How To Make A Star Wars Fog Machine Projector & See Princess Leia's Hologram
The stunning special effects of "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" remain as admirable today as they were in 1977. But would you believe you can re-create one of the film's most iconic visuals right in your living room with only a handful of easy-to-find supplies?
The stage for the space fantasy adventure is set when farm boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) discovers a holographic recording of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) while tending to his newly acquired droid R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), with the princess pleading for Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) to aid the Rebels in taking down the Empire's planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star. The scene and Leia's quote, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," remain iconic, in large part thanks to the hologram effect itself, which holds up fantastically well for a film made in an age before CGI.
Thankfully, you don't need a droid to re-create this memorable movie moment. On TikTok, @hazedisplay shows an easy way to achieve the effect: Simply play the scene on a projector pointed toward the vapor emitted by a fog machine. Others have taken this idea to the extreme and played the entire film using this method.
There are craftier ways of re-creating the effect
It takes neither Jedi abilities nor millions of dollars to make Leia's hologram from the original "Star Wars," but there are other methods of effectively bringing this illusion to life besides projecting onto fog for fans who are down for a good challenge.
Amateur scientist Steven Dufresne (RimstarOrg) used the Pepper's ghost technique. First, he created a four-sided pyramid out of overhead transparency sheets, carefully measuring, cutting, and taping the sides together, leaving a small square space on the top so that it could sit upside down. Then, using the free software Blender, he created an animation of Leia from four different viewpoints, which can be downloaded from his website, rimstar.org. With the animation looping, he laid his computer monitor down face up so that the pyramid could sit in the middle and display it.
ASMR YouTuber Josh Hill (JHR Reviews) presented a more low-tech option that requires some crafty work. This setup involves a small piece of scrap wood with two dowels screwed in on either side and a notch cut out that allows for a thin piece of glass to sit at a specific angle. Simply queue up the scene on a phone and place it on top of the dowels and glass, off of which the clip will reflect, to achieve the hologram effect.