In regards to Andor:
It was also a bit slow and not really on-brand with the classic Star Wars look and feel. Don't get me wrong, it had some good parts, but it felt more like Firefly than Star Wars for the most part, but without the fun vibe of Firefly, unfortunately.
I understand that not every world is going to look and feel like the main franchise, but Mandalorian bridged that gap with a classic character style, while Andor didn't have a strong and consistent stylistic tie to the franchise. So it's understandable that even if the production was solid it wouldn't generate as much brand crossover interest/loyalty, especially given the plethora of shows that have more of a connection.
For better or worse, Andor is an interesting moment for the franchise. I know that Rogue One has it's detractors, but I liked it a lot. Even so, when they announced a show centering entirely around some one off character from that movie, I honestly didn't know why. Nothing about that made me want to tune in and I really couldn't care less. So really giving it a chance was really just that, a chance. And I was absolutely blown away. I'll save you all from me gushing about it.
My feelings aside, I can see why it was a hard show to sell for most audiences. It's a slow burn, dark, dystopian, and politically relevant drama. Some of those things I find to be very true to the spirit of Star Wars, but also things a lot of people aren't looking for in their Star Wars. Even now, I encourage just about everyone I know to give the show a chance. I personally am turned off when someone begs me to watch something, so I try to keep my points brief and poignant. But wow, it's like pulling teeth to get anyone on both sides of the fence to give it a chance. Hardcore SW fans and new comers a like.
As for the Acolyte, I have no experience with any of the High Republic novels/graphic novels so I am not a part of the built in audience for that world. And thats fine. Star Wars is big enough to offer a multitude of pleasures. Part of that is variety, and part of that is nostalgic. Being reductive of anyone's enjoyment is not the way forward.
A big problem I think is the hype machine. Culture War bs aside, you type Star Wars into youtube and you'll be blasted with SW content creators posting reaction videos to every nugget of news about an upcoming show or etc. And I really don't blame them because that's their thing. But I couldn't imagine having to hang on the words of every speaker at Star Wars Celebration hyping up their upcoming movie or show. Of course they are going to use hyperbole to get you excited. They are going to say it's the "rematch of the century" and make all these self serving claims about being dedicated to the original trilogy and how they are life long Star Wars fans or how this will be a return to form. And for a fanbase to pick apart every thing they are claiming and making theories about what it means and what the new show will be about, just sounds like a recipie for never ending disappointment. Not to mention the second hand exposure to negative engagement of clickbait yt videos. Even if you don't watch those videos, just being exposed to the barrage of thumbnails attempting to enrage/engage you is gross and exhausting. Star Wars outrage has unfortunately become a business. Thats why I usually wait for all of a season to release before I watch it.
Another interesting thing I find which ties into the roots of this franchise, the times in which these projects were made, and the awkward way in which each new story is supposed to fill in a moment in a galactic timeline that ultimately ends with a movie/show made in 2005/2016/2022 leading directly into a film released in 1977. I am personally all for the preservation of the OT in their original forms as part of cinematic history. But due to the nature of these collaborative story telling projects (especially in the absence of George), retroactive alterations to preserve continuity make for a more cohesive experience. So while I dislike replacing the original voice actor for Boba Fett with Timura Morrison, I appreciate its effect on the series.
So with that in mind, I feel like not enough attention is paid to the cinematic meta visuals of the series. That being the modern desire for clean/pure/pristine picture quality shot in digital always being the highest standard the series is aiming for. While ultimately all of these interquel stories are made for and because of the 1977 original. So much so that the only real option people seem to keep entertaining is to make something produced with the film making tools of the 70's look more and more homogenized to fit in next to it's modern counterparts. Which will never fully be realized.
So rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole, I feel like it's easier and way more endearing to have the modern counterparts adhere to the original aesthetic. That being older film stock looks/color grading, film grain, imperfections (visual and audio), etc. I don't mean to say everything should be grindhoused, but I think this aspect of Star War's origin and it's fundamental charm is akin to things like fire in space, control panels with giant red buttons, and less specificity in how things work. This definitely is something that isn't for everyone, but it's something I think should be considered more.
I think it would be, not perfect, but incredibly interesting to see how people would feel watching the special editions of the OT with more of a classic film stock look as well as de-enhanced spfx shots. Like making the beak on the Sarlac less obviously cgi (by way of film grain, halation, gate weave, etc) and a little more of its time by reducing the framerate for a more stop motion look. Like the opposite of Scribbling Man's Jason and Argonauts edits.
I don't think this way of thinking and filmmaking solves fundamental problems with a show or movie, but check out this thread about Dr. Dre's new color matching/prediction algorithm. Being able to generate a color grade from unrelated sources to match the looks of other films, he uses a shot of the cantina from ANH to color grade a similar scene in The Mandalorian.
So, many years ago I wrote an algorithm for matching the colors of two identical frames with different color grades. The algo has become quite popular among the community in the form of an aging color matching tool. Over the past year I have been working on a new algo, that does what the old...
forums.thestarwarstrilogy.com
Again, what does this really change? Not much. But oh so cool and I think that just makes everything fit a little nicer.
Anyway, thank you for coming to my TED talk.
