The Force Awakens’ Director of Photography Shares Behind the Scenes Photos From the Set

One look at Dan Mindel’s IMDb page will assure you that he’s a guy who knows a thing or two about shooting blockbuster movies. Not only has he been the DP (director of photography — pardon the jargon) on films ranging from Enemy of the State to Star Trek but he was also the DP for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Being a cinematographer, it only makes sense that he’d perfectly capture the odd life of working on one of the biggest sets in movie history through photographs. Luckily he’s chosen to share some of these shots with us commoners via his Instagram which Yahoo! then grabbed.

NOTE: if you’re sensitive to anything that could possibly be a spoiler (or to something that could “ruin the magic”), it may be best to turn away after this humorous reworking of a no smoking sign:

https://www.instagram.com/p/9qlyiuvKyB/

384fe727c417d0fd9b7668245a57c2fb386d1d5d

Dan Mindel/Instagram

Chewbacca just hanging out at video village… like you do…

bb631757445499b45d66e785a8e613db2d8d08b3

Dan Mindel/Instagram

Sadly, this is almost as much screen time as she gets in the movie. (Episode VIII?)

000dfda891e8fe49ee6aca1cbb8c5214c1bd19f5

Dan Mindel/Instagram

Oh look — BB-8 found some remote controls. I wonder what those could be for…

4d62b29eed94fd34f9a0901bf9200cfb2b0fade7 (1)

Dan Mindel/Instagram

This is a great example of how movie magic is made. Doesn’t look quite as exciting beyond the lens, does it? Except for those lightsabers, that is.

https://www.instagram.com/p/9qwIhNvKz0/

There’s no saying for sure that this is actually from the Star Wars set (come to think of it, I guess the Ewok sign could have been anywhere too, but…). However, if you haven’t been to a real IMAX to experience the larger and even more awesome escape from Jakku scene, that should shoot to the top of your New Year’s resolution list.

Kyle Burbank
Kyle is a writer living in Springfield, MO. His deep love of Disney and other pop culture finds its way into his stories, scripts, and tweets. His first book "The E-Ticket Life: Stories, Essays, and Lessons Learned from My Decidedly Disney Travels" is available in paperback and for Kindle. http://amzn.to/1CStAhV