New Banner

Lord Maully Maul is entitled to his own opinions. And if you like Jar Jar that much, you should start your own thread about him in the miscellaneous section of the forums... Dooku is on the banner to simply show that he was Qui-Gons master and that he was about to become a Sith at the time of Episode I. Sidious is to the right of Obi-Wan. Amidala isn't in the picture because Padme looks better. It's a great banner that shows all of the main characters so don't bash it.

 

Whoa- stop putting words in my mouth, Cetera. Maully Maul is perfectly entitled to his opinion about the banner, and to his artistic license when it comes to who should be included.

This has gone all the wrong way- it's not about Lord Maully Maul and his "arrogance" or what not. This thread is entitled "New Banner" not "Bash LMM". So guys, lay off. We're talking about a picture here.

About that picture-

What exactly does the Blue Guard have to do with The Phantom Menace as a movie? Yeah the Trade Federation's Droid Army is represented, but what about the Neimoidians?

If you want to show a character that had a huge effect on the galaxy- why not replace Dooku with Chancellor Valorum?

Or Boss Nass?

Or Jar Jar Binks?


Anyways- my other beef about Dooku's picture in there is that it just looks crappy, regardless of his presence in the movie (or very obvious lack thereof). On every single character in the banner, the lighting is coming from the left. I think this was a great artistic choice- it gives the image some consistency. Oh- every character besides one. Dooku.

Every character is in focus in the banner except one-- Dooku. Is he blurry, in the shadows, for a reason? Is it because Dooku was in fact "The Phantom Menace" himself, operating behind the scenes? No- that was Sidious. Is it because Dooku's allegiances are unknown, and he's a tricky foe? No- he's just a friendly ex-Jedi acting in the open.

So why's he blurry? BECAUSE HE'S NOT IN THE FRICKIN' MOVIE! He's Lord Maully Maul's crack-induced hallucination- that's why he's blurry! Lose him, replace him with Jar Jar. Or Sebulba. Or Watto. Or Boss Nass. Heck, even Sio Bibble was more important to Episode I than Dooku.

And isn't that what this forum is about? Episode I: The Phantom Menace? Not "The Prequels" or "LMM's Vision of the Saga To Be".

 

IMO as a graphic artist. Loose Dooku and make the text match the others custom banners for some consistancy within the forums. I guess overall the banner is ok it just seems cluttered form Padme to Maul.

 

Yeah- listen to Amidala here. Lose the Dooku! And lose the attitude too.

 

Hi Whimper, my fellow icon maker from days of yore.

This kind of stuff always gets tricky because art is subjective. For example, I dislike your icon. Why is most of it taken up by the Jedi Council skyline as opposed to Ki-Adi's face? ? From an artistic perspective I think the new banner lacks depth. The large faces are allright I suppose but I don't really like the composition much. The banner that TF.n uses for their Episode 1 page works better IMHO. However, Dooku being there isn't subjective. It just doesn't make sense.

 

Yikes, aren't we taking this serious!

 

If you don't like seeing Dooku, lower your resolution until he disappears.

 

Yes, unfortunately, as I have a low resolution on my computer, I don't have to see the picture of Dooku there, so to me, the banner looks rather good, even if the picture of Obi-Wan makes it seem as if he's had one too many late nights.

The perfect solution would be to replace Dooku with Tarpals. Or Steven Spielberg. That way, everybody would be happy. Except people who don't like Tarpals or Steven Spielberg, of course, but they're opinions are invalid. Ha!

 

I think all the characters should be replaced with the patron saint of the TPM forum, the almighty Captain Tarpals. Then we wouldn't have any arguements!

 

Hi Rimkar! Good to see I'm remembered. I agree with you, regarding my icon. I used to have this cool purple Ki-Adi-Mundi icon- it was a really disgusting purple, too. So it was awesome, because no-one else in their right mind would choose an icon that colour, so I could always find my posts.


This Ki-Adi-Mundi icon is crap, methinks, but he's still my favourite prequels Jedi. See, that's just it- opinions are subjective.

My opinion is that because Dooku wasn't in Phantom Menace, there's nothing to justify his presence in a Phantom Menace banner. Let alone an ugly, blurry, psychotic-looking appearance. My opinion is that the banner is composed pretty nicely- of all the wrong things.

 

Sorry, LMM, but I think this banner, and most of the others are shining examples of the definition of "CRAPTACULAR".

Based on your work here, I don't think you're much of a graphic artist...but that's only my opinion. Don't like it? Sue me.

 

[Internet_Drama]Hello, Friends[/Internet_Drama]

Seriously, though, what is so bad about the banner, aside from Dooku? (which I like, I just wish he wasn't blurry).

 

To address the topic of Dooku being blurry, of course that was intentional since his role in or after the events of TPM aren't clearly defined. I actually wish I'd made him even more blurry.

Edit: It's somewhat like a filmmaking technique used called 'forced perspective'.

 

I submit, in fact, that Dooku's role wasn't even clearly defined when pre-production on ATOC was started. Page 119 of the Art of...Episode II book indicates that the Dooku character was not finalized until after Lee agreed to play a role in the movie. Before that, Lucas had ok'd a design for a female Sith to be used as the main villain.

Even Lucas didn't conceive of Dooku having any impact on the events of TPM.

AYBABTU?

 

It doesn't matter when Lucas conceived of Dooku. What does matter is the story and as it's currently presented, Dooku was around during TPM and was at one point Yoda's Padawan. But more importantly he was Qui-Gon's master.

 

While I would like to see Jar Jar/Shmi/Watto/or Sebulba in place of Dooku, I think its a brilliant banner and one of the best on the boards. Keep up the good work and dont listen to the critics Lord Mauly Mall

 

Edit: It's somewhat like a filmmaking technique used called 'forced perspective'.

Ah, I see. Symbolically, that's cool, but somehow it doesn't translate as well in banner art, but to each his own.

 

Thanks for your constructive input, D-S. There is a certain amount of experimentation I perform in making these banners that sometimes involves depth perception, motion and other techniques I try to apply to my graphics to give them more of a three dimensional or multi-layered quality. Having Dooku blurry was such a case.

 

Ah, I see. Three-D is hard to capture with convention computer art. It works well in your JJB/Sebula banner where you have a whole layer blurry on the same plane (capturing the look of a background) but since Dooku is off by himself surrounded by foreground images, it's harder to tell that was the intent, thus (I think) the confusion by many who complain about it.

 

Stop sugar-coating this crap! It's obvious that Dooku is blurry on purpose, you'd have to be a real idiot to do that by accident. But if it was just incompetence as an artist that I was criticizing, this would be an easy fight.

Instead, I'm criticizing your artistic choices. If you want Dooku to look like a behind the scenes figure, then don't put him at the centre of the collage! Put him on the sidelines- make him a silhouette, make him a frigging Easter Egg. Don't elevate him to the prominence of a major character! Lord almighty!

 

It's obvious that Dooku is blurry on purpose, you'd have to be a real idiot to do that by accident.

Or me.

 

Hey LMM, I want to apologize about my earlier comments about the banners. I could have said it much more tactfully and will constructive criticism. "Craptacular" does not fill either role.

 

I just wanted to reiterte that I was wrong in saying the banners are craptacular. If you're reading this LMM I do apologize and will try to be more supportive criticallty in the future.

 

Two apologies in a row? Are you under threat of banning or something?

If you think that something is crap, it is well within your rights here to say exactly that. Although I do applaud your humility in this matter, I don't agree with your retraction.

 

As a graphic artist myself, I must say that this banner is extremely well done. However, the artistic choice of putting Dooku in, IMO, is a bad one. I really like the banner except for Dooku. I think everything else is really excellent.