As a short break from the Star Wars related news, we here at starwarsdubrovnik.com would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our readers from no less than 128(!) countries around the world who visited our blog and showed interest in what goes on in our home town. Interestingly, our number one readers are from USA, but Croatian readers (even though the blog is in English) are a close second. Funny how little things make you proud sometimes 🙂

It would be pointless to write the news if there was no one out there to read it, so thank you for giving this blog a purpose. We’ll continue to bring the news and gossip in painful anticipation of Episode VIII release.

May the Force be with you all!

In a report by HRT’s Voice of Croatia programme, Dubrovnik locals were asked about their feelings on Star Wars Episode VIII being filmed in their city. Traditionally a “tough crowd”, people of Dubrovnik were seen unanimously praising the decision to film parts of Episode VIII here. At the end there’s even a short comment by yours truly.

Full text with the clip and a podcast radio show (starwarsdubrovnik.com interview after 10:00 min. mark) can be found on this link.

One of the recently noticed videos of Star Wars Episode VIII filming in Dubrovnik shows a night time action with the infamous black car with a camera crane attached to it going down Dubrovnik’s Main Street.
As it stands now, we can say with a certain degree of security the rumours of an action scene being filmed in Dubrovnik have turned out to be true. Most of the leaked material points to plenty of action, stunts and pyrotechnic.

We are having a blast going through all the materials and e-mails sent in by Star Wars fans and other visitors to Dubrovnik who came to see the filming of Episode VIII taking place.

Yesterday we’ve had a message from Joanna, a charming Polish girl studying in Dubrovnik. She made a video walkthrough of Dubrovnik’s Old City centre and visited some of the sets as they were being prepared. Her video is on her YouTube channel and we’re bringing it to you in its entirety.

      

It is to be expected new photos and footage related to Star Wars Episode VIII filming in Dubrovnik are going to appear every once in a while over the next few months as there were plenty of curious people around to observe the filming and the sets.

Video published today by Dubrovnik Times shows an action stunt being performed during what seems to be a rehearsal for filming at the Main Street in Dubrovnik.

It was a unique and wonderful thing for us to be able to go and have coffee at the city’s historical district and get some photos of actual Star Wars Episode VIII sets at a leisurely pace while doing so. Truly, a wonderful thing.

Still, there was so much to photograph and not even our vigilant eyes were present at the ground 24/7. National and international journalists were there in numbers and that helped as well, but the ones who probably spent the most time sneaking around the sets, listening out for any information from the crew, and trying to catch a glimpse of any part of Star Wars universe on display – were the fans.

We are therefore calling all the fans to let us know about their Dubrovnik experiences. One of many Croatian Star Wars fans who made the pilgrimage to Dubrovnik to see the Episode VIII in the making is Igor from the city of Varazdin. He published an interesting story about his trip on his blog
http://www.spacepetuniareview.com/2016/03/filming-star-wars-episode-viii-in-dubrovnik-review.html#more
and was kind enough to let us go through his material for something interesting, and indeed, we found a few very cool photos we didn’t see before.

Production tent in the Old City Harbour, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Igor took to the City Walls to get a nice aerial shot of the production tent in the Old City Harbour and Great Onofrio’s Fountain we wrote about yesterday.

Aerial view of the Great Onofrio’s Fountain, photo spacepetuniareview.com

While on the City Walls he managed to get some shots of the crew assembling the set used for filming.

Set on City Walls being put up, photo spacepetuniareview.com

There were very few images of City Walls set published in the media, as the location is easy to close off by the production and not many scenes were filmed there.

Set on City Walls being put up, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Set on City Walls being put up, photo spacepetuniareview.com

FUN FACT: when we first heard the City Walls are going to be one of the locations, this is the image I published (courtesy of Insider Holidays) to show the people what the walls look like…

Dubrovnik City Walls, photo Insider Holidays

…which means I pretty much guessed the exact location of the filming on 1,4 miles long walls. I used the force… no other explanation.

We’ll leave you with a few random images of the props and sets from various locations. Nice job!

Camera equipment on the Main Street, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Props being transported into place, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Landspeeder cruising down the Main Street, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Props being transported into place, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Air Conditioning units masked to fit into the look of the set, photo spacepetuniareview.com

Many of the locations and attractions in Dubrovnik have been adorned by Star Wars Episode VIII ornaments in order to make them appear a part of a galaxy far, far away. One of the most recognisable city landmarks, Great Onofrio’s Fountain from 15th century, was returned to its original look this morning and the process was captured by our faithful reader Alen Redzovic who sent us the following clips of the crew working hard to pack up the sets.

Onofrio’s Fountain ready for action, photo Goran Les

We at StarWarsDubrovnik are continuing with our coverage of Dubrovnik filming and Episode VIII story in general. For this purpose, we are calling all of you with cool stories about Episode VIII filming in Dubrovnik (and we know there’s a lot of you) to get in touch with us via e-mail on info@starwarsdubrovnik.com or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/starwarsdubrovnik/ and tell us about your Star Wars gossip, rumours, theories, or things you saw during the exciting few weeks of the filming and preparation for filming. We are looking forward to hearing it all, so tag your friends, spread the word, and let’s get the whole picture!

StarWarsDubrovnik nastavlja pratiti razvoj događaja vezan za najnoviju epizodu Ratova zvijezda, a pogotovo dijela price vezanog za snimanje u Dubrovniku- Ovim putem molimo sve vas koji imate zanimljive price vezane za snimanje u Dubrovniku i razvoj Epizode 9 (a znamo da vas ima puno), da nam se javite putem e-pošte info@starwarsdubrovnik.com ili Facebook stranice https://www.facebook.com/starwarsdubrovnik/ i podijelite s nama sve teorije, priče, ili glasine koje ste čuli tijekom uzbudljivih nekoliko tjedana pripreme i snimanja. Želimo čuti sve pa pozovite i prijatelje koji misle da znaju nešto zanimljivo i pomozite nam da saznamo cijeu priču!

Star Wars Set Dubrovnik, photo starwarsdubrovnik.com

Some photographs published by DailyMail from the closing stages of star Wars Episode VIII filming on locations in Dubrovnik reveal a few more details about the costumes.

Costumes from Dubrovnik filming are quite intriguing, photo DailyMail

Costumes from Dubrovnik filming are quite intriguing, photo DailyMail

Costumes from Dubrovnik filming are quite intriguing, photo DailyMail

Overall feel was that of a posh and elegant atmosphere, photo DailyMail

The robes remind of Jedi robes, but the entire look of pretty much any actor seen in Dubrovnik is a bit more elegant and a bit more formal that what we are used to seeing.

Overall feel was that of a posh and elegant atmosphere, photo DailyMail

Overall feel was that of a posh and elegant atmosphere, photo DailyMail

Overall feel was that of a posh and elegant atmosphere, photo DailyMail

Female cast is no different with flowing robes and head scarves or other accessories. Most of the scene seemed to depict a rather “posh” atmosphere to the entire filming, again, pretty different from what we’ve come to expect with Star Wars franchise. In any case, quite intriguing.

Actors and extras found time to relax and enjoy the beauty of the area between takes, photo DailyMail

Actors and extras found time to relax and enjoy the beauty of the area between takes, photo DailyMail

“La commedia e finita” in Dubrovnik! The last night of filming is behind us and the production crew now faces another challenge of cleaning up the sets they’ve worked hard to prepare for the short, but (we hear) sweet filming that went on for the last 8 days.

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

The filming itself was surrounded by plenty of speculations and fan theories, plenty of gossip and rumours, and more media attention than even a holiday destination popular with the rich and wealthy like Dubrovnik is used to.
This morning we’ve walked the streets of Dubrovnik and got some shots of people “unpacking” what was the setting for this piece of Holywood dream factory. What will remain is original Dubrovnik, a beautiful city with a wonderful soul.

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

Dubrovnik’s Main Street set being taken down

Filming equipment being prepared for transport

Filming equipment being prepared for transport

We’ve had some wonderful support since the start of this blog from many Star Wars related websites, blogs and media and we wish to thank them all. We’re also announcing our efforts of bringing the news and impressions from Dubrovnik people will continue and we may look into goings on with other Star Wars Episode VIII locations around the World as well within the next few months.