Production on Star Wars: The Force Awakens wrapped back in November 2014, but the cast and crew are filming on location again right now.
Sometimes, especially in blockbuster filmmaking, small narrative gaps are identified in the editing room. Or maybe transitional footage is needed to help the audience better understand the flow from one scene to the next. Perhaps one clip or another had poor lighting and didn't turn out well when the film was printed.
For these and many more reasons, it's common for big-budget movies to re-gather the cast and crew to film "pickup" shots late in the post-production cycle. Such is the case with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which saw a host of location filming throughout its production. When not based at England's Pinewood Studios, actors and crew members were sent to far-flung locations like Iceland, Abu Dhabi, a military base in Berkshire, U.K., and a remote, ancient island off the coast of Ireland called Skellig Michael.
There, it's known that Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley were both on hand for three days of filming, though nothing is known about what kinds of scenes were shot there or what galactic localle Skellig Michael was standing in for.
BBC is reporting that production has returned to Skellig Michael for pickup shots, and that Hamill (at least) is present on the set. Some locals aren't too happy about the ancient island, which is designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site due to a Christian monastery located there that's over one thousand years old, as a film set. But Irish Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys cleared Lucasfilm's use of the site.
The big question for Star Wars fans is: What kind of scenes might be filmed on such an island?
From the winter wastelands of Hoth to the deserts of Tatooine to the lush forests of Endor, Star Wars is known for its worlds with wildly diverse landscapes and ecologies. The Force Awakens looks no different, by all accounts, so it's not surprising that the production would choose a remote, difficult-to-reach location like this Irish island if they felt it was unique enough to suit the needs of the script.
Skellig Michael is a tall, rocky terrain, known for steep rock faces that reach high into the sky. It rises sharply out of the water like a pyramidal monolith. Despite its nearly vertical topography, it's home to many species of wildlife, including a large number of puffins. It's also the location of an ancient Christian monastery that's believed to date back to at least 1,400 years ago.
In the film, might it be a similarly long-abandoned monastery for the Jedi? It would make sense, particularly since there are reports that Episode VIII director Rian Johnson has scouted the island for additional use in his sequel. (Some news sources are reporting that this week's filming on the island is actually for Episode VIII instead of pickups for VII, but we find that hard to swallow.)
Eyewitness sources are telling news sources that Mark Hamill slipped and nearly fell down a steep slope at one point. But apparently a guide with quick reflexes caught him and averted disaster.
As for the crew currently there, poor weather conditions have forced the production to cancel filming until Tuesday.
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