Phil Tippett interview - ROTJ, A cross between ESB, and Benji.

[darth_myeek]

Alamo Drafthouse Q&A - Movies.com
Hit the link for Phil's thoughts on the BluRay release.

This killed me..

Phil Tippett: No, not really. At a certain point, even going back to Return of the Jedi at ILM...they had a little room where you could get chips and drinks and I was getting something. George and Richard Marquand, the director, came in and Richard was saying, "George, I don't totally get where we need to go with this picture." And George said, "Well, did you see Benji?" "No George, I didn't see Benji." "Well, what we're doing now is kind of like a cross between Benji and what we did on Empire Strikes Back."

 

[niennumb1]

How does one even process a melding of "Benji" and "The Empire Strikes Back"? That's like saying you're going to mix "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Aliens".

I agree with Tippett though. I think the art of it is really dying and CGI is so convenient and grossly overused that it's no longer amazing to see grandios effects anymore done through CGI. Instead of the effects supporting the story or idea they are taking over the movie entirely.

 

[cboath]

I think a balance will return, or at least I hope it will.

The base difference in a traditional effect vs a computer generated one is that once a traditional effect it shot, that's it. You can't really go back and redo it if you need or want to. With a computer shot, you can change it all you want up til nearly the last second.

The balance needs to be struck about when to stop screwing with it though. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should.

Some do get it right. Pixar springs to mind. Their entire catalog is purely CG. They've even reshot TS1 and 2 to make them 3D. They didn't add extra toys to Andy or Sid's room in TS1, they didn't expand the round up gang in ts2 or try and improve the toy collector. They didn't fiddle with stuff til the last second or over do a thing. They focused on the story which is what you should do.

I think too many in hollywood are the ones who just look at the shiny object and ignore everything else. CG makes it too easy to simply add stuff when you can just for the hell of it and there don't seem to be too many people who don't agree with that.

Sadly, i think you've probably stuck an idea into someone producer's head with your cross of Driving Miss Daisy and Aliens. I can see a movie set far in the future with a SMJ BMF type has to pilot some rich lady around the solar system and they get attacked by aliens

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

Phil Tippett: No, not really. At a certain point, even going back to Return of the Jedi at ILM...they had a little room where you could get chips and drinks and I was getting something. George and Richard Marquand, the director, came in and Richard was saying, "George, I don't totally get where we need to go with this picture." And George said, "Well, did you see Benji?" "No George, I didn't see Benji." "Well, what we're doing now is kind of like a cross between Benji and what we did on Empire Strikes Back."

Good lord...

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

Tippett is right to draw a comparison to Leone in the original Mos Eisley entrance. I'd not thought of that before, and it's yet another genre to add to all the others referenced and seamlessly blended in the film. The SE entrance loses Leone and disastrously opts for Disney instead.

Similarly, the original shot of the landspeeder parked outside Ben's house was a perfect and very succinct blend of Bible epic and SF. Yet it also had a stark documentary look about it, the documentary feel being something Lucas was particularly keen to get into his shots then, as we know. The replacement shot, however, looks like a sickly fantasy illustration, a sort of Disney-fied sub-Tolkien affair complete with cutesy smoke coming out of Ben's chimney. Well, we know all this. But it's so satisfying to see Phil Tippett denounce these ruinous changes and dismiss them for the "s***" that they are.

 

[SmilingOtter]

That's like saying you're going to mix "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Aliens".

I would SO watch that movie.

 

[nickytea]

Excuse me while I go write "Driving Miss Ripley."

 

[jakob2121]

Wow. That brought out tears, Nickytea.

 

[laszlo]

Tippett is right to draw a comparison to Leone in the original Mos Eisley entrance. I'd not thought of that before, and it's yet another genre to add to all the others referenced and seamlessly blended in the film. The SE entrance loses Leone and disastrously opts for Disney instead.

Similarly, the original shot of the landspeeder parked outside Ben's house was a perfect and very succinct blend of Bible epic and SF. Yet it also had a stark documentary look about it, the documentary feel being something Lucas was particularly keen to get into his shots then, as we know. The replacement shot, however, looks like a sickly fantasy illustration, a sort of Disney-fied sub-Tolkien affair complete with cutesy smoke coming out of Ben's chimney. Well, we know all this. But it's so satisfying to see Phil Tippett denounce these ruinous changes and dismiss them for the "s***" that they are.

I was thinking the same thing myself the other day. That original shot of Ben's house was very graphic/photographic and explains more in it's minimalism than it's replacements visual mess does. I think this is one of the most offensive additions as it seems to disrespect and show a total lack of understanding about basic cinematic imagery/ meaning etc.

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

^ Yeah, it was a very strong and cinematic image. (also, hello again!)

 

[Wakeem]

Tippett is right to draw a comparison to Leone in the original Mos Eisley entrance. I'd not thought of that before, and it's yet another genre to add to all the others referenced and seamlessly blended in the film. The SE entrance loses Leone and disastrously opts for Disney instead.

The Star Wars SE was on this weekend and I was cracking up at that Mos Eisley scene. With the changes it now feels very much like Episode 1 which is sad.

 

[Commander Max]

Tippett is right to draw a comparison to Leone in the original Mos Eisley entrance. I'd not thought of that before, and it's yet another genre to add to all the others referenced and seamlessly blended in the film. The SE entrance loses Leone and disastrously opts for Disney instead.

It does fly in the face of a statement Luke made.
"If there is bright center to the universe, we are on the planet it's farthest from, Tatooine."

I never thought about that before, either. Just how rural Tatooine was supposed to look. Out in the sticks is an easy place to hide, or not be found. So why not add more to Dagobah while Lucas is at it.

I think he has a point about the cg stuff. I find it hard to be impressed by something I use everyday(a computer). Where is the magic in that?

I look forward to the interview.

 

[Commander Max]

Alamo Drafthouse Q&A - Movies.com
Hit the link for Phil's thoughts on the BluRay release.

This killed me..

Phil Tippett: No, not really. At a certain point, even going back to Return of the Jedi at ILM...they had a little room where you could get chips and drinks and I was getting something. George and Richard Marquand, the director, came in and Richard was saying, "George, I don't totally get where we need to go with this picture." And George said, "Well, did you see Benji?" "No George, I didn't see Benji." "Well, what we're doing now is kind of like a cross between Benji and what we did on Empire Strikes Back."

The next time Lucas goes on a talk show guess what question he is going to get. lol

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

The only thing that really annoyed me in the SEs was the ROTJ dance scene. I do like the original Mos Eisley before though because it does make it feel like some podunk town in the middle of nowhere.