Online Series: Star Wars Andor on D+

[RandV]

For whatever reason, Kenobi didn't look as good. "Cheap" is a common description. Perhaps it wasn't Disney's 'A' team (as the technology is used more, more people need to be trained in it). Perhaps COVID had an impact. Perhaps we're no longer impressed by it, like CGI. Perhaps we've become accustomed to it and even distracted by it. Regardless, no matter how good a stage looks, real world locations and sets always look better and more "cinematic." Natural lighting always looks far better than stage lighting, characters can interact with more of the environment and the camera isn't as limited to a narrow field of view. Imagine if GoT were shot exclusively on stages on the HBO lots. It wouldn't look nearly as cinematic and epic. What I think that a lot of us would like to see is show that's as impressively shot and produced as GoT, but in the Star Wars universe. The Volume is a great technology, but I don't want to see it replace real world filming and sets. Use it in places where the characters would otherwise be acting against nothing but a green screen, to get better performances out of them and look better for us. Don't use it simply because it's cheaper and easier. The same goes for other CGI. It's great and useful, but, if you can do something practically, do it and save the CGI for things that are impractical or impossible.

I'm not like, directly in the film industry, but isn't it pretty much always "stage lighting" on sets? The problem with natural light is it shifts throughout the day as the sun moves and clouds sweep by, but they can spend an entire day filming the same scene and then need to cut it together. Even when they're outside they have big lighting production, and a lot of GoT was filmed on stage.

The problem with green screening is while most people won't notice naturally if you use a side-by-side comparison it adds a green tint to everything real. The Volume basically fixes this as while it's not natural light it's appropriately varied and coloured.

 

[Hivemind]

I don't know, but as someone who's not bothered by CGI the impression I have now is this is very video-gamey tech and the Star Wars shows using it all end up with a video game feel to their own detriment. Like Mandalorian sets down on a new planet and there's one video-game sized town where he has to complete one vide-game like quest before moving on. I wasn't able to get all the way through them but Boba Fett and Obi-Wan felt the same to me.

As cool as I thought the tech was when I first saw the video about it, it seems conducive to building the same types of setups just with different flavours. Props in the middle, surrounded by a circular CGI background. Perfect for a 'video game town'.

I don't really think that's a byproduct of the volume, so much as its the Mandalorian having a "story of the week" format (something that's less common in the age of bingeable streaming television, but that I personally love as a fan of shows like The X Files).

 

[Osprey]

Generally speaking, calling any one technology better than another is generally a flawed approach. Each have their own advantages and limitations, and how skillfully a director, cinematographer, and VFX team can work around those limitations while maximizing those advantages will determine how good a show or movie looks. I don't think that filming "on location" is always guaranteed to look better, or that natural lighting is always preferred. Filming on location puts you at the mercy of the weather, daylight conditions, real-world clutter, and even just location scouting somewhere that matches the aesthetic the director is looking for (and obviously real world costs and logistical challenges). Even Game of Thrones augmented its outdoor shots with numerous soundstages and green screens.

The Volume enables both more dynamic lighting and interactivity (with still plenty wide field of view), while also giving the director control over lighting and background effects. It's not perfect, and many teams are still learning it, but when executed properly you'd never guess that things were shot on a volume. Take for instance The Batman, which heavily used the volume for a variety of shots and they looked immaculate. And many of those shots during the "golden hour" would have only given an on location film crew mere minutes to try and capture those shots each day (and if they missed it or the weather conditions didn't permit, they'd have no choice but to wait for a future day) - and would be straight up impossible to superimpose a fictional city's background upon (we'd get some very obviously "oh this is actually the New York skyline" shots instead).

You can definitely get things wrong in The Volume, but I can't really think of anything glaring in Obi Wan that I wished had been shot different. Stuff like Our Flag Means Death... yeah, that looks like a crappy soundstage. But, as with any VFX techonology, it often comes down to schedule, budget, and crew expertise more than it does the technology itself.

Do I want everything shot on the volume, or even the entirety of shows that use the volume to only use the volume? No. But I certainly don't think its a technology that should be lampooned or avoided.



Edit - this did remind me, Luke's green lightsaber in Episode VI is a byproduct of filming outdoors during the Jabba barge scenes. His blue saber didn't show up well against the blue sky, so they changed it to green. And because of that, we now have troves of lore about what different light saber colors mean

This gives the impression that I called it a bad technology that should be lampooned or avoided, but I said that it's a great technology that should be used in moderation. I think that we're mostly in agreement on that.

I'm not like, directly in the film industry, but isn't it pretty much always "stage lighting" on sets? The problem with natural light is it shifts throughout the day as the sun moves and clouds sweep by, but they can spend an entire day filming the same scene and then need to cut it together. Even when they're outside they have big lighting production, and a lot of GoT was filmed on stage.

You still get a lot of natural ambient light when you film outdoors and the result looks better than when filmed indoors with 100% artificial lighting, IMO.

 

[beowulf]

 

[Commander Clueless]

Andor was my least favourite character in Rogue One....just seemed really....boring?

When I saw they were doing a spinoff series for him I didn't think much of it but this trailer actually looks really good.

 

[MMC]

 

[Jussi]

 

[Jussi]

 

[Jussi]

John Campea said on his show that he's seen episodes 5 and 6 as well and the quality holds.

 

[Lt Dan]

 

[Jussi]

Season 2 won't be out until mid-2024.

 

[HanSolo]

Man. Ten minutes in and this is already as advertised as a much more serious Star Wars story.

 

[MadDevil]

Just got done with the first 3 episodes and I'm loving this show so far. Its definitely more of the "dark and gritty" Star Wars people have wanted.

 

[Hivemind]

Watched the first 3 episodes. Not quite what I expected, and I definitely see why they chose to release 3 at once. Essentially a 3 episode prelude to what I expect to be the series proper. But it's the ground-level, essentially cyberpunk take on Star Wars that many fans have wanted. It's new settings, new characters, new concepts, and new material - but it fits within the aesthetic and universe we know. And, boy, do they ever do a great job of making that universe feel lived in.

 

[AlanHUK]

Based off these 3 episodes i'd love to see them do more in this kind of style in this era of star wars

 

[HanSolo]

Didn't make it to the third episode, but two in and this is clearly, if nothing else, a significant artistic departure from the other...well screw it from Star Wars in general.

I think generally, among Disney's biggest flaws with this property, the worst is that they are far too reliant on, no not just nostalgia, but the capacity of the galaxy far far away to be effective escapism to the viewer. It gives the impression that they can cut corners on effective writing, acting, and sometimes even production. While I don't make a sport out of finding every flaw and weakness and tend to be more forgiving of the Disney era's shortcomings, I can't deny the flaws are there.

And Andor/ isn't flawless so far. The first episode does that thing where the audience is plopped right into the action and the characters talk about new characters, locations and plot considerations as though the viewer already has a working knowledge of these things and let's the viewer figure out who was being talked about over time. So the world building is a little choppy in places, but I'd imagine it's in part that Andor isn't staying on this first planet for the entirety of the show.

And I'm sure people are gonna bitch that this is too much of a slow burn. But personally I really like the more understated character moments we've gotten so far. It makes this new corner of the galaxy seem a lot more alive and authentic rather than just showing new unique aliens walking around or sitting at a cantina. The smaller moments may seem useless but it gives this world more room to breathe and feel real. Rogue One, as the sequel comparable, introduced most of the characters at a rather breakneck speed and rarely fleshed them out through anything aside from awkwardly inserted exposition. The acting and narrative tone here while taking its time with its more important characters lends to something feeling fresh and honest.

I'm not ready to declare Andor a Star Wars masterpiece or anything and I would like the important story beats to be conveyed with a little more clarity, but in my book, they've given us the first "mature" Star Wars story and have done a strong job with it so far.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Better than KEN9BI

Happy they kept the tone of the movie

 

[Osprey]

I just finished the third episode and really like the series so far. It's a little more serious, gritty and mature than the other Star Wars series and better written and directed, IMO, especially compared to the previous one, Kenobi. It also doesn't rely at all on familiarity or nostalgia and it feels like Tony Gilroy was given freedom to craft the story that he wanted without much interference.

I like the sets, cinematography, editing, acting and score. I don't really have any criticisms, except maybe that the dialogue was often hard to understand, prompting me to rewind and turn on subtitles a few times, but that could've just been on my end.

So far, it's pretty much what I was hoping for.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Anyone else seeing that officer in charge after the shock of seeing his colleagues die due to his incompetance, running off to Join the Empire only to see his career end when he runs into Princess Leia on Lothal?

Go look at the officer in that Rebels episode, he's a complete match

 

[Hasbro]

The brothel at the beginning has a pretty good floor show

 

[beowulf]

Watched only the 1st episode last night and it was a good start. will watch the other 2 tonight probably.

 

[HanSolo]

So got around to episode 3. And yeah it picks up really well from there. No real spoilers but Cassian getting on a ship felt like the first time in a long time I've seen a sequence like that really made me excited to see the adventure to come. I don't know if it was the music or the build up or both but I got chills. Can't wait to get more.

Anyway, won't word salad too much. It's still not 10/10 perfect but man is it good. I excuse a lot of the cheesy acting (but I can't stand the Mandalorian tattoine mechanic) and directing from the other shows cause, I mean it's Star Wars and it hasn't been as bad as the prequels. But this feels so next level from a performance and directing of actors perspective. It feels like the previous shows are, well, Disney + shows, while Andor is an HBO property.

The brothel at the beginning has a pretty good floor show

Let's talk about how Star Wars brothels are now canon.

 

[Osprey]

I agree about it feeling as though it's on another level. The other SW series are like live action versions of Filoni's animated series, whereas this feels to me more like a movie or, as you said, an HBO series.

I just read a review that puts into better words most of my thoughts so far:

A blood-pumping spy thriller that might be the best Star Wars show yet: Andor review

Andor is a breath of fresh air for Star Wars’ TV show catalog

www.techradar.com

 

[Bounces R Way]

They're just doing a show set in the Star Wars Universe rather than a show that is made to fit into the Star Wars Universe and I'm here for it.

Too often SW content has been domineered by the setting; meaning the larger all encompassing good vs evil hero's journey monolith that Star Wars is, and the acting, writing, cinematography, and actual story crafting is treated as secondary. Already the attention to detail in the first three episodes blows by basically everything else Disney Star Wars has put out. The characters are already much more captivating. Tony Gilroy is the man. Very happy with what I've seen so far out of this show and excited to watch the rest.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Episode 3 was great.