Well, no surprise, really, that I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens - erm, twice. I loved it the first time, and took the opportunity to look at the design the second time.
The original 3 films were made in the late 70s and early 80s when colours on film didn't jump off the screen and throttle you like they did in Episodes 1, 2 and 3. These later 3 films were garish, over designed and over stuffed with CGI. They didn't feel anything like Star Wars - 'nuff said about them.
My eye was lead through the movie by the story, and not distracted in any way by over the top design. It was back to basics for Episode 7. The muted tones and colours that were used in Episodes 4, 5 and 6 were used again hauling you straight back into the Star Wars universe. Visually, it didn't feel like an almost 40 (40!!!) year break. Models were used for ships, and only touched up with CGI while the movement of some of the creatures harked back to what could be done in 1977 - slightly jerky, and puppets.
The opening text at the beginning of the film shoogling as it had in the original (it had been created by printing onto clear plastic and then scrolling it passed the camera) was a lovely touch.
The costumes were beautifully simple - not a distracting pattern in sight - all the design work seemed to go into the helmets. Rey's costume alone, although seemingly very straight forward, had little details like the thick stitching up the seams on her top giving it a home made feel. The breakdown on her costume alone was handled with care and a delicate hand. (What's breakdown? It's the skill used to make a costume look as though it has had a history - dirty, darned, patched, loved, handed down, just unfolded after being taken out of a box.)
What a joy.
The original 3 films were made in the late 70s and early 80s when colours on film didn't jump off the screen and throttle you like they did in Episodes 1, 2 and 3. These later 3 films were garish, over designed and over stuffed with CGI. They didn't feel anything like Star Wars - 'nuff said about them.
My eye was lead through the movie by the story, and not distracted in any way by over the top design. It was back to basics for Episode 7. The muted tones and colours that were used in Episodes 4, 5 and 6 were used again hauling you straight back into the Star Wars universe. Visually, it didn't feel like an almost 40 (40!!!) year break. Models were used for ships, and only touched up with CGI while the movement of some of the creatures harked back to what could be done in 1977 - slightly jerky, and puppets.
The opening text at the beginning of the film shoogling as it had in the original (it had been created by printing onto clear plastic and then scrolling it passed the camera) was a lovely touch.
The costumes were beautifully simple - not a distracting pattern in sight - all the design work seemed to go into the helmets. Rey's costume alone, although seemingly very straight forward, had little details like the thick stitching up the seams on her top giving it a home made feel. The breakdown on her costume alone was handled with care and a delicate hand. (What's breakdown? It's the skill used to make a costume look as though it has had a history - dirty, darned, patched, loved, handed down, just unfolded after being taken out of a box.)
What a joy.
