Designing Count Dooku’s Lightsaber
I have been asked on numerous occasions to explain how I designed the lightsaber used by Count Dooku in StarWars, Attack Of The Clones.
I was employed on StarWars Episode 2 as a Concept Illustrator/Designer. I was located in the Art Department in Sydney, Australia for almost 12 months and was involved in the concept design of numerous sets, props and the like.
I was asked by the Production Designer, Gavin Bouquet, to sketch as many lightsaber designs I could in thumbnail form for an impending meeting with George Lucas.
I attended the meeting with three pages of quick sketches (see below) and discussed which were to be focused on as detailed designs.
George, Gavin and I marked each preferred sketch and I left to generate the designs.
Of the thirty-plus sketches ten were to be detailed. The image above shows one of these pages and the markings. The eventual Count Dooku Lightsaber is center, left. Mace Windu’s in center with other noted designs.
It should be noted that the Lightsaber that Count Dooku uses was originally designed for the Clawdite Assassin, Zam Wesell and to be used in pairs. This design was also proposed to include a curved blade.
This design was a derivative of an Ottoman “Kilij” Scimitar that was shown in the book “Arts And Armour” by Vesey Norman. A copy of which was a permanent fixture on my desk in the Art Department. The design was conceptualised, detailed and approved over the next week, along with approximately five other designs. Once approved these were created as 3D CAD models and hand illustrated for presentation and for manufacture.
The final design was submitted on 28th March, 2002.
The original design was a single curve from pommel to emitter, with the projecting spike being an extension of the hilt. This design differed from my original in that the hilt spike was originally facing the rear. I took the change from an adjoining sketch. The manufactured design took the shape of two straight sections with the curve for the handle. This made the fabrication and duplication easier.
There is a story floating around - very incorrect - that there was a lot of historical reference used to create these concept designs. The truth is there was none, other than from memory. If the concept sketches are studied it with be apparent there are a mash-up of styles, forms and shapes described.
There simply wasn’t the time to build a fake history of the props we were designing. Regardless, George would pick and choose which prop he wanted to use where so the process would have been pointless.
So, as is the case with a vast majority of prop designs created, the Count Dooku Lightsaber wasn’t actually designed for the character, was created in a hurry with a large number of other options, detailed quickly and submitted without deep consideration for the design specifically.
It was only by chance that Christopher Lee selected the Lightsaber hilt when offered the full available selection of designs as completed hero props.
Christopher Lee as Count Dooku and the famous curved lightsaber. Image supplied by LucasFilm
A Recent Development regarding this design
Creative Theft and the the Weirdness of the people perpetrating it...
I have been made aware that a former ILM Art Department Assistant has claimed he designed this lightsaber. He has provided false credibility to his claim by supplying the official ILM Archives with a convoluted and unrealistic essay on the process of its creation.
His claim is not supported by evidence.
This practice is also illegal, considering the copyright implications of such a claim.
The employing entity owns your work and all Intellectual Property associated with that work, according to your contract. However; no entity can claim or claim by force the ownership of the credit for original design.