Friday, January 22, 2016
The Force returns
fxguide: Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been nothing but triumphant at the box office since its release in December last year. Delicately straddling the balance between conjuring up the nostalgia of the Original Trilogy while also bringing new characters and relationships into the fore, J.J. Abrams’ venture into the Star Wars universe is the first of many to come.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I really loved the new Star Wars movie because of how well they kept the original elements of the first three movies alive in the sets and ships. Even the blasters and lightsabers had the same style of the original trilogy that the second trilogy somehow lost. My favorite part of the classic special effects was the little puffs of smoke and sparks hat the blasters made even when they hit earthy ground. It was a great throwback to the movie’s past. The actual special effects that this article talks about were amazing to see on screen. Maz looked amazingly real and something that hit me while I was watching the video was how well the detail held up even when they were zoomed in so close to her eye. The technology we have now is so amazing. They managed to show the growth in computer technology without showing off what they could in campy ways that would destroy the spirit of the series.
I am not the biggest Star Wars fan. I have seen all seven movies, I even rewatched the first three before I went to go see The Force Awakens because I wanted to make sure I understood everything, but I think that they are just fine. They are good, entertaining, although I can't help but have a hard time watching the now really horrible looking special effects, but I think that is all that they are. I have never found them to be that special. All that being said I loved the new movie. I thought that it was familiar and that helped get the audience on board, but that it was so much more well rounded than the older movies. I spent most of it smiling, laughing, even when bad stuff was happening because I was fascinated. I was so impressed with the effects, and the personality of the film, along with that the leads are a woman, and an African American storm trooper, which is amazing, and sets such a good example. I'll probably never put on my DVD of the old star wars movies, but I'll be there opening weekend for the next two of this installment.
I was skeptical about the new Star Wars movie. I've seen the older movies a bunch of times, since my whole family is very into Star Wars. I was afraid that the new movie would feel too contrived and forced. However, I was completely wrong. Though there were some aspects of the film I wasn't wild about, I think they did a very good job with it overall. The special effects were obviously incredible, and they added so much to the world of Star Wars that wasn't technologically possible in the earlier movies. They were able to improve upon things from the other movies, and they kept the old characters true to their original stories and personalities while also bringing in great new characters. With a female lead and an African-American lead, this movie was a lot more progressive than the other movies as well, which is largely to do with the different time periods of production. Overall, I think The Force Awakens was very well done.
I was initially skeptical about the new Star Wars movie, because I wasn't sure how they were going to keep the charm of the originals with the new possible technologies that are available. Would it be too different, too divorced from the world of the original movies? But seeing it, I think they did an absolutely fantastic job. The article spoke a little bit towards the parts of the process which I think made it really successful, which it explained mostly using BB-8 as an example. By building a physical model of the droid, they were able to use a puppeteer to give it a personality. Rather than building it exclusively in CAD or Maya and just animating it into all the shots, they were able to blend the two techniques and both make him realistic and also unlimited by the physical nature of the puppet. My favorite parts of the movie were how well they blended the computer-generated effects with the live portions, which brought the whole film into one world. I think they did an outstanding job in that respect, and made a very convincing world that is both new and detailed while still connected to the world of the original movies.
I think this is so impressive. When I think back to how seamless it all was to me, as an unsuspecting audience member my mind is blown. Now, having seen that video all I can think about is all that the visual effects artists have to know. For example, with the Lupita character being transformed into Maz, there was a legitimate skeletal and cardiovascular system in that “visual effect.” Like these visual artists had to study anatomy and bones. And then with the extended sets they had to look up materials and wind pattern and how different climates have different wear and tear-it all has to be so in depth. I had never really seen how the real life visuals are blended together with the computer generated visuals, but in Maz’s palace I truly could not tell what was CGI, and that’s a great feat for technology and for cinematography.
Over the break, I rewatched the Stars Movies of the early 2000's, and I have to say that I am so grateful that they combined practical effects and CGI. In The Attack of the Clones, not only is the animation done poorly (much worse than other animation of the time), but it is also ever present. When the council meets, hey meet in a room that, other than the chairs they sit in, is clearly only green screen. It made the world look so unrealistic like they were in a 3D version of Cool World. Anyway, I was happy to see that with real sets, then shown from this article, touched up and expanded with CGI, look fantastic. Basing it on reality, like with the models, and a true set, make the world look so much more detailed and authentic than just an empty green screen space. Also, the character work was so much better in this one, in terms of animation and real puppets. In the original movies, Yoda is a lovable Muppet. And the way he interacts with Luke, and everyone else seems so real, with a Jim Henson touch that makes him irresistible. However, in the early 2000's, Yoda is a very poorly animated glob that is very unrealistic. And the fact that they chose to use a puppet for a character like BB8 is a great decision, I believe that will have his realism and believablity age well.
The Force Awakens is beyond criticism for their attention to detail. The incredible amount of both digital and physical representation of the Star Wars universe is simply incredible. While I would probably give an arm and a leg to have a chance to work in any capacity on the star wars special effects team I probably couldn’t be all that helpful as a one armed and one legged technician. The Force Awakens sought to find a balance between the old and the new in all aspects of the film. I personally felt like the story could have been pushed farther to the new side of things but the practical effects certainly held down the fort for the old. I do wish that things like the vector plates on the falcon do become animated in the future even if it is only to the smallest degree. These are the details available to us as modern film makers and if we don’t push those limits of our technology in my opinion we could never really find out what they are.
It's interesting to hear the kind of development that had to go into creating BB-8, and the discussions that occurred concerning the application of human actions and highly humanized responses to a machine. I think one of the aspects of BB-8 that made him such an audience favorite was his spectrum of apparently human emotions, that made him very easy to empathize with and root for. Another key aspect to the droid's personality is his feisty characterization. As a machine, BB-8's spunk and rebelliousness could come as a surprise, in instances such as the flame thumbs up between him and Finn.
BB-8 is also impressive in the complexity of his motion. The video featured in the article was enormously interesting, as seeing the droid's movement in terms of the articulation of the stick shed light on the true complexity of the endeavor to produce the BB-8 that is seen on screen.
Post a Comment