Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a special edition of BtSPotD!
You’re gonna get two goodies for the price of one! Not only do you get a Bonus BTS pic today, but you North American readers will have a shot at winning the brilliant and thorough Making of The Empire Strikes Back:
Not only is that book awesome, it’s expensive. As someone who has had the great fortune of flipping through it, I can tell ya’ it’s worth every penny (and if you needed more validation, be sure to read Merrick’s review of the book).
But screw that noise. Why pay for it when you can win it? Random House has given me two copies to give away to a couple of North American BtSPotD readers. Why North America only? Sorry rest of the world, but Random House isn’t distributing outside of North America, so that means no contests for you.
In order to win one of these two books (there was talk early on of them being autographed by author JW Rinzler, but I’m not sure if that materialized) you need to email me at quint@aintitcool.com with your mailing address (to be used only in the event you win the contest) and a Behind the Scenes photo submission. Use the subject line BTS submission if you please. That’ll help me keep tabs on what comes in.
Any behind the scenes still, but the rarer, the more epic or the more intimate/candid the better. If you scan anything from a publication, please include the magazine or book you took the image from.
You have between now and next Wednesday, October 20th, at 11:59pm CST. I’ll pick my favorite two submissions. Keep in mind I’ve been collecting these images for a few months and have quite a large file folder, so if your awesome photo doesn’t get picked it’s because it’s one I’ve already seen.
So you know what you gots to do to win one of these awesome books. Now I want to share a picture with you sent along by the publisher. This image does indeed pop up in Rinzler’s book, but it’s a weird one in that it can count as two BTS images in one.
The photo has Jim Henson visiting the Empire offices to show collaborator Frank Oz a prototype of the Skesis puppet for their later film THE DARK CRYSTAL. You can see Empire director Irvin Kershner standing next to Frank Oz. Also, look closely to the bottom of the pic to see prototype Gelfling heads!
You know what makes this photo amazing to me? The look on Oz’s face. He looks purely happy, like a child at Christmas… In other words, I imagine that would have been the look on my face if I were ever lucky enough to see Jim Henson bring a puppet to life live and in the flesh.
Click the below image for the higher res version!
If you have a pic you think should be included email me. I’m looking for the iconic, the rare or the just plain cool behind the scenes shots to feature here.
Good luck to those who enter the contest! I’ll post the winners when I pick ‘em!
Look for the official BTS pic to hit later today!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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