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ANH screening with modelmaker Lorne Peterson...WHY ARE THEY SCREENING THE SE??

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In a latest bit of bullshit OOT-suppression, the American Cinemateque is screening Star Wars with Lorne Peterson, who was one of the chief modelmakers on the film and was responsible for many of the incredible craftsmanship and innovations the films created. Peterson will introduce the film and then be signing autographs for his new book on the ILM Modelshop, tracing the renowned modelshops early days in the 1970's and 80's.

But the Special Edition is being screened. Roughly 80% of the original groundbreaking, Oscar-winning modelwork is deleted.


Does this not bother anyone?

I am guessing the reason is because Lucasfilm has recalled all prints of the original 1977 ANH and does not lend out the OOT anymore--only the SE prints may be screened. I remember a similar incident where a university wanted to screen the film as part of its 1970's cinema classics class and only were offered the 1997 SE. The OOT dies a little once more.
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That's just sad....it doesn't make much sense, that for sure...

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This makes me very angry.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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I just hope Peterson doesn't stand idly by and not mention it. I would love for there to be some instances where he points out, "Well, my work was in this shot, but it has since been removed. I remember I had this really cool model that the team loved and had to get in there... it's been replaced by computer graphics now." Best way to spread the word.

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I was thinking along similar lines to Gaf. Perhaps Lorne will be using this opportunity to "spread the word".

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Where does this "80%" figure come from?
"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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I just hope Peterson doesn't stand idly by and not mention it. I would love for there to be some instances where he points out, "Well, my work was in this shot, but it has since been removed. I remember I had this really cool model that the team loved and had to get in there... it's been replaced by computer graphics now." Best way to spread the word.

I was thinking along similar lines to Gaf. Perhaps Lorne will be using this opportunity to "spread the word".


I hope and wish so, but I doubt that it would matter anyways.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I just hope Peterson doesn't stand idly by and not mention it. I would love for there to be some instances where he points out, "Well, my work was in this shot, but it has since been removed. I remember I had this really cool model that the team loved and had to get in there... it's been replaced by computer graphics now." Best way to spread the word.


This would be pretty funny, actually. Too bad I doubt that they would do this if there was a chance he would badmouth the SE. They probably have him paid off to talk about how his models were good for 1977, but how much more impressive the CGI of today is. Still, I think this would be interesting to see. What is this, exactly? A program on TV? A live event? Will it be recorded in any way and perserved? It would be great to have.
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I was just at Barnes & Noble and saw Lorne's book Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop. Preface by George Lucas, Foreword by Rick McCallum. The preface was typical GL: "The models were great and Lorne was great, but then I realized that everything I wanted to do couldn't be done with miniatures. So I used computers." (paraphrased) Strange that would even be in there. Maybe it was a pre-requisite for Lorne to get GL's permission to do the book. At least Rick's foreward mentioned that during the prequels there were some things that were better done with models instead of CGI, but he said it was some guy named Brian at the model shop who was really helpful. Apparently Brian works with Lorne, or something like that. Again, not exactly the most appropriate stuff to appear as a foreword in this book.

So my take is that this American Cinematheque screening is more of an opportunity for Lorne to sell his book than to highlight the unfortunate fact that the great work of a lot of folks has been erased by the revision of the film.

Pink Floyd -- First in Space

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What a sad state of affairs! I don't blame Lorne for wanting to make money from his book but I do wish he'd speak out on the fact that Luca$h et al are suppressing all attempts to screen the original incarnation of this ground-breaking FX work.

Still, maybe he doesn't mind it. Maybe he prefers the pixels.

This thread is depressing me...
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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80% of the models have been deleted?

Man you guys are so angry you don't even need real reasons anymore. You guys see a news bit about SW, and make up crap until it's further proof that Lucas sucks.

Most of Lorne Peterson's stuff is still in there actually.

I'm sure Lorne Peterson didn't have a problem with Lucas making Star Wars better.
Your focus determines your reality.
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It's sad that Star Wars in it's original form can't even be screened in a historical context anymore.
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Where were you in '77?

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"Lorne Petersen is perfectly happy" blah blah, I'm glad you know him so well.
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Originally posted by: zombie84
In a latest bit of bullshit OOT-suppression, the American Cinemateque is screening Star Wars with Lorne Peterson, who was one of the chief modelmakers on the film and was responsible for many of the incredible craftsmanship and innovations the films created. Peterson will introduce the film and then be signing autographs for his new book on the ILM Modelshop, tracing the renowned modelshops early days in the 1970's and 80's.

But the Special Edition is being screened. Roughly 80% of the original groundbreaking, Oscar-winning modelwork is deleted.


Does this not bother anyone?

I am guessing the reason is because Lucasfilm has recalled all prints of the original 1977 ANH and does not lend out the OOT anymore--only the SE prints may be screened. I remember a similar incident where a university wanted to screen the film as part of its 1970's cinema classics class and only were offered the 1997 SE. The OOT dies a little once more.


If Lucas ever truly wanted to supress the OOT, then he wouldn't have allowed the recent release of it like he did in early September of this year.

The OOT we love is still there and going strong. The 1997 Special Editions I actually somewhat liked, while at the same time I don't want the OOT to be destroyed. It's not. It's still here.

Why hello there
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I have yet to see anything from Lorne Peterson that would indicate he feels slighted by the augmentation of his pioneering effects work.

Maybe I'm wrong, but to act like he's holding back the truth that the SE's are some kind of insult to modelwork just because it happens to have CG enhanced effects is equally un supported.
Your focus determines your reality.
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To BeeJay:

So, you think it's perfectly acceptable that a cinema would have to resort to using a dvd projector and to show a 13 year old master of a film of which far superior 35mm prints are available?
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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They don't, they can rent the SE.
Your focus determines your reality.
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Originally posted by: auraloffalwaffle
To BeeJay:

So, you think it's perfectly acceptable that a cinema would have to resort to using a dvd projector and to show a 13 year old master of a film of which far superior 35mm prints are available?


The LaserDisc quality is not piss-poor quality, like a lot of people try to say. Of course it doesn't rank up with truly restored digital viewing, as it would have if they used the original negatives as the baseline for the September release.

By the same token, the old LaserDisc releases were rather crisp, don't you think?
Why hello there
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Originally posted by: Number20
Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I just hope Peterson doesn't stand idly by and not mention it. I would love for there to be some instances where he points out, "Well, my work was in this shot, but it has since been removed. I remember I had this really cool model that the team loved and had to get in there... it's been replaced by computer graphics now." Best way to spread the word.


This would be pretty funny, actually. Too bad I doubt that they would do this if there was a chance he would badmouth the SE. They probably have him paid off to talk about how his models were good for 1977, but how much more impressive the CGI of today is. Still, I think this would be interesting to see. What is this, exactly? A program on TV? A live event? Will it be recorded in any way and perserved? It would be great to have.




Perhaps, but it will force someone to admit that changes were made. And as we don't know the guy, neither argument about his beliefs would be valide.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: BeeJay
Originally posted by: zombie84
In a latest bit of bullshit OOT-suppression, the American Cinemateque is screening Star Wars with Lorne Peterson, who was one of the chief modelmakers on the film and was responsible for many of the incredible craftsmanship and innovations the films created. Peterson will introduce the film and then be signing autographs for his new book on the ILM Modelshop, tracing the renowned modelshops early days in the 1970's and 80's.

But the Special Edition is being screened. Roughly 80% of the original groundbreaking, Oscar-winning modelwork is deleted.


Does this not bother anyone?

I am guessing the reason is because Lucasfilm has recalled all prints of the original 1977 ANH and does not lend out the OOT anymore--only the SE prints may be screened. I remember a similar incident where a university wanted to screen the film as part of its 1970's cinema classics class and only were offered the 1997 SE. The OOT dies a little once more.


If Lucas ever truly wanted to supress the OOT, then he wouldn't have allowed the recent release of it like he did in early September of this year.

The OOT we love is still there and going strong. The 1997 Special Editions I actually somewhat liked, while at the same time I don't want the OOT to be destroyed. It's not. It's still here.


For now.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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I know I would not even do this event if they were screening the SE. I've made some home movies using stop motion, and if tomorrow someone came in and redid half of it with CGI, then asked me to talk about the film in front of a crowd, but only screen the CGI version, like hell I'd do it. Get it Gomer? There's no earthly way he can be happy about this, and if he is, then he's nuts. But there's no way of knowing, so its a total moot point anyway.
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Originally posted by: BeeJay
The LaserDisc quality is not piss-poor quality, like a lot of people try to say. Of course it doesn't rank up with truly restored digital viewing, as it would have if they used the original negatives as the baseline for the September release.

By the same token, the old LaserDisc releases were rather crisp, don't you think?
Not if it were to be projected on to an even modestly sized cinema screen, no. Especially if compared with a 35mm print.
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
They don't, they can rent the SE.

Go-Mer, auraloffalwaffle was refuting BeeJay's claim that "the OOT we love is still there and going strong." What does that have to do with the SE? You really DON'T read posts to which you reply, do you?

Originally posted by: BeeJay
Originally posted by: auraloffalwaffle
To BeeJay:

So, you think it's perfectly acceptable that a cinema would have to resort to using a dvd projector and to show a 13 year old master of a film of which far superior 35mm prints are available?

The LaserDisc quality is not piss-poor quality, like a lot of people try to say. Of course it doesn't rank up with truly restored digital viewing, as it would have if they used the original negatives as the baseline for the September release.

By the same token, the old LaserDisc releases were rather crisp, don't you think?


Aural is talking about the availability of the OOT for projection in a cinema, not debating the quality of the OUT DVDs. So, yes, it would be piss-poor to project the 2006 OUT DVD onto a cinema screen. Gomer, where did you find this guy?

Pink Floyd -- First in Space

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Originally posted by: BeeJay
The LaserDisc quality is not piss-poor quality, like a lot of people try to say. Of course it doesn't rank up with truly restored digital viewing, as it would have if they used the original negatives as the baseline for the September release.

By the same token, the old LaserDisc releases were rather crisp, don't you think?


Restoration has nothing to do with it. The GOUT has not been remastered.

The point is that an actual film screening of ANH is happenning to showcase Peterson's model work but it is the SE, which deleted some of his work.
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Maybe if Lorne Peterson was actually upset about the SE's I could see the outrage. But his work is still there in the SE's.

He wasn't slighted in any way, and the presence of CG does not take away from his work on the film.

Glad you are back Darth_Evil.
Your focus determines your reality.