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Nilo Rodis-Jamero
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CollectiblesVFX Assistant Art Director and Designer of Slave I
Nilo Rodis-Jamero was the assistant art director (miniature and optical effects unit) for "The Empire Strikes Back" and also a costume designer on "Return of the Jedi."
Slave I is Based on a Radar Dish
"Joe Johnston showed me some of the ideas he had for Boba Fett, and I remember asking myself what his spaceship would look like. I remember seeing a radar dish and stopping to sketch it very quickly to see if I could get something out of it. The original design I had was round, but when you looked at it from the side, it became elliptical. For some reason, when I drew it, [George Lucas] thought it was elliptical, so that's what it became. When we were building the ship at ILM, somebody looked at street lamps and pointed out that they look like Boba's ship. So everyone began to think that was where I got the idea for the design."
Source: Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays (p. 212)
Collaborators
The prop itself was built with Lorne Peterson. Lorne is quoted as believing the ship was based on a street lamp, but Lorne didn't design the ship so it's just a second hand opinion. See the above quote from Nilo, the ship's designer.
Rodis-Jamero's design for Slave I was rendered as a matte painting in Empire by Harrison Ellenshaw.
Last updated
February 14, 2025Stats
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Distinctive Ship for an "Outsider"
"Because Boba Fett is an 'outsider,' a bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader, the design of his ship had to be distinctive enough that it would not be confused with any of the Rebel ships or those of the Imperial fleet. The original concept of the Slave I was a half-spherelike body housing the main engine parts in a fuselage attached to the ship’s front. The body later evolved into the elliptical shape used in the film." – Nilo Rodis-Jamero
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
As noted in a 2010 article on StarWars.com by Pete Vilmur, "in a January 2005 interview with Giant Robot Magazine, Jamero identified the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, California as the home of the Slave I radar dish."
Slave I is Based on a Radar Dish
"Joe Johnston showed me some of the ideas he had for Boba Fett, and I remember asking myself what his spaceship would look like. I remember seeing a radar dish and stopping to sketch it very quickly to see if I could get something out of it. The original design I had was round, but when you looked at it from the side, it became elliptical. For some reason, when I drew it, [George Lucas] thought it was elliptical, so that's what it became. When we were building the ship at ILM, somebody looked at street lamps and pointed out that they look like Boba's ship. So everyone began to think that was where I got the idea for the design." – Nilo Rodis-Jamero
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