Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Star Wars Ring Theory

quote [ How George Lucas used ring composition to reach a level of storytelling sophistication in his six-part saga that is unprecedented in cinema history. ]

I guess this one is only for Star Wars fans and/or movie buffs. If you outright hate the prequels, you may think this is just jibber jabber. But if you have even one midichlorian in your heart, you might find it interesting.

Maybe it gives Lucas too much credit... maybe he doesn't get enough?
[SFW] [tv & movies] [+1]
[by b@4:25pmGMT]

Comments

cb361 said @ 4:37pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:3 Underrated]
A level of storytelling sophistication in his six-part saga that is unprecedented in cinema history?

Did we watch the same six films?
rylex said @ 7:34pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Underrated]
Lucas didn't even direct the best star wars movies, Empire and Jedi. It always amazes me how people are quick to give him credit.
cb361 said @ 7:42pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 laz0r]
I wondered about that, but didn't want to have to actually read the article to see if it was addressed. I assume that the strange stylistic symmetry between films was Lucas blindly grasping at what apparently worked previously.
Jack Blue said @ 6:54pm GMT on 7th Oct
I am of the opinion that star wars is better than return. Presumably a lot of the success of thw first movie was due to editing.
rylex said[1] @ 7:34pm GMT on 6th Oct
Edit because double post magic
christ361 said[1] @ 7:38pm GMT on 6th Oct
Hagrid laughed wisely. "Double posts are a fairytale. You don't really believe that, do you?"
HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 8:05pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:2]
As time has gone on, it's been shown that Lucas was just extremely lucky. He put together a script that went through many rewrites (a lot of those because he was ripping off Dune) and got a cast of actors savvy enough to rewrite his crappy dialog and deliver the result well. Then the talent amassed created a cool sci-fantasy movie and Lucas managed to get 20th Century Fox to sell him the rights to the whole film, its music, and merchandising. This set him up forever.

All other successes in the franchise can be laid at the feet of other writers, artists, and directors. This was hammered home when the prequels came out, when he refused to be told "no" by anyone, and shot nearly three whole movies on a green soundstage using two cameras. RedLetterMedia covers this, but you really notice how much is just people sitting, shot-reverse-shot, people slowly walking (because they have only 20 feet to move), and Lucas sitting nearby watching his screens and drinking coffee. You really start to hate the guy for undertaking three movies without being wiling to fucking have locations or sets or let other, better people run things.

So in the end, was it his ego? Were there too many Yes-Men? Whatever the case, it's pretty evident that Lucas was, at best, a so-so director that only got worse with age.
Bruceski said @ 11:03pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Interesting]
The behind-the-scenes for Max Max Fury Road had a great line, "to make CG work you need one piece of reality to hold it together." As an example it showed a scene of a buggy bouncing around in the big sandstorm. Everything on-screen was CG except for the buggy, which as a result bounced realistically enough to sell the rest.
HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 1:07am GMT on 7th Oct
Yep. It's akin to the idea that the best place to hide a lie is with a truth. People forget that CGI is a tool best used by artists (that is, those who are skilled in using it to evoke, not just simulate) who can blend it with the real-world work of other craftspeople.
mechanical contrivance said @ 5:14pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Underrated]
The author is giving Lucas too much credit.
cb361 said @ 5:25pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Funsightful]
The author is giving Lucas too much credit.
5th Earth said @ 5:17pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 laz0r]
I refuse to acknowledge the existence of midichlorians.
mechanical contrivance said @ 5:22pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Informative]
That's fine since they're fictional.
lilmookieesquire said @ 6:06pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 laz0r]
Also as mentioned in the article:

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/
damnit said @ 6:20pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Funsightful]
lilmookieesquire said @ 6:45pm GMT on 6th Oct
E-ver-ry-where
cb361 said[1] @ 6:51pm GMT on 6th Oct [Score:1 Hot Pr0n]
It would explain a lot if it's the life-force vampire sand from Blake's Seven, that liked to keep human couples captive and make them fuck.
damnit said @ 10:29pm GMT on 6th Oct
That's why they hid Luke over there
hellboy said @ 8:16pm GMT on 7th Oct [Score:1 Insightful]
I'm a professional filmmaker, and I find film criticism articles like this the equivalent of 9/11 conspiracy theories.

The author goes through pretentious, painfully contorted reasoning to try to explain how [subject film] demonstrates some kind of clever high-level structural strategy that everyone else failed to notice, when in reality filmmaking, like virtually all creative efforts, is largely instinctual and choices are often dictated as much or more by schedule, expediency, and accident as they are by any kind of high-concept narrative intention, which is usually imposed ex post facto. (The center-frame composition of Fury Road is about as involved as it gets.) The notion of the creative mastermind who plans out every single aspect of their work to perfection is a myth - even Kubrick couldn't control everything. The holy grail of being the superfan who is the first to decipher the secret master pattern is likewise a myth.

Lucas didn't know Luke and Leia were siblings when he shot the first movie, and at one point intended to do 9 movies, not six. He was making a lot of it up as he went along. Of course he referenced the original films - he wasn't exactly bursting with new, exciting ideas. And of course he's going to pretend that it was all planned out from the beginning. But any "master plan" beyond what is readily apparent is wishful thinking on the part of fanboys and film criticism professors with too much time on their hands and no worthwhile hobbies. Writing a defense of the prequels should cost you tenure.
hellboy said @ 8:24pm GMT on 7th Oct
If you like looking for underlying patterns in movies, I highly recommend reading this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Creating-Structure-Digital/dp/0240807790/ref=sr_1_1

Block does an excellent job of breaking down the visual grammar of film. Just remember that few filmmakers are able to speak this language fluently and that rhymes are often happy accidents.
Oberoten said @ 5:59pm GMT on 6th Oct
Storytelling level is excellent. Dialogue and acting subpar.
lilmookieesquire said @ 6:02pm GMT on 6th Oct
If he writes on a genius level- then it is way way way way above my head. Like the man has been touched by God on a level I can't even begin to comprehend. We're talking Ewok levels of combat brilliance and tactics here.
lilmookieesquire said @ 6:26pm GMT on 6th Oct


(I upmodded two of your past posts. "I'm... Sorry b.")
cb361 said @ 7:44pm GMT on 6th Oct
I think that the Rise, Fall and Redemption of George W Lucas would make a much better story.
sanepride said @ 11:48pm GMT on 6th Oct
Somehow I just cannot muster the interest to read this.
Ankylosaur said @ 1:04am GMT on 7th Oct [Score:1 Informative]
TL;DR: Apparently, after you watch Star Wars you will get a phone call, then seven days later you die.
sanepride said @ 1:16am GMT on 7th Oct
I first saw Star Wars on May 26, 1977. No phone call yet.
HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 2:35am GMT on 7th Oct
If it was that long ago, the guy delivering the telegram must've just dropped dead from old age before reaching you.
b said @ 11:55pm GMT on 6th Oct
This is fair.
the circus said @ 2:41am GMT on 7th Oct
I've always felt that Star Wars was Lucas trying to combine LOTR and Dune with Hero With A Thousand Faces as his guide. Since he used the main plot points of LOTR for the original trilogy, that left him with the Dune story for the prequels; all about political machinations and economics. Lucas just wasn't up to that task.
raphael_the_turtle said @ 9:07pm GMT on 7th Oct

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