The Force Awakens Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams 2015)

[Brónach 1,301]

Everything Naboo was beautifully designed.

Jar Jar Binks too?

[Quintus 5,399]

Everything Naboo was beautifully designed. Darth Maul was menacingly well envisioned and executed. The wonderful conversion of the Star Wars universe into a clean and elegant look.

I dunno, Naboo and its interior/exterior decor feels a bit lavish for lavish sake to me, a bit gaudy. The whole planet looked like it'd been designed by a footballer's wife, but if that's your sort of thing who am I to argue. The Starfighter was a lovely design, though.

[Matt C 452]

When they had to figure out ways to sell effects and make things look more realistic, the results were great. Now, they can just render whatever in the computer and it's usually unconvincing and artificial-looking.

I remember watching a making-of featurette on the Star Trek reboot, and J.J. Abrams was adamant on using actual locations to minimize soundstage shooting and/or CGI involved. (That also kept the budget under control too.)

So when this movie actually starts shooting... you can bet money that if Abrams wants to shoot a scene set in Tatooine -- he'll probably go to Tunisia or find a visually similar location (and not CGI it in during post-production). I don't know if he'll go a more low-tech route to get impressive shots like Lucasfilm did on the original Star Wars.

[Brónach 1,301]

He shot parts of ships in factories and things like that. Whether you like that or not (I don't), I must admit that's the polar opposite of George Lucas.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and The Lost World still look great. The Phantom Menace was a catalyst for all these awful modern movies overloaded with CGI where filmmakers can basically do anything they want to. They fail to impress and actually abuse the technology. To this day, something as relatively simple as the opening shot of Star Wars is more impressive. When they had to figure out ways to sell effects and make things look more realistic, the results were great. Now, they can just render whatever in the computer and it's usually unconvincing and artificial-looking.

This looks pretty artificial to me:

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Jurassic Park always looked like shite!

[Quintus 5,399]

See Blume, if you had shots like that in your caption contest I might feel more inclined to contribute. Because your recent ones have been rubbish!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I haven't even opened those threads.

If Blume is just going through the motions, why should I bother?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

This looks pretty artificial to me:

I disagree. Sam Neill is one of the most impressive CGI I have ever seen.

[Quintus 5,399]

And Ellie's arse still holds up to scrutiny very well.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Very much so!

[ZackR 95]

Jurassic Park is a wonderful marriage or CGI and traditional visual effects. Has technology evolved? Sure, but it still looks great to me and I desperately wish more filmmakers would use traditional wherever possible and use CGI only when traditional effects are not possible. I think there's been a stifling of innovation in traditional effects. "I'm not sure how to pull that off." "Don't worry about it. We'll just do it with CGI."

I still love Jurassic Park for how well it combines the two.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I just don't see how they could do Jurassic Park any better. I've maintained for years that The Lost World looks even better. The effects are flawless.

[ZackR 95]

I agree. They are the pinnacle of visual effects for me personally.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

For it's time the CGI in JP was revolutionary. Simply mind blowing in a way that we haven't seen much afterwards.

Were the same effect done with todays technology, naturally they would have looked even better.

But that can be said about almost every film.

[crumbs 14,301]

Man, that Bluray really does look like absolute shit.

Bring on the 4K 3D remaster!

[scallenger 481]

This scene, and even this shot from JP, was nothing short of believable in the CGI world:

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Not showing...

[Datameister 2,037]

That was anticlimactic!

[A24 4,326]

Quote it and thou shall see it.

[ymenard 54]

The Phantom Menace has more models and model craft than the 3 original Star Wars movies combined. You'd be surprised to find that many, many stuff you think is CGI is in fact a large scale model (with added computerized effects).

[Jay 37,289]

That's true. Then there were almost no models by AOTC, and almost no sets by ROTS

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

None of the PT films look particularly convincing to me, though Phantom Menace is probably the best of the bunch in those terms. All of them looked dated now, especially AOTC. I actually think that the OT films look less dated in terms of effects (for the most part) than the PT. And I still think the LOTR films (especially the first two, ROTK has issues) look amazing even after all this time, including Gollum.

And anyone who thinks the dinos in JP look like crap doesn't know WTF they're talking about. You can't overstate how revolutionary they were, and even how great they still look today. Of course, having a director that knows how to use CGI helps also.

[Brónach 1,301]

FOTR has some shots that came out of nowhere and made me cringe last time I saw it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Like?

[Brónach 1,301]

I'd have to go through it again.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

And anyone who thinks the dinos in JP look like crap doesn't know WTF they're talking about. You can't overstate how revolutionary they were, and even how great they still look today. Of course, having a director that knows how to use CGI helps also.

First, no one is saying they look like crap. Just very dated, and ultimately very CGI and plastic looking. The work is great, limited by technology that makes things look very obviously CG.

Second, what are your credentials?

Third, whatever your credentials, if you deny point one and cannot admit to the fundamental limitations of technology that cause things to look dated, I'm pretty sure your first sentence describes you.

Fourth, I've attended talks with, met, and spoken to Dennis Muren the mastermind behind the CGI Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Even he is keen to admit that while excellent work, the effects don't quite hold up today, but that's what happens when you are doing things no one else is doing.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Did you think the skin texture was crap in 1993?

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

No, I was 13 in 1993, in full puberty paying attention to other things in the frame.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'd have to go through it again.

So, not that cringy then. As it turns out.

[Brónach 1,301]

I do remember Legolas on the troll, and Frodo caugh by the tentacle thing, and some composite works here and there.

[Datameister 2,037]

Yeah, those do stand out.

Regarding TPM, I think that from a visual effects standpoint, it's actually fairly...effective. The CG characters (mostly the non-robotic ones) can look distractingly artificial at times, but there's a lot of visual effects work in the film that works wonderfully, due in part to the use of model work and so forth. AOTC was where things really started to feel digital through-and-through, and ROTS often had the same issue, although the effects were at least of a somewhat higher caliber.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Jar Jar looks terribly dated. Video game characters have more realistic properties than Jar Jar these days.

But Jar Jar's success story in execution and innovation is very similar to the dinosaurs: movement movement movement. The Dinosaurs were the first CGI that had a weighted, real physical presence. Jar Jar's the first real CGI character to interact believable with other characters and the environment.

In addition Jar Jar brought to the table mo-cap, cloth simulation, etc. etc.

Without him Gollum would not have existed in CGI. George Lucas got Peter Jackson to look at TPM and Jar Jar as a trial of what will be possible with CGI.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

And anyone who thinks the dinos in JP look like crap doesn't know WTF they're talking about. You can't overstate how revolutionary they were, and even how great they still look today. Of course, having a director that knows how to use CGI helps also.

First, no one is saying they look like crap. Just very dated, and ultimately very CGI and plastic looking. The work is great, limited by technology that makes things look very obviously CG.

Second, what are your credentials?

Third, whatever your credentials, if you deny point one and cannot admit to the fundamental limitations of technology that cause things to look dated, I'm pretty sure your first sentence describes you.

Fourth, I've attended talks with, met, and spoken to Dennis Muren the mastermind behind the CGI Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Even he is keen to admit that while excellent work, the effects don't quite hold up today, but that's what happens when you are doing things no one else is doing.

I'm sorry, you're right. I had no idea you spoke with Dennis Murren.

I'll never look at JP the same way again. Thanks for taking that from me.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

And anyone who thinks the dinos in JP look like crap doesn't know WTF they're talking about. You can't overstate how revolutionary they were, and even how great they still look today. Of course, having a director that knows how to use CGI helps also.

First, no one is saying they look like crap. Just very dated, and ultimately very CGI and plastic looking. The work is great, limited by technology that makes things look very obviously CG.

Second, what are your credentials?

Third, whatever your credentials, if you deny point one and cannot admit to the fundamental limitations of technology that cause things to look dated, I'm pretty sure your first sentence describes you.

Fourth, I've attended talks with, met, and spoken to Dennis Muren the mastermind behind the CGI Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Even he is keen to admit that while excellent work, the effects don't quite hold up today, but that's what happens when you are doing things no one else is doing.

I'm sorry, you're right. I had no idea you spoke with Dennis Murren.

I'll never look at JP the same way again. Thanks for taking that from me.

Keep your sarcasm. We were having a completely different discussion and you were off in fanboy land about how people don't know what they're talking about.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

And anyone who thinks the dinos in JP look like crap doesn't know WTF they're talking about. You can't overstate how revolutionary they were, and even how great they still look today. Of course, having a director that knows how to use CGI helps also.

First, no one is saying they look like crap. Just very dated, and ultimately very CGI and plastic looking. The work is great, limited by technology that makes things look very obviously CG.

Second, what are your credentials?

Third, whatever your credentials, if you deny point one and cannot admit to the fundamental limitations of technology that cause things to look dated, I'm pretty sure your first sentence describes you.

Fourth, I've attended talks with, met, and spoken to Dennis Muren the mastermind behind the CGI Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Even he is keen to admit that while excellent work, the effects don't quite hold up today, but that's what happens when you are doing things no one else is doing.

I'm sorry, you're right. I had no idea you spoke with Dennis Murren.

I'll never look at JP the same way again. Thanks for taking that from me.

Keep your sarcasm. We were having a completely different discussion and you were off in fanboy land about how people don't know what they're talking about.

Actually, I'm not even that big a fan of JP...I just think the dino's look great. Those are my credentials.

And I never said you didn't know what you were talking about...I said you don't know WTF you were talking about. That's much more emphatic.

But again, I had no idea you spoke with Mr. Murren. I did know a paleontologist once, does that count?

[Brónach 1,301]

Without him Gollum would not have existed in CGI. George Lucas got
Peter Jackson to look at TPM and Jar Jar as a trial of what will be
possible with CGI.

I am not sure about the chronology here.

[KK 3,307]

I do remember Legolas on the troll, and Frodo caugh by the tentacle thing, and some composite works here and there.

Gollum from FotR isn't the most pleasant sight.

Still, despite the occaisonal bit here and there, all 3 films continue to impress in today's standards.

[Brónach 1,301]

Fanboy!

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

I do remember Legolas on the troll, and Frodo caugh by the tentacle thing, and some composite works here and there.

Gollum from FotR isn't the most pleasant sight.

Still, despite the occaisonal bit here and there, all 3 films continue to impress in today's standards.

Fortunately, in Gollum's case, you can't see him that much in FOTR. I'm guessing this is something Jackson would "correct' in a future release of FOTR...maybe the super duper deluxe of box set of all six films. The big question of course is whether he'd replace the scene of Holm finding the ring w/Freeman.

[Brónach 1,301]

No need for that. It's Galadriel imagining, seeing things as they might have been. It's a cinematic figure of speech. There are other moments in the prologue like that.

[KK 3,307]

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this idea of Jackson going back and fixing CG shots or reshooting scenes for continuity. And I don't think he'll do it.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[KK 3,307]

Fanboy!

?

I admitted the films have flaws! And the film' visuals still largely hold up quite well.

[Wojo 2,453]

I don't want Disney and Abrams to make Episode VII.

I want them to skip ahead to Episodes X, XI, and XII first. The sequel sequel trilogy. Then I want them to go back and film the sequel prequel trilogy.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

I tend to agree with KK and Chaas, i.e., it's not necessary. And I love the rationale that those scenes are part of Galadriel's telling of the myth, and wouldn't necessarily be a perfect representation of what occurred.

Having said that, I believe he will go back and do it nonetheless.

[KK 3,307]

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this idea of Jackson going back and fixing CG shots or reshooting scenes for continuity. And I don't think he'll do it.

He will. The Jackson you once knew, the one from the LOTR EEs documentaries, which preferred practical effects over CGI is dead. The new one loves CGI, and wants to put it everywhere. I can't wait for him to release a new edition where all real horses are replaced with CG ones.

I fear that. Won't be long before we get a CG model of Edoras then?

[Jay 37,289]

I don't want Disney and Abrams to make Episode VII.

I want them to skip ahead to Episodes X, XI, and XII first. The sequel sequel trilogy. Then I want them to go back and film the sequel prequel trilogy.

That would be epicly awesome if done

[Brónach 1,301]

Fanboy!

?

I admitted the films have flaws! And the film' visuals still largely hold up quite well.

Nah, I'm just picking on the way you write about these films, it's not about the content

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

Well, I trust Blume's opinion in this matter as everyone of you should trust me with animal innacuracies . He works in the industry so he knows what he is talking.

Some people are critisizing with today's standards film that are 10-15 years old.

JP is great but you can see the age of the CGI in daylight scenes. The raptors in the kitchen have some odd shots. Eyes look strange.