The Mandalorian (TV series)

Ohh... I got frustrated back in the '90s trying to figure out what always felt 'off' about ROTJ. It's a bunch of little things, but I learned more and more about the real-world history of how the films came about. Then the Prequels happened, and my friends and I were up til dawn at Denny's discussing what worked and what didn't about TPM. Somewhere around there, one of my scriptwriting professors was telling us that the best way to learn the craft is to see what others have done, for good or ill -- especially that last part. If we're watching something, and something jars us out of the experience -- if you realize you've missed the last several seconds of whatever because you were in your head about what you just saw -- "Don't just sit there bitching about it. Get a copy of the script and see if you can do better."

So I did. Since, by then, I'd figured out there were supposed to be six Luke films, rather than three, I started with seeing how it would work to re-expand ROTJ back out to four films. Maybe even re-introduce Luke's sister. Then, after the Prequels, I started fiddling with what could have been had they been the six episodes George actually originally envisioned them being, before cutting the number down during pre-production on Empire. And making Obi-Wan the central protagonist. And preserving all the OT reveals.

By the time the Sequels came along, with all their attendant arguments and drama, I was several drafts in and, while reworking things after TFA, realized it worked better as three trilogies of trilogies -- 27 episodes. Each main hero has a beginning, middle, and end of their story, which is all part of the larger story. And, instead of being all over the place, timeline-wise, written by committee, contradicted and retconned all over the place, etc., I started at the beginning and went straight through to the end, preserving surprises for later, making complex villains who evolve over time, and presenting a coherent story that entertains on multiple levels and leaves one satisfied at the end. Wanting more, but content.

I've preserved as much from the extant canon as possible, reworked some elements "from a certain point of view", used elements from the old EU that worked, etc. I'm not trying to pretend I can do Star Wars better -- just wring what's there into something that makes more sense and isn't held together by misdirection and duck tape. The folks I asked to comment can say whether they think I'm on to something or not. *lol*
Yes, please. More than interested in reading anything you’ve got.
 
I decided to check in on The Mandalorian thread, this evening...

I’m neither surprised nor disappointed to see that the subject of the “Ee-Ee-Ee-Ee-Ee-Ee-Ewoks” has entered the conversation.


We tend to cover all of our bases in every Star Wars thread and they all seem to become a Let’s Talk All Things Star Wars thread by proxy.

Now, look deep into the cold, dead, and emotionless face of the psychopath known as Wicket “Crazy Eyes” Warrwick.

It’s the stuff of nightmares...

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ALLEY, the problem is we now have nearly two years of speculation before this thread can really resume. Some forays into Mando-ness and Jedi-ness I expect, as that's where the show left things hanging.

Yes, please. More than interested in reading anything you’ve got.
I appreciate the enthusiasm. I'll read you in. Your grumblings about how the canon has treated Jedi is something I internalized sometime in the early '90s and has been simmering there since. I felt that Yoda had "grown beyond" such trivialities as lightsabers, and was a bit like Musashi -- someone comes at him with a lightsaber, he soundly beats them with his stick, never moving from where he's standing. We should never have seen him prior to Luke encountering him, but if he had to duel Dooku, that scene should have gone:

"We are too evenly matched in our skill with the Force. This can only be decided by skill with a lightsaber." *Dooku ignites his, suiting action to word*
*Yoda grunts in mild disapproval and drops a gantry on him*
 

Sometimes it takes someone else doing it better to see exactly how wrong something is…I don’t expect anyone here to watch the whole video, so if you just want to see their Luke scene, skip to about 17:25.

Still not perfect, but considering what they were working with vs. what ILM was working with? Much better, in my opinion.
 
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The expressions, dialog and eye contact in the scene is great, but their compositing job isn't very good and makes it look like a old Lucas Arts cutscene. I find it amazing because these guys add sparks to every video they do, but still can't figure out that sparks emit light on objects beyond a lens flare.
 
The expressions, dialog and eye contact in the scene is great, but their compositing job isn't very good and makes it look like a old Lucas Arts cutscene. I find it amazing because these guys add sparks to every video they do, but still can't figure out that sparks emit light on objects beyond a lens flare.
Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but the part I’m praising is the attention to the performance. If it were their team put into the same circumstances as whoever did whatever effect for the show, I’m confident that the composite would look better.
 
He wasn’t teaching Luke to fight in ESB though. He was teaching him the Force. Big, big difference.

Remember the training remote scene in ANH? Luke can see the remote, tries to block the blasts, and gets hit instead.

Ben didn’t show Luke a better way to hold the lightsaber, or a better way to swing the blade when trying to block, he covered Luke’s eyes and encouraged him to connect to his feelings (connect to the force) and Luke’s increased knowledge of using the force, not his increased knowledge of swordplay, allowed him to block 2 laser shots without even looking.

Ben taught Luke how to use the force, and the force allowed him to be a better fighter. The same is true for Rey during her fight with Kylo Ren at the end of TFA.
 
Remember the training remote scene in ANH? Luke can see the remote, tries to block the blasts, and gets hit instead.

Ben didn’t show Luke a better way to hold the lightsaber, or a better way to swing the blade when trying to block, he covered Luke’s eyes and encouraged him to connect to his feelings (connect to the force) and Luke’s increased knowledge of using the force, not his increased knowledge of swordplay, allowed him to block 2 laser shots without even looking.

Ben taught Luke how to use the force, and the force allowed him to be a better fighter. The same is true for Rey during her fight with Kylo Ren at the end of TFA.
I agree, and that’s the point I was making. The argument before was, “how could Yoda teach him to be a better fighter if Yoda wasn’t a fighter?”, to which I responded the above. Neither Yoda nor Ben were teaching Luke “dueling moves”, they were helping him to understand and be more attuned to the Force, which in turn would help him be a better fighter (one of many effects of being more spiritually attuned, not the only one).
 
The expressions, dialog and eye contact in the scene is great, but their compositing job isn't very good and makes it look like a old Lucas Arts cutscene. I find it amazing because these guys add sparks to every video they do, but still can't figure out that sparks emit light on objects beyond a lens flare.
The color appears slightly off, especially with the additional "lighting" aspects they added (like the sparks).
 
Well i finally watched season 2. I liked it. A bunch of my work was highlighted. It was cool to see how they shot it. One of the sets i put a lot of work into was the bridge of the imperial star cruiser. It looks really good.

Boba fett tho.... alive? Takes over jabas palace? I'm curious to see where this goes. I guess we will find out in the book of fett.

All in all i think the show is pretty darn good. When fetts done they will finish season 3. So im guessing they tie into eachother. Unfortunately i didn't get to be on season 3. I did a couple features instead. But i am starting obi wan next week. So here we go. On to the next one.
 
Just going to chime in real quick about Yoda. I've always liked Yoda in the PT. To me, it shows a change in Yoda's thinking. In the PT he's a great warrior throwing people around with the Force. In the OT, he's come to realize the Jedi have kinda lost their calling, and now he balks at the idea of a great warrior, saying "Wars not make one great." And telling Luke that a Jedi doesn't use the Force for attack. I kinda like the contrast.
 

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