ST The Technical Side of TFA

Did a quick search on my phone but couldn't find a similar topic, apologies if there are ones.

This a thread for the discussion of the technical aspects of TFA - the shots, the editing, the techniques used, effects etc.

I remember there was a great thread prior to release when all we had to go on was the teaser and there was huuuge debate about colour grading etc and how the effects would work etc.

I think now that the movie is out we can openly discuss what we loved and what didn't work for us from the technical aspects of TFA.

For me personally I feel that the film was beautifully shot. I saw it a couple of days ago at a 3D Laser IMAX theatre and the falcon chase was immense. Absolutely one of my favourite sequences of the film. The scope of the shots was most impressive.

 

With regards to the Falcon chase...was that not the one scene they shot on Imax? I may be wrong...?

 

Yes, it was the one shot on IMAX.

 

I originally thought that the transition from the stuff shot on iMax to the rest would be jarring but if felt seamless to me.

 

The visuals were amazing, and definitely the highlight for me. Flying through the wrecks of Jakku was a great sequence, bought me back to my days of obsessively playing Rogue Squadron, and images such as the forest shaking when the Starkiller fires, and the crust heaving when the Oscillator explodes, were all great. The opening scene is a feast for the eyes, with the fires under the night sky and the approaching ominous lights of the FO transports. Great stuff.

 

Removed: The rule is no bootlegs... ever.

 

Digital set extensions, digital backgrounds, digital characters and ships, even all digital scenes.

Soooo much more practical than the PT!

 

Eh...it still gets points for having actual physical costumes for the troopers this time.

 

"we'll do things right! it'll be real this time! PT had too much CGI!"

 

said no one.

 

can't tell if you're being serious or

 

and loses them for the seemingly complete lack of miniatures

 

probably because it was all CGI

 

The visuals were really great. There were some gorgeous shots cinematography. The Jakku scenes, the duel in the snow, Maz's planet, etc. The action was fast-paced, but still easy to follow. The CGI, Snoke's hologram aside, was quite good (I personally thought that Maz was good). The editing was mostly good, there was some brilliant use of lighting in places, and the costuming/creature designs were fun.

And the problem with the PT for many wasn't that it used CGI, that's just part of the deal for these types of films. It was that quite a bit of it wasn't particularly good CGI, and that it was frequently used where it wasn't needed.

 

They did do one for the crashed TIE, I believe--otherwise, miniatures don't tend to hold up that well to HD cameras these days, so CG just lets you do more with more detail. Still, the film had full practical for some shots like when Rey is talking to Teebo--which is commendable effort next to certain others.

 

Good spot for this:

EDIT: Video taken down

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...-at-the-making-of-the-force-awakens--vfx.aspx

 

They never once said it wouldn't use CGI. The fact is the way they did it on TFA worked. It looks real as hell.

 

that's not the point, we obviously knew there would be some but the whole thing behind the effects approach they were supposedly taking was that it would be more real than the prequel trilogy, and that's simply not the case

also, it's debatable whether or not it's all looking 'real as hell', because from the repeated viewings i've had of TFA i was pretty sure there was a lot of CGI (not that it bothers me, but if we're playing that game...)

 

And the only noticeably wonky one, Snoke, I was mostly cool with because he was a hologram.

 

i didn't think from the video that was a miniature tho? thought they built that fullscale and had it in the ground?

and i don't agree about miniatures not holding up. people still champion the ones from the OT (and I think the PT ones look great)

 

Snoke was fine, Maz looked great. The only CG that really stood out to me was maybe some shots of the final battle, but other than that, it was all intergrated well.

 

no one said that. seriously

 

The OT holds up well...but when you look at it objectively, some elements look like plastic toys, or obvious stop motion against a painted backdrop. Modern HD cameras, with more definition than what they had in the 80s, would make it look faker. Like when Star Trek TNG was converted to blu-ray, suddenly the sets felt a lot more plastic.

 

Snoke was okay for me but I wasn't terribly keen on him being humanoid. I think similarly to the big bad orc of the Hobbit trilogy, prosthetics can be done so well nowadays why couldn't they have gone that route. What was demanding of that character that it was decided to cgi it.

Maz looked fantastic.

 

lolk