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Dueling
Sabers
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First
of all, right here I am
dealing with lightsabers for use in fan films. In these movies, there
are three main kinds of dueling sabers.
The first kind, and by far the easiest
to make, is
the fixed blade saber. Fixed blade sabers can be anything from a
broomstick or a chunk of PVC pipe, to a piece of metal that is the
right shape and size. I normally try to have my blades be about 3/4 of
an inch thick.
This type of saber is generally used
for battle shots where you do not
see a lot of detail, or where you know that the saber is going to take
some punishment. What I have found works very well is either a dowel or
a broomstick, with the "blade" portion painted some bright color. The
color does not have anything to do with the color of the color of the
blade in the movie, it just makes for easier tracking while editing the
movie.
If you are going to have two people
fight, make
sure you have two different colors for the sabers. this is especially
useful when you have to determine who's saber is on top in a battle.
Paint the "hilt" portion of the dowel or broomstick approximately the
same color as the hilt of the lightsaber that the person is supposed to
carry. This doesn't have to be too exact, unless you will be taking
closeups of the saber, in which case you probably want the second or
third type of saber.
The second type of lightsaber is the removable blade saber, which is a
bit more complex, but is not overly difficult to make. First, you need
a hilt. I have found that a piece of metal pipe, with an inside
diameter that is the same as you blade diameter, works just fine. You
can probably use some of the same material that you used for your first
saber as the blade on this. Once you
have your hilt
and blade, and the blade slides into the hilt fairly well, you need to
drill a hole through both the hilt and the blade. Slide a screw through
this hole, and then tighten it down. Like I said before, if you are
going to have two people fight, make sure you have two
different colors for the sabers. Detail the hilt the same as the
person's "real" saber, and you are done.
The third type is what is called a "Hero" saber. This is the on that
you see on closeups, and this one needs to be as close to perfect as
possible. You will probably want to buy some chromed sink pipe from a
hardware store and use that. This one normally does not have a blade
that can be attached, because the only time you use it is in very close
shots of the saber. |
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