Your Destiny Lies With Me

Hasbro Pulse : Iconic Battles Campaign

To celebrate the Skywalker Saga reaching its conclusion, Hasbro Pulse created a new Hasbro Toy Pic campaign to celebrate the iconic battles leading to Episode IX. Along with 7 other talented members of the toy photography community, I created one of the most iconic scenes from The Empire Strikes Back. The Duel between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is about as classic as can be.

In addition to producing an officially licensed image, I was able to share some insight via and interview on the Hasbro Pulse blog.

For this shot, the action figures I used were the Black Series 6” Bespin Luke Skywalker along with the Black Series 8” Hyper Real Darth Vader. The 2” scale difference between each figure was something I was able to use to my advantage through a technique called forced perspective (pun intended). This shot wouldn’t have been as successful if it wasn’t for the custom diorama props made by Edson Pinto of Figure Works Co. The laser etched aluminum flooring and 3D printed stairs ground the figures within the scene and help to create the realism within the shot.

I lit the scene using a combination of Phillips Hue RGB LED bulbs, along with LED panels and an LED Ring Light made by GVM. To achieve that iconic orange light glow from the floor and stairs, I used red and yellow transparency sheets and adhered them to the back of the set pieces. To add atmosphere to the scene, I used a Coscloud portable smoke machine which helped to achieve the carbon freezing chamber aesthetic.

The most challenging part of this shot was the initial setup due to the shape of the props and overall scale of the scene. Throughout the process, I inadvertently knocked down portions of the set multiple times, but eventually was able to secure everything long enough to get the shots I needed! Once I was happy with the shot, I brought the RAW file into photoshop where I fine-tuned the image contrast and color to achieve the look I was going for. Everything was done practically aside from the digital effects seen in the lightsaber and control panel.