Star Wars

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You're absolutely right. I find it more than a little ironic that characters made entirely out of ones and zeros have much more chemistry than their flesh and blood counterparts, and it dispels the myth that CG has ruined filmmaking in general.

People moan that CG takes all the zest and spontaneity out of filmmaking, which may well be true in the case of Lucas' stiff-as-a-board prequels, but then the same people laud certain all-CG features as some of the best films ever made. So which will it be? Either CG is the death of cinema, or it's simply another tool in a filmmaker's arsenal. As always, it's not what you use but how you use it.

Even if the prequels were made without a hint of CG, they'd still be just as badly acted, poorly written and clumsily executed because of Lucas' daffy ideas and outmoded sensibilities.

It's apples & oranges again though. With something like a Pixar movie, or indeed The Clone Wars series, you're talking about an animation. In that respect, it's to be judged alongside Pinnoccio or Thundercats. Let's not pretend that the voice acting in Clone Wars is any better than the live action performances in the prequels; it clearly isn't.

In a live action film, the ante is upped considerably in terms of acting, believability, and drama. There are things you simply can't get away with in live action, therefore the balance of CG and human interaction is placed under greater scrutiny. The prequels jarred because the human drama got overwhelmed by the pixels- and it's the human drama upon which a live action film is always judged.
 
It's apples & oranges again though. With something like a Pixar movie, or indeed The Clone Wars series, you're talking about an animation. In that respect, it's to be judged alongside Pinnoccio or Thundercats. Let's not pretend that the voice acting in Clone Wars is any better than the live action performances in the prequels; it clearly isn't.

In a live action film, the ante is upped considerably in terms of acting, believability, and drama. There are things you simply can't get away with in live action, therefore the balance of CG and human interaction is placed under greater scrutiny. The prequels jarred because the human drama got overwhelmed by the pixels- and it's the human drama upon which a live action film is always judged.

Woaaaahhh Nelly - I'd say the voice acting almost without exception beats Hayden C's efforts!:D
 
Woaaaahhh Nelly - I'd say the voice acting almost without exception beats Hayden C's efforts!:D
It does indeed. The flat-voiced proto-Vader vibe that Hayden was going for was well intentioned, but - as with so many things in the prequels - the execution of it was decidedly dodgy.

I've just finished disc 2 of Clone Wars S3, and I'm warming to it again. Yes, there's more darned politicking but either I'm getting used to it or the writing's improving, because I'm starting to care about whether the banks are getting deregulated or whether Padme can stop that bill for more clones going through.
 
It does seem odd that things seem so hurried in the end - bit like a student knowing the deadline for a dissertation and thinking "meh, loads of time" and then realising they've got the date wrong and it's tomorrow!



I'll let you know:smashin:

If you read JW Rinzler's excellent Making Of Revenge Of The Sith it's quite funny how long he makes everyone wait before he turns in the script. Funny and shocking, really.

We're currently rewatching old classic episodes of The Clone Wars - Trespass on Season One is fantastic, and all done within one episode.
 
Surely Jar Jar got more air time, as the merch was much more kid friendly. You couldnt sell lots of Maul figures, because of the safety issues with pointy-stabby-chokable lightsabres.

I mean look at the way they nerfed Boba's rocket due to safety concerns!

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Boba Fett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I do wonder how much the prequels were driven my non-film factors, such as broadness of appeal and merchandising...

Well, wonder no more. All the figures now have enough detachable objects to choke an entire school of Star Wars lovin' boys. The merchandising, compared with the original figure line, could hardly be called child-friendly at all. In the seventies, the lightsabres were safely housed within the arms of the figures, for example. Not so now.

I'm forever picking up tiny little thermal detonators, lightsabres and Sith droids. My son got a new Plo Koon figure the other day - he even has detachable snowboots for goodness' sake!
 
Woaaaahhh Nelly - I'd say the voice acting almost without exception beats Hayden C's efforts!:D

I was thinking of Obi Wan mainly :). But hear pieces of dialogue from CW and Prequels side by side and I doubt you would notice clone wars being noticeably better. If it seems better, its because its coming from cartoon characters: so again, the bar isn't being set as high as you would expect from a live human.

Believe it or not, Hayden actually puts in one or two passable performances here and there (although they may go unnoticed in a sea of awfulness :laugh:).
 
It does indeed. The flat-voiced proto-Vader vibe that Hayden was going for was well intentioned, but - as with so many things in the prequels - the execution of it was decidedly dodgy.

I've just finished disc 2 of Clone Wars S3, and I'm warming to it again. Yes, there's more darned politicking but either I'm getting used to it or the writing's improving, because I'm starting to care about whether the banks are getting deregulated or whether Padme can stop that bill for more clones going through.

Moody teen I get, but moody and utterly monotone not so much.

Could do without the politicking but each episode is quite something to look at and the dts hd ma soundtrack is most welcome:cool:

If you read JW Rinzler's excellent Making Of Revenge Of The Sith it's quite funny how long he makes everyone wait before he turns in the script. Funny and shocking, really.

We're currently rewatching old classic episodes of The Clone Wars - Trespass on Season One is fantastic, and all done within one episode.

Talking of scripts I remember Sam Jackson more or less pleading with Lucas to make sure he didn't "go out like a punk" - and fair play the confrontation between Lord Sidious and Windu was impressive, albeit Hayden C again displays all the acting chops of chastised teenager.

Be interested to see a list of your favourite episodes.

I was thinking of Obi Wan mainly :). But hear pieces of dialogue from CW and Prequels side by side and I doubt you would notice clone wars being noticeably better. If it seems better, its because its coming from cartoon characters: so again, the bar isn't being set as high as you would expect from a live human.

Believe it or not, Hayden actually puts in one or two passable performances here and there (although they may go unnoticed in a sea of awfulness :laugh:).

Hmm, I suppose my most recent exposure to 'live' star wars was the ot blus, and some hideously 'phoned in' performances from Temura Morrisson as B.Fett. That and the infamous 'noooo' of course. So if a cartoon with voice acting is able to emote better than an actor on screen that is concerning.

The sea of awfulness was all consuming I'm afraid:rolleyes:
 
Talking of scripts I remember Sam Jackson more or less pleading with Lucas to make sure he didn't "go out like a punk" - .
:

Instead, his sidekicks did (damn those Jedi masters were useless). Even that green-skinned aquatic dude- he went out like a biaatch.
 
Kit Fisto, Een Koth and Sasi Tinn were the three Jedi who went with Mace to arrest the Chancellor and lasted about half a second each.

Sam Jackson was reacting to fanboy speculation about Boba Fett exacting revenge for the death of his father when he said he didn't want to be "shot in the back like some punk". Lucas said because of Boba's age at the time of episode three it would be unrealistic for him to kill Mace Windu.

Sam certainly got what he wanted, though, with a spectacular death scene.
 
I see Simon Pegg is to voice Dengar in an upcoming episode of The Clone Wars. Clearly Lucas has the upper hand in the maturity stakes if he can ignore Pegg's adolescent whinging on Twitter and still give the bloke a job:)
 
quarry2006 said:
I see Simon Pegg is to voice Dengar in an upcoming episode of The Clone Wars. Clearly Lucas has the upper hand in the maturity stakes if he can ignore Pegg's adolescent whinging on Twitter and still give the bloke a job:)

Quite funny really. I asked him on twitter if he'd do star wars tv (live action) and he sent me a direct message saying he'd rather gouge his eyes out with rusty spoons. Must get him a tetanus shot - that rust can be a proper bugger.
 
Just goes to show the level of the man, really.

As you can tell, I don't have much time for Mr Pegg!
 
Just read a tweet from ILM saying that Star Wars pre-visualisation artist Ralph McQuarrie has passed away.
Can't find nothing on the net but the ILM twitter Account I follow appears to be the real thing. If true then a piece of sad news to wake up to this rather dull & damp Sunday morning.

RIP Ralph McQuarrie your work inspired Alan Ladd Jnr to invest in the first Star Wars, so it's arguable that without you we would probably be living in a world where Star Wars doesn't exist.
 
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Farewell to an extremely talented man whose contribution to the Star Wars legend was immense.
 
Very sad news. I have a signed Lithograph of Cloud City by Ralph, It's a thing of beauty that I'll always treasure. I'll forever be thankful for his contribution to my childhood, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, CE3K, Battlestar Gallactica.....

RIP :(
 
I always adored the concept designs of Star Wars but I never thought much about who the artist was. Its a bit shameful of me to only now know more about him when his time is up. RIP Ralph.

So he had a Nasa background. DId he also do the initial Tatooine 2 suns horizon concept? And I hope he knows that they recently discovered an exoplanet that would have a very similar horizon view, right down to the colours of the suns.
 
I would add my own condolences to the news of Ralph McQuarrie's passing. As Bill Hicks said, Ralph realised Lucas's vision which was a huge factor in Star Wars being given the go-ahead by Alan Ladd Jnr. His work was a huge inspiration to artists such as Doug Chiang and Ian McCaig who similarly realised Lucas's visions for the prequel trilogy.
 
I love the McQuarrie-esque concept art that people like Chiang put together for the prequels.
 
George Lucas;
I am deeply saddened by the passing of such a visionary artist and such a humble man. Ralph McQuarrie was the first person I hired to help me envision Star Wars. His genial contribution, in the form of unequaled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph’s fabulous illustrations and say, ‘Do it like this.’

Beyond the movies, his artwork has inspired at least two generations of younger artists — all of whom learned through Ralph that movies are designed. Like me, they were thrilled by his keen eye and creative imagination, which always brought concepts to their most ideal plateau. In many ways, he was a generous father to a conceptual art revolution that was born of his artwork, and which seized the imaginations of thousands and propelled them into the film industry. In that way, we will all be benefiting from his oeuvre for generations to come. Beyond that, I will always remember him as a kind and patient, and wonderfully talented, friend and collaborator.
 
I love the McQuarrie-esque concept art that people like Chiang put together for the prequels.

Yes, and they even used McQuarrie's thranta design in the prequels. Originally planned for The Empire Strikes Back, but ditched because of budgetary constraints, the creature was considered again for The Phantom Menace where, again, the budget held them back. The creature finally appeared in Attack Of The Clones, renamed as the aihwa.
 
Great McQuarrie resource here

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