PT Practical Effects in the Prequels- Sets, Pictures, Models, etc.

ok....

 

Guys guys. There is only one SW movie and that's Caravan of Courage.

 

Um, excuse me, I think you're forgetting Battle of Endor... And what about the Holiday Special! Jeez...

 

I really like this thread. Shows how much love and craft went into the PT.

I think a lot of analysis about what makes CGI "good" or "bad" misses the mark a bit.

I think the issue was never green screens, digital effects, cgi characters etc. All films - and specifically ALL films in the sci-fi/ blockbuster genres - use them very heavily. I think it was always the mix that drew criticism.

The lightsaber duels with on-set actors against green screens in all movies look great. Specifically because the protagonists and antagonists were physically interacting with another actor.

What didn't work as well were the interactions between real actors and cgi characters ( think obi-wan vs Grievous, or Jedi vs multitides of droids), and the jarring leap of having 2 completely cgi characters having at it (think Yoda vs Palpatine).

I actually thought the special effects (so including the use of minatures etc) were mindblowingly good.

The only difference I see in TFA or R1 is the fsct that we have extras in Trooper costumes while - imho unnecessarily- the PT went with animated extras (think clone troopers etc).

 

Something like this?

 

One of my favorites:

 

Here's a great article http://www.starwars.com/news/from-concept-to-screen-the-jedi-temple

Pics from article for the lazy:











and another with lots of good concept art http://www.starwars.com/news/from-concept-to-screen-kamino

 

Fighting Jengo in the REAL rain must of been really fun.. I remember hearing the actor for Jengo say his helmet got very foggy..

 

Interesting to see a lot of the Kamino concepts would be used in TCW, such as the bunk room, and spherical ships.

 

I love these movies when it comes right down to it as much as I bag on them(well, not TPM so much these days).

 

Wow! That's creepy.

 

The CGI backgrounds and characters detract from the craftsmanship and effort created by the models. Most people don't even know the prequels used models because of how jarring other aspects of the effects are.

I never knew they used real rain in the Obi/Jango fight. That's cool.

 

Pratical Rain friend!

 

"Real rain, real effects."- J.J Abrams

 

It's a shame none of these practical sets even make it into the making-of videos. If you go by those, you'd think the entire movie was one giant cartoon.

 

It's practically raining practical rain outside.

CT1138, it always bugged me how much McCallum and the team played up the digital this and digital that and played down other aspect.
However, every SW Prequel film had as many practical sets as the OT. In fact, the Federation Command Ship throne room where Palpatine is being held hostage was one of the single biggest sets for the entire Saga at that point.
It was just that the Prequels were bigger overall with everything: models and miniatures, practical sets, visual effects, etc.

 

I think its just because in the late 1990s and early 2000s CG was seen as the next big technical breakthrough in special effects. The OT also receives plenty of praise for its ground-breaking effects, something McCallum and co. were probably influenced by when it came to PR.

That said I agree its shame that so much of the practical side of the PT ends up being swept under the rug for one reason or another.

 

Yes, indeed. Nobody believed then that the revolution in the special effects should be considered as something bad. This is called historical revisionism, I think Darth Nerdling made such thread with a different purpose.

 

It wasn't just CGI, it was also the introduction of digital filming. The making-ofs pretty much attempt to show everyone these brand new techniques and how they help make production easier. AOTC was the first big movie shot completely digitally, and digital projection was few and far in between all the theaters of the nation / world. They were basically trying to market something that needed to be pushed to make it big.

Yes, that let practical work fall a bit under the table, but that is the price you have to pay if you want to market something new. Practical effects didn't need to be marketed, they were already established, but digital filming, easier editing, the ability to massproduce cgi at a good price, not to mention the potential advantage digital projection in terms of costs and handling, all that needed someone who clamoured for it.

A documentation like The Beginning was far more interesting to me than the more focused docus from AOTC, but they had their reasons for doing it the way they did.

 

Im pretty sure the CGI, digital film backlash was something not even Edgar Casey the sleeping profit saw coming.

 

Trisha Biggar on the 'baby Jedi' costumes from AOTC.


also:

R2 is quite a heart-throb

 

Geonosis arena model:


Inspiration behind and development of the Acklay, Nexu and Reek:




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Spoiler: BenYodaDagobah, post: 54106789, member: 1418417

Here's a great article http://www.starwars.com/news/from-concept-to-screen-the-jedi-temple



Pics from article for the lazy:























and another with lots of good concept art http://www.starwars.com/news/from-concept-to-screen-kamino

BenYodaDagobah I never realised that Yoda's bedroom(?) was CG I guess that shows what a good job ILM did

 

I thought I remember them building that set?? Anyone know?