That's why Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid were great actors, because Lucas pulled them aside and said "I want you two to act really really good in this trilogy. The others can tank it for all I care."
The director tells the actors how to act, of course, but it's up to the actors to deliver it. The director can't jump inside the actor's body and take over for them. I hear this all the time, "Lucas lost his mind with Vader's "nooooo! He can't direct." But then you go back to TPM and here the same line for Obi-Wan after his master gets run through, and that line was a highlight in the movie. Yeah, delivery from the actors is crucial. You can't blame everything on the director.
yet it just so happens that every major actor in the PT has proven stellar in their abilities with every other film they've done. INCLUDING hayden and portman.
__________________
"Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."
Hey its Star Wars, but I look at those films objectively and I really just don't like what I see. I look at the OT both subjectively and objectively and for the most part, its strong, solid stuff.
It's no grudge per se, it hasn't done me personal wrong, but not my cup of tea.
And Lucas is renowned for being a little poor at directing his actors.
I won't lie, Natalie's acting especially has in fact been better in other movies. You're right on the button.
Consider this too though. Ewan McGregor for one has stated how tough it is to act in front of a green screen environment, as well as some of the other actors. Now, could that be blamed on Lucas because he opted for Green Screen instead of actual sets or locations. Sure, that one can't be denied. But I can back these guys up when they say that. I for one have done work with green screening, and it's challanging. There's nothing else in the environment to really go by or help you feel the atmosphere. I would say, perhaps the acting was sub-par in Star Wars because quite simply, it's tricky to sit down in a tiny half built cockpit, and pretend that you're in the middle of a major space battle or on a planet filled with insects.
Alec Guinness also said that while working on the OT, alot of the actors didn't take the movie very seriously, and it was pissing George off. It's just as hard to take a green screen enviornment seriously as well.
Because it was hard doesn't really cut it as a reasonable explaination for Lucas' mistakes.
Lucas' insistence on using green screen (lets face it, the PT was made just to showcase ILM) and his script are both overwhelming factors that would lead to wooden performances from your actors.
Sure then, now I can say the exact same thing for the OT as well, because it was in fact ILM that also did all the special effects then too, including all the models and ship work, which is no different then using CGI as a replacement today.
What were movies like Toy Story made for? To showcase Pixar?
__________________
I like George.
Last edited by Sith Master X on May 31st, 2007 at 11:01 PM
Using Green Screen requires a lot of input from the director. He's the one who has to help the actors imagine what they're acting in or against. And seeing Hayden and Portman act way better in other films, kinda shows GL was not able to transfer his vision into words for these young actors.
not only that, but alec guinness, as the other actors testify, served as inspiration and mentor.
and i agree about green screens. which is why i feel that films should not be shot entirely in front of green screens. there was no reason, in many cases for using cgi. imho it dumbed down the films in many parts and made them cartoony. no matter how well its done, with impossible camera angles and panning and overly elaborate settings it comes off as fake. ever hear the phrase "killed with kindness"?
__________________
"Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."
The OT wasn't made to showcase ILM, nonetheless it did showcase ILM. Actors admit that using green screen is hard, therefore it's common sense to assume that it accounted for the wooden performances.
If your suggesting that the green screen is no different from the model work ILM done back in the day, then the difference between the OT and PT is testimony against that. If, as you suggest, the green screen and ILM work are nothing to do with the wooden performances, then Lucas' script is even more of a factor.
Not from what I've seen. If anything, they would have complained about him in TPM, or being too much like Alec Guinness. However, McGregor and McDiarmid were looked upon as great actors in the PT compared to everyone else.
KMC Community Forums
May 31st, 2007 08:06 PM
