Cinematography in the ST - Influences, motifs, and techniques

panki wrote:I see a parallel between the trailer scene of Kylo looking out at the AT-ATs and other war equipment being built/repaired, and the Night of "Nations Pride" premiere red window scene in Inglorious Basterds.

While these two images are not exactly alike, I get the same sense of melancholy from them.....the feel of a person determined to finish something and about to embark on a dangerous and suicidal mission (with what they are against present beyond the glass- the FO war machine in Kylo's case and the nazi flag in Shoshanna's case)....I wonder if Kylo plans to take down Snoke (with Rey's help?).

Wikipedia wrote:The novel is darkly satirical. Its themes include sexism, big business, factory farming, and environmental decay; and reflects on more personal questions of sexual identity, humanity, snobbery, and mercy.

Kylo Rey wrote:

snufkin wrote:

That's 1.30a Wednesday, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) for those of you in other time zones should you want to listen

@snufkin

Rian Johnson: "No one listens to what I say." I know he said this half jokingly but DAMN show this to the antis. He played Rey's theme on a banjo at the beginning of the podcast haha. Things of note:

- Rey's mirror cave scene was visually inspired by the film Under the Skin (I really need to get around to watching this).




- One version of that scene included lots of Reys going backwards in age till she was a baby being held by a shadow that you might think is the mother but would turn out to be an older Rey holding baby Tey. Really wacky.

- Rian compared Snoke to the Wizard of Oz with his theatricality and everything (another thing Reylo's discussed).

- He's adamant about not being influenced by public reaction while writing TLJ. It was literally impossible. He saw dailies while writing, but he was writing it before even seeing a rough final cut of TFA. Praised JJ's casting sensibilities. He wouldn't go back and change any of the decisions he made, even if he had the opportunity to.

- Snoke's throne room was staged and inspired by the look of Anthony Minghella's opera "Madame Butterfly."




- The curtains were not CGI but actually a huge fabric that wrapped around the set. They were edited in post by ILM to take out any creases/wrinkles and to make it look seamless.

- He had a "big a** document" on his laptop which he would update regularly and send to/discuss with Kiri Hart of the story group. He wrote down his thoughts surrounding major TFA questions i.e. Rey's parentage. He wrote down all possible scenarios. Even terrible ones. One of them included Rey as a robot. He said some of them matched Reddit theories too lol.

- On the implications of Broom Boi meaning anyone can have the force: Story is focused on Rey's hero's journey. Assuming this means they won't delve into this too much in IX.

- He was aware of George Lucas' original storyline for the ST but his chief inspiration was TFA and its script and his previous knowledge of SW. Emphasised the blank slate, how each director can do their own thing (PlotGate is back lol).

- No pushback from LF over killing Luke. Rian was breaking the story with them along the way and he didn't just want to drop the script on them as a surprise.

- The red dust on Crait was used as you can't show blood in a SW movie too much. Symbolises violence. He liked how the battle evolves into a "hellscape."

- Going to be in charge of the entire plot front to back for his trilogy. Sounds like he may be directing all three or at least majorly involved with all. May try to squeeze in directing original movies in between or beforehand.

- He was offered a lot of franchise projects after doing Looper. Turned them all down. Was working on a sci-fi movie with a cool premise for 1.5 yrs after doing Looper but couldn't crack the script so he dropped it. Thinks KK chose him based off Looper. After his meeting with her where he asked to think about it, he went home and watched a bunch of mountain climbing disaster documentaries for a few days lol.

He chucks in quite a lot of film references. No offence to JJ but you can tell Rian has a very extensive knowledge of film and film history. He did his research and knows his stuff.

SheLitAFire wrote:
Pride and Prejudice

North and South

Romeo and Juliet

West Side Story

REYLO

MyOnlyHope wrote:@SheLitAFire Remember when Rian was tweeting all those West Side Story Tonight references in the lead up to the trailer?

Turns out the whole Tonight sequence is like the most Force Bond thing ever in terms of how Rian pictured the technicalities of the connection. Just lol.

From TLJ: "Can you see my surroundings? I can't see yours. Just you."

MARIA: Imagine being afraid of you.
TONY: You see.
MARIA: I see you.
TONY: Maria, see only me.

*Breaks into song*
MARIA
Only you, you're the only thing I'll see forever
In my eyes in my words and in everything I do
Nothing else but you
Ever

TONY
And there's nothing for me but Maria
Every sight that I see is Maria

MARIA
Tony, Tony

TONY
Always you, every thought I'll ever know
Everywhere I go you'll be

TONY & MARIA
All the world is only you and me

MARIA
Tonight, tonight
It all began tonight
I saw you and the world went away

Tonight, tonight
There's only you tonight
What you are, what you do, what you say

“I wanted to do a big battle and communicate the violence of it, but you don’t show blood in Star Wars movies, these are PG-13 movies, so the initial thing was to have a movie where the landscape itself could graphically communicate the violence of this battle. Also the notion that the landscape could evolve during the course of the battle, the idea at the beginning it’s white and pristine and it gets scarred and increasingly red. And when the cannon goes, it blows it all away so it just becomes a red hellscape. And as Luke comes back to the legend he needs to be and [starts] healing the world, the salt starts snowing down so it’s back to being pristine.”

thescavenger wrote:Just a quick mention for now, but the red/white contrast on Crait (plus what Rian Johnson said about it) reminds me so much of Snow White - especially referring to how the Queen pricked her finger while sewing by the windowsill and drops of blood fell on the snow and how she wished she had a daughter with skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood. 

This is from the beginning of the film Snow White and the Huntsman



And here is Crait:



Even Rian Johnson has mentioned himself that red was meant to signify blood and the violence

“I wanted to do a big battle and communicate the violence of it, but you don’t show blood in Star Wars movies, these are PG-13 movies, so the initial thing was to have a movie where the landscape itself could graphically communicate the violence of this battle. Also the notion that the landscape could evolve during the course of the battle, the idea at the beginning it’s white and pristine and it gets scarred and increasingly red. And when the cannon goes, it blows it all away so it just becomes a red hellscape. And as Luke comes back to the legend he needs to be and [starts] healing the world, the salt starts snowing down so it’s back to being pristine.”

So there are some definite classic fairytale callbacks for me personally.

Teo oswald wrote:

thescavenger wrote:Just a quick mention for now, but the red/white contrast on Crait (plus what Rian Johnson said about it) reminds me so much of Snow White - especially referring to how the Queen pricked her finger while sewing by the windowsill and drops of blood fell on the snow and how she wished she had a daughter with skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood. 

This is from the beginning of the film Snow White and the Huntsman



And here is Crait:



Even Rian Johnson has mentioned himself that red was meant to signify blood and the violence

“I wanted to do a big battle and communicate the violence of it, but you don’t show blood in Star Wars movies, these are PG-13 movies, so the initial thing was to have a movie where the landscape itself could graphically communicate the violence of this battle. Also the notion that the landscape could evolve during the course of the battle, the idea at the beginning it’s white and pristine and it gets scarred and increasingly red. And when the cannon goes, it blows it all away so it just becomes a red hellscape. And as Luke comes back to the legend he needs to be and [starts] healing the world, the salt starts snowing down so it’s back to being pristine.”

So there are some definite classic fairytale callbacks for me personally.

@thescavenger

and we have plenty of red in this film, even the level of violence is high, let's watch the fight against the Praetorian guards. I have never seen so much red, only when I look at a Horror movie , but I also interpret red as loss
A Star Wars different from the old trilogies and that's why I love it .

thescavenger wrote:Just a quick mention for now, but the red/white contrast on Crait (plus what Rian Johnson said about it) reminds me so much of Snow White - especially referring to how the Queen pricked her finger while sewing by the windowsill and drops of blood fell on the snow and how she wished she had a daughter with skin as white as snow and lips as red as blood. 

This is from the beginning of the film Snow White and the Huntsman



And here is Crait:



Even Rian Johnson has mentioned himself that red was meant to signify blood and the violence

“I wanted to do a big battle and communicate the violence of it, but you don’t show blood in Star Wars movies, these are PG-13 movies, so the initial thing was to have a movie where the landscape itself could graphically communicate the violence of this battle. Also the notion that the landscape could evolve during the course of the battle, the idea at the beginning it’s white and pristine and it gets scarred and increasingly red. And when the cannon goes, it blows it all away so it just becomes a red hellscape. And as Luke comes back to the legend he needs to be and [starts] healing the world, the salt starts snowing down so it’s back to being pristine.”

So there are some definite classic fairytale callbacks for me personally.

snufkin wrote:@Let The Past Die If you're interested, there's a link on the 2nd post to this thread about Steven Yedlin, who's the Director of Photography for all of Rian's film and an evangelist for color theory in film. More than likely the two of them cooked up the red color scheme because it's a technique they've worked on for over 4 films together.