![]() ![]() Everyone’s pleased with you.” I know Frank said to his store man, the late great Peter Spencer, an old friend of mine, “How do those two boys turn out so much stuff with that much detail?” You know what you are doing, and I don’t. When working on Empire and Jedi, Frank would come into my shop for a tea and would say, “Carry on, boy. So I was very pleased when he offered me supervising propmaker on Empire. He would only accept the best and would soon let you know if it wasn't. Frank was a prop master who was very hard to work for. Only Frank knew that, but I guess after seeing my work - and I’m sure talking with Harry Lang - he made his choice. I don’t remember if they were for inserts or maybe as a test. Frank came to Shepperton Studios and had me redo some panels from the X-wing fighters and landspeeders, a lightsaber, and a C-3PO head. John “Dak” Morton: On Alien you met another Star Wars propmaster, Frank Bruton, and that’s how you made your way to Empire.īill Hargreaves: Dave introduced me to Frank Bruton, and I did some prop-making for him. He was a great inspiration and became a lifelong friend, someone I will always miss. That started me off in the film industry. And “best side to London.” Dress your best side to camera, but never forget the back - it may be seen. And that’s just what we did to make the ship look much bigger. ![]() There is an old saying: do it with smoke and mirrors. That saves time and money, always a good thing. When making the switches for the doors on Nostromo, when they were activated on set, a light lit off set to let the door operators know to open or close the doors. I soon learned to give more than is asked for. He showed me how the camera faces one way, so if you can operate behind it, so much the better. I worked closely with Dave to make the alien brain from condoms and maggots, a trick I used on Empire. I made a mental note of that and use it from time to time. His rig had large levers to move the head three feet six inches high, big leavers, more subtle movements. He introduced me to Carlo Rambaldi who designed and operated the head movements for the alien. Dave showed me how a shooting set works and how to address other departments and that the first assistant is always in charge so work with them. All my stuff made it onto the film and gave me a great insight into the workings of a film. He gave me a start on Alien as a propmaker. Dave was then working on Alien, right?īill Hargreaves: Yes. John “Dak” Morton: And then Lange introduced you to Dave Jordan, the Star Wars propmaster. He could see I was not fazed by the pressures of filming, so he thought I would be useful on other projects he had in mind. I think Harry was impressed with my attitude, particularly when I helped him with his robots, adding more detail so they looked like they were working. As I remember, he was doing an advert for a cigar company. How did you meet Lange, and what did he see in you back then?īill Hargreaves: I met Harry first when he was working in Pinewood Studios. The two caucused again after the event to swap a few insights on Bill’s extraordinary career in props. Bill and John “Dak” Morton were among over a dozen Star Wars guests at this summer’s London Film and Comic Con at London’s Olympia. With this entrée, Bill made the hyperspace jump into the film business and created some of the most memorable robots and props in the galaxy. Lange had worked on spacecraft designs for Wernher von Braun and NASA before getting into film with Stanley Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In 1977 he met the legendary Harry Lange, who was the art director on The Empire Strikes Back. In the '70s, he was an expert in concrete fabrication with his own fencing and gardening firm. ![]() Propmeister Bill Hargreaves is an Oxford lad now based in Bracknell in Berkshire. Meet the prop master behind legendary creations that include IG-88, probe droids, mynock, and Jabba's gatekeeper! ![]()
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