As Attack
of the Clones mania sweeps across the world, Star Wars fans in
Norwich caused their own tremor in the force at the weekend.
Hundreds of
the Lucas faithful gathered to savour the taste of inter-galactic
excitement at a special science fiction fair held at St Catherines
Church Hall in Mile Cross.
Organised
by the Norwich & District Star Wars Power Of the Force Collectors
Club, visitors to the fair were in for a treat as actors from
the epic movies signed autographs and answered questions.
Kenny Baker,
better known to moviegoers across the world as R2D2, said
he still meets up with other key characters from the original
1978 film.
"We don't
meet each other all the time. Chewbacca now lives in Texas, Darth
Vader of course David Prouse lives in South London, we see each
other."
Event organiser
David Frost is hoping the weekend event will encourage more people
to join the local society.
"We started
the club in October 2000," he said. "There are a number
of other events that go on around the country and we decided as
a club we decided to expand our horizons a little bit."
"We've
got around 60 members at the moment and we'd like to expand that
to three times the number. This was one way of gaining interest
and bringing new members in."
Jerome Blake
played seven characters in Episode One, the Phantom Menace including
the cowardly Neimoidian official, Rune Haako.
"One
of the pre-requisites of the job as far as I'm concerned is hopefully
to give the character some sort of physical attributes that suggest
that it's not an actor with a rubber head on," said Blake.
"I think
a lot of mistakes have been made in the past when people have
these fantastically lavish costumes, but the person inside them
just walks and talks like they do in their normal every day life
so basically what the audience sees is a man with an alien rubber
head on."
Merchandising
is a huge money spinner. For Attack of the Clones alone, Lucas
Licensing expects to rake in over £1bn.
Chris Smith,
a stall holder at the fair, has handled some of the more sought
after merchandise over the years.
"The
most expensive would probably be a Storm Trooper costume which
I purchased and sold on for £950," he said. "A little
birdy has told me it's now selling for £2,500 which I'm a little
bit upset about."
With the release
of Episode III in 2005, the Lucas legacy is set to continue with
the power of the force likely to touch the lives of generations
to come.
Internet
Links
±«Óãtv Films
- Review of Attack of the Clones
Norwich &
District Star Wars Collectors' Club
Official Star Wars Website
The
±«Óãtv is not responsible for the content of external websites
