Hello,
Recently I posted a short list of a few things I'm hoping the new Star Wars movie avoids, but sins I believe it is in danger of committing. the link is below
please excuse the typos. I know I should be rereading, editing, and correcting typos, but I'm a bum. I'm sorry.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.884973-Star-Wars-the-Force-Awakens-pitfalls#22337731
Anyway, I think that sometimes the internet is too grumpy. Mainly because it is much easier to seem clever being negative. It is also easier in general to be negative. Thus, I would like to make a counter list to balance it out my negativity.
Here is a list of some more promising things that it looks like the movie might do from what I have seen in the trailers.
1. Real sets and practical effects.
Now this is obviously something that was touched on by about a billion people, but I think that they occasionally missed an important point that I would like to bring up now. The actors
A lot of people complained about how strange the prequels were because of how fake and weird they looked. I do admit that this is sometimes true and that these types of effects often age very poorly. However, I think that there is a bigger issue at play. The actors have a much tougher time. I won't go into too much detail, but by shooting in front of a green screen you restrict movement of scenes and also force poor ewan mcgregor to try and imagine what the living hell he is looking at. Sure, this is what actors are paid to do, act, but that doesn't mean you need to make their job harder. It always looks better to have people play off of effects, Steven Spielberg often does this very well, because their reactions can flow more naturally and it becomes easier for the actors. Also, and this is something I hadn't realized until RedLetterMedia's Revenge of the Sith review pointed it out, when shooting in front of a green screen your actors are forced to be more stagnant and walk very slowly so as not to overstretched the tiny area that they are confined too. (interesting points made there about editing and shot composition as well towards the end...link below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABcXyZn9xjg&index=1&list=PLJ_TJFLc25JTwinvdLo4PP2rTFfTd9Uhz
Basically, I think this change will make things feel more natural, not only in look but in the actors' performances as well.
2. Fewer Force Users
I feel that this was a problem in the prequels. The force and lightsabers became common place. What the jedi and sith could do became pretty common place and understood. This is ok and not devastating on the face of it, but it does screw with some of the "magic" of star wars. Why is that? Because the force became a known quantity. We become all too aware of what it is that the jedi and sith can and cannot do. Think about the original trilogy. Remember how crazy it was when the emperor started shooting lightening from his finger tips? Well, that was awesome and exciting because it was alien, strange, and unpredictable. The fact that only the emperor did this emphasized the reach of the force and what someone could do with it. It places us firmly in a world where the rules aren't so clear and that makes those who know them, people like yoda and the emperor, all the more powerful, facinating, and terrifying. It makes the magic all the more impactful because it has a mysterious element to it. By having fewer force users and following a character or two's discover of it and its power might help bring back some of those good old Degobah feels.
3. John Williams
I should not have to explain this, so I won't.
4. Enthusiasm
Now if any of you looked at the RedLetterMedia review of Revenge of the Sith you'll notice that the favorite character of the creator is Palpatine. He explains that it is because he is the only character with any passion. Having seen the movie myself it is hard not to agree. In my opinion, two of the most important things in creating a likable character is proactivity and enthusiasm.
Anyway, the reason Palpatine is so grand is because he has enthusiasm and proactivity in spades while everyone else often feels reactionary and unenthusiastic. The trailers seem to have several characters who are interested in stuff outside the plot and those who are very passionate about what they are doing. This looks good.
5. Less stuff
Many people complain about the politics in the prequels. However, in my opinion, this was a symptom and not the disease. The problem wasn't the politics, but not enough character focus. We often don't need to know as much as what was presented to the audience in those stories. What we need to know is more about a couple of key individuals. This is something the original trilogy did fantastic. There is almost no character of importance other than Han, Luke, and Leia. Correction, there is nothing as important as Han, Luke, and Leia.
They are our emotional connection. They are why we are supposed to care. For example, what does the rebellion want? I mean sure, the empire built a death star but I got the impression that the rebellion was going on well before that. Ok, so what do they not like? It isn't stated anywhere in the original trilogy. It doesn't matter. The Empire are jerks who do stuff similar to building a deathstar and that's good enough. We don't need to know about an Ewok genocide or anything of the sort. We know they want power and captured a princess. Good enough. However, we still root for the rebellion. Why? Well, it's because we love Leia. Think about the final scene where Luke is going to blow up the Death Star. We get this constant build up about how close the thing is to blowing up the planet with the rebel base. Why do we care though? Well, because Leia was left on it for us to care. You may not believe me, but imagine if she wasn't on the planet but on a flagship vessel or something near the rebel counter attack on the Death Star. Now, in that scenario do you care so much if the planet blows? No, because it's alderaan, some planet with a bunch of nameless faceless joes on it. However, it is our attachment to Leia that sells the whole thing and creates the tension.
The biggest problem with the prequel trilogy was flat characters and a lack of focus. The new trailers suggest that at least on of those will be somewhat remedied in the up coming film.
Anywho, that's a bit more of a positive post. I hope it was worth the read
Recently I posted a short list of a few things I'm hoping the new Star Wars movie avoids, but sins I believe it is in danger of committing. the link is below
please excuse the typos. I know I should be rereading, editing, and correcting typos, but I'm a bum. I'm sorry.http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.884973-Star-Wars-the-Force-Awakens-pitfalls#22337731
Anyway, I think that sometimes the internet is too grumpy. Mainly because it is much easier to seem clever being negative. It is also easier in general to be negative. Thus, I would like to make a counter list to balance it out my negativity.
Here is a list of some more promising things that it looks like the movie might do from what I have seen in the trailers.
1. Real sets and practical effects.
Now this is obviously something that was touched on by about a billion people, but I think that they occasionally missed an important point that I would like to bring up now. The actors
A lot of people complained about how strange the prequels were because of how fake and weird they looked. I do admit that this is sometimes true and that these types of effects often age very poorly. However, I think that there is a bigger issue at play. The actors have a much tougher time. I won't go into too much detail, but by shooting in front of a green screen you restrict movement of scenes and also force poor ewan mcgregor to try and imagine what the living hell he is looking at. Sure, this is what actors are paid to do, act, but that doesn't mean you need to make their job harder. It always looks better to have people play off of effects, Steven Spielberg often does this very well, because their reactions can flow more naturally and it becomes easier for the actors. Also, and this is something I hadn't realized until RedLetterMedia's Revenge of the Sith review pointed it out, when shooting in front of a green screen your actors are forced to be more stagnant and walk very slowly so as not to overstretched the tiny area that they are confined too. (interesting points made there about editing and shot composition as well towards the end...link below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABcXyZn9xjg&index=1&list=PLJ_TJFLc25JTwinvdLo4PP2rTFfTd9Uhz
Basically, I think this change will make things feel more natural, not only in look but in the actors' performances as well.
2. Fewer Force Users
I feel that this was a problem in the prequels. The force and lightsabers became common place. What the jedi and sith could do became pretty common place and understood. This is ok and not devastating on the face of it, but it does screw with some of the "magic" of star wars. Why is that? Because the force became a known quantity. We become all too aware of what it is that the jedi and sith can and cannot do. Think about the original trilogy. Remember how crazy it was when the emperor started shooting lightening from his finger tips? Well, that was awesome and exciting because it was alien, strange, and unpredictable. The fact that only the emperor did this emphasized the reach of the force and what someone could do with it. It places us firmly in a world where the rules aren't so clear and that makes those who know them, people like yoda and the emperor, all the more powerful, facinating, and terrifying. It makes the magic all the more impactful because it has a mysterious element to it. By having fewer force users and following a character or two's discover of it and its power might help bring back some of those good old Degobah feels.
3. John Williams
I should not have to explain this, so I won't.
4. Enthusiasm
Now if any of you looked at the RedLetterMedia review of Revenge of the Sith you'll notice that the favorite character of the creator is Palpatine. He explains that it is because he is the only character with any passion. Having seen the movie myself it is hard not to agree. In my opinion, two of the most important things in creating a likable character is proactivity and enthusiasm.
Anyway, the reason Palpatine is so grand is because he has enthusiasm and proactivity in spades while everyone else often feels reactionary and unenthusiastic. The trailers seem to have several characters who are interested in stuff outside the plot and those who are very passionate about what they are doing. This looks good.
5. Less stuff
Many people complain about the politics in the prequels. However, in my opinion, this was a symptom and not the disease. The problem wasn't the politics, but not enough character focus. We often don't need to know as much as what was presented to the audience in those stories. What we need to know is more about a couple of key individuals. This is something the original trilogy did fantastic. There is almost no character of importance other than Han, Luke, and Leia. Correction, there is nothing as important as Han, Luke, and Leia.
They are our emotional connection. They are why we are supposed to care. For example, what does the rebellion want? I mean sure, the empire built a death star but I got the impression that the rebellion was going on well before that. Ok, so what do they not like? It isn't stated anywhere in the original trilogy. It doesn't matter. The Empire are jerks who do stuff similar to building a deathstar and that's good enough. We don't need to know about an Ewok genocide or anything of the sort. We know they want power and captured a princess. Good enough. However, we still root for the rebellion. Why? Well, it's because we love Leia. Think about the final scene where Luke is going to blow up the Death Star. We get this constant build up about how close the thing is to blowing up the planet with the rebel base. Why do we care though? Well, because Leia was left on it for us to care. You may not believe me, but imagine if she wasn't on the planet but on a flagship vessel or something near the rebel counter attack on the Death Star. Now, in that scenario do you care so much if the planet blows? No, because it's alderaan, some planet with a bunch of nameless faceless joes on it. However, it is our attachment to Leia that sells the whole thing and creates the tension.
The biggest problem with the prequel trilogy was flat characters and a lack of focus. The new trailers suggest that at least on of those will be somewhat remedied in the up coming film.
Anywho, that's a bit more of a positive post. I hope it was worth the read
