Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace in 3D

[billybob476]

I also imagine they'll be releasing new "3D movie release" waves of figure repacks.

[Meds]

Lol Darth Maul was awesome. Now a lightsaber battle in 3D would be cool, saying that the only good thing in the prequels were the battles involving lightsabers.

[WillEagle]

I enjoyed the special editions. And with the 3D releases will they release it again in regular format for theaters that don't have 3D??

[Bryancd]

I enjoyed the special editions. And with the 3D releases will they release it again in regular format for theaters that don't have 3D??

My understanding is that this is a 3D only release.

[Bryancd]

Quick update:

http://www.starwars.com/movies/saga/prime_focus_star_wars_3d/index.html

[Bryancd]

They played a good interview on last weeks Force Cast of Lucas talking about the 3D project on G4 TV. He discussed the issue's involved with up-converting a 2D film into 3D. He said a lot of the issue's of quality arise from the people doing the coversion not having an understanding of how the scene they are working on was actually staged. It was really interesting and explains a lot as to why the up-conversion efforts have been so bad. He's having the folks from ILM work directly with the company doing the work on the Phantom Menace to have so to be able to have the people who were actually on set be available to make sure it's done correctly. He also said he's a big fan of "screen back" 3D and feels it's a superior medium to view a film over 2D.

[Dangelus]

I also imagine they'll be releasing new "3D movie release" waves of figure repacks.

If I remember correctly the original figures were already 3D ;)

[Rico]

Well, George has been wrong before.  ;)

The honest truth and answer is you really can't make "3-D" out of "2-D" film.  Without cameras filming the scene with the ability to record varying depths of view it just won't really work right.  What does "how the scene was staged" have to do with this?  You need the raw film to do it and have even a chance of it coming out right. 

Now, the big advantage Lucas has with the prequels is they were shot with digital equipment.  So he can sort of "digitally cheat" in a lot of scenes - especially effects scenes.  But when he gets to the original trilogy it's going to be much harder to do.  I wish them luck, but obviously I have my reservations on this.

[Dangelus]

If they motivation behind doing this is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of film making etc then I'm all for it but I suspect that $$ may be the may reason.

We shall see...

[Bryancd]

The honest truth and answer is you really can't make "3-D" out of "2-D" film.  Without cameras filming the scene with the ability to record varying depths of view it just won't really work right.  What does "how the scene was staged" have to do with this?  You need the raw film to do it and have even a chance of it coming out right.  

As he explains, apparently you can make the coversion without having to have the film done in native 3D, according to the interview.  He discussed how 15 years ago, they did a partial conversion of ANH and it was very good. The issue with the staging is that unless the person doing the conversion of a given scene knows exactly how the scene was blocked, where all the actors, background, foreground, ect were in relation to each other on set as it was filmed, they will make errors of the spacing which make the up-coverted image look wrong. So by having people from LucasFilm working alongside the conversion company, he feels he can eliminate that issue and have the result look they way he wants. Go listen to the interview, it's all of 5min.

[Bryancd]

If they motivation behind doing this is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of film making etc then I'm all for it but I suspect that $$ may be the may reason.

We shall see...

Well, in the same interview he also discusses the live action series. He said that using current technology, filming this show as written would cost as much as a feature. They need to do it for only 10% of that kind of cost. So they are working on developing new technology for future filmmakers where a $150 million dollar movie today can be made for $50million, that's a direct quote. So I know bashing Lucas as greedy is popular fanboy rage, but I don't see it that way at all. Listen to the interview, the man is an innovator, STAR WARS is the way he funds his innovation.

[Dangelus]

If they motivation behind doing this is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of film making etc then I'm all for it but I suspect that $$ may be the may reason.

We shall see...

Well, in the same interview he also discusses the live action series. He said that using current technology, filming this show as written would cost as much as a feature. They need to do it for only 10% of that kind of cost. So they are working on developing new technology for future filmmakers where a $150 million dollar movie today can be made for $50million, that's a direct quote. So I know bashing Lucas as greedy is popular fanboy rage, but I don't see it that way at all. Listen to the interview, the man is an innovator, STAR WARS is the way he funds his innovation.

Oh I have no doubt about that. So many innovations have come from Lucasfilm and spun off into the industry. It's just the old argument that would like to see something new and that reinventing existing material is a way of getting us to pay again for the same said material.

I really do hope he gets to do the live action series some day and I admire that he is hold off. He could have just put out something mediocre and made plenty of money from it.

[Bryancd]

If they motivation behind doing this is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of film making etc then I'm all for it but I suspect that $$ may be the may reason.

We shall see...

Well, in the same interview he also discusses the live action series. He said that using current technology, filming this show as written would cost as much as a feature. They need to do it for only 10% of that kind of cost. So they are working on developing new technology for future filmmakers where a $150 million dollar movie today can be made for $50million, that's a direct quote. So I know bashing Lucas as greedy is popular fanboy rage, but I don't see it that way at all. Listen to the interview, the man is an innovator, STAR WARS is the way he funds his innovation.

Oh I have no doubt about that. So many innovations have come from Lucasfilm and spun off into the industry. It's just the old argument that would like to see something new and that reinventing existing material is a way of getting us to pay again for the same said material.

I really do hope he gets to do the live action series some day and I admire that he is hold off. He could have just put out something mediocre and made plenty of money from it.

Yeah, very true, but we are getting new content, The Clone Wars. And he is working on future content. So when fans complain about the rehashing of the films and that they want new content, it's frustrating. Lucas isn't going to just make new movies. He's telling his story via Clone Wars for now and is working on technology. Re-issuing the films helps fund that, be it 3D or Blu-Ray.

[X]

If they motivation behind doing this is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of film making etc then I'm all for it but I suspect that $$ may be the may reason.

We shall see...

Well, in the same interview he also discusses the live action series. He said that using current technology, filming this show as written would cost as much as a feature. They need to do it for only 10% of that kind of cost. So they are working on developing new technology for future filmmakers where a $150 million dollar movie today can be made for $50million, that's a direct quote. So I know bashing Lucas as greedy is popular fanboy rage, but I don't see it that way at all. Listen to the interview, the man is an innovator, STAR WARS is the way he funds his innovation.

I get what you're saying. I know you want to call him an innovator, but shouldn't he ... well innovate something that will fund future innovations instead of going back to the well?

While he might have some great ideas, I think that he might be a little afraid of failure or something. It feels to me like he's playing it safe. Why test your latest innovation on a untested property that might generate new revenue when you can test it on the cash cow that is the Star Wars audience?

He has one and a half properties that are adored ... then nothing else.

Now if you were to say Cameron was an innovator, I'd agree. Back in '09 he too had the idea to try to do an upconvert of one of his films to 3d.


Now don't get me wrong. I don't fault him for what George's doing. If I could pull it off, I would. Without hesitation. I also don't hold to Star Wars being sacred gospel that should be touched. I think I might even see the value of offering a bit more when you re-release something to give the consumer more value to their attendance. I'm even willing to bet that this will not be a 3D only release.

I just think that an innovator should be able to innovate and create a new franchise to use us as lab rats on.

[Bryancd]

But Chris you are assuming he wants to be a filmmaker. I have always said he's really not a filmmaker at heart, he's a technocrat. He loves the technology much more then the creative process of filmmaking. That's where there's this disconnect with some fans. They want film content, new franchises. I don't think he has the slightest interest in that. Separate the creative process and the technical and then look at what Lucas is doing. It's very clear.