ST How should Maz have been portrayed ?

I really liked the idea of the character Maz. I felt she filled what would otherwise have been a void in this film which is that of an old and wise character. In the originals this was filled by Obi-Wan or Yoda. Maz could have been one of my favorite SW characters ever.

But instead, I was immediately distracted by the fact that it was a CGI character. It stuck out terribly in this film. Distracting is the best word I can think of to describe it. It only drew me away from being in a mindset of watching what I had hoped would be a film with feel of the originals.

To make things worse, I don't really see why it needed to be a CGI character. I read that they were originally going to make it a puppet, but felt they couldn't pull it off because of the movements the scenes required. I've seen the film several times and I don't see the character doing anything which couldn't have been pulled off by a puppet. Sure, it may have required some different framing of certain moments/scenes, but it seems quite feasible to me.

Your opinions ....?

 

I was actually really impressed with the CGI on Maz. I agree that they probably could have done it with a puppet, but I don't know if that would have been an improvement. Puppets have limited movement, which could take me out of a scene just as much as CGI. Either way, there's a trade-off (CGI can seem less tangible, puppets are too restricted.) So, considering that the CGI was done very well, and that the animators didn't add in tons of silly movements to make her distracting, I'm fine with her as she is.

 

I agree with what miasma said there... Despite being an entirely CGI creation, Maz looked almost like a real person and she definitely played the role of "wise old sage" very well, considering the rather short screen time Maz had... Hoping that we'll see more of her in Episode 8 then!


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She should have been invisible, but everyone in the movie acts like they can see her, so the audience is like, what?!
That would've been groundbreaking. Another missed opportunity.

 

I would have preferred a puppet, but in light of how original TPM Yoda puppet looked, I'm glad they recognized that they didn't have time to do it right and went CGI. In the end I was very happy with the finished product and I really hope Maz plays a larger role in the next movie.

 

CGI was fine IMO!

 

It was some solid of the most solid CGI work I've seen so I wouldn't call it even close to "bad", but even when CGI is good it's still not as good as a real-life tactile thing/person.

 

That is only because the really good CGI you have seen you didn't notice. I thought she looked terrible, also was not a fan of her overall design.

 

i tend to prefer practical to cg but in Maz' case i think cg was a good call. i do wish she looked a little better in it though.

 

She should have been an actor in a costume with CG animated facial expressions similar to Enik from The Land of the Lost (2009).

 

I thought they did great with Maz, I wasn't taken out of the story. CG will never replace real people, but it is more often more believable than a puppet as there are fewer restrictions.. In Maz's case, I can't see a human in make up working with out redesigning the character or having to do a lot of other sfx.

I loved Maz as she was.

 

Liked her. Down to earth character, which I wasn't expecting, funny, and looked solid. Maybe a few shades less bright orange would have been nice, but I really don't care.

 

Leia would have been a better fit for the part, and it'd actually coincide with Luke's talk with her on the forest moon. Also, given her position in the galaxy, acquiring the lights are would also be a more natural fit.

 

I was impressed with the realism of Maz in my 3 showings. Great skin texture, very realistic.

 

Maz is quality CGI. Amazing motion capture also.

 

OMG TPM Yoda was awful..... so glad this was fixed in the BD release.

 

No there are no secretly CGI creatures in film.

 

By Warwick in drag.

 

She had 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, & 1 head. No good reasons not 2 use an actress in makeup with camera scale trick shots.

 

I thought the cgi was pretty flawless. She fit right into the scenes she was in and didn't look out of place.

 

I wish they had time to make the puppet work. Practical effects ftw.

 

I think JJ was pressured into making Maz CGI. I think Kathleen Kennedy and people at Lucasfilm wanted to specifically use "every tool in the toolbox" in terms of special effects and they wanted to hire Andy Serkis' company. I believe if JJ had his druthers it would have been a Yoda like puppet. I think alot of us would have preferred that and that it would have been more consistent with ROTJ, which this movie was a sequel to.

 

I thought Maz was great motion-capture CGI, but not nearly as convincing as, say, Gollum. I think that a puppet or actor in prosthetics would have been a more seamless option. Her and Snoke are the only two elements of the film that take me out of the universe for a spell.

 

yep I agree and a puppet would have been better indeed.

 

I loved Maz just the way she was. I thought she looked very realistic and I was happy with the CGI. When I look at her, I don't see CGI, I see a real character, which is the way it should be. The texture on her skin is amazing and realistic.