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New Star Wars movies announced A FoxNews blogger so take with sack of salt

#1 User is offline   Toru-chan Icon

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Posted 10 May 2007 - 01:48 AM

Here's the exchange:
QUOTE
_Lucas:_ "People thought 'Star Wars' was silly, too," he added, with a wink. "But it wasn't."

Lucas, by the way, says he is readying "Clone Wars," an animated series for TV that's derived from "Star Wars." Many "Star Wars" characters appear in "Clone Wars," but voiced by other actors.

And here's a little news: Lucas tells me he will make two more live-action films based in the "Star Wars" era.

"But they won't have members of the Skywalker family as characters," he said. "They will be other people of that milieu."

The two extra films will also be made for TV and probably be an hour long each. But, like "Clone Wars," Lucas doesn't know where on TV they will land.


Sounds a bit suspect. While would Lucas casually drop this to a FoxNews blogger? Why not a fan convention before the fanboys, which thousands of overpriced collectable action figures made specially for the announcement?

Of course if the announcement is for real, I laugh at Force.net for not getting the scoop. I thought those guys were close. (I don't kid you. In my Wikipedia brawl with some Force.net goon the dweeb actually boasted he had a 'relationship' with Lucasfilm. At the time I yawned and told him I'd never heard of Force.net -- I hadn't!!! Anyhoo...)

They're discussing it on Slashdot:
http://slashdot.org/...7/05/09/2227200

Here's the original article (thrown together looks to me... hmm...):
http://www.foxnews.c...,270874,00.html
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Posted 10 May 2007 - 03:07 AM

Who knows what's going through George's brain. I'd heard rumors of a live-action TV show, but now they're 'films'. Whatever. Much as I'd like to see somebody flesh out the Star Wars universe on screen, I doubt he'll be able to stop himself from filling these movies with all sorts of blatant cameos...
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Posted 10 May 2007 - 06:45 AM

I think he just needs to stop all together. I’m getting sick and tired of him destroying something I used to love. At this point, I would be happier if he sold the whole franchise to some newbie fresh out of film school. At least then there might be a slim chance any new SW turns out decent. We all know GL is a untalented douche. I really wish someone close to him would grow some goddamn balls and tell him he just needs to stop.
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Posted 10 May 2007 - 06:57 AM

I've made my peace with George destroying the Star Wars series... but calling Spider-Man silly? I've got news for you George... it's not necessarily any more or less silly than Star Wars. But it's probably less silly.
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Posted 10 May 2007 - 07:35 AM

no one really wants these tv movies as much as people want to see Episode VII:The Truce at Bakura.
Peter Brady was by far the ugliest Brady kid on the "Brady Bunch". I mean, they were all pretty ugly, and the fact that the Brady dad wanted to always take the boys out on overnight camping trips just a tad bit too often, gave me the creeps.
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Posted 11 May 2007 - 11:20 PM

QUOTE (Sailor Abbey @ May 10 2007, 07:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think he just needs to stop all together. I’m getting sick and tired of him destroying something I used to love. At this point, I would be happier if he sold the whole franchise to some newbie fresh out of film school. At least then there might be a slim chance any new SW turns out decent. We all know GL is a untalented douche. I really wish someone close to him would grow some goddamn balls and tell him he just needs to stop.


AMEN to that! But you know even if he did get someone else to direct it, just like he did on Empire and Jedi - the bastard would eventually go back and change it to his twisted liking with copious amounts of CG crap spilling off the screen. Sadly, I fear the only time Lucas won't be messing up Star Wars movies anymore is when he is resting in peace.

Of course, by that time I'm sure his son will be primed to continue the Lucas legacy by releasing the Extra-Extra Special Editions of Star Wars, featuring a CG George Lucas to replace Han Solo. Or maybe Lucas will figure out how to clone himself by that time so he can continue to ruin movies for all eternity. blink.gif
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#7 User is offline   Helena Icon

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Posted 12 May 2007 - 07:51 AM

QUOTE (jerfus17 @ May 12 2007, 05:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Or maybe Lucas will figure out how to clone himself by that time so he can continue to ruin movies for all eternity. blink.gif

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
QUOTE
The sandpeople had women and children. We know this because Anakin killed them how could he tell? The children might be smaller but I never saw a sandperson with breasts. Did they hike their skirts and show him some leg or something?

QUOTE
Also, I can see the point of wanting to kidnap a human and use her as a slave, but they didn't. They tied her to a flimsy easel for a month. It's assumed they had to feed and give her water. What for? Was she purely ornamental? I can understand them wanting the droids, you can sell those for a lot of money, but a chick who's only skills are finding non-existand mushrooms and getting randomly pregnant, you're not going to get much.

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#8 User is offline   Toru-chan Icon

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Posted 12 May 2007 - 05:15 PM

QUOTE (Helena @ May 12 2007, 10:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


Nicely summarized! :-)

There's a good reason there will be 'no Skywalkers'. The original actors are 'unavailable'. A few months ago Harrison Ford revealed Lucas had asked him to reprise his role as Han Solo for a new Star Wars movie ('SW7: The Senior Citizens Strike Back'?). I've always liked Harrison Ford, and he lived up to this when he told George to beat it. http://slashdot.org/...07/01/12/015256

In the end Ford agreed to do another Indiana Jones movie. Said Ford "I'm not sure the belt will still fit, but the hat will". Slashdot suggested: "Indiana Jones: The Quest for Prune Juice"

(Slashdot has many "Lessor Fan Boys". Unlike the Force.NET fanboys, they like the originals, hate the prequels, and would never consider a sex act with a Star Wars Action Figure). Here's a "Best Of" the Slashdot responses:

QUOTE
I'm already in line to miss them
I've got a bad feeling about this....
All I want is the death of Jar Jar Binks.
I hates him, my Precious! Yes, I does. I hates that Binks for ever and ever, my Precious!
"These are not the movies you are looking for."
Fortunately, its going right to TV, so all you have to do is set your Tivo/MythTV box to record something else.
Nnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! [Ed: Is that you Helena? :-]
'A Gungan Christmas'
Hopefully he will take a cue and make it similar to the "Holiday Special". I can't wait to see the dynamics of Jar-Jar's family!
You got girlfriend in Naboo? Meesa horny! Meesa horny!
Zatoichi? Nah, Lucas should go back to ripping off Kurosawa. How about Seven samurai with six ex-jedi and one farmers son? Or perhaps a nice Star Wars version of Yojimbo and Sanjuro? [Ed: Beat Takashi's Zatoichi is a damned good movie. Likewise Kurosawa's Seven Samurai]
Format is irrelevant. He can target them at IMAX or video cell phones, expectations will be low. Very low.
I am still optimistic...of course I am also George Lucas's bitch.
If you were a whiney bitch, you could be a lead character.
I can see it now - CSI: Tatooine.
laverne and shirley always had the fonz pop up now and then for ratings... sooner or later vader will jump out and say "ayyyyy" with a big thumbs up.
Just think of it: With Mr. Lucas' habit of .. um .. tweaking and adjusting his creations, we'll never see the same episode twice, even with reruns. This might be the best thing to hit television ever.
Rather than all this peripheral shit, why doesn't he crank out the last three movies?
Well if it doesn't show "Written and Driected by George Lucas" at the end of the show it could be good.
I have never heard anyone wish that Lucas would make *more* Star Wars movies.
You know the topic is STARWARS when all the trolling is rated "informative" or "insigthful"...
What, Star Wars is some trap Lucas fell into, which drew his life into a spiraling spiral (heh) of decay and torment, as each time he drew away Star Wars brought him back?
Hmm... I wonder how many TV spin-offs Star Wars will generate before the last blood gets sucked out of the franchise and even die-hard fans throw in the towel. Sure, it seems impossible, but look at what happend to Star Trek. For years Trek fans were livin' large, with several shows to choose from, but now it's all going out with a whimper. [Ed: Force.Net fanboys throwing in the towel would be one of the Seven Signs)
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C1
http://www.penny-arc...4/20040922l.jpg [Ed: Obviously an insider!]


You know, there are millions of great sci fi and fantasy stories out there. The only reason this one got so much attention is it was made into a movie. Seen cool software like VUE and 3DSMAX? One day I guess we'll start seeing home movies of this sort of visual quality, and I'll bet there are thousands of sixteen year old kids that could write better scripts than Lucas.

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 12 May 2007 - 05:30 PM

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#9 User is offline   Infernus Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 03:33 PM

Update guys..this has since been revealed as false and a misunderstanding on the part of the FOX blogger. Lucas was talking about the 2 TV series he is planning.
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#10 User is offline   Despondent Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 08:23 PM

Really? Does he know how they turn out yet?
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#11 User is offline   Infernus Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 09:20 PM

If you were replying to me and not the others who still believe there will be 2 more movies:

Clone Wars is in preproduction for broadcast next year. The live action won't be for a few more years (some sources suggest 2010) as Lucas is busy with Ford and Spielberg on Indy 4 (summer 08 release) and won't be able to further devlop it until that is completed.

Anyone can find all this out by looking it up online. It is easy. I only posted it herein to update and correct a misassumption that has now been proven to be false. Lucas' own reps are now denying this story.

This post has been edited by Infernus: 24 May 2007 - 09:20 PM

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#12 User is offline   jerfus17 Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 09:50 PM

I believe that another Star Wars film isn't currently planned, but you never know. I heard rumors for years that Lucas had said he would do a sequel to Return of the Jedi if he could develop his CG technology enough to cast the entire film with digital actors (God help us). What's scaring me is that Lucas seemed so pleased with the crappy digital effects we witnessed in the Special Editions and the prequels that he might think that the digital nirvanna he's been striving for has finally been achieved.

But, whether or not he's going to make another Star Wars film, you can bet the TV show will be another 95% green screen shoot, with digital backgrounds and characters. So much for the good ole' days of scouting out exotic locations and actually hiring actors to act. dry.gif

This post has been edited by jerfus17: 24 May 2007 - 09:51 PM

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#13 User is offline   Toru-chan Icon

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Posted 24 May 2007 - 10:16 PM

Another dribble:

http://www.smh.com.a...9601625604.html

Key word is dribble. Some inbred cousin of force.net claimed Lucas let it slip, then "tried to cover it up." Ahh rubbish. Shows that newspapers these days (yes, that's a newspaper) are as scant on their fact checking as bloggers. If the original article was the article reffed at the start of this thread, yikes!

jerfus17 wrote:
> Lucas seemed so pleased with the crappy digital effects we witnessed in the Special Editions and the prequels that he might think that the digital nirvanna he's been striving for has finally been achieved.

How true. The CGI is elaborate, but looks fake. Sometimes less is more. CGI animators haven't grasped onto this fact. Whether it's an Atari-cum-Wookie battle or Dooku doing that ridiculous double somersault, if you break the spell you're missing the point.

(Heh heh. I'm quietly chuffed I sound like an absolute know-it-all. Oh damn I typed that. Damn. I meant to just think it :-)

This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 24 May 2007 - 10:17 PM

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#14 User is offline   KurganX Icon

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Posted 25 May 2007 - 04:48 AM

Enough about these "new movies" that aren't coming... I want to rant about something!

You know, the CG defenders (and Lucas himself used this argument once in an interview) will finally come down to saying that CG effects are no less "real" (portraying fantasty characters and objects that don't exist in the real world) than puppets, models, and miniatures.

They sort of have a point. However, the key problem is that the effect that overuse of CGI has had on the new movies has been detrimental and there's a very simple reason for it.


Actors are human beings. They're trained to ACT, and when an actor is acting in a scene with another human being, they play off that human being and the performance is granted realism (and improves) as a result.

This is why it takes a much better actor to effectively act alone than with other people. What's even harder is when you take two performances that were done in isolation and slap them together to try to make it look like they are playing off each other in a real scene at the same time.

Much of the prequels were done with live actors "interacting" with CG characters.

How this actually played out was that an actor was sitting/standing/whatever in front of a blue/green screen, reciting their lines while staring off into space. They could only imagine who or what they were interacting with.

This was a problem since whatever character Lucas had his digital wizards add in in post-production would not be anything like the character would have imagined that motivated their performance. The average actor is not used to acting this way anyway, so it easily explains a lot of the lack luster performances (if you imagine a specific thing, you'll probably give a specific performance, so if you just imagine nothing, it'll come out really wooden and generic).

The characters might as well be talking to themselves.

In the Jar Jar scenes of Episode I for example, for some shots, somebody was just reading Jar Jar's lines off camera (iirc), and for others, Ahmed Best was standing there in the same outfit that Jar Jar wears, except he had his face covered in dark black makeup (or at least the top part, making it look like he was wearing a Zorro type mask) with an absurd looking, small rubber "Jar Jar head" on TOP of his head. Actors were told to look at the head rather than at Best's own face, and not pay attention to the lines coming out of his mouth.

In the actual movie, the actors are interacting with a strange duck/frog dinosaur creature that acts ridiculous and they don't seem to think anything of it. Now I'm not saying that they should reel in terror from him... after all, this is the Star Wars galaxy, and presumably the Jedi have seen their share of exotic creatures (just look at some of the faces on the Jedi Council!), but still. He acts goofy even for a Star Wars character, and they seem to be looking past him sometimes. I don't know about you, but I don't always stare directly into a person's eyes (or at the top of their head) when speaking informally to them, even if they're taller than me.

So the whole blue/green screen interaction thing IS a problem, and will always be a problem with CG. Yes, Lucas did take some steps to try to minimize it down the road, giving actors "eye levels" to speak to on a microphone stand, or a Yoda statue they were supposed to look at for reference... or Lucas himself standing just off camera reading the lines off a typed script. The trouble is such things are still inauthentic. It's no substitute for having another person, in character, interacting with you in the scene. So it takes a very high calibur of actor, who realizes what's going on, to overcome those sorts of problems.

The only way they're going to totally overcome this problem is either by totally "painting out" (a la Golem in LOTR) a living actor with a CG character of the same proportions and relative mannerisms or by having some kind of instantly realized "post production" (sort of like how weather reporters can see the fake blue-screened digital background they are interacting with on a monitor as they do their spiel for the camera, even though they're really pointing at nothing).

In the old days, if a live actor were "interacting" with an empty space that would be replaced with a stop motion minature or model, the same problem would occur. Obviously because of that, such techniques were typically limited to shots that didn't involve dialoge (like space dogfights or shots of characters riding an animal or ground vehicle in the distance). Realistic interaction is something that just isn't going to be easily solved simply by adding more polygons or better shaders.


Of course some CG just looks fake (like some of the close ups of Yoda, or the Clone Trooper armor when Morrison takes off/puts on his helmet). Real props, puppets and such may not be "real" in the sense that they really are what they represent (living breathing, or functioning aliens or alien technology from a galactic civilization), but they at least have weight to them. They cast realistic shadows, because they ARE really in the scene. Of course, if a lightsaber is supposed to be super heavy and the prop in the actor's hand is light, he or she has to pretend, but that's different than if you were to have an actor swinging, say, their empty fist around and then you digitally added a lightsaber to it (thankfully I don't think Lucas has actually attempted such a trick yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did someday!).

Another problem is harder to see. This came to light with the "making of" Episode II. The practice I think began with pasting the faces of the actors onto stuntmen's bodies digitally, as was done in Episode I. In Episode II they actually recorded multiple takes of the actors doing their scenes, and spliced these "takes" together into one scene, digitally.

So they got the "best" delivery from Hayden Christiansen of some line and put in Nataline Portman's "best" take of the following line, and so forth, to build a scene, even if the shot doesn't break (digitally splice in the face and audio).

This sounds like a great time saving method, but unfortunately it can create another problem... that of flow and continuity. If an actor delivers a line a certain way, the reaction TO that line by the other actor is likely to be different as a result. If you splice two deliveries from different takes together, you may get bizarre or unnature seeing reactions as if the characters are talking past each other, creating a tension that wasn't there before.

This can be disconcerting, and if this technique was used extensively (don't know), it could help explain some of the clumsiness of the character interaction in the dialogue scenes of Episodes II and III.

The other problem with CG is that of overkill. It's one thing to put it into scenes where it would be more expensive or time consuming to do it with traditional effects (witness the battle scenes in the LOTR movies that would otherwise have required a "cast of thousands" or else lots of bluescreen work with small groups, multiplying them over and over to create a realistic simulation of a large battle between thousands of combatants). Virtually every shot in the prequels has some CG in it, and many of the shots are completely digital.

The battle scenes in the OT had to have purpose, because they had to spend time and money on each model and effect to get it just right. With computers you can copy and past the same 3d model a million times, and as long as you have enough hardware, you can render the scene on time, no matter how elaborate it is. The result is often a chaotic mess. Look at the space battle in ROTJ vs. the space battle in Episode III. Which is easier to follow, visually? Which truly looks more exciting (and not just dizzying?).

Finally, some of the editing in the Prequels looks far too much like the cutscenes from a video game. That may be a "chicken or the egg" kind of question since many video games aspire to look LIKE movies. But still, combining the fact that these scenes are obviously computer generated and they happen to resemble video games, AND they happen to be being used to promote video game sales, can you help but make the connection?

That kills the realism. If I'm watching a serious movie and suddenly the character starts jumping and bouncing on things like Super Mario, the sense of suspension of disbelief is lost, if I associate it with an unrealistic video game.

A lot of the Lucas apologists act as if we simply irrationally leap on things just because they came out of a computer. In reality, it's because of a set of unsurmountable (or as of yet not fully surmounted) obstacles to realism that use of the CGI presents.

And it's a fact that other movies have made better use of CGI than the Star Wars prequels... better in the sense of a better movie, or a more convincing scene. And CGI will continue to improve, making the effects in the prequels continue to look dated.

I cynically suspect, as some others do, that much of the overuse in the Prequels was not merely done because of Lucas's ego (and his desire to get movies to the point of not needing human actors) but to make them into 2 hour tech demos (commercials) for his special effects companies.

Some stuffed shirt or ponytail wearing director is going to watch this and go "I like how that looks, I want that in my movie, call George!"

Lucas is a genius, that's undeniable, he's just not as great a director these days as the apologists like to make him out to be.... and there's solid reasons for saying that, it's not just some kind of blind hatred or jealousy.

This post has been edited by KurganX: 25 May 2007 - 04:54 AM

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#15 User is offline   Infernus Icon

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Posted 25 May 2007 - 11:51 AM

Fair to say the old movies have a realistic feel to them that parts of the prequels do not.
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