ST Filming Techniques and Technologies for the ST

Those who want a peace treaty and those who don't? Or those that wanted to defeat the Emperor and can now act on their own plans.

 

I agree they weren't evenly matched, but they clearly had enough firepower to take them down. I mean, they blew up the Death Star twice. The Alliance was clearly a galactic network. They had contacts everywhere. That's how they got A Wings, B Wings, Mon Calamari ships, Bothan spies. They were on an upward trajectory, and after the Battle of Endor, they would have had a safe port and contacts on Coruscant.

Here's my point: If the Alliance was defeated in between 6 and 7, it is significant enough to be in the movies. It is a very major event in the saga. If you watch 1-7 and it doesn't show the fall of the Alliance, there's a bigger narrative blank than between any other 2 movies in the saga.

 

Yes.

KenW, that's not really what's out there in the rumor mill. It's more of an armistice and truce. I can see that actually.
And that's nothing a great SW crawl can't fill us in on.

 

Evil Ackbar!?

[Edit]Ok, I'll buy it that there could be a truce with territories of Empire and Alliance. But I would think Coruscant would go to the Alliance. Look at the celebrations. But I'd really like to see what happens after the Alliance versus the Empire, or a 7-9 that's not focused on it. Personally, that would be my interest. It will never be as dramatic to watch them going after remnants or starting a galactic "World War III."

 

Nah, it was Madine…it was always Madine.

 

Anything is possible. I could see a group joining the Rebels to take the bad guy and then split to do their objectives. Enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing. There could also be other groups out there with the same mind set but didn't join the Rebellion.
The happy ending of ROTJ is over. Anything can happen.

 

Force Smuggler, yes the happy ending is over. That is the main thing people need to wrap their heads around. The celebration on Endor was really just the beginning, not the end.

Long ago, in a magazine periodical far away, Lucas was loosely quoted as saying the sequel trilogy would be about how the real battle would be rebuilding the republic. That would be the hard part.

I think we're just months away from starting to see what he was talking about all those years ago. I.Can't.Wait.

 

I mean, dang. It's actually just half a year away now. An actual Episode 7 is coming. Unreal.

 

Just as the PT threw the OT on its head, the ST will throw the PT and OT on their heads. Fan outcry is going to be insane I'm sure. What came after ROTJ was always something I wanted to know. So many possibilities. I am stoked.

 

Just based on what I've heard about the different factions in 7, it sure sounds like it.

I'm stoked too. Too bad online tickets means no more need to camp out.

 

Between 1999 and 2012 I'd totally given up on that idea. I find the whole thing quite surreal. Actually, I never fully believed we'd see the day. That's why I really struggle to understand the negativity.

But yes! WE ARE GETTING EPISODE VII WITH LUKE, LEIA AND HAN! AND HONEST-TO-GOD PUPPETS (just to stay on topic)!!!

 

It seems to me from more recent quotes, he scrapped that idea because it was just history repeating (all Democracies turn bad), and focused on something more forward moving. It's impossible to portray good government. It would be the most divisive thing ever. I mean, what are we looking for, the Nova Corps? A kind queen? Wouldn't fly. It would be an ominous ending to the saga.

What I'm really interested in seeing is the netherworld of the force, and deeper philosophical issues.

Bringing it back to the tech discussion, imagine the visuals on that!

Edit: OH NO! What if 9 ends with a coronation!?

 

KenW, well Lucas also mentioned that's what the ST would be about too: more philosophical and about making difficult choices, etc. I think those ideas will still survive intact in the films.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the old characters again and what they would do with the new characters.
The picture of the Saga after Episode 9 will be interesting to see.
I can't wait to go to the midnight viewing!

It is unreal. I always knew we would get a ST but I thought it wouldn't be for several more years. Still seems like this isn't happening. But it is.

 

Yeah, I thought maybe, maybe one day Lucas would be convinced to do a ST or let someone else direct it. But, I wasn't holding my breath. He still had the TV shows going and in development. Because he was still doing SW gave me hope he would do another film trilogy….one day.

But this: SW film every year, trilogies, spinoffs, TV shows, etc. Amazing. It exceeded my "maybes" by a wide margin.

edit:

I wonder if they will ever do an entire SW film in IMAX? Have they fixed the time limitations on that format? I haven't been to an IMAX showing in about 10 years.

 

I'm happy you're happy. And that goes to anyone else who's happy. Maybe Episode 9 won't end in a coronation of Rey and we'll get a story with deeper wisdom and a real happy ending instead of starting over at the end. I'm curious. If anything, it's interesting to see this unfold. Very interesting.

 

Indeed it is interesting. This is actually one of the funnest parts of SW to me. I love the anticipation, speculation, debates, etc. The PT spoiled me on that. Turned me into a SW junkie.

 

Agreed.

Part of the reason BB8 is already so popular is because millions of people saw that he is a practical piece of movie-making Magic. They had to push the boundaries to make him.

Part of the reason people are going crazy over Mad Max over Fast 7 is because so much more of the stunt driving is being done for real.

Ray, this idea that people will only be wowed by VFX is complete nonsense and I'm not even sure why you're pushing this issue as you've yet to see any thing of Maz or even the puppets and other digital creations in action.

You've seen one shot of a CG Orc and are making all sorts of spurious claims and assertions that JJ isn't making an effort and that people won't love TFA as a result, to which I would say;

A) that Orc looks good but not some quantum leap from Gollum or Koba to me.

B) even if he is- it is the actual character and story that will really make him resonate. For the time JarJar was groundbreaking and look how well that turned out popularity wise.

C) it's not a competition but assuaging it is, your assertion that the PT FX were unparalleled is also debatable. At the time, the Matrix, Spidey and the LOTR films all won more plaudits. ROTS I would agree that the scale of the digital FX used (as Lucas States in the article for those who can't ever see why some people feel the balance shifted too much by ROTS - it was done predominantly digitally) was perhaps unprecedented but I would also argue this was not a wholly positive thing.

D) whatever efforts JJ is making, audiences seem to be in love with whatever they're seeing so far. He may end up dropping the ball by the time we see the finished film, but so far, he's barely put a foot wrong in the eyes of the mainstream.

We're all biased, and that's fair, but you're really stretching some very thin arguments when actually, your basic point is essentially you think George is an unparalleled filmmaker and JJ is a hack.

 

I've just gotta say, I've got a handful of stills from Teaser #2 as rotating wallpaper on my desktop, and the two images that really wow me in terms of bringing it all back to the way the OT felt are BB-8 on the Falcon and the shuttle flying towards the Star Destroyer. The former just feels real and whimsical, and recalls Artoo peering into Yoda's hut.

As for the Star Destroyer, the lighting and detail recall the best shots of the OT. I can't quite put my finger on why it looks so much better than similar shots of Star Destroyers in the PT. Is it just the lighting?

 

Yes, the lighting and everything that advanced in the ten years since Revenge. They've really figured out how to art direct those vfx shots in the years since. It also doesn't hurt that both JJ and the vfx supervisor, Roger Guyett, have both worked together on some space vfx shows prior too(both JJ Treks).

They're really cooking now.

 

I know what you mean. It could be. Maybe the framing too?

Agree on the Falcon/ BB8 shot too.

 

I know this isn't a Mad Max board, but this is a fun featurette on George Miller.



Now, the safest way to achieve half of these images would be to go the CG route, but by going the more practical route (obviously digital was used as well, but the emphasis was on using the latest techniques with more practical techniques, and the results are gob-smacking. This is the new bench mark in action film-making (and a fantastic bit of immersive world building to boot and subtle but layered, character-driven story-telling) and something people will be inspired by and talking about for years - a huge part of that is down to George Miller's preference and insistence on embracing the practical elements, which stand out in a world saturated with digital blockbusters. Digital is a brilliant, necessary tool nowadays, but acting like it's the only way to achieve something truly visionary is garbage, imo.

 

People have already been wowed by vfx and its almost like things have come full circle and are being wowed again by practical effects and stunts. Its funny hearing the practical talk from the makers of TFA and the new MM movie because it puts me in mind of when Casino Royale came out and they too were bigging up their practical stunts as if it was something going out of fashion, maybe it was?

 

I'm seeing Fury Road on Friday, so I can't really comment on the film yet, but I have heard some crazy things about that shoot from people in the industry, and it really all came down to Miller wanting to capture insane images that still took advantage of real-world physics, etc.

And you're right, the new frontier is not in what can be shown but in how credible it can seem, and people are now realising that it's the use of practical effects, mixed with use of CGI with a light touch, that truly sells the fantastic. I feel like we're coming out of a very synthetic dark age for effects work, and in hindsight the Transformers-style blockbusters will date badly.

 

I think that parkour sequence certainly brought back a feeling of edge and danger that had perhaps been missing for a while. I mean, how many truly memorable stunts have there been that really make you feel the danger, even since then? Mad Max is like a film full of Raiders Truck Chases.