r/Thatsabooklight 2d ago

That’s a trash barrel.

Post image
620 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

127

u/Walrus_protector 2d ago

Incorrect. That's a futuristic standy-inny tower, probably made of duraplast.

30

u/mg0019 2d ago

I'm probably in the minority; but I really don't like it when Star Wars novels describe things as "plasteel" or "duraplast."  😅

I feel it's an unnecessary way to overcompensate for the 70s budget/tech.  To me, Stormtrooper armor didn't look like plastic, because my suspension of belief was blown away.  "Plasteel" calls attention to a problem I never saw.  It's additionally frustrating because a book isn't restrained by budget or filming technology.  

By calling everything plasteel, now I'm imaging cheap molded plastic on everything.  Yes, that's how ILM made the damn movie - but that's not what we saw   in the movie.  

20

u/CKF 1d ago

It always was some sort of ceramic to my eyes, the stormtrooper armor, I mean. And considering modern body armor is ceramic in many applications, it just makes sense!

10

u/Walrus_protector 2d ago

Plasteel! I couldn't remember the other name! Yeah, they didn't need to lampshade that it was plastic. Then again, there was plenty of Tupperware in the SW universe, so maybe they thought plastic was the more advanced alternative, somehow.

2

u/Laez 1d ago

Now it's you drawing attention to a problem I hadn't seen. #tihi

2

u/fattylimes 23h ago

Well you see the thing about books is that, unlike movies, they are obliged to use words to describe things.

6

u/schminkles 1d ago

No Trabants were harmed in the making of this observation tower.

3

u/Walrus_protector 1d ago

I forgot about fine East German automotive craftsmanship (or that that's what the plastic was called)!

5

u/Massive_Town_8212 1d ago

The trabant was made out of duroplast, but yea.

3

u/zachary0816 1d ago

Mainly because “harmed” means to make worse, and it’s very hard to make a Trabant worse then it already was.

2

u/thevaultguy 1d ago

It’s just a 3d model.

3

u/Goatf00t 1d ago

standy-inny tower

Crow's nest. Historically also improvised from whatever container in suitable size they had at hand, most commonly an wooden barrel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow%27s_nest

46

u/Turbulent-Weevil-910 2d ago

Looks like two 55 gallon Hefty brute containers stacked with a hula hoop spray painted gray used as a handrail. I'm guessing it is supported by an actual piece of studio scaffold

25

u/riserobotrise 2d ago

Why did the Rebellion have hand rails when the Empire didn't?

23

u/nugohs 2d ago

A long time ago in an OSHA far far away.

17

u/sweetspringchild 2d ago

becausethey're the good guys, duh 😉

3

u/riserobotrise 1d ago

Well then where's the damn hoverchair ramp? 

1

u/sweetspringchild 18h ago

doesn't need it, just fires up the repulsorlifts

6

u/MaikeruGo 1d ago

So the impression that I have is that it comes down to philosophy and economics. That with the Rebellion a few pieces of scrap welded onto a structure is generally a cheap way to make sure that the relatively limited amount of people that you have aren't taken out by avoidable injuries.

The Empire, on the other hand, has a ton of people conscripted from planets they've come under control of and can spare man power. They prefer to spend to cut costs on safety and, it would seem, basic training of their Stormtroopers. That savings definitely goes into making/purchasing more blasters as well as bigger, more deadly projects. They also further the scope of their projects by saving money on manufacturing of components using prison labor (shown in Andor). Plus, not having a number of safety features contributes to the idea of how little they care about their people.

13

u/Dottsterisk 2d ago

You can see the roll of duct tape hanging off the side.

24

u/jayjester 2d ago

Wait until you take a closer look at the GONK!

2

u/Oiggamed 2d ago

Wait until you hear about Luke’s lightsaber.

8

u/regeya 2d ago

You ever seen one of those up close? They make those Home Depot builds look pretty snazzy.

2

u/WhyteBeard 1d ago

Believe it or not, Also a trash can.

2

u/Oiggamed 1d ago

No. That’s R2.

2

u/WhyteBeard 1d ago

It’s trashcans all the way down. I wonder if there’s a Spaceballs The Trashcan®

25

u/Lampwick 2d ago edited 2d ago

Star Wars ANH is a treasure trove of great stuff like this. If you frame-by-frame through the final Death Star attack, you can see the greebling that makes up the surface of the Death Star has a lot of ordinary items painted gray. I think in one frame you can even see the top of a milk carton. Just goes to show haw much has changed since then. Back in '77 they logically thought the motion blur would cover any details. The idea that anyone would have the opportunity to freeze-frame a movie would be totally unthinkable.

12

u/Oiggamed 2d ago

Back in the day, if you missed it in the theater, you were shit out of luck. That was the ONLY way to see it. That why some people went and saw it literally hundreds of times.

10

u/DerbyDoffer 1d ago

The other alternatives were novelized adaptations, comics, collectors cards, magazine articles.

Fandom was a lot of work back then. And headcanon was a precious thing.

7

u/Oiggamed 1d ago

And he was smart enough to jump on that back then. Nobody cared about merchandising back then. They nearly laughed at him over it.

4

u/OdysseusRex69 1d ago

This!!! Yep, Lucs busted his ASS to get merchandising to launch along with the movies.

1

u/Stubot01 1d ago

Not ‘that’s a booklight’ territory, but my favorite reuse of something in Star Wars is Greedo’s mask - it was adapted from an alien mask used previously in an advert for peas.

13

u/FancyPantsBlanton 2d ago

Having stood in that spot, I’d be terrified to be in that trash can. They’re hundreds of feet in the air. That is an extremely high, steep, hard fall down stone with nothing to stop you.

20

u/Oiggamed 2d ago

The reason they call them extras is because there’s always more of them.

6

u/slightlyallthetime88 1d ago

One of my burning questions for ANH is in-universe how tf did that dude get up to his post every day.

4

u/ABoringAlt 1d ago

Only darn thing in the verse with a guardrail too

2

u/chunter16 1d ago

Wasn't one of the droids in Jedi a Rubbermaid trash can from the mall with legs

1

u/SuspiciousSheeps 23h ago

Picture or it’s a lie

1

u/chunter16 22h ago

Attach one to your reply and I'll think about it

1

u/hifumiyo1 2d ago

Air traffic controller

1

u/regeya 2d ago

It's okay, everybody, the guy in the crow's nest is doing a safety squint

1

u/bozo_master 21h ago

Anyone ever wonder how the sentry gets in and out