The LightSabre was not powered it was a rod with reflective paint on it and the camera that filmed it had bright lights around the lens. Don't believe me get the special editions and you can see the reflective paint come off like powder every time the blades hit in close ups. also in some scenes it actually turns off because the light isn't hitting it right.
No, the lightsabres were nothing more than a broom stick or something similar. When a lightsabre was turned on, all the actors stood still, the stopped shooting film, and they added a long stick to the handle, then the film was started up again (That's why everybody stops moving when a sabre is activated or deactivated). The glow was added in post production.
Actually you're both right. On the set, the light sabres were rods coated with reflective paint. However, Lucas was not satisfied with how this looked on film and added the glowing color in post. There's a quick shot right before Ben's death where they didn't add the effect and you can see how unimpressive they would have looked.
One additional comment the sabres did need some power, they were originally designed to spin, this was to help the reflective matrerial look more outer worldly, after the first movie they realized it did nothing to the effect so they did not bother motorizing them. I know this from personally holding the sabres when I worked for the Lucas "Museum" at the 10th aniversary convention. I was in charge of the Light sabre that Luke used in "Return"
Woah, everyone's right. In the first movie they used rods coated with luminous reflective tape and then added colors. They didn't really give off much light until the second and third movies when they started using the method you just described. Actually, look at Darth Vader's lightsaber when Luke shoots the docking bay blast doors and locks vader out. Just before the doors close his saber is actually white, not red.
Actually, they would need power, considering its just a long glass-type tube with lighting in it (i've got plans on how they built them if anyone is interested in making one)
Whether or not the lightsabre props used electricity doesn't really matter cos this slip-up is true - throughout a lot of the duel you can clearly see a wire going into Obi-Wan sleeve from the hilt of the lightsabre. If it ain't a power cord, what else could it be?
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