Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

http://theinterrobang.com/simon-peggs-daughter-saved-star-wars/

When he (Yoda) appears, I saw her sort of sit up. She looked at the screen and then she looked at me and then she looked back at the screen and she watched it for a bit. And then she said – “Daddy, he’s real!”. And I kind of like burst out crying. I was like – “You’re my child!” And it’s because he’s there. He’s there interacting with Mark Hamill. Even if he was CG, we’d still know he wasn’t really there because he’s a sort of a little long-eared alien. But the fact that it was a puppet who’s existing in the same space as Mark Hamill, talking to him, it made her believe in him in a way that CG would never do.

Simon Pegg relayed this story to J.J. Adams, who made a case for staying with puppets instead of CGI. The board in charge of the reboot thing agreed.

Woohoo!

I love non CGI effects. I look forward to seeing the details on those ships if they are models. Gonna be great!

I love that they are embracing things like tactile physical effects and using original McQuarrie concept art in VII. Actually seems like they are making them for fans.

I always found it shocking how Lucas ignored many of the references to the past in the OT and then just started hacking away at the originals to fit what he made up in the prequels.

Speaking of real objects, saw this story on BBC today: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29144135

Even with just half of it finished, that Millennium Falcon looks sexy.

 Swastakowey wrote:
I love non CGI effects. I look forward to seeing the details on those ships if they are models. Gonna be great!

For all its claims to be 'dated' I particularly like the puppetry effects from The Thing, so much better than CGI.

Also as for the OP, children do notice things adults do not. CG Yoda was more platic than the plastic model Yoda.

That being said, I do like machinima, but when its done as an animation artform and its universal to the film rather than a stand in with real actors. Which tends not to work as well.

 Orlanth wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
I love non CGI effects. I look forward to seeing the details on those ships if they are models. Gonna be great!

For all its claims to be 'dated' I particularly like the puppetry effects from The Thing, so much better than CGI.

Also as for the OP, children do notice things adults do not. CG Yoda was more platic than the plastic model Yoda.

That being said, I do like machinima, but when its done as an animation artform and its universal to the film rather than a stand in with real actors. Which tends not to work as well.

I think the only problem I had with puppetry and models as special effects was the motion. When they walked or moved it was like kinda weird looking. If they can fix it so they move smoothly I think it would look amazing alongside flesh actors.

But yea I agree.

As a fan of practical effects, Henson puppetry, and Harryhausenian animation techniques, I can't wait to see what they'll be able to achieve with hand crafted puppets and modern robotics/machinery.

This is very good news.

 Swastakowey wrote:
I love non CGI effects. I look forward to seeing the details on those ships if they are models. Gonna be great!

Agreed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:
Speaking of real objects, saw this story on BBC today: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29144135

Even with just half of it finished, that Millennium Falcon looks sexy.

Groovy baby!

The Hobbit trilogy should have done this too.

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work, and Manu Bennet makes a great performance, CGI in general really doesn't mesh well with live action and you can always tell the difference.

Either go full CGI like Beowulf (Which I loved), or stick to practical effects and minimize the use of CGI alongside live action as much as possible.

I think switching between the two was and is the best

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
The Hobbit trilogy should have done this too.

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work, and Manu Bennet makes a great performance, CGI in general really doesn't mesh well with live action and you can always tell the difference.

Either go full CGI like Beowulf (Which I loved), or stick to practical effects and minimize the use of CGI alongside live action as much as possible.

The worst parts are when someone is a real actor during most of huge film but cgi during certain action scenes. It's so jarring.

 carlos13th wrote:
The worst parts are when someone is a real actor during most of huge film but cgi during certain action scenes. It's so jarring.

Agreed.

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work

See, I thought the cgi for was horrible for those two. they always stood out like a sore thumb in every scene they appeared.

really glad star wars is sticking with puppets instead of cgi

 wana10 wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work

See, I thought the cgi for was horrible for those two.

Bolg more than Azog. There was something very off about Bolg's movement.

 wana10 wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work

See, I thought the cgi for was horrible for those two. they always stood out like a sore thumb in every scene they appeared.

That doesn't mean the CGI work was horrible, it just meant that it , as you put it, stood out like a sore thumb, in every live action sequence.

In a full CGI film like Beowulf it would have been fine.

The more I hear about this film the more interested I get.

CGI characters have always looked a little off and really detract from the realism of the movie. Puppets also mean that more thought often goes into the creation of the characters which I heartily approve of!

I love live action compared to CG, it made both the original star wars and the lord of the rings trilogy feel real. Hobbit and the star wars prequel are good. but still all that computer stuff makes me feel detached

If you switch it around it gives out an illusion of realism.

They used it in Jurassic park. And it really gave realism to a T-rex

This makes me happier than I thought it would. I'm getting extremely excited for this movie.

What Kermit will be Yoda? Gopher will be Jar Jar Binks? :O

This is an unexpected bit of good news, is...is this hope I feel for these movies?!

Puppet Yoda in TPM looked absurd.

It is very interesting to hear all you younger chaps extolling the virtue of real puppets over CGI. Normally you expect the computer generation to be happier with top-notch "realistic" virtual effects.

I have felt for a long time that there is a strong virtue in live action effects. For example, when you have a car jump a river in a Bond film, or something like that, even though it was done using camera tricks and boosted power and stuff, it was still done in the real world and gains a level of authenticity because of that.

During the filming of the SW I, II and III episodes, there were complaints by some of the actors that they could not react properly to a bit of empyt space where a computer model was going to be slotted in during post-production.

Could be a good sign. I have no issue with CGI in sci-fi, especially if it allows you to do things utterly impossible with puppets/costume/mo-cap, but one of the things Guardians of the Galaxy really impressed me with was the use of prosthetics and 'real' effects for most of the aliens, rather than CGI. It gave it the feel of classic Wars or Trek, which is where all sci-fi should look to be.

For the same story of reason, as much as I love The Hobbit movies, the prosthetics and live action stuff in LotR just looked so much better.

 carlos13th wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
The Hobbit trilogy should have done this too.

Whilst the CGI for Azog and Bolg is fantastic work, and Manu Bennet makes a great performance, CGI in general really doesn't mesh well with live action and you can always tell the difference.

Either go full CGI like Beowulf (Which I loved), or stick to practical effects and minimize the use of CGI alongside live action as much as possible.

The worst parts are when someone is a real actor during most of huge film but cgi during certain action scenes. It's so jarring.

Legolas' pointy ears are *burning* right now.

Peter Jackson fell too deeply in love with CGI a while ago.

@HBMC -- TPM Puppet Yoda did look absurd, but why did TESB Puppet Yoda look so good in comparison? Are we in a Dark Age for puppetry?

 gorgon wrote:


Peter Jackson fell too deeply in love with CGI a while ago.

He's not the only one.

 gorgon wrote:
Are we in a Dark Age for puppetry?

Yes. I think the part of the Ray Harryhausen documentary where James Cameron talks about CGI being the medium that Harryhausen would have worked with if he was making films today is very telling of how modern film makers think, especially since it's followed by a cut to Harryhausen saying "I think what these guys(Spielberg with Jurassic Park, Cameron with Avatar, Pixar, etc.) are doing with CGI is very good work, but I would NEVER use it in place of models." Most of the documentary is about how Harryhausen was very hands on in his projects(even to the parts that weren't involving puppets, and he wasn't even directing the films) and really loved things being as realistic as possible.

I think we need more people in films that are championing practical effects over CGI as our over-reliance on CGI means we're in danger of losing the methods and art of practical effects. I mean look at the Evil Dead remake. The movie looks gorgeous, it's a work of art thanks to the very well used practical effects.

Somewhat related:




http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/arts-and-entertainment/culturephile-portland-arts/articles/toby-the-baby-from-labyrinth-grows-up-to-be-a-goblin-king-june-2014

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Puppet Yoda in TPM looked absurd.

Agreed.

I've got nothing against using puppets and animatronics rather than CGI, but it needs to be done right. TPM Yoda was done so very wrong.