‘Star Wars VII’ Will Have Major Change to Opening: No Fox Fanfare

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by PaulKTF, Nov 9, 2013.

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  1. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    I totally agree that the Fox fanfare is stuck in my mind as part of the Star Wars films and it will be strange to see these new films without that. With that said, it's probably less than thirty seconds of the movie, so once things get rolling does it really matter? These films need to rise or fall on their own, not because of whether or not they have the fanfare.

    My two cents is that these movies will suck, but not suck as bad as the prequels. I'm expecting an over-use of CGI and over-the-top action a la the new Star Trek movies.
     
  2. Hagstrom

    Hagstrom Please stop calling them vinyls.

    And why would Disney have any interest in placing their competitor's logo and fanfare at the top of the film? That's just dumb.
     
  3. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Personally, I think they should remake Episodes 4-6 with today's graphics and sound effects. I actually enjoyed Episodes 1-3.
     
  4. Hagstrom

    Hagstrom Please stop calling them vinyls.

    What did you not like about the original trilogy's graphics and sound effects?
     
  5. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    Let's take it further, why not remake the first trilogy and also get rid of the dated actors!! Only kidding of course.............. :)
     
  6. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I'm sure the graphics and sounds were great for the audience back then, but it's nothing compared to what can be done today. I'm just use to modern graphics and I think it would be cool if they were remade.
     
  7. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    Ah but we can never really get rid of the fact that Star Wars is a product of it's time. Not only do effects change but editing, pacing, casting, etc. Star War is a late 70's film and always will be. That's why these updates makes little sense for me. But what do I know, I'm only a genius............. :)
     
  8. Hagstrom

    Hagstrom Please stop calling them vinyls.

    I'm against changing any film once it's released. Lucas has tinkered enough with these films while he owned them.
     
  9. Anthology123

    Anthology123 Senior Member

    Another issue that is likely to be brought up is the an opening credit for the Director. If these films are made in the US, and a director who is a member of the Director's Guild, then I understand their name must appear in the beginning of the film? Is that a non-issue, or are we likely to see a director's credit show up in the start of Episode VII?
     
  10. Chris_G

    Chris_G Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Lucas didn't film the first three episodes from the beginning because they did not have the technology to bring those stories to life on the screen. This is why he started with episodes 4-6. If episodes 1-3 would have been released back in the 70s/80s, assuming they had the technology to do it, everyone would be praising those movies instead.
     
  11. Bryan

    Bryan Starman Jr.

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    I think there was pressure to put credits at the beginning of the prequels, but they found a way around it. They might have just paid whatever fines incurred by not following the rules. I imagine they'd do the same this go around.
     
  12. sgtmono

    sgtmono Seasoned Member

    But once Lucas did film episodes 1-3, he clearly did not have the script or directing skill to bring those stories to life on the screen!

    :confused:
    I'm not sure what you're basing your theories on, but Lucas had only a rough idea of what the plots for episodes 1-3 would look like back in the 70s. And those ideas were probably vastly different from the "stories" that took shape in the late 90s.

    Technology is not everything. Twenty years advancement in movie technology yielded ugly looking prequels with inferior plots and uninspired direction. That's how I see it at least. If you're a fan of the prequels, I doubt I will change your mind and we'll have to agree to disagree.

    For the sake of argument, had "The Phantom Menace" been released first, in 1977, I can't imagine it would have been the international pop culture phenomenon that "Star Wars" was.
     
    JimC, jdrueke and Tristero like this.
  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Over the last 36+ years, Lucas has lost touch of what really happened and bought into his own "I planned the whole thing from the start" mythology.

    The truth is that he had a loose backstory for what happened before "Star Wars" but nothing more. Vader wasn't supposed to be Luke's father from the beginning - that developed during the writing of the "ESB" script.

    George was making this stuff up as he went along, no matter how much he wants us to believe otherwise. "Star Wars" had to be the first film - it's the only full story he wrote as of 1976! :D

    And if Lucas had actually thought up all the episodes in advance and started with E1, not E4, E1 would've been totally different than "Phantom Menace" was. Lucas got away with a lot of short-hand in "PM" since the audience already knew the universe - he would've had to spell out all of that in E1 if it came first.

    It would've been a completely different movie...
     
    Chip TRG and Keith V like this.
  14. dogpile

    dogpile Generation X record spinner.

    Location:
    YYZ - Canada
    The thrill and anticipation is gone. It's like making love without the foreplay...that's no fun at all :o
     
  15. JimC

    JimC Senior Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    Let's make some new memories.
     
  16. The Scarecrow

    The Scarecrow Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Nah, we'd rather stay back in the 70s and 80s and bash and condemn any Star Wars product not the originals and revolve our Star Wars love around nostalgia.
     
    JimC likes this.
  17. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Lucas only had a rough idea of what the whole thing would look like back in the 70s; but he felt at the time that the second half of the story would be better suited and more of a possibility to make, so out came 4-6. If he'd felt it was easier to tell the beginning of the story, we'd have a whole different Star Wars.
     
  18. Encuentro

    Encuentro Forum Resident

    I despise CGI. It's like watching a cartoon or a video game. I'm not the only one who believes that the effects in the original trilogy far surpass those of the prequel trilogy. The ships in the original trilogy looked real, because they were actual physical objects.

    Kathleen Kennedy has said that the new trilogy is going to go old school somewhat when it comes to the special effects.

    "But she's also wary of films becoming overly reliant on this technology, forgetting older methods. Jurassic Park is a great example of how CG can be successfully blended with practical effects, and it seems this philosophy, also informed by the original Star Wars trilogy, will underpin the production of Episode VII and the future sequels. "It's a conversation we're having all the time in the development of Episode VII. Looking at all the Star Wars movies and getting a feel for what even some of the early films did, combining real locations and special effects – that's something we're looking very seriously at."

    This resulted in rapturous applause from the audience, with many glowing lightsabers being waved in frantic approval. "So we're going to find some very cool locations that we're going to use in support of Episode VII," promised Kennedy. "And I think we're probably going to end up using every single tool in the toolbox to create the look of these movies."

    And when Davis asked what exactly was in that toolbox, Kennedy said, "It's using model makers; it's using real droids; it's taking advantage of artwork that you actually can touch and feel. And we want to do that in combination with CG effects. We figure that's what will make it real.""
    http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/07/2...tory-first-cg-balanced-with-practical-effects
     
  19. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    True, but there is great value in continuing to appeal to us older people that helped put this whole thing on the map! Keeping us in the fold while appealing to younger folks will only further the overall popularity. There is clearly great value in the franchise, but to keep it a franchise you do have to keep some of the elements in all the films, otherwise why continue....might as well create an all together new franchise.
     
  20. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I couldn't agree with your statements more....CGI should only help tell a story, it shouldn't be the story. I have come to hate the concept of CGI in general. When it's used right, it is astonishing..Planet of the Apes, Titanic, etc. I have to say, I think for the most part the CGI in the newer SW films was done well, and was not the primary reason the films were made. Not that I think the stories were great, but really, they weren't that much better in the first three films! It was the overall great experience that made those films wonderful. I'm glad to hear they are going to keep a close eye on the effects going forward.
     
  21. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Hmmmm... maybe Fox would license just the fanfare (written by the great Alfred Newman) for the movie. Stranger things have happened. It's just one song. I don't see why that would cost more than $50K or so. Fox almost never uses it these days, except as a very brief excerpt at the end of their TV shows.

    Although... I don't think Mr. Murdoch will go for it, and Fox does own the publishing rights to the song 100%. The song is officially called "20th Century-Fox Fanfare with CinemaScope Extension," and the version we know from Star Wars was written in 1953 for The Robe. I really, really like what John Williams did with the song in 1977, particularly in that he kept it in the same key as the main Star Wars theme that followed.
     
    apileocole likes this.
  22. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I wish this was the standard practice. Keep the credits for the end. Just start the damn movie. It's really annoying to have a constant stream of text plastered over the first few scenes in a movie.
     
  23. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    Lord of the Rings is the same way.

    regarding CGI - for the most part I agree - the ships looked more real in the original trilogy (though I liked how CGI could make a fleet of ships for something like the death star raid), and I never liked CGI yoda. I much preferred the puppet. but there are some things CGI just plain improves. for example - the boxes around tie fighters and x wings (blue screen artifacts I guess?) in star wars always was cringe worthy to me. Its like Digital noise reduction - used sparingly in the right spots, its a great tool.
     
  24. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Credits run at the end of films all the time. (The main credits, I mean, not the scrolling credits for everyone involved.) If anything it seems more common to me these days than having them at the beginning. It may have been unusual when the original "Star Wars" was released in 1977 but not anymore.
     
  25. thedudeabidz

    thedudeabidz Stepping sharply from the rank and file

    Location:
    Bahstun, MA USA
    The first 1977 film stands as a brilliant, epic film that Lucas pulled into reality with the sheer force of his will. The Fox fanfare belonged at the beginning of that film because it was made in many of the traditions of film that Fox created. Not really for the other films.

    Lucas's real genius with the movies was his new method of marketing and merchandising and keeping them relevant across multiple generations. That the dynasty ended up in the hands of Disney, arguably one of the best students of Lucas's marketing strategies, makes sense.

    That Magic Kingdom fanfare at the beginning of the new movies will perfectly match the money-making director they've chosen to take the franchise to the Kingdom of Incalculable Wealth. Rest assured there will be plenty of lens flares.
     
    PROG U.K. likes this.
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