Editing Lightsaber (section)

===Choreography===
The technical lightsaber choreography for the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy was developed by [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] sword-master [[Bob Anderson (fencer)|Bob Anderson]]. Anderson personally trained [[Mark Hamill]] (Luke Skywalker) and, in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'', performed all the stunts as [[Darth Vader]] during the lightsaber duels wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the trilogy was highlighted in the film ''[[Reclaiming the Blade]]'' where he shared his experiences as a fencer developing the lightsaber techniques for the three original movies.

The lightsaber duels in the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy were specifically choreographed by stunt-coordinator [[Nick Gillard]] to be miniature "stories". For these films, Gillard was the primary sword instructor for [[Liam Neeson]] ([[Qui-Gon Jinn]]), [[Ewan McGregor]] (Obi-Wan Kenobi), [[Ray Park]] (Darth Maul) and [[Hayden Christensen]] (Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader) among other actors. His goal in choreographing the action for ''The Phantom Menace'' was to create stunts that flow from the story; "You can't just think, 'I'm a [[stunt coordinator]], I'm going to make a big stunt happen'," Gillard said. "It's all about making it tie in nicely with the film so that you don't notice the stunts."{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

In writing the prequel trilogy, George Lucas said he wanted the lightsaber combat to be "reminiscent of what had been done in the previous films but also something that was more energized. We'd seen old men, young boys, and characters who were half-droid, but we'd never seen a Jedi in his prime. I wanted to do that with a fight that was faster and more dynamic—and we were able to pull that off."<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Bouzereau| first1 = Laurent| last2 = Duncan| first2 = Jody| title = Star Wars: The Making of Episode I: The Phantom Menace| place=New York| publisher = Ballantine Publ. Group| year = 1999| edition = Hardcover| isbn =0-345-43111-1}}, page 99</ref>

According to Gillard, various lightsaber combat styles, or forms, were devised for the prequels and intended to further [[Characterization|characterize]] their practitioners.

{{blockquote|I developed different styles for the characters, and gave each of them a flaw or a bonus. So with Obi-Wan Kenobi, for instance, he's got a very business-like style—when he was younger he could border on the flashy and might twirl his lightsaber a bit, because he was taught by Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon was brash, that rubbed off on Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan then taught Anakin, who was way too old to learn anyway... I think the style really worked well. The Jedi style of fighting is an amalgamation of all the great [[swordsmanship|swordfighting]] styles. Melding them together is the difficult part—to move from a [[Kendo]] style to, say, [[rapier]] requires a complete change in body and feet movement, and this must look effortless. The style moves seamlessly between the different disciplines, but remains technically correct throughout.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with stunt co-ordinator Nick Gillard (Mr. Optimism)- March 2004 |url=http://desiringhayden.net/pressarchive/2009/02/25/interview-with-stunt-co-ordinator-nick-gillard-mr-optimism-march-2004/ |website=Desiring Hayden.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717044923/http://desiringhayden.net/pressarchive/2009/02/25/interview-with-stunt-co-ordinator-nick-gillard-mr-optimism-march-2004/ |archive-date=17 July 2012 |date=March 2004|access-date=2009-06-21}}</ref>}}

For ''The Phantom Menace'', Gillard set out certain styles and faults for the saber-wielding characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theforce.net/videogames/story/Nick_Gillard_Talks_ROTS_Game_92147.asp |publisher=[[TheForce.Net]] |title=Nick Gillard Talks ROTS Game |date=May 8, 2005 |access-date=2008-11-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207005209/http://www.theforce.net/videogames/story/Nick_Gillard_Talks_ROTS_Game_92147.asp |archive-date=December 7, 2008 }}</ref> He added that the Jedi's use of such "a short-range weapon" meant "they would have to be very good at it"; combining a variety of disciplines from various sword fighting styles to martial arts "with a touch of tennis and tree chopping", he created the style seen in the ''Episode I'' lightsaber battles.<ref>[https://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/me1/6.html Episode I Video: Prime of the Jedi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080701224021/http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/bts/me1/6.html |date=2008-07-01 }} -(part of the "Making Episode I" series).</ref>

For ''The Force Awakens'', director [[J. J. Abrams]] decided to approach the choreography similarly to how it was done in the original trilogy. Abrams stated that the prequel trilogy choreography was "increasingly spectacular and stylized, almost like dance choreography", but that was not what they really wanted to go for in the new films.<ref Name="Star Wars News Net">{{cite web|url=http://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2015/11/new-revelations-from-empires-new-issue-on-the-force-awakens.html|title=New Revelations From Empire's New Issue on The Force Awakens|first=Viral|last=Hide|work=starwarsnewsnet.com|date=November 27, 2015|access-date=22 December 2016|archive-date=February 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220155423/http://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2015/11/new-revelations-from-empires-new-issue-on-the-force-awakens.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He told ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine, "When you look at ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' and ''[[The Empire Strikes Back|Empire]]'', they are very different lightsaber battles, but for me they felt more powerful because they were not quite as slick. I was hoping to go for something much more primitive, aggressive and rougher, a throwback to the kind of heart-stopping lightsaber fights I remembered being so enthralled by as a kid."<ref name="Star Wars News Net"/>