main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

PT Your favorite little moment or detail in the PT? (image heavy)

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by Chancellor Yoda, Apr 30, 2015.

  1. Subtext Mining

    Subtext Mining Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2016
    What I've always found interesting is that Anakin's face morphs right when Palpatine begins to say "...then his apprentice killed him in his sleep."

    But yeah, this is a demarcation point for Anakin, the timing is very apropos to put in a morph.

    George is manipulating Hayden and the fabric of the film in the same way Palpatine is manipulating Anakin and the fabric of the galaxy.
    This being the most crucial part of his plan.

    The power to combine different takes into one shot is an ability some consider to be unnatural.
     
  2. seventhbeacon

    seventhbeacon Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 3, 2015
    You could say Anakin's soul "dissolves."

    But yeah, that's a pretty dang impressive visual choice.
     
    Deliveranze, MarcJordan and Cryogenic like this.
  3. Pyrogenic

    Pyrogenic Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2006
    Ah. There's a good storm brewing. And if we're lucky, it'll be chock full of baggywrinkles. [ALL CHUCKLE]
     
    Cryogenic and Subtext Mining like this.
  4. MarcJordan

    MarcJordan Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2014
    You'll probably miss this astounding timing detail (for a "minor" character-well maybe not for some SW fans ;))

    "Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing. An unaltered clone for himself"

    Then look into the future. Son of Fett takes Han (frozen- don't forget frozen embryo to make clones in today's real life example) to get some considerable pay from Jabba (sounds like Jango's brother :p ). Vader then says he is "altering" an agreement. and even says he according to his good pleasure may not "un-alter it any further".

    Coincidence? Or Lucas Courage to tell the Story the way he wants it? I know it is the latter.

    MJ
     
    QuangoFett and Subtext Mining like this.
  5. Subtext Mining

    Subtext Mining Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2016
    Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable.
     
    MarcJordan and Cryogenic like this.
  6. MarcJordan

    MarcJordan Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2014

    Add another calculated score....

    Mind probe vs Jedi mind trick

    "gonna use your Jedi mind trick on me?" - Padme (mother of Leia)

    "They only work on the weak minded" - Anakin/(future Vader)

    MJ
     
    Cryogenic likes this.
  7. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    CRYOGENIC
     
  8. HevyDevy

    HevyDevy Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2011
    Heh. I posted on this thread's earlier pages a bit, can't remember what I talked about, it was pretty random.

    Not sure what I'd add, I've made so many sub categories of mirror/symbolism threads it would probably be repetition tbh, even if only a small proportion of my posts were seen by many people. Thanks for the endorsement though :D.

    Btw, the reference in my username is to my favourite musician's record company that he made to get his solo work out; Devin Townsend's "Hevy Devy records". But I like the double meaning the name has kind of taken on :p.
    Fitting to talk about Anakin's fall so much with this title ;).

    If you are into metal or prog check him out. He is quite mad with the amount of variety he has covered with his many albums.
     
    {Quantum/MIDI} and Tonyg like this.
  9. MarcJordan

    MarcJordan Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2014
    [​IMG]

    Only Yoda can sense Anakin's emotional torment. Obi Wan later says "the transmitter is working but we're not receiving a return signal". Clearly there is very intense thought by GL in this part to do it. Yoda senses Anakin, Mace does not neither and more troubling Anakin's master and teacher is depending on technology to contact Anakin. No wonder it is later Yoda (in Ep. III) teaches how to "commune" and tap in to the Force's power.

    Note on the right it's Anakin's face and eyes are transitioned and zeroed in, unlike the other scene transitions/wipes this one is completely unique. The Tusken attack scene ends with the closing circle, and the same time transition to Yoda is swiped to the right.

    Notice also that Anakin's side of the screen is blackened. Darkside? You tell me.

    Cheers!

    MJ
     
  10. Subtext Mining

    Subtext Mining Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2016
    But interestingly, after Obi-Wan becomes a Force ghost, it is he who tells Luke to switch off his targeting computer, and rely on instinct and the Force.

    Anakin is also (almost) looking into the camera, which he later does when he becomes Darth Vader.
     
    Cryogenic and MarcJordan like this.
  11. MarcJordan

    MarcJordan Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 17, 2014
    Right!

    Yoda tells Obi Wan that he will teach him in III. The above scene also we have Qui Gon's voice heard. So we have only Yoda and Qui Gon (spirit) that senses Anakin. Lots going on here and it is AOTC that is the initiator of "communing" . Fantastic!

    Lastly I'll add that Yoda doesn't say "disturbance in the Force", but "something terrible has happened". [face_nail_biting]

    MJ
     
    Tonyg likes this.
  12. darkspine10

    darkspine10 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2014
    First up, I love how when Qui-Gon makes to leave Watto's shop, Jar-Jar has somehow gotten himself into a massive slapstick sequence completely offscreen. Qui-Gon's reaction of ignoring him is perfect too:

    [​IMG]



    Second, I love the transition from the windy, chaotic sandstorm, to the tranquil, warm interior of the Skywalker house. William's score captures the transition perfectly as well:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I love all the little details surrounding the Podrace, that really lends it an air of credibility.

    Stuff like the ritual of the flag parade, which is itself a gorgeous visual:

    [​IMG]

    the cheering fans of each racer, the cheap moochers camped out at the off ramp to get a view of the race:
    [​IMG]

    Fodin Beed's little camera booth:
    [​IMG]

    Ody Mantrell's pitstop:

    [​IMG]

    The food vendors:

    [​IMG]

    The deleted scenes add even more, with Aillee Teem's family wathcing, and the Hover droids collecting the wreckage, while the Jawa's try to scavenge some of it.

    There are also some minor things that I just find interesting, like this podracer, that evokes a predator's claws:

    [​IMG]

    Or the way that Sebulba is shown to be so tiny, which perfectly illustrating his role as a 'minor' antagonist:

    [​IMG]The way his pod jerks to an ungraceful stop is perfect comeuppance as well.

    There's also the way that Jabba has to be woken up after the race, perhaps showing the Lucas knew that some would find the race over-long, and decided to poke fun at his own sequence.

    [​IMG]
     
    boonjj, MarcJordan, Tonyg and 5 others like this.
  13. darkspine10

    darkspine10 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2014
    Some little things from Coruscant, I really like the little technician's booth beneath the central Senate pod:

    [​IMG]

    It reminds me of how the orchestra is usually beneath the stage during plays.

    Interestingly, I noticed that during the 'deferral' section of the scene, the Trade Federation float menacingly behind Valorum's pod, perhaps showing their influence over the Senate:

    [​IMG]

    I also like Valorum's reaction to the vote of no confidence. He just looks so resigned and tired:
    [​IMG]
     
  14. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    Great shots, darkspine10!


    TPM is so wonderfully composed and lit.


    Before I add a totally random observation of my own, I just want to comment on some of yours:




    Pretty fun and goofy, right? Also makes sense that Jar Jar is trying to balance those items in a shop with a kid who is later asserted, by Qui-Gon, to be the Golden Goose meant to "bring balance" to the Force. Also, Qui-Gon admonishes Jar Jar before he heads for the steps to barter with Watto, warning him, "Don't touch anything". But he doesn't seem remotely bothered on the way out that Jar Jar has gotten himself into a calamity. Perhaps he even feels that Watto deserves a little mess left over after freezing him out over his attempted Jedi Mind Trick. Or maybe he's just tired of not getting his way. First Watto refusing Republic credits, then Jar Jar mucking around after he already reprimanded him. Qui-Gon hates sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and gets caught in even the trimmest Jedi beard. :p




    Yes! Yes! Yes! That is a gorgeous musical cue. One of my favourites. I've always felt it lends that moment a very "mythical" feel. I think it helps that the characters are being buffeted by a fierce sandstorm and almost blurring together as a single unit, all equally afflicted by its sudden unrelenting intensity. The visual effect of the storm even reduces their bright colouration to a sort of hazy, milky brown -- as if ageing them into myth (think: faded painting). There is also a sense of the story suddenly accelerating and entering a new tier. This is nicely accentuated by the shot of them leaving the market and the camera tracking to Artoo, at which moment the film itself obviously speeds up and seems to double in tempo. The door popping open with that immensely bright light marking the outside makes it seem as if the characters are entering from another movie. So many satisfying aesthetic choices.




    Well, to continue the "meta" observation directly from my last remark, I believe those are actually old 16mm film cameras. Movie cameras and screens within a movie (screen).






    Yes. Star Wars is full of self-spoofing moments like these.





    Nice observation. That shot also looked crazy fantastic when I saw TPM 3D in 2012. And I think your still makes it easy to see why: very detailed, very wide, and sharp as a tack.





    This exact shot, in many ways, expresses the "soul" of the prequels, and the attitude of the films generally toward their own subject matter. If the OT is about people coming together and triumphing against the odds, then the PT places a contrasting emphasis on failure, defeat, and isolation -- as well as more existential qualities like disconnection and disillusionment. Unlike the bongo, which also has a "bite" taken out of it by a "monster" and loses power, but is then restarted by a young Jedi "sparking" it back to life, Valorum "sinks" low in ignominious defeat; with the very Jedi he initially sent to break this "alarming chain of events" unable to assist him. He literally keeps his gaze lowered and collapses into his cold, shackling throne. It's a slump that marks the death of one world order and the accession of a new.






    Okay, my own observation...


    AOTC: Notice Obi-Wan leaning in to Anakin and gazing out the window in the background on the airbus as Padme prepares to disembark and leave Coruscant with Anakin, her "Jedi protector", to go into hiding on Naboo. I love this because it happens in the background. I used to interpret it as a relatively random detail that just adds an "everyday"/"mystery" touch to the movie -- Obi-Wan is looking out the window with intensity; what has caught his attention? But a more tragic aspect to that moment is simply how close Obi-Wan moves his body to Anakin's in that moment. There's a subdued sense of eroticism to it. What he sees through the window is irrelevant. It's all about their bond. It's as if Obi-Wan slightly seeks to connect with Anakin in a deeper way but doesn't quite know how. Instead of exchanging a warm glance or friendly words, he simply leans into his padawan for a fleeting moment. After they rise from their seats, the next words from Obi-Wan are authoritarian and dictatorial, breaking Anakin's warm mood around Padme who has just issued him a compliment. That background detail, with a depth of meaning conveyed purely through body language, is a little stroke of genius on GL's part, IMO.
     
    Toddy, Bloncket, QuangoFett and 3 others like this.
  15. Subtext Mining

    Subtext Mining Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2016
    I never understood why people would think the pod race was too long. To quote Padme, "It's perfect".
    What, is it supposed to be 30 seconds?
    (tbh, I don't think I've even personally heard anyone say that. It's like one person said it, then other people started using it without really thinking it through. Either way it holds no water).

    It all especially came to gather for me when I noticed the pod race is the exact same length to the second as Dave Bowman's trip through the Stargate in 2001: ASO. And that each new lap begins precisely at the same moment each new scenic motif begins in the trip.
    It's like George put in a tribute to his love for racing and his love for 2001: ASO all in one scene. Idk.
    And remember, Bowman's pod is in the back of Watto's shop. And we first see Anakin as he runs inside from the back. As if he just stepped out of the pod like Mork from Ork and his egg, haha. (did I just show my age?)
     
  16. darkspine10

    darkspine10 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2014
    I used to find it overlong myself, but I now realise that there's something new exciting every few seconds. Stuff like the Tusken attack, Anakin stalling, Quadrinaros's pods going flying, the pitstop, the caves, the heat haze reflections. There's so much going on!

    And thank you Cryogenic, I knew you'd find even more depth to my points. :)
     
    Subtext Mining and Cryogenic like this.
  17. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    You've elucidated something central to the action sequences of Star Wars; and, indeed, one might argue, any ten- or twenty-minute stretch of the films. Lucas absolutely stacks the films with any number of sonic and visual treats and mini moments and happenings. Each little block of every movie -- especially the prequels -- is a little symphony and story unto itself.



    Well, I try. :p Thanks. Was fun to add a few things. Although, today, it appears, your images aren't loading. I think your tidy descriptions suffice to indicate to a reader what they're meant to be looking at, however. :cool:
     
    darkspine10 likes this.
  18. Ancient Whills

    Ancient Whills Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2011
    What I like the most is when the camera goes back and we see the big picture like Yoda vs Palpatine in an empty senate/Obi-wan vs Anakin or the first scene of RotS. The characters are so small but I like to look at the background and see what else is happening, it helps my immersion better and it reminds me of when I look at a painting.
     
    Cryogenic likes this.
  19. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005

    Indeed. It also reveals an incredible confidence on the part of Lucas. He loves to throw in some super-wide angles and show off environments and play with scale and give everything an impressive grandeur. This technique of switching to wide shots also has the effect of crunching down protagonist characters and collapsing their egocentric individuality, making them appear like tiny ants and reducing their dynamism, and the relative emptiness of their tangled interpersonal conflicts, to the scale of a midi-chlorian. When Lucas reverts to such shots, sparingly in each instance, we are given a feel for the expansive, operatic might of the series, and are reminded that all of these individual plots are taking place on a much broader canvas. One of the sensual and intellectual delights of Star Wars for sure. And maybe something that reaches its pinnacle in ROTS: GL's "swan song".
     
    Subtext Mining and QuangoFett like this.
  20. darkspine10

    darkspine10 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2014
    The sense of scale in this shot is incredible:

    [​IMG]
     
    MarcJordan, TomClaydon, Tonyg and 5 others like this.
  21. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005

    Love the expressionistic colours.

    Also fascinating that it's a rhyme with the "younglings" scene. In the former, Yoda is instructing Jedi "clones" to deflect small laser bolts from floating spheres. In the Geonosis scene, he tells clones to fire concentrated laser beams at a large sphere and bring it down.

    The music, too, adds to the weirdness: a copy-and-paste reprise of the musical cue for the scene in which Qui-Gon is cutting through the door of the TF cruiser (inside the same structure being blasted out of the sky in the AOTC scene), at the moment Nute yells, "Close the blast doors!", the doors close, and Qui-Gon reacts.
     
  22. QuangoFett

    QuangoFett Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2011
    You could say that AOTC depicts the Republic - specifically the central government, the Jedi Order and those sympathetic to them - finally fighting back in full force against the Trade Federation and its partners. Padme had to fight the TF with just the people of Naboo behind her, the Republic only sending two Jedi to protect her. A decade later, she has the entire Jedi Order and a new military arm of the central government providing the brute force.

    Under Palpatine, the central government is quite a bit more interventionist. After Valorum's weakness, the Republic has gone through a sort of supranational palingenesis and is avenging its past humiliation.

    Using blue and green lasers, (para)military personnel of the Republic cut through the robotic forces and vessels of the cartels. They're more devastatingly effective this time around.
     
    darkspine10, HevyDevy and Cryogenic like this.
  23. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Wow, I never really noticed the sheer detail in the pod racer announcers' booth before. Another example of used future tech that is totally in line with the OT aesthetic.
     
  24. Cryogenic

    Cryogenic Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005

    Damn, QuangoFett -- you good!

    Yes. You're right that AOTC presents a "vengeful" situation in which Padme and the Republic (along with the Jedi, two of whom were gas-attacked in the former movie) "strike back" (pun intended) against the TF and those mercantile separatists.

    I guess, with the musical reprise, it also means the "blast doors" are being sealed against the Republic and the Jedi without them fully realizing, and that there'll be a big price to pay for this aggressive, militaristic metamorphosis in the next movie.
     
    darkspine10, HevyDevy and QuangoFett like this.
  25. QuangoFett

    QuangoFett Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2011
    Indeed. In keeping with TESB, AOTC is of course named with reference to increasingly assertive central government.

    The TF and its Separatist partners are on the run from the forces of the Republic through much of the PT. The Battle of Geonosis is a defeat for them, though they get enough resources off the planet before the Republic can destroy them. Their escalating acts of aggression and their alliance with the Sith, however, transform the Republic into something that can inflict ever more damage on them. They have no place in the Empire that they help usher into existence.

    It starts with Qui-Gon cutting through the door (failing), carries on with clone gunners tearing through their ships (not all of them) and ends with Darth Vader slaughtering them (to the last Muun), finally putting an end to their despotic dreams of an oligarchy under their rule. As Rune Haako says in TPM, they [the Republic/Jedi] "are still coming through." The TF and Separatists keep pressing on regardless. By the time they try to desist on Mustafar, they have gone too far. They've wrecked the Republic and the galaxy that gave them the vast amount of power they have before TPM because they can't stop pushing for more.