Worst Special Effect Shot of the Prequels?????

oni-wan yoda and mace in the halls of Jedi temple in AOTC; a very fake looking CG environment
compare that to the Queen's office on Naboo in the same movie ==> a real set

th thing is in AOTC-time the any realistic CG indoor environment did look good as a real set
look at TPM Theed's interior of the palace, it is a minitaure set but really nice and real

 

The God-awful CG Palpatine who kills Saesee Tiin, Agen Kolar and Kit Fisto in RotS. The OS's Post Notes revealed the Jedi shot their deaths in front of bluescreen after main filming had wrapped, then some fugly Palpatine was added to the scene. He looks nothing like Ian McDiarmid! Also, Obi-Wan's incapacitation onboard the Invisible Hand was poorly done, too.

In AotC, it's gotta be the rubbish explosion of Amidala's Royal Cruiser, accompanied by a totally pathetic sound effect; and a poorly-composited shot of Anakin on the reek, in which the camera swings over to view approaching Geonosians. Anakin basically has a big bluescreen shimmer around him, and he looks like he's been Photoshopped into the frame.

TPM wasn't too bad, considering, though I think Darth Maul's transition from falling-down-the-pit to splitting-in-two is pretty bad - the colour and texture of his face changes too radically in the latter part of that shot.

 

Ian's stunt double did the sword fighting i think (michael byran)

 

Whoa, really? You talking about the big wide shot of the ship blowing up? I thought that was some of the better FX in the film.

Let's see. Something that was truly fake looking in AOTC, Anakin, when he is shown falling and catching Zam's speeder. That looks really fake.

 

Surprised no one's mentioned this, but when Darth Maul holds his saber in front of him, and then ignites one side, then the other, the handle changes in size.... I mean, come on, did they have to make that CGI? Or if they didn't make the handle CGI, it sure does change in size in that scene....
I just watched Batman Begins and it was a breath of fresh air because the CGI was kept to an absolute minimum. It was used primarily only to touch up things here and there, and it's barely, if at all, noticeable. It's used only as side effects.
Sure, they could have used more, but it's good that they didn't. For, despite how far CGI has come, there still is a difference in feel between the real thing and CGI, and it seems most of us agree. Sith suffers from too much CGI.

 

They fixed yoda for the DVD release, so he's now CG in all of the prequel trilogy. I saw ROTS last night, and during the fight between yoda and palpatine, when palpatine starts throwing senate pods with the force, some of those look pretty fake. Still, it didn't ruin it for me.

 

tpm- when Darth Maul jumps off the speeder to fight QG
aotc- Anakin riding that big chicken on Naboo
rots- Anakin making that jump acros the room fighting obi on Mustafar

 

The CG R2D2 in Episode 3!

 

TPM: The Jedi jumping into the landing hangar.

AOTC: There were a few, but the shot of the clones standing in front of the Star Destroyers in the shipyard looked like a drawing. God - awful.

ROTS: The clone heads in the Republic cruiser before Obi Wan takes off for Utapau. They look like a bad PSOne game.

 

Yeah, but in a couple of shots, he's entirely CG (such as when he does that manky flip off the holoprojector in his office). Ugh.

 

I'd have to go a moment from the pod race scene in episode I. When Sebulba is chasing Anakin, there is a shot looking dead on as Anakin speeds towards the camera. In the background is Sebulba's pod, but the animaters forgot to render Sebla! There's no one sitting in the cockpit. lol. I thought the pod race scene was remarkably well done overall and it's not that shot looks horrible. It's just that it's really funny.

 

Point taken, but comparing Batman to SW for the level of CGI used doesn't quite work.

In TPM, I thought much of the Naboo/TF battle on the plains looked a bit too cartoony.

In AOTC, definitely Anakin riding the Shaak on Naboo. 2nd place Anakin riding the Reek.

In ROTS...not too much bothered me. Maybe the platform falling on Obi-Wan at the start, and the way the Clone Troopers look a little clunky.

 

I hate this scene. its not bad effects or anything its just ridiculous. how the hell could u time a fall like that so perfectly, not get hit by any other speeders, and just grab on to the back of the speeder u were aiming for, then obi wan makes it worse by saying a corny 'i hate it when he does that'. god i hate it so much. and c-3po droid factory scene, thats poor too, in fact 3po is horribly unfunny and cheesy for the whole of AOTC. them two things stop the movie being great for me. maybe other people like this cornyness (i know star wars has always had a certain degree of it but come on)

anyway thats all that bothers me. some of u guys are being ridiculous, i would have never noticed obi wans beard being fake or a CGI darth vader (if thats even true).

People will be saying next that none of the actors exist they are CGI created by George Lucas!

 

id agree with that one, possible the cheesiest moment in the entire saga.

 

- The rendering of Jar Jar looks very artificial in AotC. Just take a look at his hand movements when he forwards the motion of giving Palpatine emergency powers - very unnatural. (Having not watched TPM in some time, I fear what Jar Jar now looks like in that entire installment).

- I also dislike - with a passion - the shot of Anakin and Padme being pulled into the Geonosian arena. The compositing is very poorly done; I don't for an instant believe in what I'm seeing. And that's a damn shame - the shot itself is a remarkable composition and is dying to be as beautifully done as it is epic.

- The shot(s) of the clones marching into the troop transport on Kamino AND those of the clones amassing and proto-Star Destroyers taking off at the close of AotC look horribly glossy and artificial. Lucas should have opted for a balance of CG and practical elements and not merely constructed the entirety of each inside of a computer.

- Dooku using the Force to crush Obi Wan beneath the platform in the opening lightsabre battle of RotS looks believable - but in completely the wrong way! It looks as if the platform has killed Obi Wan outright and not merely trapped him beneath it.

- Several shots of Palpatine duelling in his office look horribly unlike Ian McDiarmid. I never picked up on anything bad with Christopher Lee in Episodes II or III - but the simulacrum of McDiarmid stands out like a sore thumb.

- Anakin and Obi Wan jumping and fighting on those platforms/droid remnants on Mustafar looks horrific. I suspect this was because of Lucas' suggestion that ILM make a final rendering pass and add a blue shielding effect to each of the pieces. An epic, intense and pivotal duel is momentarily reduced to the level of a video game at this crucial moment. I hate it.

Other than that, the vast majority of effects shots in the prequel saga were executed with style, creativity and panache.

 

Every human riding CG-beasts. Anakin riding the Shaak Potato Cow, the heroes riding the Reek. And the hobbits on the Cave Troll and Legolas on the Elephaunt for that matter. The movements just don't match up and seem to defy physics. That's what mostly bothers me with CG in movies: the physics are off. Like the gravity property in the programs the animators use is 1.1 times earth gravity or something. Saw it in Chronicles of Narnia too. Obi-Wan on the lizard is better, but still not there.

TPM:
The bite in the floating fruit was very bad.

AOTC:
- Obi kicking Jango off the platform during the Kamino fight. Hyper-physics again.

- C-3PO in the Droid Factory looks like Anthony Daniels called in sick and they used an unauthorized action figure someone had dangling on his rear view mirror.

- Some compositing, like Obi and Yoda walking in the Senate (I think) and Darth Maul and Obi on the platforms. Looked liked the levels (think Photoshop) of the different layers didn't match up. Could have easily been avoided.

ROTS:
- Dooku's balcony jump. Those darn physics again.
- Obi-Wan's legs getting crushed moments later

- Anakin's burned face while receiving the Darth mask is too composited. From the shot where we see the inside of the mask we know there is a bright lamp straight above. Yet the mask doesn't cast a shadow on the face in the last shot (we do see the shadow while lowering). The face remains evenly lit under the locking face plate until the last visible centimeter. And I dislike that they forgot to put on the collar of the suit in the shot where the mask is lowered. I suddenly appears on the close up next.

- Obi taking the baby from the droid and showing it to Padme. Real baby, bad compositing. I think a puppet that was really there would have looked better.


By the way, that brook_33 guy (poster #2) could have been be a lot nicer to the topic starter. Brook_33 seems to think that special effect implies CG only. Of course not. Hand puppets, electrical droids, spaceships on wires... those are all special effects. A New Hope received an oscar for special effects. Surely it wasn't for the cockpit displays of the space fighters...

 

I'm gonna go with one that I can't in good taste let slide.
The explosion of Padme's ship at the beginning of AOTC.
Jumpin'Jesus that looked fake! Use a real explosion next time, they aren't real hard for anyone in Hollywood to do. You can find some garden variety ones in nearly every action movie. Try'em GL, you'll like them!

Later.

 

TPM:
The bite in the floating fruit was very bad.

Who knew that was such a hard effect to render??? LOL.

 

AOTC Worst CGI Shot:


Easily the Massiffs (the dog-like creatures at the Tusken camp). Probably the worst cgi in the whole trilogy.

 

even though king kong had probably as many effects as any film in the prequels i was willing to dismiss them more easily than with the prequels, does anyone know why>

 

Because occasionaly in Star Wars the CGI spoils the films, it doesnt have the charm of the OT I think GL should have toned it down a little

still damm good movies though and he has every right to do what the hell he wants with them

 

Maybe the contrast between Movie screen and TV screen makes a difference. The shot of Greivous sliding O-W and Anakin's lightsabers into his cloak pocket at the beginning of ROTS just looks weird now, like the cloth isn't moving like real fabric should. I didn't notice it in the theatre; now it seems very obvious.

 

i always thought when zam wessels speeder crashed it looked prety fake

 

THERE IS NO CGI VADER

Also, theres a common error people make that whenever there is blue screen, it gonna be a CGI background, this is not the case. The biggest and most complex miniatures ever used in film(digital...whatever) were Utapau and Mustafar.

Also, TPM had more miniatures than in 4, 5, and 6 COMBINED.

Just a note.

 

So, anything CGI automatically sucks?

Oh, and by the way, Vader is CGI in the shot of him walking to the bridge in ROTS.