ST The Cinematography of "The Rise of Skywalker"

Yeah TLJ was on film. There were interviews where RJ mentioned that Steve Yedlin made like a long proposal to explain the benefits of Digital and why it should be used for TLJ but RJ nicely suggested to use film.

 

Yes agree would be suprised if it wasnt. TLJ apart from the Crait section seemed more 'Digital' but as you say hard to tell. So is it just Rogue one from the current batch that shot on digital camera?

 

If you film on Digital, you are locked to the digital resolution you shot with.

On modern film, you are not locked to a resolution and can benefit from future post-processing tech to bring the image quality even higher than what is possible today.

 

Just checked Solo was Digital as well.

 

Yeah, I'm not overly fond of the use of slow motion in Star Wars, but I think this qualifies as a major moment so I'm fine with it. The Kylo slow motion in the forest, not so much.

 

https://nofilmschool.com/2018/06/rian-johnson-last-jedi

https://www.kodak.com/us/en/motion/blog/blog_post/?contentid=4295006107

 

Star Wars needs more things like this to capture the Marvel generation.

In Marvel they routinely do things that are so crazy that not even the most powerful Jedi would be able to do. This back flip is nothing compared to Marvel craziness.

 

The acrobatics I'm totally fine with. It's the over fetishizing of it with slow motion that can grate on me if it's overused.

 

I get the criticism, but I do think slo-mo is warranted for scenes where the action is so quick that it would be difficult to make out otherwise.

 

Yet this is starkly contrary to the Star Wars style as established by the original series of films. That Star Wars style as employed by Lucas was a studiously objective, documentary one. Subjective feeling was communicated subtly, within the bounds of this stylistic choice; the way a shot was composed, or the particular vantage point of the shot, might give an intended impression of subjectivity, but it could just as easily be interpreted objectively, preserving the overall fly-on-the-wall feel. The camera usually does, in fact, have a viewpoint, but it is not an obvious one. This rule was only broken very rarely, in extreme moments of emotional identification with a character, such as with the choppy slow-motion of Luke's dream duel against Vader on Dagobah, or Anakin's trippy vision of Padme's death in Revenge of the Sith. I have a hard time seeing how a simple shot of Rey watching a speeder approach could come anywhere close to comparing with the importance of these moments, especially when this style is positively ubiquitous throughout Abrams' films (as evidenced by the extremely active camera on display in every shot posted in the OP), rendering it commonplace and robbing it of its potency.

Just compare this scene with the famous "Ruminations" scene in Revenge of the Sith, commonly considered to be one of the most masterful and emotionally resonant scenes in the series. Lucas accomplishes this feeling of extreme yearning and emotional connection using nothing but close-up shots of the characters and slow zoom-ins on buildings from a distance. Just as you'd expect from Lucas, it's a very restrained choice which minimizes the audience's awareness of the camera's independent existence as much as possible, allowing the viewer to feel as if they are direct observers rather than observers being guided by an intervening interpreter.

There many ways that Abrams could have communicated the idea of Rey straining to observe an object in the distance (Lucas and his collaborators did this many times in the films they directed). The way Abrams did it here is the most showy and least artful way. Every fresh-faced film student is obsessed with techniques like shallow focus and rack focus, because these techniques are novel to them and they strike them as the most obvious ways to make a shot more "dynamic" or "film-like." It is only with experience and learned discipline that they come to a greater understanding of subtler techniques and stop relying so much on in-your-face gimmicks. This is the big difference between a guy like Lucas, who had to fight his way to the top based on nothing but his own skill and knowledge, and a guy like Abrams, who in my opinion achieved success far out of proportion to his actual abilities based largely on his willingness to play ball with the major studios on their established franchise pictures. Abrams is not a terrible filmmaker, but he is also not a notably good one. He takes shortcuts and demonstrates many novice habits that were never unlearned, because he never had to unlearn them in order to become a top filmmaker.

It takes a very good filmmaker to understand that this



is a better shot than this



The first passes by without fanfare but masterfully executes its intended function. The second loudly announces its presence and begs you to applaud while tending to do nothing to benefit the larger film. The first requires thought and a genuine, holistic understanding of motion picture storytelling. The second requires that you understand basic framing and composition and have the technical ability to execute a certain camera technique. It's the difference between being Ringo Starr and being a technically proficient show-off drummer who would absolutely ruin any Beatles song they touched.

 

We don't even know the context yet.

 

I don't particularly care. It's a really ugly shot. Unless Rey is literally on drugs, or suffering from a break with reality, I can't imagine any justification for it. And even then I would think this particular implementation of this particular technique is going way too far.

And I think we all know, deep down in our hearts, that this is nothing more than a dramatic moment. Abrams shot it this way because he thought it would make it more dramatic. That's what he does. How do I know this? Well, I've watched several J.J. Abrams movies. Seems pretty fair to me.

 

I like how early she senses it and is prepared. She doesn't need to see with her eyes. Makes me want to know what led to it and where it is going.

But I am not a movie buff.
I'm more into the story, if that is a satisfying continuation I'm sold.

You are entitled to your opinion.

I think he is trying harder with this film, really.
There is a lot for him to work with.
The sheer scope of a nine movie story. Aren't you a little curious if they pull it off?

 

Anyone have info on what cameras were being used to shoot Episode IX?
Any IMAX cameras usage?

 

I agree with you completely, but I wouldn't call it "ugly". It's just extremely mediocre and lazy, so basically like JJ as filmmaker.

 

Not anything as of yet. I’d expect Mindel to give a couple of interviews closer to release where he’ll talk about what he used.

 

That Rey v. TIE scene would be incredible in full IMAX.

 

I don't like Abrams' cinematography. It feels generic. But I like the colors we see in the trailer.

 

I also prefer a more cinema verite/ fly on the wall/ objective vs. emotionally manipulative approach to filmmaking (which is a large part of why I prefer Rogue One’s/ Greig Fraser’s cinematography to that in the ST). It’s also why I have this enduring fantasy of David Lean making the Lord of the Rings films in a decidedly less emotionally domineering and melodramatic style than Peter Jackson. But your “it takes a very good filmmaker to understand” line is laughably arrogant. Just be honest and state that you prefer a particular style of filmmaking over another. Your view on the matter is not objectively correct.

 

It is my opinion that one style of filmmaking is superior to the other. As always in discussions about such fundamentally subjective matters as art, this should be read as implicit without my always having to state "In my very humble opinion" before literally everything I say. Your criticism of me on this point is not in any way valid or useful. It is simply annoying.

 

I suspect most will agree on which critique is the annoying one.

 

I'm wondering if the slo-mo Rey jump is only slo-mo for the sake of the trailer. Hopefully in the film we get this action scene full-speed. I suspect we will.

 

Daily Bruin - Q&A: New cinematographer-in-residence [Dan Mindel] talks filming process of ‘Star Wars’ and more

https://dailybruin.com/2019/05/20/q...-talks-filming-process-of-star-wars-and-more/

 

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