The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Stunning Liebovitz images of Kerry
KINGDOM’S LEADING ROLE IN VANITY FAIR’S STAR WARS SPECIAL
THE latest edition of Vanity Fair has showcased Kerry and The Kingdom’s role in the next Star Wars film in spectacular fashion.
It’s become a tradition that the US culture and current affairs magazine covers each upcoming movie in the blockbuster science fiction franchise with a special edition a few months before the film’s release.
The next film in the series Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits cinemas next December and the Vanity Fair Star Wars Special hit shop shelves this week.
As is usually the case with the magazine’s special editions the photography for the main feature is by world renowned photographer Annie Liebovitz who was given unparalleled access to shoot behind the scenes on the notoriously secretive Star Wars sets.
While the extensive feature covers all aspects of the film shoot there is a major focus on Skellig Michael and Ceann Sibéal in west Kerry which are expected to provide the backdrop to a large portion of the upcoming film.
The stunning replica of the Skellig Michael Monastery that was built on the cliff top at Ceann Sibéal is on one of the magazine’s four collectable Star Wars covers featuring Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker and Daisy Ridley’s character Rey.
Inside there is another spectacular image of Ridley in char- acter brandishing a lightsabre with Skellig Michael in the background. That photo appears to be the result of some extensive computer graphics work as the image of ‘Rey’ looks like it was taken at Malin Head in Donegal – where the film also shot briefly last May – with Skellig Michael then composited into the background of the shot.
Vanity Fair’s website also includes a lengthy behind the scenes video on The Last Jedi.
The video gives a never before seen peak into the film shoots in West Kerry last year and on Skellig Michael in 2015, as well as Liebovitz’s photoshoot during filming.
In the article accompanying Libeovitz’s striking images there are several stories about the film’s shoot in Kerry.
Among them are Mark Hamill’s admission that while he adored Ireland he didn’t want to return to Skellig Michael as he found the climb to the monastery site so hard.
While the crew, many of them carrying cameras and other heavy equipment, were given 45 minutes to get to the top Hamill was given an hour and a half and even then, he says, it made for a hard slog.
Daisy Ridley also found the Skellig shoot tough going revealing that the reason she looked so ‘convincingly weary’ in the final, Skellig set, scene of The Force Awakens wasn’t down to acting. Apparently she had ‘adrenal exhaustion’ and had just been violently ill.