Aweful filmmaking

Posted by Bulkington (A) on July 24, 2003 at 09:06:37

In Reply to: STAR WARS---WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW MOVIES? posted by croft on July 8, 2003 at 13:22:52:

The story; the script; the exigencies of CGI; the direction; the bad acting resulting probably from the the aweful lines, the bland, pre-digitized soundstages, and George Lucas, who gets smugger and more stupid every time I see him interviewed (McGregor said somewhere that his role in the prequals marked his single worst experience as an actor) . . . I think a good many of the millions of viewers who saw the prequals and thought "I could have done better" really could have done better. Of the originals, I think The Empire Strikes Back is far and away the best. No coincidence that Lucas didn't direct it.

CGI is just bad--or bad on the scale on which it was used in the prequals. It's interesting to compare the differing constraints that CGI effects and the methods of the originals place on film making. CGI mainly requires long shots (or extreme light or darkness as in the Hulk) to maintain any sense of convincingness, whereas in the originals, when you have a real actor interacting with a monster or, say, when Darth Vader is pelting Luke with machinery in Empire, closeups are required to disguise the fact that only limbs or upper torsos or objects on guidewires are being employed. But the latter is still more effective because the actors are interacting with something real, something tactile. CGI should be used to augment the old methods, not as a wholesale replacement.

But not even that would have saved the prequals. They're that, will not endure, and I think dampen the potential interest in later generations in the originals.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - STAR WARS---WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW MOVIES? - croft 13:22:52 07/08/03 (0)

Amending my comments below: - Politics Fan 15:51:58 08/01/03 (0)

I like them all. - Alex Yakovlev 13:03:11 07/24/03 (0)

Aweful filmmaking - Bulkington 09:06:37 07/24/03 (0)

Re: STAR WARS---WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW MOVIES? - Mr. E 20:46:03 07/18/03 (0)

Re: STAR WARS---WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW MOVIES? - phatty 12:30:33 07/14/03 (0)

I saw Yoda fight and Little Ani Pod race, the rest was mediocre, except Jar Jar who is dreadful (nt) - taco 18:59:30 07/10/03 (0)

George needs help from his ex-wife. - TAFKA Steve 15:45:14 07/09/03 (0)

The main problem. - Tom §. 10:22:53 07/09/03 (0)

Cashing in - DWPC 09:42:33 07/09/03 (2)

Re: Cashing in+++ - croft 09:46:03 07/09/03 (1)

Re: Cashing in+++ - I.Kill.Hackers 18:14:37 07/13/03 (0)

a steady downwards slide - SR 09:16:11 07/09/03 (1)

Re: a steady downwards slide - croft 09:42:49 07/09/03 (0)

My 5 year old loves them.(nt) - mvwine 07:24:55 07/09/03 (1)

Well, actually I did like the first two. It was crap but with a story. nt - patrickU 07:32:30 07/09/03 (0)

Yes and no....... - danj 21:16:45 07/08/03 (5)

Re: PERFECT REPLY - SUPERB DESCRIPTION. - croft 09:18:18 07/09/03 (0)

THX1138 is Lucas' best film (IMO, of course) nt - mvwine 07:26:47 07/09/03 (3)

Also Lucas's first film - gware 20:20:09 07/10/03 (2)

Re: Also Lucas's first film---Also amazing - croft 20:52:31 07/10/03 (1)

THX1138 is too thought provoking and philosophical - gware 21:15:35 07/10/03 (0)

Cruel and Unusual Punishment...<nt> - gware 20:58:30 07/08/03 (4)

The worse ever put ( luckily on digital ) on film. nt - patrickU 05:53:58 07/09/03 (3)

Re: The worse ever put ( luckily on digital ) on film. nt - Victor Khomenko 07:08:32 07/09/03 (2)

The last Star Wars - vverrryyy tiresome - Politics Fan 15:46:43 08/01/03 (0)

Re: The worse ever put ( luckily on digital ) on film. nt - patrickU 07:31:04 07/09/03 (0)

You don't want to know. (nt) - Victor Khomenko 13:49:34 07/08/03 (0)

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Aweful filmmaking - Bulkington 09:06:37 07/24/03 (0)

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