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INv8r_ZIM

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Join date
3-Aug-2004
Last activity
14-Feb-2016
Posts
275

Post History

Post
#59941
Topic
MY Ultimate/Final/Archival Editions
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/59941/action/topic#59941
Time
You know there is one tiny little niggle I've been bothered by since '79. In ANH (obviously), during the escape from Mos Eisley, Han has a line about "knowing a few manouevers...we'll loose 'em". Following which, the Falcon proceeds to fly in a perfectly straight line ahead of the destroyer. What the hell is that?! I'm not asking for Empire-type evasion, but do SOMETHING! It's the ONLY thing I've ever felt needed to be fixed/added/removed, and it seems the absolute LEAST likely to ever be done.
Post
#59484
Topic
<strong>Star Wars Radio Dramas</strong> - a general discussion thread
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/59484/action/topic#59484
Time
I just finished getting them all, I'd try WinMX if I were you...the DL rate wasn't bad for most of them, and all the parts are available. ANH is way easier to get than ESB, though.

ANH was great, and expanded hugely on the film, ESB had some bizzare work by Mark Hammil, though...awfully "Prince Valliant" like crap during the duel ("See how YOU like it, Vader! The Fire of a LIGHTSABER!"), but was still pretty good. RotJ was pointless. Pretty much a longer, straight retelling of the film, with the lamest Emperor ever ("HaHA! See how the SON has struck of the hand of the father, just as the father had struck off the hand of the SON!!!!").
Post
#58942
Topic
Best Bootleg DVDs
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58942/action/topic#58942
Time
I know the TR47 set was nuked due to errors in ESB and RotJ (chapter switch at Leia welding, repeat on crashed speeder bike), but is there anything wrong with the ANH disc? I'm having a quick scan through it now, and while there seems to be totally blown out whites aboard the T4 (possibly due to playing on my PC), everyone seems to agree the video is better than the anamorphic set.



(Edit the edit)Never mind, the jump I was talking about is also on the Ananmorphic...must be where ILM made the switch to the large scale trench model...The audio on the TR47 version is, however, astonishing! The bass is very deep, and even on my crappy little PC speaker drivers, the difference is noticeable.
Post
#58498
Topic
Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58498/action/topic#58498
Time
Frankly, I think the whole thing about blending Western and Asian styles is more a cover and excuse for sending the jobs overseas instead of paying western wages for the animation work here. It really pisses me off, becuase there are so many talented animators looking for work in NA, in a booming economy, and the work, like every other job, is being shipped overseas because it's cheaper and less regulated.

I heard a disturbing rumour that the script that was being developed for Indy 4 might end up being made as a Young Indy, theatrical release....ewwwwwwww. And no way in hell would I watch an Indy cartoon...the things are serial movies, and need to be done live action, or there's just no point.
Star Wars TV? Nononononononononono...just let it die after next summer. It's been a great thirty year rollercoaster, but it's time to stop. The world didn't need 1 endless, pointless, and incresingly poor quality sci-fi franchises, let alone 2.


And, Rikter, isn't your son going to kill you for being on the computer
Post
#58338
Topic
Lucasfilm Animation Singapore
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58338/action/topic#58338
Time
Blood had some gorgeous 2d/3d work in it though, I'm thinking particualrly the subway scene. The movie...ehn...okay, although also SERVERLY truncated. What the hell was with that?!
LucasAnimation has been in the works for YEARS now. They actually opened up the U.S. based part of the division last year, and yes, the idea is to do CGI features...that's what the division is all about. Personally, I'm hoping they finally get the Frankenstein pic greenlit, that ILM was trying so hard to get off the ground. Saw some test footage from it a couple years ago, and it looked pretty damn cool.
Sadly, I don't think SW is done...JEDITV.COM, with a redirect to www.starwars.com just went up a day or so ago. It looks like the TV series rumour is true in some way...god help us all, like we need another neverending Sci-Fi franchise.
Post
#58297
Topic
A Picture is worth a thousand words...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58297/action/topic#58297
Time
bad_Karma....I think there's an arguement to be made that SW started going downhill in '83... right around the time Lucas' corporate empire started to take off. Sw was a fight with the studios for just enough money to complete the thing, Empire was using Lucas' own money, but still not the VAST fortune he commanded after Empire, nor the massive company. McCallum didn't get involved until, what, RadioLand Murders? The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles? Both stellar pieces of work. He's also the ONLY one in the Phantom Menace documentary who, at the rough screening, isn't depressed and realizing just how deep the shit is that they're all in.
Post
#58295
Topic
Continuity Errors in the OT
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58295/action/topic#58295
Time
KJ, you're right!!!! I never noticed that myself, but you're absolutely right. Well, maybe it's because we're only looking at the port side of the fusilage in that trench run scene, and the full studio propis being shot from the starboard side? Maybe the ship has a different stripe on each side <<Shrug>>. I seem to remember someone, either Lucas, or someone at ILM making a point about the colours being broken up because you're looking at where panels have been replaced and repaired, without time or energy to repaint the ships markings. But, damn, I've watched these things since I was three and never noticed that!
The Death Star plans...yeah, I guess I've just gotten so used to that one that it doesn't even occur to me anymore For a while there I thought maybe you could make the argument that what the rebels had were prototype plans for the DS. But then AotC killed that idea (though, notice they DID use an idea from the development of DS2, which you can see in the Return of the Jedi sketchbook....namely the DS having those little pod things projecting off of the surface on pylons...kinda cool to see).

What about the Falcon's "fuzzy dice"? They're there in the shot where Chewie is getting the ship ready for departure from Mos Eisley, and NEVER sho up again.
Post
#58245
Topic
Continuity Errors in the OT
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58245/action/topic#58245
Time
The Potato AND the shoe are in the same shot, and YES they ARE there It's the asteroid chase, as the Falcon barrel-rolls down under a large asteroid, and starts to skim the surface of the HUGE asteroid (where they end up). The potato flies left to right at the camera, followed CLOSELY by the running shoe. This question was actually cleared up on the Behind the Magic discs, complete with screen grabs. Also, if you've got the Anamorphic LD rip of Empire someone, I believe it's Ralston, comments on putting the potato into the scene, partly to blow off steam, partly to see just what an audience can and can't percieve on film.
Post
#58241
Topic
Continuity Errors in the OT
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58241/action/topic#58241
Time
Well, since it seems this is going to include errors as well as continuity stuff....

One of my current favorites in ANH...aboard the T4, when 3P0 finds R2, watch as R2 starts to roll forward (towards camera). If the shot had continued any longer, he would have just rolled straight into the bulkhead.

There's also some GUY in the Falcon's cokpit gangway behind Chewie as he's doing something in the cockpit...can't remember the exact shot though...

The shadows of Luke and Leia on the Deathstar can be seen during the "Didn't we just LEAVE this party" exchange between Han and Chewie, as L+L prepare to come running in.

How about the nonsensical conversation on Cloud City? As the heroes are walking with Lando, discussing the gas mining buisness, the conversation seems to have been pieced together...badly...from several versions and several takes...it makes no frigging sense.

Also in Empire, watch in the Asteroid cave, interior Falcon's cockpit. The "Captain, being held..." bit to be precise. Ford is mouthing the words along with Fisher, who aparently was so damn stoned most of the time, she couldn't get her lines straight.
Post
#58108
Topic
Friend claims to have Episode 3 on dvd...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58108/action/topic#58108
Time
"Luke Skywalker
Cool Hand Luke

well i beat you all!

i keep them hidden away in my neck so that they'll never see the light of day...
hahaha "



LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn, that's what he keeps in there! I always thought it was the SE of Radioland Murders....

And, yes, that is the Access Hollywood, or Et, or some crap like that screengrab...I recognize the "2" from my desktop
Post
#58104
Topic
DUAL LAYER SET's will hit soon - but be skeptical!
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58104/action/topic#58104
Time
"And apparently the TR47 is just sharper 2.0 sound, now if someone could give me anamorphic with crisp 5.1 thats a whole other story"


Wasn't there just a whole thread arguing about the LD source being only in 2.0, so any 5.1 mix would be an extrapolation of that, making the whol enterprise kinda pointless? Doesn't a 5.1 mix of of a 2.0 source just eat up extra space on the disc?
Post
#58102
Topic
A Picture is worth a thousand words...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/58102/action/topic#58102
Time
From what I recall, they actually DID build the Jedi Temple floor as part of the set, but after cutting the film together, decided they weren't happy with how it looked, and since the sets had been struck, the actors all gone off to other projects, it was cheaper to build a digital replacement. Much like ILM often replaced sets and backgrounds with matte paintings (have a look at ILM:The Art of Special Effects, if you can still find a copy....great prints of most of their matte work!). The idea of replacing or adding to what you shoot, building half sets, isn't new.

"Watto, Jar Jar, Dex, Boss Nass....even though they aren't human you just cant recreate the realism of some of their movements or facial expressions..."

But my point is that you don't get even that close with rubber masks. The OTHER "Why Bother" reason is the same reason effect have been used and have continued to evolve since the beginning of the century...because use pushes development, refines and improves the art. Every time you do a shot, you learn something you can use on the NEXT shot. Pure R&D certainly plays a part, but actual practical application of what you learn in R&D drives the artform forward.

Anyways, at least I think we CAN all agree that Lucas needs 1) a writer 2) an executive producer who's not affraid to say "NO George".

Post
#57555
Topic
A Picture is worth a thousand words...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/57555/action/topic#57555
Time
Very cool to see people don't go berserk on these boards like elsewhere
Okay, to make a couple of counterpoints

1)To paraphrase an old friend "Part of the Saga these PT movies may be, but agree with the way Lucas is working on these new movie, I do not." My arguement is primarily with people pissing all over the effects work in the PT as being sub-par. The work is as good as anything you'll find out there right now. Directorial descisions are really out of ILM's hands. The director turns over a shot list, if it's Lucas, the director is unbelievably picky about EXACTLY how the shot has to look, and ILM has to try and deliver. End of story. Their work is NOT sub-par, they simply have been given extremely difficult shots to work on. Some stuff may not work quite as well as people would hope, but that's the nature of the buisness. The OT has about a billion little failures in FX work as well that blow the illusion. But we get past it because we love those movies.

2)Why do it? Well, I think we can agree that we'd all be pretty pissed if there wasn't any visual effects work in the films (yes yes, it MUST be in the service of the story, otherwise what's the damn point...but again, that's a directorial/writing decision...Larry Kasdan COME BACK TO US!!!!!). So the shots have to be done SOMEHOW. In all honesty, I think the results have been the better for blending CG and traditional practical stuff than if it had been done practical alone. Remember the faults those older techniques have, not just their strengths. Again, as time goes by, I think it's pretty clear we learn to tolerate, and even have a warm fuzzy soft spot for the weaknessess of certain techniques which allows us to see past their failings. Given time, I'm willing to bet people born and growing up in the '90s will feel much the same way about early CG. Maybe not, but it's my bet.

3)Just a side note, I would like to make it clear that I'm not about throwing CG everywhere just for the sake of having it. Nor do I believe in altering films 30 years after release, just to make them state of the art. Would I want to see Elsa and Lazlo board a CG plane, with composited regular sized actors for the airfield crew? Good God no. Did I need to see rontos bucking all over Mos Eisley? Dear Lord never.


Anyhoo...I'm off to work....should have my LD rip of ESB by the time I get home!!!! WhooHOO!!!!!!!!
Post
#57504
Topic
A Picture is worth a thousand words...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/57504/action/topic#57504
Time
Okay, I've got to de-lurk here because I can't stand another 6 years of ignorant fanboys bitching about ILMs work on TPM and AotC. The Matrix and the LotR movies get a DISTINCT handicap in their use of CG. Look again carefully at where they employ it. By FAR its in foggy, dark, or near dark conditions, and, largely with Gollum, shot with a shakey handheld style (the monolgue excepted). Lucas, on the other hand, has asked ILM to produce medium to close CG character work in full sun, over long steady, or tracking shots. I'm an animator, (working in Maya, mostly using Mental Ray to output), and I PROMISE you, these are MUCH more favorable conditions to try and composite work into. They also hide flaws in the digital work like anything. I'm not saying the work in LotR wasn't great, WETA did a terrific job with those films, I'm saying what you are looking at in the PT has to be considered in terms of what the shot is. WETA also got VERY fortunate in being able to MOCAP most of their characters (when they don't, like say, Treebeard, they end up with the same problems ILM does, only they're allowed to hide it in the dark), and had a terrific physical performer in Andy Serkiss. Sadly, no actor is like 500 pounds with four arms, so even minor characters, bipeds even, like Dex, had to be hand animated. This isn't as fluid as MOCAP (and there's a whole WORLD of debate about whether THAT'S a good thing or not...if you put Pixar's stuff up against live action footage, it would be OBVIOUSLY more stylized and cartoony than MOCAP...that's a GOOD thing), but it sure as hell beats the Chess pieces from ANH, or the TaunTaun work in Empire, and I'd put the walk cycle of the AT-TE up against the walkers any day. It's more nuanced, heavier, and complex. It plays better. I dearly love that OT work, but imagine for a second that ILM had done the CG shots it has in the PT using, say Stop or Go-Motion people seems to hold as superior to any and all CG. First, most of those shots wouldn't be possible. Second, you'd all be bitching and moaning about how dated and fake it looked.
As for everything being CG, how many times has it been said that already, ILM has constructed and used more miniatures and models on the PT by far, than on the OT films combined? Have you even LOOKED at the sheer number of masks and costumes produced for these shows? Did you see the model of the Geonosisan arena? It's the HUGE fucking red, minutely detailed thing, if you somehow missed it. How about the Pod Race stand? The effects directors and TDs on these films are aware that CG has a place, along with more traditional practical effects. Again, Lucas is tasking ILM with creating a MASSIVE number of shots on these films, with a mindboggling number of them being bright daylight and close to medium framing. Not to take anything away frokm WETA, but you simply cannot compare this stuff to distance night shots of orc armies and Gollum in the fog.
There is a huge degree of nostalgia for the films effects of the past which simply cannot be supported logically. We love them, but seriously, objectively look at the OT's effects. You KNOW those are models, YOU can PLAINLY SEE through the plastic eyes on that cantina mask, and there are VISIBLE poles holding up the speeder bikes! It's all fake, and it's all pretty damn obvious when you know anything about how it was done. "Why, it's a whole movie made from a cartoon!"? Why, it's a whole movie made out of toys! The audience has become more sophisticated (in terms of spooting effects work, anyways...best to leave the rest of that statement alone for now), and people, especially geeks, are LOOKING for the visual effects labour now, instead of enjoying the damn movies. Often CG is not perfect, but to deny that it is an evolution, and in most cases and improvement on what came before is stubborn and asinine.


Okay, well, I guess that's enough of a rambling vent....let the flaming begin.