportunity to catch a glimpse of a movie star eating at a local restaurant or fishing on the Smith has helped some people forget somber reality for a short moment and feel a bit of happiness," wrote Sherry Heiser.

Taking on the big guys

In the DVD commentary for "Jedi," writer and producer George Lucas said he wanted a primitive look for Endor. To take down a technologically-advanced, oppressive super-power, the rebels and Ewoks used natural resources like stone and wood.

"The thing about Endor is that I wanted an environment that was different from any other environment — a jungly kind of place, the color of life, a cradle of life environment," Lucas said. "The only thing I could come up with was giant sequoia (redwood) trees."

In 1982, the crew ended up on Morrison Creek Road, where old-growth redwoods were fated to be cut down. However, before filming began in May 1982, some of the surrounding ground had to be leveled, according to Kazanjian.

"We came in about 11 months ago with bulldozers to level the ground and replant ferns and seeds so we had an area that looked natural," Kazanjian told The Triplicate in 1982.

The filming included a famous chase scene through the redwoods, which gave the audience a first-hand sense of flying through the trees at high speed. The scene was shot by a cameraman walking through the forest. The film was then sped up to get the thrill factor, while actors shot their sequences in front of a green screen.

According to Lucas, "stop-motion in a forest had never been done before."

Morrison Road was also used to film the climactic Battle of Endor. The Empire's shield generator is blown up, thus allowing its "Death Star" to be destroyed.

"This location was about to be cut down for logging anyway, so it was alright to go in and sort of blow these trees up," said Dennis Muren on the DVD commentary. Muren did visual effects for "Jedi."

The movie provides a different look at redwood trees, which are revered and highly protected. Throughout battle scenes, redwoods smash to the ground and the shield generator is blown up amidst the giant trees.

"Here it is on film and at least the process entertained everyone before it had to be cut down," Muren said.

"E.T. phone home"

Just seven months after "Jedi" landed in Smith River for a month of principal filming of one of the most well-known and profitable movies of all time, another famous director, Steven Spielberg, found the perfect spot to open and close a now-beloved children's movie.

Deep in the forest outside Fort Dick, an alien is first abandoned and later picked back up by his comrades. The dense redwood forest is supposed to be just outside a major metropolitan city.

At the beginning of "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," E.T. wanders away from the other aliens and peeks out over a cliff to modern suburbia — row upon row of lights stretching for miles — not exactly Crescent City.

One particularly famous scene was shot here. It's a tear-jerker for some as Elliott and E.T. race away on a bicycle from government types and with a little supernatural help fly over the trees across the moon. That scene provided the backdrop for the movie cover and posters.

Filming was also done on Miller-Rellim property off North Bank Road and Little Mill Creek in December 1982. Supposedly, Spielberg shot an additional scene of a dying E.T. lying face down in Little Mill Creek, which was not used in the film.

Fort Dick Market owner Clyde Eller said that during filming some of the child actors from "E.T." talked to the students at Redwood Elementary School. The cast included Henry Thomas as Elliott, Drew Barrymore as Elliott's sister, Gertie, and Robert MacNaughton as big brother Michael.

"My son came home from school and said all the kids came over to the school," Eller said, recalling the boy's excitement.

Crew members from "Jedi" also frequented the market, and Eller came to know some of them, while providing food and supplies. He said he was aware that another film was being shot nearby, but the crew didn't make itself known.

"E.T." flew right under the radar for The Triplicate, which did not run an article on the filming.

It is peculiar that two blockbuster films were shot in Del Norte in the same year, Eller said. Perhaps, George Lucas told Spielberg about the redwoods, or location scouts both happened upon the same area with few people and a lush forest.

"How they end up here," Eller said, "I have no idea."

Johnny Depp shops at K-Mart

Filming took place from Nov. 25-28, 1994, for this indie flick with budding star Johnny Depp as William Blake, who comes to the Wild West of 1875 for a job.

Director Jim Jarmusch took his eclectic group of actors all over Washington and Oregon and down into California. Jarmusch shot in the redwoods around Walker Road and at the mouth of the Klamath River, where a dying Depp floats out to sea.

During that brief period, Depp was spotted at K-Mart in Crescent City and was appartently amicable enough to sign some autographs.

Redwoods on a tropical island?

"The Lost World," the sequel to "Jurassic Park," was actually filmed just across the county border in Humboldt County in 1997.

Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park and Patrick's Point State Park served as the setting for dinosaurs supposedly living on a tropical island off the coast of Costa Rica.

The redwoods provided a prehistoric atmosphere. Yet when the film's stars watch a herd of stegosauruses walk through a rocky creek amongst the tall trees and ferns, it probably feels very familiar to local residents.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Next Saturday: In Episode II, local residents tell their stories about rubbing elbows with the stars.

Nov. 1: In the concluding Episode III, a look at the potential for our area to once again attract moviemakers.