Prop Talk Podcast #011 – Brian Muir, Film Industry Sculptor (“Darth Vader Sculptor”) | Interview by The Original Prop Blog with Jason DeBord

Brian Muir, special guest. This is the eleventh ‘Prop Talk’ podcast by the Original Prop Blog.  Mr. Brian Muir is a veteran in the film industry, working as a sculptor on an incredible number of movies, including Star Wars: A New Hope, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alien, numerous James Bond films, Harry Potter films, and more.  Notably, Mr. Muir is credited as the sculptor of the iconic helmet for Darth Vader early in his career.

Mr. Muir has his own website – www.brianmuirvadersculptor.com – and has also published an autobiography, In The Shadow of Vader (which is available direct from Mr. Muir and via Amazon UK).

Mr. Muir was kind enough to take the time to share with readers of the Original Prop Blog and listeners of the Prop Talk podcast.

This article hosts the next in a regular ongoing series of full-length audio podcasts featuring one on one interviews with interesting people who participate in and/or affect the hobby of collecting and preserving original movie props, costumes, and other assets. The eleventh guest of this program is Brian Muir.

Below is a streaming audio player with which you can listen to episode #011 (length 44 minutes) – press the play icon to start the audio program:

"Prop Talk" by The Original Prop Bloghttp://www.originalprop.com/blog/podcast/original-prop-blog-prop-talk-podcast-11-052811.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Episodes can now be downloaded directly via the Apple iTunes Store for your convenience, to listen at your leisure via a computer or portable device (iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc.). Click the portal below to be redirected to the iTunes store:

Note: It now takes less than 24 hours or so for the iTunes Store to update with the latest podcast.

Supplemental

In our dialogue, we discussed a few photos and drawings, provided below, for those interested in relating the images to the interview (not all referenced, click images for higher resolution):

“C3P0 A” (Ralph McQuarrie Concept Illustrations, from The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives)

“C3P0 B” (Sculpts by Liz Moore, from The Making of Star Wars)

“C3P0 C” (from The Making of Star Wars)

“C3P0 D” (from The Making of Star Wars)

“CZ3 A”

“CZ3 B”

“CZ3 C”

“Death Star Droid A” (Art of Star Wars Exhibit 1995)

“Death Star Droid B”

“Muir A” (Brian Muir sculpting the Death Star Droid head; CZ3 and Darth Vader sculpts in background)

“Vader A” (Early Concept Sketch – Similar to Final CZ3)

“Vader B” (Early Ralph McQuarrie Concept Illustration)

“Vader C” (Illustrations by Costume Designer John Mollo, from Star Wars Chronicles)

“Vader D” (close up from photo above)

“Vader E” (Ralph McQuarrie Illustrations from The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives)

“Vader F” (Ralph McQuarrie Concept Artwork)

“Raiders A” (Indy vs the Cobra)

“Temple A” (“Heart” Scene)

“Temple B” (“Gong” Scene)

“Alien A” (Space Jockey from Alien)

Special thanks to Brian for sharing about his life and career, and artistry in contributing to many favorite films.

Jason DeBord