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Star Wars Episode 7 - Thread of Pre-Production

120v

Member
i probably shouldn't say it because it'll be interpenetrated the wrong way... but i'm a little (just a little) uncomfortable with how they keep emphasizing "going back to the basics" with these movies. i'd hate to see a safe, paint by the numbers trilogy that tries too hard be the original. i want this to be its own thing

but most likely it means there won't be musical numbers, gungans, ect
 

Ohwiseone

Member
Williams Scoring makes me happy.

You can say what you want about the prequels, but the score was one of the few Pluses.

(I mean Duel of fates, and Battle of Heroes)


Also using more In-camera stuff instead of CGI is also good.


I have a feeling bigger announcements will happen at that D23 thing. I wouldn't be shocked if J.J. is there and shows off the Title, and a early poster.
 

JB1981

Member
i probably shouldn't say it because it'll be interpenetrated the wrong way... but i'm a little (just a little) uncomfortable with how they keep emphasizing "going back to the basics" with these movies. i'd hate to see a safe, paint by the numbers trilogy that tries too hard be the original. i want this to be its own thing

but most likely it means there won't be musical numbers, gungans, ect

By going back to the basics they are referring to the overall aesthetic and visual design. That is the right direction for the series IMO
 

zerosum

Member
I can't remember the exact quote, but wasn't there a very similar spiel about practical effects, or shots, being used when they were talking about making Indy 4?

Now, I don't exactly HATE Indy 4, but I had a hard time noticing all those "old school, practical effects" that they were talking about.
 

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
As long as they don't film it like they can't move more than a few feet in a given shot, it will be an improvement.
 

Cheebo

Banned
Fuck fuck fuck

His writers are Michael Ardnt, Simon Kinberg, & Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan has even mentioned before they are working out of the Bad Robot offices.

We know the writers and have for along time. They aren't Orci & Kurtzman. I have no idea how people are still unaware of this.
 

Jarmel

Banned
His writers are Michael Ardnt, Simon Kinberg, & Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan has even mentioned before they are working out of the Bad Robot offices.

We know the writers and have for along time. They aren't Orci & Kurtzman. I have no idea how people are still unaware of this.

Kasdan is working out of BR now?
 

Jarmel

Banned
I've been going through some interviews with Lawrence and realized that I didn't know much about Kinsberg. Has anyone expressed any worries about him? He did write Last Stand and some of his other projects weren't exactly good.
 

Cheebo

Banned
I've been going through some interviews with Lawrence and realized that I didn't know much about Kinsberg. Has anyone expressed any worries about him? He did write Last Stand and some of his other projects weren't exactly good.

He is just a story consultant. As is Kasdan. The only screenwriter is Ardnt. Not to mention there was 500000 writers on last stand. It went through tons of writers. That film has Fox to blame primarily for rushing it into production and not waiting for Singer.
 
I'm sure they got a healthy amount of cash from that, i wouldn't feel sorry.

Yeah, that's like saying I'm sorry Michael Caine had to go through Jaws 4 in order to build his summer house.

Or that you're sorry San Diego has to deal with millions of people every year for Comic-Con.
 
lucas-kk-jj-500x283.jpg


There are things that Abrams and Michael Arndt and Simon Kinberg and Kathleen Kennedy and Lawrence Kasdan all bring to the table, and I think it's that combination of voices that is going to make this a very different "Star Wars." Lucas is there. Lucas is involved. He gets to be a sounding board as much as he wants to be a sounding board. But it sounds like much of what he contributes is his feelings about what constitutes "Star Wars." I know when I worked with Clive Barker adapting something of his, we had discussions about his work and about what did or didn't feel like something that could have come from his mind, from his particular point of view.

Lucas is, at the end of the day, the one person who has true veto power over what is or is not "Star Wars." Doesn't mean I don't have an opinion, just like every other kid who every grew up with the films and the toys and the books and the games and everything else. But I recognize that no matter how strongly held my beliefs are, there are certain things that define "Star Wars," and the opinion of George Lucas sits right there at the top of this very short list.

I love that much of what I've been hearing seems to match what Kennedy is saying. I've heard that Lawrence Kasdan is considered by everyone else in the process a pretty great resource, and a really lovely collaborator. And I've heard that ILM is building a lot of actual models for this film, that they plan to shoot the models and digitally composite on a much larger scale than the last trilogy. It's an aesthetic choice, evidently, and I find it very exciting to imagine big ILM model units working to build out the world.

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/john-williams-will-return-to-score-the-new-star-wars-trilogy-for-jj-abrams
 
Lucas has veto power on what's Star Wars? He did the same god damn thing with Frank Darabonts script for Indy 4.
I believe it was a page or two ago where someone was mocking me for being worried about Lucas's involvement. Who's laughing now?
 

Tookay

Member
This discussion is circular. You don't think that photo ops are staged? They don't want this to look like a Disney cash in but something that is a part of Lucas' vision. Besides, the problem with the prequels is the dialog and wooden direction... the macro plot of the prequels was generally fine, which seems to be exactly the role he is being relegated to here, at most.
 

jtb

Banned
Lucas sold the franchise. if he wanted to be making Star Wars films, he would be making Star Wars films. He's not. I don't see this as an Indy IV situation at all.
 
Lucas was involved with Empire as well but that turned out alright.

They need someone like Gary Kurtz to keep Lucas in check. Maybe Kennedy is that person, maybe Abrams.
 
Lucas has veto power on what's Star Wars? He did the same god damn thing with Frank Darabonts script for Indy 4.
I believe it was a page or two ago where someone was mocking me for being worried about Lucas's involvement. Who's laughing now?
Of course Lucas is involved. They've been upfront about using his outlines and notes, and building from there. He's not the in the driver's seat. Abrams and Kennedy are.
Sooner you accept that, sooner you can stop complaining about it. Unless complaining about things is your...thing.
 

thefro

Member
Besides, the problem with the prequels is the dialog and wooden direction... the macro plot of the prequels was generally fine, which seems to be exactly the role he is being relegated to here, at most.

Yep... Lucas still has a lot of good ideas, he just needs someone to refine/filter them.

I'm perfectly fine with the movies being based off his outline and Lucas being a lore master, essentially. Maybe he's got some action scene ideas too (as long as it's not nuking the fridge, lol)
 
Yep... Lucas still has a lot of good ideas, he just needs someone to refine/filter them.

I would be fine with this, but it sounds like the opposite here. If at the end of the day he gets to say what is and isn't Star Wars, then he is the filter. He should be the one who can have his ideas vetoed, not the one doing the vetoing.

Having him involved at all hurts my hype for sure. This combined with the supposed pre-production problems and shitty casting rumors is deflating any hype I had pretty quickly.
 
Lucas created Star Wars, he has every right to be involved and I'm glad he is. The two biggest problems with the prequels for many seemed to be the dialogue and the acting. Lucas won't be writing the dialogue, Lucas won't be directing the actors. He'll likely be involved with shaping the story and helping with characters; that's great, he's very good at that.
 

Clevinger

Member
Besides, the problem with the prequels is the dialog and wooden direction... the macro plot of the prequels was generally fine, which seems to be exactly the role he is being relegated to here, at most.

I don't agree at all. The plot was pretty terrible as well. The problems with the writing go way beyond just bad dialogue. It was uniformly bad.
 

andycapps

Member
As long as Lucas is just contributing big picture things and not writing or directing, I'm okay with that. But this isn't surprising. I expect to see pictures of him being on location while they're filming, at least once. Not that he'd have anything to do with what was going on.
 

Blader

Member
What is everyone freaking out about? That article isn't even an interview, it's not like either JJ or Kennedy are being quoted in it as saying that Lucas is heavily involved.

By his own admission, Lucas said any input he had wasn't going to be creative but clarification on little details that do or don't fit into Star Wars, like what a landspeeder is and shit like that.

If either Disney or Lucas himself wanted him to shape the direction of the trilogy, they wouldn't have hired Michael Ardnt to outline all three episodes.
 
I'm torn

On one hand, Lucas is terrible

On the other hand, Lucas' involvement should prevent J.J from cashing in on some completely inconsequential adventurefest ala Trek.

Then again...Indy 4...
 
This discussion is circular. You don't think that photo ops are staged? They don't want this to look like a Disney cash in but something that is a part of Lucas' vision. Besides, the problem with the prequels is the dialog and wooden direction... the macro plot of the prequels was generally fine, which seems to be exactly the role he is being relegated to here, at most.

I dont get the idea of staging photos with Lucas. They should try to stage photos without him. Nobody liked the prequels and would probably like him to be far away from their precious franchise, at this point. Who are they trying to attract by constantly "pretending" Lucas is involved?
 
I love that Lucas's involvement is a shock and/or disappointment.

lol, called it.

some dude in here has said he wouldn't be involved like 100 times

got their hopes up

lol pretty sure I was part of that argument as well. Maybe in a different thread or on a different forum. I just remember telling people Lucas was still involved with the project in a pretty intimate way. They actually stated his involvement not long after the Disney deal was made and industry insiders were aware of it before that even went public.

Most people who didn't think Lucas would be involved just didn't/don't understand the development process.
 
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