I actually liked his armor. It resembles some of the Sith masks from the KOTOR games. The problem is that he was a whiny b*tch. :lol
Art of SW:TFA - Any good?
- Thread starter Jedi2016
- Start date
I actually liked his armor. It resembles some of the Sith masks from the KOTOR games. The problem is that he was a whiny b*tch. :lol
glorbes
Well-Known Member
For what it is worth, I really like this book quite a bit. It has a lot of text that explains how modern spectacle films are developed, and it gives some context to how the story evolved. Keep in mind that I loved the film, and while I think there are legitimate criticisms about re-using familiar story beats, I pretty much have ZERO problem with that fact.
The art isn't as accomplished or as iconic as McQuarrrie and Johnston, but those guys were breaking new ground and creating an entirely new aesthetic. I also think that, for all his shortcomings as a film maker, Lucas has an exceptional eye for design and when he sees something he likes, there's a good chance it is a solid design. The prequels and the Clone Wars are bursting at the seams with brilliant design work. Lucas's absence can be felt here, I think, but it isn't to say there aren't lovely ideas and conecpts being exp[lored by the pre-production work showcased. What the Force Awakens art book does show is a fair amount of really cool concepts that were reigned in for good reason. The art is good, the designs are neat to see, but I also appreciate that things were shaped and refined into what we see in the finished film.
The art isn't as accomplished or as iconic as McQuarrrie and Johnston, but those guys were breaking new ground and creating an entirely new aesthetic. I also think that, for all his shortcomings as a film maker, Lucas has an exceptional eye for design and when he sees something he likes, there's a good chance it is a solid design. The prequels and the Clone Wars are bursting at the seams with brilliant design work. Lucas's absence can be felt here, I think, but it isn't to say there aren't lovely ideas and conecpts being exp[lored by the pre-production work showcased. What the Force Awakens art book does show is a fair amount of really cool concepts that were reigned in for good reason. The art is good, the designs are neat to see, but I also appreciate that things were shaped and refined into what we see in the finished film.
THIS ^^^^ is the best review I have seen about the TFA art book. I ordered it from England since the prices were already skyrocketing, similar to the first Iron Man art book.
While I do like quite a few of the graphics and the costume designs, I found the way they presented the designs a bit off. What I love about the older books is the documentation of the creative process, e.g. how Vader and Yoda were developed. The results are presented, but how they were achieved, what creative decisions were made is IMO missing.
Instead they chose to present us with a timeline of the developments, something that we usually get with the Rinzler books.
And then there is the concept art that seems to be missing, paintings and visuals that we saw in spoiler threads before.
The designs themselves are indeed showing how "inbred" some of the artists are thinking. I must say that the prequel designs already made me feel that way about the designers qualities. Everything seemed very repetitive and self-referencing, cool contemporary designs instead of something innovative.
The quality that Joe Johnston, John Barry, Ralph McQuarrie brought with them, the freshness of combining real world experience and knowledge about how things are built and how stuff works or actually may work or react to its environment seemd to be missing. I felt this to some extent in TFA, although not as clearly visible as in the PT.
The new design crew can draw and paint, but IMO they lack the real-world background. Game designs, yes.
The new trooper costumes stand out, and reading how the costume designer mentioned the influence of Apple´s designs made my heart sink a bit. While the environments are grim and gritty, the trooper costumes IMO lack the subtle terror that an OT stormtrooper conveyed with its skull-like helmet. The flame trooper and snow trooper with its soft features is even worse.
Some of the ship designs in the book made me wonder if they probably were rejects from other movies. The bubble ship in the book reminded me of the Oblivion ship a tad too much.
But I digress. At a price point of 24,95 USD I can recommend the book to erveryone who wants to look at contemporary graphics design. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I still enjoy the OT art books.
Aw, jeez... um... All of them? Every one I've gotten over the years has had shortcomings, but also something unique to it that I appreciate. I have all the Art Of... and Making of... books, the McQ book, the costume books, the ESB Sketchbook... They all combine and contribute to the overall tapestry, and I think trying to pick out one would be like trying to choose my favorite instrument in the orchestra.
--Jonah
--Jonah
The complete works of Ralph McQuarrie do not equal a comprehensive look at Star Wars production design. He was primarily a graphics artist, later on he did designs, but there are quite a few other very important and influential people in the design family that must not be overlooked.
astroboy
Master Member
Cool. I'd love that one.
I have all of the model books but I'd love to see more concept stuff.
Now that I think about it, I'd love to see clone-era concept art. I have no idea about that stuff
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk
You lucky dawg! Somehow they escaped my attention for the last three decades, now I have to see where I can find them without having to donate body parts ...
They show up in decent condition on Amazon and eBay pretty regularly. 
The Star Wars one
The Empire Strikes Back one
The Return of the Jedi one
--Jonah
The Star Wars one
The Empire Strikes Back one
The Return of the Jedi one
--Jonah
Laspector
Master Member
Man,I ripped off so much stuff from those books making up characters when I was young! Back then nobody else I knew had those books, so I could just use whatever concepts I wanted and no one ever knew the difference. As long as it was an unused idea, I was in the clear!
Yes, I know......horrible....but I was a kid...:rolleyes
Yes, I know......horrible....but I was a kid...:rolleyes
Similar threads
