Will, while there might be a practical effect BB-8, I'm pretty damn sure the one rolling at 30+ mph, perfectly in frame, is CGI.

I don't think digital greenscreening/compositing is what most people consider CGI, though.

Quote from: Will;804543I don't think digital greenscreening/compositing is what most people consider CGI, though.

I've heard people bitch about digital matte paintings as evidence of too much "cgi" in modern film.

Quote from: Koltar;803634There are those who say the first two movies were good BECAUSE his wife was the film editor.

She was also the one who helped edit ideas or steer him in the right direction when he was at home at night and working on them...


- Ed C.

Those who say that are wrong. Most of the editing was done by Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. Marcia Lucas was still working on Taxi Driver until very late in the editing process. The "Making of" books by Rinzler debunk trainloads of horseshit stories told by disgruntled fanboys.

Quote from: Necrozius;804582I've heard people bitch about digital matte paintings as evidence of too much "cgi" in modern film.

CGI is the best thing to happen to movies since stereo sound. If you really think the special effects done in old movies are overall better than the ones in modern movies, you are not a cinema purist -you're just being a dick.

CGI is wonderful. The recent domination by CGI models over practical FX isn't.

Ideally, you use whatever effects are best for what you're trying to pull off, and have the discretion and experience to know what that is.

Quote from: Doom;803627And I never caught that Ewoks ate the stormtroopers...but I buy it in retrospect.

FWIW, I never noticed either, until someone pointed out two things.

1. They were ready to eat Luke and co, so eating humans wasn't a big deal to them

2. There were helmets of storm troopers laying around.  At the end, they were using them as drums.


So it seems highly plausible that they had eaten storm troopers at some point.  Makes them a lot less cute and a lot more terrifying.  Can you imagine joining forces with a group of cannibals?

Quote from: Sacrosanct;804627FWIW, I never noticed either, until someone pointed out two things.

1. They were ready to eat Luke and co, so eating humans wasn't a big deal to them

2. There were helmets of storm troopers laying around.  At the end, they were using them as drums.


So it seems highly plausible that they had eaten storm troopers at some point.  Makes them a lot less cute and a lot more terrifying.  Can you imagine joining forces with a group of cannibals?

Strictly speaking, wouldn't they only be cannibals if they ate members of their own species?

Quote from: 3rik;804631Strictly speaking, wouldn't they only be cannibals if they ate members of their own species?

Sorry for the ambiguity.  I meant, "Can YOU imagine joining forces with cannibals."  Meaning, we don't have Ewoks in real life, so it would be like creating an alliance with people who look at you like food.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;804633Sorry for the ambiguity.  I meant, "Can YOU imagine joining forces with cannibals."  Meaning, we don't have Ewoks in real life, so it would be like creating an alliance with people who look at you like food.

The best thing in that case would probably be to try and talk them out of their obnoxious habit, in exchange for an alliance. And who knows, maybe that's what the Rebel Alliance did after RotJ.

Quote from: 3rik;804635The best thing in that case would probably be to try and talk them out of their obnoxious habit, in exchange for an alliance. And who knows, maybe that's what the Rebel Alliance did after RotJ.

The Endor Holocaust happened after RotJ and those filthy little furballs died in it when their ecosystem was destroyed by Death Star debris falling on them.

Dunno if it's Tatooine or not, but if it is, who's to say it's in the present? That could have been the intro sequence, then we get "30 years later". If it is the present, Tatooine being on the ass end of space would make it perfect for a hidden Imperial Base or the Emperor's Clone Tank or whatever.

Not sure why things would change that much in 30 years.  We know from IV that the Emperor gave control to the Governors, it's possible there are whole sectors of space still under Imperial control that haven't lost a single stormtrooper.  Killing the Emperor didn't defeat the Empire, it made defeating the Empire possible.

Also, they just made one big power vacuum, who's to say all the planets want to join the New Republic? If the Coruscant version of the Koch Brothers take over the planet through economics and propaganda what's the Republic gonna do, assassinate them?  Hell Coruscant might descend into total chaos for a.decade.

The first new Star Trek movie proved all bets are off if Abrams is given his head.  The second one proved he can be really lousy at worldbuilding (Klingon and Federation homeworlds 20 mins away, WTF).

To be honest, I think the pre-Disney rabid fans are gonna hate the new movie because the "Abrams Republic" will probably take a massive shit on the prequels and pretend none of the books, comics, etc. ever existed.

Quote from: VectorSigma;801760Wait, why are you The Man in this scenario again?  Because it's your forum?  Or is it short for 'The Man Who Takes Silly Shit* Way Too Seriously And Can't See Humor In Anything"?

Apparently you don't actually know what 'ad hominem' means?

Quote from: CRKrueger;805286To be honest, I think the pre-Disney rabid fans are gonna hate the new movie because the "Abrams Republic" will probably take a massive shit on the prequels and pretend none of the books, comics, etc. ever existed.

Which is at this point the only GOOD thing I see coming out of all this. Erasing the horrible horrible "canon" is a blessing.

Quote from: RPGPundit;805308Which is at this point the only GOOD thing I see coming out of all this. Erasing the horrible horrible "canon" is a blessing.

Assuming that overthrowing the status quo will result in a better future, how utterly unconservative of you.

Quote from: Bren;805310Assuming that overthrowing the status quo will result in a better future, how utterly unconservative of you.

You have obviously never cleaned out a horse stable.  I garauntee that ten minutes after you're done, the horse will piss all over that new sawdust.

Doesn't mean its a good idea to leave all that old piss and shit ridden sawdust in the stable.