ST The Cinematography of "The Rise of Skywalker"

Movies are a visual storytelling medium and art form, defined by their cinematography and editing, and I think that deserves to be talked about just as much as where the story is going to go, what's going to happen to our leads, and how the h*ck Palpatine is back. Gorgeous, gripping visuals have long been a mainstay of the Star Wars saga, and what little we've seen from this newest/last installment in the story looks in keeping with that tradition.

From the beautiful western vibe of this shot, where the focus slowly racks from Rey's lightsaber to the oncoming TIE Fighter,



to the fantastic evocation of speed and intensity, as the TIE quickly overtakes the sweeping camera,



to the red lit, burning forest where Kylo bodyslams the absolute hell out of this guy



to the grandeur of the imposing wreckage of a once formidable technological terror contrasting against a tumultuous, grey ocean beating against a rocky cliff side as our heroes look on,



and many, many more fantastic shots. As we get more footage out of the film, this is where we'll talk about just how goshdarn good it looks. Or bad, if that's your opinion; I'm not telling you how to live your life. Feel free to focus on discussing framing, blocking, camera movements, color palettes, anything and everything related to the visual and cinematography of the film.

 

I'd just like Mindel to tone down the red in the skin tones.

 

I like all of these shots. The first couple remind me of the tone and feel of the wide shot of the downed destroyer from TFA's teaser as Rey drove her speeder by it, why was my favorite part of that teaser. The third reminds me of the Frozen trailer, which is a great thing.

I just hope we get some urban shots as well. There's that one brief image of mystery ship flying to a planet with I think a city. I can't wait to see more of that, something really different.

 

The one thing the ST films have had in common is exceptional cinematography.

 

I'm surprised by how different the footage looks from TFA despite taking place in similar locations.

 

Me and my buddy, we both LOVE Star Wars and was probably what made us best friends as children, watched TLJ recently, loved it. Then watched TFA, and were reminded of how much we prefer the cinematography in TFA. So much more camera movement which is beautifully done and works so well for action. TLJ, we also love, but kinda came to the conclusion that we think Abrams’ style is more suited to SW. Rian’s is almost film-noir or something. Don’t get me wrong, TLJ is beautiful looking, but I just think TFA’s style works better, so I was delighted to see from the Teaser that TROS is keeping that up, from the opening scene of Rey and the Tie.

 

Mindel has a wonderful naturalistic style to his photography (just behind Fraser for me in that regard). The opening sequence is the best cinematography I’ve seen in the ST so far.

Though I think there are some really nice visual moments in TLJ, I believe Mindel has Yedlin beat, just based on this limited information. He’s a more cinema verite-style DP, and that speaks to me.

 

The cinematography looks amazing.

 

I really loved the moment when you see a strip of desert and then the side of the tie zooming into the shot from the right. It’s a great setup and fits a teaser trailer because you are mouthwatering for the context for the situation. That and it’s just cool.

 

I still say rey poe and kylo's introduction of the force awakens is pure magic pretty much the first 45 min of tfa is perfect, until the rathtars lol.

 

Western scene is pure beauty. Death Star shot is little unfinished I think. I'm sure it will look better in the movie.

 

I think that’s why i like it more...It has more TLJ moments compared to JJ to close up moments...almost dream like quaility in a lot of the shots like of the DS2 and the opening shot with the slow motion.

I feel like they upped there game for this one

 

I think it's great having TLJ helmed by RJ and Co. I can see that JJ, Dan Mindel and crew learnt a lot from experience based off TFA and also the work behind TLJ, and they upped their game by a whole lot with this. I'm confident that this film will satisfy all fans and really rooting for them to succeed in pulling this off.

 

Great thread btw. Just out interest, it would interesting to see a guy like Roger Deakins shoot a SW movie. His work is amazing

 

As always, the lighting, composition, and picture quality are exceptional, but every single one of these shots evidences a pet peeve of mine: overzealous camera movement. It's just not right for the Star Wars films, which before the sequels have always had an objective, matter-of-fact, fly-on-the-wall quality to the cinematography. In contrast to Lucas, Abrams is always too eager to show off all his fancy camera tricks, and all it does is remind the viewer of the artificiality of their window into the fictional world of the film, rather than obscuring it.



The rack focus in this first shot is the most egregious example. There's no reason for it. The way the shot is composed, the human eye is naturally going to gravitate to Rey first, and then gradually hone in on the tiny ship in the distance as it approaches. That's how the human eye works. Instead, Abrams wants to force your eye to do what he wants it do, and the result is that the viewer's eye is constantly distracted by the artificially out-of-focus elements in the shot as it attempts to focus on the elements it would have focused on anyway. Shallow focus works against the way the human eye naturally perceives an image. There is a place for such use of shallow focus in film, but not in a Star Wars film, where the aim should be to immerse you in a fictional world and make you feel as if you're actually there, taking in all the richness of the imagery according to where your eye is drawn by the composition. But Abrams really wants you to know he's a dynamic director, so all that's out the window.

It's true, Lucas and his collaborators indulged in a few of these tricks themselves at various points, but they were always kept to a minimum, and they were never so ostentatious. They were an accent, a pinch of spice thrown into the pot. They didn't define the feel of the films. And there was an actual reason for that. Lucas knows how to do these things, and at times has even talked about he prefers to experiment in such ways. Just watch THX 1138 for proof. Yet he consciously reined it in for his Star Wars films, because he knew it didn't fit the material.

 

Hugely overnanalyzing. The shot is meant to evoke the feel of a Hollywood Western, like the stand-off before a gunfight. The rack focus is perfectly appropriate for that kind of aesthetic.

 

Unlike TLJ which look like it was filmed in a tin can on a flip phone, TRS looks to be back to what TFA look like which was GLORIOUS! I truly think outside of ROTJ, TFA was the best looking Star Wars film. You can tell the craftmanship is back when it comes to how the film looks

 

Totally disagree about the TLJ. Whatever people think about the actual movie, it looked great.

 

Bingo! Could not agree more

 

You mean like this?





I'm not seeing any rack focus or use of ostentatious shallow focus. These are pretty natural-looking images which don't make your head hurt if you happen to look at the wrong part of the shot at the wrong time.

I'm not "hugely overanalyzing." I'm making an attempt at substantively contributing to the discussion in an intelligent way, rather than simply posting stuff like "That looks amazing" or "That looks awful" or "Hugely overanalyzing."

 

Yea, just like that but with a SW flair and set against a broader canvas. A rack focus is not ostentatious or drawing attention to itself. It is a bog-standard camera technique and perfectly appropriate given the scene.

 

I disagree about the first two: I think TLJ might have the best cinematography in the series behind TESB, and I'd say RotJ arguably has the worst... but I'm glad we can agree that this film visually looks great

 

In a few words: top notch cinematography

 

"SW flair"? I literally posted a shot from a Star Wars movie depicting a Western-style standoff which specifically does not do what Abrams' shot does. I also posted an iconic shot from what is probably the most famous Western standoff in film history, which also specifically does not do what Abrams' shot does. The reason these shots do not do what Abrams' shot does is because it is not what is right for that kind of shot. It harms the shot.

I have nothing against rack focus. I have, in fact, seen a movie or two in my time. I have something against rack focus that draws attention to itself for its own sake, which the shot in question is in fact guilty of. It's impossible not to notice it. It's gaudy and in-your-face. Good use of rack focus is so seamless that it feels natural and might not even register to a casual viewer.

 

Breaking down the trailer...
Some may say this is harking back to the PT and to some extent it does but the inspiration for both is in the Chinese fantasy martial arts movies
such as Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon.


My favourite shot from the trailer is of the Tibetan like world the A-Wing flies towards, it's so beautiful and ethereal.


I wonder is this where we find Lando???