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elvisjones

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Join date
28-Apr-2007
Last activity
4-Nov-2013
Posts
7

Post History

Post
#308460
Topic
Star Wars Prequels/Original Trilogy: The Complete Scores (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/308460/action/topic#308460
Time
Blaming McCallum and Burtt for these things is a little unfair to both of them - Things get changed in movies ALL THE TIME even when McCallum and Burtt AREN'T working on them - hahaha. And Lucas is ultimately the one responsible for these films, not those 2 guys. Do you really think Lucas is some puppet that can be manipulated by those two people? I don't.

And also, let's not forget that these movies don't exist simply as vehicles for presenting the score - the music is an element provided by a composer to support the film - and should be regarded in the same way an actor's performance is regarded - as something malleable, editable, and moveable - at least as far the film itself goes. Yes, I like my score albums to be presented as close to the composer's original intentions as possible, because as a composer myself I like to study the score in just such a linear fashion. But it's not fair to the filmmakers (McCallum and Burtt included) or the film itself if you condemn them/it simply for not showcasing the score to the exclusion of all other needs.

In the bigger picture, I honestly think a major issue with the prequels is that they were done as 3 separate movies with a total running time of about 6-7 hours. In the past few years, TV has proven to be capable of longform projects of amazing quality - such as LOST, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and HEROES. I think if the prequels had been done as a super high quality miniseries lasting say 12 hours, they would have worked much better. For one thing, the story would have had more room to breathe and develop. Of course, practically speaking, the prequels HAD to be movies, if only for financial reasons, as well as our own expectations for EPIC, bigscreen adventures. In a way, cutting the story down to 3 movies forced Lucas to get rid of things that slowed them down as movies but made the story work better - it was a catch 22 for him as a storyteller vs. filmmaker. Certainly the novelizations of the films and the deleted scenes on the dvds show areas where the story was developed before being cut out of the films - mostly to the detriment of Padme and her aspects of the story. I think the book to Ep 2 makes her feelings about Anakin much more believable than the movie does, because the book isn't hindered by a 2 hour running time and can take the time to flesh out the story.

Anyhow, 'nuff of my rambling...go listen to some star wars music - hahaha
Post
#292109
Topic
"The Clones Revealed" (Released)
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/292109/action/topic#292109
Time
Just downloaded the NTSC DVD yesterday from a.b.sw - Nice work, but there were some errors that this kind of thing turns into "truths" - for one thing, the book of the mission to ANSION was "The Approaching Storm", not "Cloak of Deception" (it has a pic of Valorum and Qui-Gon on it for pete's sake, how could you think it took place just before AOTC?!) . You put a lot of BTS pics in the wrong scenes - like Threepio's first scene, you have BTS pics of him in the full suit, but he originally shot that scene in the puppet suit and they bluescreened him in at ILM wearing the full suit during post (The BTS pics were from the end of the funeral sequence). Then later, in the garage, you have a whole sequence of Anthony Daniels with the puppet suit that should have been placed, at least partly, in Threepio's first scene, as well as in the garage. The scenes with Padme and Beru in the kitchen are also placed in the wrong spot, these were supposed to be after Anakin left to find his mother but before he got back. Also, lots of flash frames at the cuts - I don't know how you missed all those. Finally, I honestly don't know how European audiences can tolerate the PAL speed-up, it ruins the flow of the movie - all the timing of the actors is shot even more than in the movie at its normal speed
Post
#285427
Topic
Making of Star Wars (New Book) Discussion
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/285427/action/topic#285427
Time
Just because the Jedi in the PT talk about midichlorians doesn't mean that it's the be-all/end-all definition of the Force. If one looks at the arc of the series in numerical order, by the time of the OT, Yoda and Ben seem to have somewhat rejected the scientific explanation of the Force in favor of the more spiritual one - perhaps because the being with the most midichlorians ever ended up destroying all the Jedi instead of saving them. So much for science, they might have said.
Even in the EU (or what I have read of it) midichlorians seem to never be mentioned in any story taking place after the PT. Perhaps within the universe, the science of the Force died with all the Jedi?
Post
#284716
Topic
Making of Star Wars (New Book) Discussion
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/284716/action/topic#284716
Time
Originally posted by: Neil S. Bulk
Originally posted by: TheCassidy
I didn't know much about the book until I read Moriarty's review on AICN, and now I really want the hardcover edition, if not just for this pic in it:

http://www.aintitcool.com/images2007/swtrio.jpg

That photo is in the soft cover version as well. The book failed my test though. It had the term "Star Destroyers" in it, and if it's about the making of Star Wars, they should be "Imperial cruisers".

Neil


What are you talking about? Lucas used the term Star Destroyer in all the early drafts of the screenplay. Just because the term didn't make it into the dialogue of the finished film doesn't mean he wasn't using the term at all. Notice that the term "The Sith" never made it into the film either.

elvisjones