The new Star Wars movie. Let’s talk about it.
*Some spoilers*
Hands down one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time (ago in a galaxy far, far away). This movie has everything needed to make a lasting impression on the film industry: Solid acting, incredible camera work and image quality, sound design and mixing that basically floored me, and a fulfilling story that still leaves things open ended. The title of this blog will make sense I promise.
Once in awhile films will come out that you just have to see in theaters, this is one of them. It’s the type of art that has the audience applauding, laughing, and crying all at the same time.
First, I want to dive into things I personally noticed and loved about the movie. Then don’t worry tech nerds, we’ll go into the cameras and lenses they used after that.
Force Wars
My wife and I binge watched all six of the previous Star Wars films in a week in preparation of going to see this movie. We had seen them plenty of times, but never watched them with such attention to detail. One thing that caught my eye when watching Episodes I-VI is that the force seems…belittled. That will probably get a few people upset, but hear me out. The ability we have with visual effects and sound design these days allows the force to be captured in such a raw capacity. The first display of the force when we see when Kylo Ren stops a laser blast mid air had my jaw dropped. Between that and when he stops Rey in her tracks, the power of the force was truly represented well in this film in a way that didn’t happen before.
The scene where Poe is in the interrogation chair has to be brought up too, it's super intense and struck me right in the feels. This shows a force we've never dealt with before.
The other force moment that has to be mentioned is The Force War, that’s what I call the interrogation scene with Kylo Ren and Rey. Huge kudos to the editing and acting of that scene, with zero words it was completely portrayed the feelings and struggles happening within these two characters. Confidence, pain, fear, and a back and forth attack and defense of the force. EXTREMELY well done.
A Star Awakens
Daisy Ridley, Rey, and John Boyega, Finn, blew me away. Yeah, yeah it was good seeing Ford, Fisher, and Hamill, but new stars were born with this film.
As the saga continues I think they will become beloved characters we as a generation will get attached to. In particular, Ridley’s performance I feel is worth mentioning twice, she is a powerhouse on the screen and comes off completely believable. We aren’t given much background of her character and I’m hoping as the movies progress some gaps will be filled in, but I would definitely call her a star for the future.
Tech Stuffz
Nerd alert, in case you have access to my blog but not IMDB, here are some interesting things about the cameras and lenses at play. In summary, this movie is totally killer and I encourage all of you to go see it.
Budget estimated $200 Million
Worldwide Gross (as of 1/7/16) $1.5 Billion
Shot on:
Imax Msm 9802, Hesselblad Lenses
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XI2, Panavision Primo, C-, E-, G- Series, Atz and Awz2 Lenses
