Well I Was Gonna Talk About Michael Mann's "Heat" But...
I'm not entirely sure I agree with your criticism of their 'can-do will-do' attitude towards CG. Given the advances of technology between the original trilogy and the prequels, retaining the same 'mood' would have been quite impossible without the newer films looking outdated and stuck. Whilst not being a success, I would argue that this 'can do will do' attitude is consistent in SPIRIT to the original movies, though the outcome is not.
-Simon
But building a set on a ship or in a building that you can light without giving it an unnatural feel doesn't make something dated, nor does applying a similar style in shooting to that used in the original trilogy regardless of whether or not a "cooler" shot can now be achieved using computer technology. Steven Spielberg has been quick to reassure fans that if Indiana Jones IV does in fact go ahead he will make it the same way the last three were made and avoid the use of unnecessary CG in order to obtain a more authentic feel; it's not as though audiences today can not accept this style of filmmaking just because the sets and lighting are real in a sci-fi movie or because the shots aren't in line with the modern fast-cut, close-up conventions used way too often in modern cinema in cases, like with Episodes I & II, of style over substance. Using CG to improve an aspect of something to make in more in-line with expectations of what can and should be done with modern technology (like making Yoda a CG-animated character and not a puppet) can go hand in hand with actually applying some filmmaking skills and crafting something substantial if a filmmaker like George Lucas is willing to put the effort in. Lucas once made a comment that with the original Star Wars, the limitations of the budget and technology were actually quite beneficial in that they required filmmakers in his position to be much more creative in their scripting and planning. Perhaps that could be why we've been left with unimaginitive plotlines and characters, because he thinks we'll be won over by what they're standing on or what big beast or ship is floating around outside the window in the background, or at the very least he spent too much time concentrating on these far less important elements to pay the lackluster storylines any real attention.
The original trilogy was not at all made in that spirit of doing everything that can be done, because it crafted what could be done itself. It pushed the boundaries of technology in ways that bettered the overall experience of the films because what they wanted to do often wasn't possible until they themselves at ILM figured out how to do it and as such had to seriously consider the benefits of putting the effort into achieving a certain effect or whatever the issue at hand happened to be, and as such were more selective and wiser in their choices. The new trilogy has been made in a time when essentially anything is possible using CG and with certain examples like those above, there is no doubt in my mind that George Lucas took the idea of doing something just because it *could* be done too far, and not enought thought went into most of the decisions made simply because it was all so easy and little was lost in trying things out. Lots and lots of things. The lightsabre fights in particular were made more extravagent & more dynamic. Did aspects of that work? Sure. The same could be argued throughout the new trilogy about different things, I'm not saying they shouldn't have taken advantage of the CG at their disposal to a degree (afterall, the whole reason Lucas waited so long is because he needed technology to catch up with his ideas of what he wanted to do with the prequels).
But when these lightsabre fights become battles of speed and power and not skill or cunning, or when they feature Dooku or (especially) Yoda flipping around looking stupid just because they don't need him to be rooted to the ground as a puppet any more, or when Obi Wan travels to the planet in Attack Of The Clones where the clone army is being trained with its skinny-Pixar-looking-aliens and artificial looking ocean, or when {insert scene where everything is textured with a too-perfect and clean metallic surface to feel like its actually there, ie. most scenes} it ruins the mood unnecessarily. Watch the old trilogy on DVD with Lucas's updated special effects etc. and you'll see that these films, as they are now, rarely look dated at all; the special editions generally (excluding the fat-Pixar-looking-aliens singing at Jabba's bar in Return Of The Jedi) strike a balance between using CG technology to improve establishing shots, give more detalied backgrounds or improve an effect like an explosion in space to bring the originals to a point where they stand up even today without looking dated, and maintaining the mood and tone of the films as they were originally by not interfering with the way in which scenes were crafted through traditional means.
Impossible to retain the mood of the originals? Absolutely not. Episode III actually did capture some of that mood at times, and many of the elements in that film can be seen as a move away from the style established in Menace and Clones and shift towards that of the originals (in particular The Empire Strikes Back) in terms of the way in which scenes were lit, shot (especially in opening and final acts of the film) and just generally played out storywise too while they were at it (thank God and/or Tom Stoppard).
-Simon
But building a set on a ship or in a building that you can light without giving it an unnatural feel doesn't make something dated, nor does applying a similar style in shooting to that used in the original trilogy regardless of whether or not a "cooler" shot can now be achieved using computer technology. Steven Spielberg has been quick to reassure fans that if Indiana Jones IV does in fact go ahead he will make it the same way the last three were made and avoid the use of unnecessary CG in order to obtain a more authentic feel; it's not as though audiences today can not accept this style of filmmaking just because the sets and lighting are real in a sci-fi movie or because the shots aren't in line with the modern fast-cut, close-up conventions used way too often in modern cinema in cases, like with Episodes I & II, of style over substance. Using CG to improve an aspect of something to make in more in-line with expectations of what can and should be done with modern technology (like making Yoda a CG-animated character and not a puppet) can go hand in hand with actually applying some filmmaking skills and crafting something substantial if a filmmaker like George Lucas is willing to put the effort in. Lucas once made a comment that with the original Star Wars, the limitations of the budget and technology were actually quite beneficial in that they required filmmakers in his position to be much more creative in their scripting and planning. Perhaps that could be why we've been left with unimaginitive plotlines and characters, because he thinks we'll be won over by what they're standing on or what big beast or ship is floating around outside the window in the background, or at the very least he spent too much time concentrating on these far less important elements to pay the lackluster storylines any real attention.
The original trilogy was not at all made in that spirit of doing everything that can be done, because it crafted what could be done itself. It pushed the boundaries of technology in ways that bettered the overall experience of the films because what they wanted to do often wasn't possible until they themselves at ILM figured out how to do it and as such had to seriously consider the benefits of putting the effort into achieving a certain effect or whatever the issue at hand happened to be, and as such were more selective and wiser in their choices. The new trilogy has been made in a time when essentially anything is possible using CG and with certain examples like those above, there is no doubt in my mind that George Lucas took the idea of doing something just because it *could* be done too far, and not enought thought went into most of the decisions made simply because it was all so easy and little was lost in trying things out. Lots and lots of things. The lightsabre fights in particular were made more extravagent & more dynamic. Did aspects of that work? Sure. The same could be argued throughout the new trilogy about different things, I'm not saying they shouldn't have taken advantage of the CG at their disposal to a degree (afterall, the whole reason Lucas waited so long is because he needed technology to catch up with his ideas of what he wanted to do with the prequels).
But when these lightsabre fights become battles of speed and power and not skill or cunning, or when they feature Dooku or (especially) Yoda flipping around looking stupid just because they don't need him to be rooted to the ground as a puppet any more, or when Obi Wan travels to the planet in Attack Of The Clones where the clone army is being trained with its skinny-Pixar-looking-aliens and artificial looking ocean, or when {insert scene where everything is textured with a too-perfect and clean metallic surface to feel like its actually there, ie. most scenes} it ruins the mood unnecessarily. Watch the old trilogy on DVD with Lucas's updated special effects etc. and you'll see that these films, as they are now, rarely look dated at all; the special editions generally (excluding the fat-Pixar-looking-aliens singing at Jabba's bar in Return Of The Jedi) strike a balance between using CG technology to improve establishing shots, give more detalied backgrounds or improve an effect like an explosion in space to bring the originals to a point where they stand up even today without looking dated, and maintaining the mood and tone of the films as they were originally by not interfering with the way in which scenes were crafted through traditional means.
Impossible to retain the mood of the originals? Absolutely not. Episode III actually did capture some of that mood at times, and many of the elements in that film can be seen as a move away from the style established in Menace and Clones and shift towards that of the originals (in particular The Empire Strikes Back) in terms of the way in which scenes were lit, shot (especially in opening and final acts of the film) and just generally played out storywise too while they were at it (thank God and/or Tom Stoppard).
posted by Steve @ 9:59 AM
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