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Cool Yoda Documentary: Dave Barclay – Do or Do Not. There Is No Try

Posted by on Mar 15, 2016 in documentary, Film, sci-fi, short film, thriller | 0 comments

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Jamie Benning sent over his new documentary, which looks at Dave Barclay. Dave is a British puppeteer who had worked on some projects of The Jim Henson Company and he worked on a little Jedi Master known as Yoda.

Dave was drafted in as puppeteer for Yoda’s eyes when Wendy Midener-Froud became allergic to some thing on set, and a puppeteer replacement was needed for her. Dave stayed on as puppeteer for Yoda for the rest of Yoda’s filming, and worked with Frank Oz, the chief puppeteer, Kathy Mullen (Yoda’s right hand) and Wendy.
For the last week of Yoda filming, as filming had gone over schedule, Frank Oz had to go to work on another project, so Frank gave Dave the responsibility of being his replacement chief Puppeteer for those remaining days of filming

Here is what Jamie had to say about the documentary:

Dave kindly offered the use of a property in London. Another friend offered his West End flat. But I was interviewing a Yoda puppeteer, I wanted something relevant to the subject matter. Not just a pretty backdrop. Though I was immensely grateful to their kind offers. So I spent a while wondering where we could shoot. Did I know anyone that had a Yoda replica? A Yoda toy collection even? Was there a movie museum nearby with some Star Wars items? Then it dawned on me. Madame Tussauds London had an ongoing exhibition of Star Wars characters. Maybe I could somehow convince them to allow us to shoot there. Unlikely, but worth a try. A quick search for their press office contact details and within a day or two they had agreed just that! I must thank Nicole Fenner and Madame Tussauds for their kind hospitality and enthusiasm.Dave and I chatted about his puppeteering parents, his beginnings in the film industry, his experiences on set with Yoda and Mark Hamill. His lead puppeteering of Jabba in ROTJ and his career beyond Star Wars. Dave has been involved in so many seminal films. Films that were not only entertaining to us as kids (and still are as adults) but films that led the way in his industry.

Dave Barclay – Do or Do Not. There Is No Try. Yoda documentary by @jamieswb from Filmumentaries – Jamie Benning on Vimeo.

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