Richard Miller (December 6, 1942–December 8, 2022) was a jeweler, sculptor, and teacher at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). While he was teaching at a local university and pursuing his art career, his friend Lorne Peterson recruited him for the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, on which Miller worked as a jeweler. He continued his career at ILM and contributed to each of the Star Wars prequel trilogy films—as a concept sculptor for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and as a model maker for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
Biography[]
Before Star Wars[]
Richard Miller, who was born on December 6, 1942, was a veteran sculptor at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).[1] While he was working as a jeweler and sculptor and as an art teacher at a local university, he was recruited by his friend, ILM model-maker Lorne Peterson, to become a jeweler on the 1983 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Peterson had viewed several of Miller's bronze sculptures and realized their style was similar to costume designer Nilo Rodis-Jamero's concepts for Leia Organa's dancing-girl costume.[5]
Return of the Jedi[]
In the "Slave Leia costume" featurette on the 2011 Blu-ray set Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Richard Miller described his work on the costume.
To craft the dancing-girl costume, Miller utilized a wax casting technique used in bronze sculpting. He initially created the pieces using soft wax around bendable armature wire, placed them in an ice chest, and then actress Carrie Fisher wore them against her skin so that her body heat would warm and soften the wax as the armature was shaped to fit her. Miller would then use the fitted wax pieces to mold and cast the costume components in a dense urethane rubber that was then painted gold.[5] On the 2011 Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga, he described his process and demonstrated the flexibility of the structural pieces in the "Slave Leia costume" featurette.[6] He also created Emperor Palpatine's cloak clasp, which was first sculpted and cast in resin and then finished with a high-gloss black lacquer.[5]
The prequel trilogy[]
- "Richard Miller created the sculpture of this. He's very thoughtful and careful, and I worked with him to achieve a modello look—the kind of things that students might do in terra-cotta before doing their final sculpture. Then we aged it and gave it cracks."
- ―Erik Tiemens, on working with Richard Miller to create the archaeological frieze in Palpatine's office
Miller was one of the concept sculptors on the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.[2] As part of the ILM unit, he was a model maker for the 2002 prequel film, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,[4] and for the final prequel in 2005, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.[8] Between December 2003 and October 2004, he worked with artist and concept design supervisor Erik Tiemens of Skywalker Ranch to create a bas-relief sculpture from Tiemens' drawings. The finished frieze appears in Palpatine's office in Revenge of the Sith.[7]
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Contribution(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi | Jeweler[3] |
| 1999 | Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace | Concept Sculptor[2] |
| 2002 | Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones | Model Maker (Industrial Light & Magic)[4] |
| 2005 | Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith | Model Maker (Industrial Light & Magic)[8] |
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars
Sith Snapshots: History in the Making on StarWars.com (January 26, 2006) (content now obsolete; backup link)- Sith Snapshots: Sith Sculpture on StarWars.com (April 13, 2006) (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Homing Beacon #168 on StarWars.com (content obsolete and backup link not available)
- Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- The Making of Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy
- The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Richard Miller, ILM Sculptor Who Created Princess Leia's Gold Bikini, Dies at 80 by Giardina, Carolyn on The Hollywood Reporter (December 10, 2022) (archived from the original on December 11, 2022)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy
- ↑ Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Art of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
External links[]
- Richard Miller at the Internet Movie Database
- Richard Miller (@richardmillerfx) on Twitter
