what is that horrible black "special effect" on the emporer's hood in ROTJ???

this has bothered me for years and i just now decided to throw it out there and get opinions. i may even find the answer out there from someone in the know.

in the throne room, while palps is sitting down and doing all of his evil talking...the the close-up head shot of him im often distracted by the hazy, air brushed like spot on our left(his right) on front ridge of his dark hood. is this a special effect that HAD to be in the movie due to a make-up problem? this has been my best theory over the years....

the white make up used to give I MAC his pale skin accidentally didnt cover some small spot on the side of his head. they couldnt/didnt want to re shoot, so they tried to fix it in PP.

anyway, what does everyone think? IMO this is the ONLY thing that should have been fixed for the 90s rerelease. its just absolutely distracting in a critical scene!!

 

I just noticed the Emperors slug for the first time when I watched ROTJ last night, and that was only because I looked for it. Since I know the movie backwards and forwards it doesn't take anything away from the scene, I actually enjoyed seeing it for the first time.

 

I've always heard about this but never noticed it myself, I watched Jedi last night and tried to spot it whenever Palpatine was onscreen but still no. Sounds like its better I don't notice it though.

 

I just think they wanted the area between the front of his face and the inside of his hood to be black, but you were able to see the sides of his head, or maybe heven some of his hair as the hood opened up a little.

This is just as distracting as the boxes around the ships in the classic trilogy.

Neither of these things were visible on the big screen due to the way the black levels sort of blur together, but on Video, you can see it all quite clealy.

 

This is just as distracting as the boxes around the ships in the classic trilogy.

I've never noticed the boxes around the ships, can anyone give me an example?

Course, once you do and I spot it I'm going to kick myself forever more because like the emperors slugs once you've spotted them it's hard to ignore!

 

In order to see the boxes around the ships in episode 4, you need original, pre-special edition videotapes of the classic trilogy. You notice it in some of the tie fighter shots in the Death Star battle at the end of episode 4.

Again, you need the ORIGINAL versions, before Lucas fixed it for the special edition to really see it.

There are light boxes around the ships. They represent the border of the area around the ships that were matted into the scene way back in the 70's with old technology.

It's hideous & so fake.

Why anyone doesn't like advantages like this of the Special Editions is beyond me.

 

The Emperor's "slugs" were added in post production of ROTJ either due to a lighting problem, or because the makeup on McDiarmid included an almost ape like mandible shelf(you can see it slightly when he turns his head and says "Fire at will, commander"). This was considered as visually distracting, and was "blacked out" in post production.
Neither the slugs OR the matte boxes around the ships were visable when the film was in theaters, simply because the "foot candles"(a term used to describe levels of brightness) the film was projected at is considerably lower than the brightness/contrast ratio on a television screen. If you lower the brightness level on your TV, you will notice that they blend into the natural darkness of the robe and dissappear.

 

Actually, if you still have a worn VHS version, these bad effects disappear. The video quality is crap, but at least the boxes, etc. are gone.

 

The "slugs" were created to correct a lighting problem. When the DP lit Ian he used a snoot to light his eyes in the shadow of the hood. There was some light spill that fell on the hood itself and ILM added the "slugs" to cover it up. Under the contrast ratios of theatrical projection, the slugs weren't seen. On video, however, the ratios are different, making the slugs visible.

I assume this will be corrected on the DVD, either by ILM redoing the effect or by Lowry Digital playing with the contrast ratios of the video transfer.

 

Well, fortunately for me, I haven't noticed them yet. Though I'll probably look for it the next time I watch ROTJ since I read this thread.

 

NO! Do yourself a favor, Jedimancer and NEVER look for this! Trust me, once you notice this glaringly bad "special effect" you will never be able to watch the film without being distracted by them in the saga's most pivotal scenes.




Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

The boxes around the ships still exist in the SE version, except for some of the redone shots in ANH.

 

i've noticed it. It doesnt bother me but i have noticed them. I wounder if they are going to clean it up for the DVD.

 

I don't know Windy, we'll have to see what happens. It might be smarter if I don't, but now that I know of it's existence, my subconscious might work against me and direct my eyes towards them anyways.

 

There will come a period of, "I CAN'T HANDLE THAT!", but then you start to deal with it better as time goes on.

 

It's weird. I noticed them for the first time about a year ago and then never saw them again until I was looking for them today.

 

Hahaha, I'm glad this thread was made because I've always noticed that on his head. One day a friend and I were watching ROTJ and we must of both have seen it at the same time because we both had that "wrinkled brow" look.

 

Behold the Power of my Magic Marker!!!! My SharpeSaber will add Undetectable Shadows to the Emperors Hood... Just Wait for the Full DVD Glory of My Force Slugs!

 

I've never noticed the "slugs" before, despite hearing about them numerous times. I'm usually just too caught up in watching the movie to actually remember to look for them.

 

I just noticed it also. I only see one slug though on the right side. It does become distracting. I think it got corrected for the SE's because I don't think I see them in there. I was watching an old copy yesterday.

 

Is that what you fanboys call those black dancing things on his hood? I just thought of them as his cloak getting threadbare.

Would their official names happen to be "The Creeping Fears"?

 

I've actually only seen them on the Special Editions, but I haven't looked for them in the originals.

 

I wonder at what stage of post production the slugs were added.... is there even any surviving footage that does not have the slugs? Even if there isn't, if ILM was asked to fix this it would not be the greatest technical challenge by today's standards.

On the other hand they could leave it alone and semi-jokingly make it part of the THX video calibrator on the DVD: "Adjust your brightness and contrast levels until the Emperor's slugs blend into his hood."