ST Episode VII is the first Post Star Wars Movie

I understand you now, I think.

 

Honestly, I don't think we've seen anything visually extraordinary in any of the trailers. It hints at something effective. It's clean and it evokes ANH. It's a victory for OT nostalgia, but not necessarily for originality/novel visual appeal.

The ship sequences were nothing we haven't already seen done well in, say, the nearly decade old BSG. The practical effects looked promising.

We'll see what happens with the next set of trailers.

 

Yes, and i do not think that is a bad thing. To many trailers are throwing those "moneyshots" at us, to early, or they have nothing else to offer in the finished product. Would consider Fury Road as something that proves the opposites though. The trailer looked fantastic. So did the film. Did you see the new MI5 trailer released today? Well hello. Tom Cruise clinging on to that plane - again. Gee, i would almost be disappointed with them not topping that scene, when i see the actual film. Think Abrams is clever with this, he build characters, presenting those small personal and cute moments ( cute as in BB8!) and hides the big spectacles for us. Emotional attachment is important now. Last time i was in the cinema, the trailers before the movie i saw was coming with thunder, but not so much applause. The Jurassic World, Terminator reboot etc, teenagers sitting next to me...yawning.

 

What we have seen so far in the trailers is just a small taste of what we will actually see. The build up with two great teaser trailers that got over 100 million views says a lot. People are loving what they see so far. Star Wars in it's self is a novelty. It is a style of storytelling and a world that is unique to cinema. The marketing of TFA has been clever IMO. I agree that nostalgia was used to reassure fans that this is going to be going back to it's roots but I doubt it will undermine the look of the film. I think they have been wise to focus blending CG and practical instead of trying to set a record for CG shots in a movie. Star Wars has already set the standard and I am pretty sure if there was a new technology to advance the making of the film they would use it. We will get some serious money shots in the next trailer but I am more interested in how the dialogue is delivered. Why? Because the look of the film is the least of my concerns when it comes to Star Wars. I am confident it will look amazing.

 

People are loving what they see because the TFA trailers remind them of 1977 Star Wars. It is essentially a visual gimmick rooted in mimicry. And if the whole movie relies on that gimmick it will be a bit sad. Definitely a sign of post-saga Star Wars, and a sign that Disney has all but given up on trying to bring a new generation of fans into the movies.

 

My kids saw the 2nd teaser trailer and are drawing x-wings for the first time in their lives. If Disney is trying to capitulate, the new generation is giving them no quarter.

 

may they have better luck and hopefully more talent than I had. Curse you Star Wars Sketchbook.

 

They did have to tell me they were x-wings. To which I of course responded that I could certainly tell that before they told me!

 

The post saga Star Wars idea is your subjective thought or creation. Of course it would be sad if it all relies on a gimmick. Do you really believe that will happen? You admit Star Wars will never be the same without John Williams....we all get older and look back at the good times, the good days. Me too. I did not want to watch Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk to Thriller, when he turns 60, as much as i care for watching a reboot of ANH. But from what i have seen so far...its going forward, in the right direction. For the fans who experienced Star Wars like 30 years ago, it might feel like missing your first love.

 

It SHOULD remind them of 1977 SW... it's part of the same story, taking place in the same universe. To me, it would be more of a "visual gimmick" if they started throwing in flashy new stuff just to say, "Look what we can do!" That's one of the problems I had with the prequels at times-- too many visual gimmicks that seemed to be there purely the sake of saying, "Check out what technology can do now!"

 

There was no inherent reason to choose a story that related so closely in time and in characters to the OT. That was likely a choice made as a marketing/business decision before any script was written. There was most likely a Disney directive requiring the careful leveraging of OT nostalgia as a major marketing strategy for the next iteration of Star Wars.

Even if it's a good choice from the point of view of marketing and revenue and audience attendance, it makes the job of being visually original harder if not impossible. Disney went after reliable dollars instead of hitting for the really big dollars.

And it diminishes the legacy of Star Wars to some extent to so deliberately forego originality. At least the PT had ambition. Even if it failed to really deliver.

 

I don't understand the claims on it being a gimmick. I respectfully disagree with your opinion. From what I have seen so far TFA looks like it should. A sequel to ROTJ. I looks different in some ways it look similar in some ways. I was watching ROTS the other day and enjoyed the gradual shift in look to ANH. It makes sense for TFA to look similar to the OT era. I believe it will have its own unique feel to it.Each Star Wars movie does IMO. I think it is a little early to make your claim. We have not scene enough to claim visual mediocrity.

 

Either the marketing, or the whole movie, or both, are being built around a framework of OT nostalgia. If it's just that the art design of the movie was designed from the ground up to ape the style of ANH, then I think that is going to pose a fundamental limit on the movie and the new saga to find a unique and appealing visual style that will really excite audiences.

The OT is old hat. Everyone in the U.S. is intimately familiar with its iconography. We can all watch the OT almost any time we want on almost any medium. You're not going to be able to excite audiences to an Avatar kind of level without the novel visual appeal that both the OT and the PT offered.

 

not my style.

 

If the marketing campaign was based on nostalgia Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the Droids would have been front and center in the first and second trailer. If it was a gimmick it would have the OT characters featured more to stir up the hype. The look of the film should be a slight progression in design from OT to TFA. In 30 years a lot can change but look at the designs of modern cities. Skyscraper designs have evolved but do we have a levitating building or flying cars? Not yet, so why does Star Wars have to be so different visually? Avatar made a lot of money but nobody puts it in there top 10 greatest movies list. Flash in a pan, in a society that puts more value in popularity trends more than actual value. If the movie is good people who don't even like Star Wars will be claiming to be fans, just because it is popular. If the movie is bashed those same people will be writing articles about how it sucks.

 

I hear you. Maybe "iconic" was a poor choice of words.

But only maybe... I guess it's a totally subjective thing, and maybe my judgment is clouded by nostalgia, and maybe there is a "right design at the right time element to it", but I just don't feel like the ship designs in the PT (or TFA, that we've seen) are as *appealing* as those in the OT. I don't know if "appealing" is the right word. It's this impulse I feel to want to draw, or to model, or to study in detail, or to fly in, one design over another. I felt that impulse about just about every vehicle in the OT. I felt that impulse (if at all) toward only a few vehicles in the PT or TFA (so far).

Not hating on the PT here, btw -- the designers had a very tough challenge there. Lucas wanted the visual style to reflect a completely different esthetic, and on top of that there had to be something of a visual progression across the 3 PT films that led to the designs in ANH. I get that. I also get that there are some people who will think the ships in the PT are the bee's knees. Rock on.

p.s. I agree the Enterprise is iconic, but not only because of its placement in history. It's a great design. It's appealing. When I see that thing, I want to draw it. I want to fly on it. I want to know how it works. I want to study it. I want to build a model of it.

p.p.s. Maybe another example will illustrate the point I'm trying to make. Here's a design that's *not* iconic but is *appealing* (to me anyway; YMMV):

 

Loved, loved, LOVED that thing. By far my favorite bit of OT swag that I owned as a kid. Would kill to get my copy back.

 

you and me both. Notice it was 4.95 back then, but you can get a copy now for ~$30.

 

Interesting:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...virtual-reality-to-movie-experience/71064884/

This has some bearing on the whole "one essential element of Star Wars is groundbreaking VFX" thesis, I think. If so, would this count, Jabba?

The "Kennedy" in the quote is Kathleen, of course.

 

Is this ILM getting folded into Disney's Imagineering department? Theme park attraction next gen.

 

Dunno, but don't think so. Seems more of a separate unit that could be deployed to augment other lines of business: film, theme parks, toys, etc.

YouTube video just dropped:

 

Don't tell me how to do your job!

 

This. It would make "business sense" to approach marketing from a nostalgic point of view, IMO-and then introduce the new things in between once we see TFA finally. From everything we've seen so far, it seems like they are paying close attention to not having it lean too far one way or another.

Although I wouldn't really think the PT "failed to deliver" (them being the top grossing films of the years surrounding each of their releases). Perhaps with dialogue, Jar Jar, etc, but IMO not visually. The effects and and CG environments were cutting edge for the time (just like the OT was for ITS time), and IMO still looks beautiful even today, especially on blu-ray.

But I do definately agree with the fact that it sacrifices the opportunity to create something fresh new and innovative (what SW is known for) with the ST, if they try too hard to trigger a sense of nostalgia brought about with the OT. I didn't get this impression from the trailers, but rather it looks like there's a nice balance of everything; OT nostalgia, a little PT flavor, and fresh new ideas to make this trilogy its own. Actually I think it won't be until we see Episode VIII that we finally get a TRUE representation of the tone and atmosphere (visually as well as story/character wise) the PT will become known for. I, for one am really looking forward to that: having three individual trilogies, each representing three different eras, each with their own themes and feel.

 

Today June 12th is the anniversary of the day that could have changed the world and we wouldn't even know it.

THIS DAY IN STAR WARS HISTORY 06.12.62

George Lucas survives a car accident days before high school graduation. He resolves to enroll in Modesto Junior College to study psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.

All because of a seat belt that broke. If it hadn't he would have been killed and everything Star Wars doesn't exist.

Interesting write-up here:

http://forums.srellim.org/showthread.php?t=7629