The Empire Strikes Back - Boba Fett's on stage chronology.

RafalFett

Well-Known Hunter
I took all this info from the Making Of Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back book to show that the scenes as they appear in the movie are not the same as they were shot (in time periods). The purpose of this is to understand why some of the changes appears earlier or between different takes.

Thus the story unfolds, out of sequence, unchronologically as is the manner of most films in the making. The bits of the jigsaw puzzle are being carved for piecing together later.

Alan Arnold - Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back(1980)

So here is all the info accompanied with movie stills and screen captures:

March 22-25, 1979
Behind the scenes, Jeremy Bulloch had a fitting as Boba Fett, whose costume took 20 minutes to put on.

There's no known image of the first test fit, but we have some extra info on this:
I got into the costume and I put the helmet on. There were lots of little gadgets and knee pads and the boots had two little jets on the toes. I thought, 'This looks rather good!' There was a jet pack, too. I found what I thought was my hair so I put it on underneath the helmet, hanging down. When I came out to show George Lucas, he said, 'What's that funny thing sticking out of your helmet?' I said, 'Isn't it the character's hair?' 'No,' said George, 'it's a Wookiee scalp -- it's supposed to be tied to your belt!'

Jeremy Bulloch - Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine #21 (Winter 1994)


April 5-12, 1979 - Stage 2 - Scene 380 [LUKE SEES FETT]
On April 10 (Tuesday), production was 6.5 days over and Jeremy Bulloch had his first day on camera in scene 380, transporting Han Solo in carbonite and shooting at Luke Skywalker.

ESB Fett HiC.jpg bobafettx-large.jpg Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Hallway-01.jpg Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-BRD-024.jpg

Here are the first 2 differences that appears on the suit: the left gauntlet is clean (doesn't have that big gray stain) and we can see the 2 right knees (1 ESB and 1 Pre-Pro #3).

ESB Left Gauntlet v1.jpg

This quote is a good explanation for the 2 right knees (and possibly for the upside down knees too in the later shots):
Filling in for an actor who is suddenly un-available for the day, film and TV stalwart Jeremy Bulloch, as well as playing Boba Fett in his required scenes on Bespin (with the characters knee pads often being the cause of hilarity with the cast and crew - when the actor is required to walk they would often dislodge from the costume and go flying off across the set!!), also plays the additional part of the Imperial Officer, Lieutenant Sheckil, who escorts Leia and the rest of her captured party in a lure to trap Luke in the carbon freezing chamber.

Star Wars Aficionado


April 17-30, 1979 - Stage 2 - Scene 381 [LEIA TRIES TO WARN LUKE]
Leia warns Luke of the trap set.

Sheckil-TESB30.jpg EP5-KURTZ-087.jpg

One day I was sitting around in the Boba Fett outfit, and I was asked if I would mind playing this Imperial officer, because there was nobody to play the part. I went into wardrobe, got dressed in an Imperial Officer's uniform, and played this part who now has a name in the Decipher card game, Lieutenant Sheckil. It was in the scene in Cloud City where Princess Leia says 'Luke, it's a trap' -- I drag her away. Moments earlier, you see me as Boba Fett shooting at Mark Hamill.

Jeremy Bulloch - Star Wars Insider #49 (May/June 2000)


Stage 5 - IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER NO. 2, Scene 316 [BOUNTY HUNTERS]
Scene 316 with the assemble of the bounty hunters on the star destroyer.
While a rehearsal was held at 2 PM for the bounty hunters on Vader’s Star Destroyer, another ship arrived...
That Wednesday and Thursday (April 25 and 26), Kershner filmed the bounty hunter recruitment scene on the ship’s deck.

Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Executor-01a.jpg Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Executor-16.jpg BF024.JPG

Here is the 3rd difference that appears on the suit: the left gauntlet already has that big gray stain:

ESB Left Gauntlet v2.jpg ESB Left Gauntlets.jpg

In this thread started by Darth Voorhees I made a note regarding the difference between the gauntlets ESB main gauntlet damage template - Post #3 and it seems that my intuition was right.


May 9-14, 1979 - Stage 2 — INT. CLOUD CITY CORRIDOR & DINING ROOM, Scene 363 and Scene 364 [VADER TRAPS LUKE’S FRIENDS]
Cloud City corridor and dining room scenes.

Friday, May 11

Currently, the action is in the Cloud City corridors and dining room, the sequence in which Han and the princess, while guests of Lando Calrissian, are led into the presence of Darth Vader and the most dangerous of bounty hunters, Boba Fett.


Alan Arnold - Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back(1980)

Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Dinner-BTS-1b.jpg Dinner With Evil.jpg swempire_4315.jpg


May 15, 1979
Scene 371 is then filmed on Stage 2, with Lando getting a “bad feeling” about Vader and Fett, mid-May 1979. (Notice the new paint job on the Cloud City corridor, which is now a red-brown instead of white—the art and camera departments continually relit and redecorated to make a few Cloud City sets into many.)

Boba Fett and Darth Vader.jpg Fett outside Interrogation Room 06.jpg swempire_4438.jpg

Extra info:
'Dak' [actor John Fass Morton] donned the costume of Boba Fett when actor Jeremy Bulloch, who played the beloved bounty hunter, couldn't be there... The scene with Morton inside the historic Boba suit is the one where Fett confronts Vader over Solo's impending carbon-freezing and says, 'He's no good to me dead.'

Scott Chernoff and Jon Bradley Snyder - Star Wars Insider #34 (Spring 1997)


June 18-27, 1979 - Stage 4 — INT. CARBON FREEZING CHAMBER, Scene 379 [HAN PUT INTO CARBONITE]
On June 21 (Thursday), first unit shot scene 379, in which Han Solo is put into hibernation on the Carbon Freezing Chamber set.

Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Carbon-Chamber-02.jpg Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-Carbon-Chamber-16a.JPG swempire_4631.jpg

(Note the upside down knees)

The 4th difference is visible on the right gauntlet, more exactly the loose gauntlet hose and the 1st gauntlet dart.

ESB And Post ESB Right Gauntlet.jpg


August 23-24, 1979
On Thursday (August 23), Jeremy Bulloch finished his role as Boba Fett after 19 days worked, shooting his last scene in the cockpit of his ship with second unit.

Boba ESB 0136.jpg

This is in no way a complete chronology and I will update it in the next few days.

-----------------------------
Update 10.04.2014
-----------------------------
I'm not able to find any direct info regarding when/where they shot the scene of Boba Fett supervising the boarding of the HIC into his ship, the Slave I. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but it is possible that they shot this scene in the US in post production. This is where we can see the 5th difference - the missing viewfinder:

Boba ESB 0187.jpg

-----------------------------
Update 04.11.2021
-----------------------------
Found in the From Star Wars to Indiana Jones book a better image of Boba Fett watching the boarding of the HiC storyboard:
Fett Boarding HiC Scene.png

The date clearly shows that this scene was added in late/post production.

slave-1-storyboard.jpg

The date on this says 24 October 1979, which demonstrates that these scenes were done after principal photography wrapped up and were a last minute addition (among other scenes and dialogues).
 
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Great stuff raf :)

Indeed. Awesome work.

This is some really cool reading. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you've got.

Nice work.......

This is awesome

Awesome job!

Thanks all for the nice comments!

I will try to find the info regarding the scene where Boba Fett is supervising the boarding of the HIC into Slave I. And I think I will add more images to better describe (visually) each scene.
 
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Is there anything you cant do Raf? ;-)

I know this is offtopic but have you noticed the stormtrooper helmets in the Leia scene?

Sendt fra min D5503 med Tapatalk
 
can`t wait to see more coming!! great work Raf!!
This is such awesome work from you yet again Raf!!
Is there anything you cant do Raf? ;-)
interesting stuff here.
Great information Mr. as usual your work is very appreciated
Interesting and informative article. Love it.

Thanks a lot!

The first post was updated with some info and I also added more images.
 
I just spent the weekend at AwesomeCon and got to talk to John Fass Morton quite a bit. He's a really great guy and extremely smart. He signed my 8x10 of the picture above with the perfect "he's no good to me dead" quote.

On another note: He ended up having a nice career working in security for the government since his ESB days. He also is a big supporter of the Travis Manion Foundation which provides support to wounded veterans and their families. Through John our 501st Blast-A-Trooper raised over $2300 for this great cause this weekend. If anyone else is interested in this great cause you can find out more information here: The Travis Manion Foundation
 
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