Editing Star Wars (film) (section)

=== Post-production ===
''Star Wars'' was originally slated for release on December 25, 1976, but production delays pushed it back to mid-1977.{{sfn|Taylor|2014a|p=161-162}} Editor [[John Jympson]] began cutting the film while Lucas was still filming in Tunisia; as Lucas noted, the editor was in an "impossible position" because Lucas had not explained any of the film's material to him. When Lucas viewed Jympson's [[rough cut]], he felt the editor's selection of takes was questionable.{{Sfn|Rinzler|2008|p=194}} He felt Jympson did not fully understand the film nor Lucas's style of filmmaking, and he continued to disapprove of Jympson's editing as time went by.{{Sfn|Rinzler|2008|p=213}} Halfway through production, Lucas fired Jympson and replaced him with [[Paul Hirsch (film editor)|Paul Hirsch]], [[Richard Chew]], and his then-wife, [[Marcia Lucas]]. The new editing team felt Jympson's cut lacked excitement, and they sought to inject more dynamism into the film.<ref name="Dreams" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/the-secret-weapon-behind-star-wars/news-story/75eb078a8b14d93fce23b06e98805ffb |title=The 'secret weapon' behind Star Wars |work=news.com.au |last=Chung |first=Frank |date=December 17, 2015 |access-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416122803/https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/the-secret-weapon-behind-star-wars/news-story/75eb078a8b14d93fce23b06e98805ffb |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jympson's rough cut of ''Star Wars'' (often called the "Lost Cut") differed significantly from the final version. Author David West Reynolds describes Jympson's version as "more leisurely paced", and estimates that it contained 30–40% different footage from the final cut. Although most of the differences relate to extended scenes or alternate takes, there were also scenes which were completely removed to accelerate the pace of the narrative.<ref name="Lost Cut">{{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=David West |date=December 1998 |title=The Evolution of Star Wars: Exploring the Lost Cut |journal=[[Star Wars Insider]] |issue=41 |pages=69–75}}</ref> The most notable of these were a series from Tatooine, when Luke is first introduced. Set in the city of Anchorhead, the scenes depicted Luke's everyday life among his friends, and showed how their lives are affected by the space battle above the planet. These scenes also introduced Biggs Darklighter, Luke's closest friend who leaves to join the Rebellion.<ref name=Taraldsvik>{{cite book|last1=Taraldsvik|first1=Morten Schive|title=A Sci-Fi Movie Lexicon III|publisher=Lulu|isbn=978-1-4452-6465-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Scr6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT109 |access-date=April 23, 2015|chapter=Star Wars IV: A New Hope: Lost Scenes |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819212941/https://books.google.com/books?id=Scr6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT109 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hirsch said the scenes were removed because they presented too much information in the first few minutes of the film, and they created too many storylines for the audience to follow.{{Sfn|Rinzler|2008|p=255}} The removal of the Anchorhead scenes also helped distinguish ''Star Wars'' from Lucas's previous film; Alan Ladd called the deleted scenes "''American Graffiti'' in outer space".<ref name="Taraldsvik" /> Lucas also wanted to shift the narrative focus to C-3PO and R2-D2 at the beginning of the film. He explained that having "the first half hour of the film be mainly about robots was a bold idea."{{Sfn|Hearn|2005|p=106}}{{Sfn|Brooker|2009|p=18}}

Meanwhile, ILM was struggling to achieve unprecedented special effects. The company had spent half its budget on four shots that Lucas deemed unacceptable.<ref name="Heritage" /> With hundreds of shots remaining, ILM was forced to finish a year's work in six months. To inspire the visual effects team, Lucas spliced together clips of aerial [[dogfight]]s from old war films. These kinetic segments helped the team understand his vision for scenes in ''Star Wars''.<ref name="Dreams" />

Sound designer Ben Burtt had created a library of sounds that Lucas referred to as an "organic soundtrack". Blaster sounds were created by modifying the noise of a steel cable being struck while under tension. Lightsaber sound effects were a combination of the hum of movie projector motors and interference caused by a television set on a shieldless microphone. Burtt discovered the latter accidentally while searching for a buzzing, sparking sound to add to the projector-motor hum.<ref>{{citation |author=Burtt |first=Ben |title=Star Wars Trilogy: The Definitive Collection |year=1993 |publisher=Lucasfilm |quote= |author-link=Ben Burtt |medium=Laserdisc interview}}</ref> For Chewbacca's speech, Burtt combined the sounds of four bears, a badger, a lion, a seal, and a walrus.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Madrigal |first=Alexis C. |date=August 7, 2014 |title=The Incredible Story of How Chewbacca Got a Voice |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/the-remarkable-way-chewbacca-got-a-voice/375697/ |access-date=November 5, 2023 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105012840/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/the-remarkable-way-chewbacca-got-a-voice/375697/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Burtt achieved Vader's breathing noise by breathing through the mask of a scuba regulator; this process inspired the idea of Vader being a burn victim.<ref name="silicon">{{cite web |title=Interview with Benn Burtt |url=http://www.transmitmedia.com/svr/burtt/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811231156/http://www.transmitmedia.com/svr/burtt/index.html |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |access-date=October 3, 2006 |publisher=Silicon Valley Radio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kaminski|first=Michael|date=2007|title=The Visual Development of Darth Vader|website=The Secret History of Star Wars|url=http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryofstarwarscom/secrethistoryofstarwars.com/visualdevelopmentofdarthvader.html|access-date=November 19, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034852/http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryofstarwarscom/secrethistoryofstarwars.com/visualdevelopmentofdarthvader.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 1977, Lucas screened an early cut of the film for Fox executives, several director friends, and [[Roy Thomas]] and [[Howard Chaykin]] of [[Marvel Comics]], who were preparing a [[Star Wars (1977 comic book)|''Star Wars'' comic book]]. The cut had a different crawl from the finished version and used Prowse's voice for Vader. It also lacked most special effects; hand-drawn arrows took the place of blaster beams, and footage of World War II dogfights replaced space battles between TIE fighters and the ''Millennium Falcon''.<ref name="thomas20070601">{{cite web|url=https://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/bts/article/f20070601/index.html?page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326072227/http://www.starwars.com/episode-iv/bts/article/f20070601/index.html|title=Star Wars: The Comic Book That Saved Marvel!|website=[[Star Wars|StarWars.com]]|publisher=[[Lucasfilm]]|date=June 1, 2007 |access-date=December 5, 2012|author=Thomas, Roy |archive-date=March 26, 2010}}</ref> Several of Lucas's friends failed to understand the film, and their reactions disappointed Lucas. Marcia Lucas also admitted at her initial unhappiness with the film describing it as the "''[[At Long Last Love]]'' of science fiction." [[Steven Spielberg]] enjoyed it, however, and believed the lack of enthusiasm from others was due to the absence of finished special effects. In contrast, Ladd and the other studio executives loved the film; production executive [[Gareth Wigan]] described the experience as the "most extraordinary day of [his] life." Lucas, who was accustomed to negative reactions from executives, found the experience shocking and rewarding.<ref name="Dreams" />{{r|Biskind}}

Ladd reluctantly agreed to release an extra $50,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=50000|start_year=1977|r=-4|fmt=eq}}) in funding.{{Sfn|Taylor|2014a|p=174}} The unit also completed additional studio footage for the Mos Eisley cantina sequence.{{Sfn|Taylor|2014a|p=155, 167}}

''Star Wars'' was completed less than a week before its May 25, 1977, release date. With all of the film's elements coming together just in time, Lucas described the work as not so much finished, but "abandoned".{{sfn|Rinzler|2008|p=319}} ''Star Wars'' began production with a budget of $8 million; the total budget eventually reached $11&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=8|start_year=1975|r=0}} and ${{Inflation|index=US|value=11|start_year=1976|r=0}} million, respectively, in {{Inflation/year|index=US}}).<ref name="TheNumbers">{{cite the numbers|id=Star-Wars-Ep-IV-A-New-Hope|title=Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope|access-date=January 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130073633/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Star-Wars-Ep-IV-A-New-Hope|archive-date=January 30, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>