The main street through the historic old city of Dubrovnik was closed from 8pm tonight as the Star Wars filming crew tested the set before the filming starts for real on the 9th of March.

This was the first time that the main street, the Stradun, has been closed for all pedestrians and there were high levels of security in place. The street was blocked with white panels and on every side street that leads into the Stradun there were security guards. From 8pm until midnight the Stradun will be closed today and again on Friday the 4th of March, again from 8pm till midnight.

On the 9th of March filming for the Star Wars VIII begins in Dubrovnik and lasts until the 16th of March. Security will be extremely high when the real filming starts, with a reported 600 security guards employed. Every angle is being locked down and a special team will be in Dubrovnik to deal with the problem of drones filming aerial shots.

The Dubrovnik Times has unofficially learnt that a team of “drone guards” will be using frequency blockers and long-distance jammers to knock out drones above the set. Some of these drone defenders available on the market can knock out drones with a range of up to 400 metres.

Photos - Niksa Duper