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Cinematography of “Andor”

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Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#61
post #47

I think Andor is a bit over hyped in this threat. I absolutely love it (especially the Imperial side of things) but saying it is better than the original movies is a bit too much. If you take into account the time and technical possibilities it's not even close. And the original movies have more memorable things overall. I mean the two villains alone are all time greats. The music is also better (imo). But most impor…

Andor is a very good TV show, but it's obviously getting extra appreciation because it's part of a beloved but increasingly exhausted franchise.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#62
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched it for the first time immediately after finishing Andor. Definitely better than the other Star Wars films but definitely not as good as Andor. (I'm aware the showrunner of Andor co-wrote Rogue One, but Andor really seems like a different tier.)

Andor is by far the best Star Wars. Rogue One is very good, and the only movie that's in the same league as the originals, but Andor is so much better. I don't think we'll see anything on the same level as Andor again; they already cut the original plans from 5 seasons to 2; it's simply too expensive and costs too much time to do it this well. But I do hope that future Star Wars shows will try to follow at least some…

>5 seasons

Thank god. There's not enough meat on the bone, the writing would never have been good enough to support this.

We need more excellent, tightly spun stories.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#63

I thought it was great except for that one scene where they're eating in the wheat fields... It's just so weirdly obvious that it's a set and you can really clearly see where the set ends and the green screens start. Dunno why.

Did you read the article? That specfific scene is discussed.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched it for the first time immediately after finishing Andor. Definitely better than the other Star Wars films but definitely not as good as Andor. (I'm aware the showrunner of Andor co-wrote Rogue One, but Andor really seems like a different tier.)

You guys are excluding the George Lucas movies from discussion right? In my opinion nothing ever came even close and I gave up on SW after the second Kylo Ren movie. Rouge one was cool though, also first episodes of Mandalorian.. Should I really try Andor after all the bad stuff Disney made? A few days ago I watched the new LILO and Stitch and that was great, so maybe good people still work at Disney …

It's barely star wars. It's a competent spy thriller with star wars paint.

Turns out that makes for pretty good adult oriented star wars.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#65
To address this interview specifically, rather than just gushing about how great Andor is--

One point Nuyens makes in a few different ways is that they used a variety of tools and techniques at every stage. People often have simplistic, extreme viewpoints like "modern CGI can do anything" or "CGI looks fake and weightless, practical effects are better". But here's somebody with a big part in making a fantastic-looking show, who very explicitly embraces multiple approaches. Massive real sets with CGI enhancements; sometimes green screens, sometimes old-fashioned backdrop paintings, sometimes LED screens. It sounds like close collaboration between teams in different areas was key, like the VFX team working with the production designer from the start. "Some shots started VFX and then became sets."

It sounds like a big success for an artisanal approach, where every element is a bespoke construction by cross-functional experts, versus a modular approach where each team has a position in the workflow with well-defined inputs and outputs.

But maybe it's not worth the time and money, and the "worse is better" approach wins out? I hope not, or least I hope we get more shows aspiring to be as good as this.

On a smaller scale, interesting to hear how much equipment on a high-end film set is now wireless. That must be a massive change from just a few years ago, where you'd have had massive cables snaking everywhere.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#66

>> But at the same time, I’m so happy that the digital revolution happened. It’s a bigger toolbox for your creativity, especially for night scenes. It’s much easier to light something natural, and to do something with less. No. This is why everything is so dark. With film, cinematographers had to hedge their bets. They could not risk a scene being too dark, something they would not be sure of until the film was devel…

[deleted]

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#67
Andor is a huge middle finger for everything that came after the original trilogy. It manages to be menacing and showing a convincing rebellion against realistic fascism - relying heavily on the tones of the old films - without any of the dumb Jedi magic, light sabers andd mystic blabble.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#68

Everyone seem like to be discussing the show and none the article. For someone who hadn’t watched the show, the article is a pain to read. The images are thrown in randomly, there is no relationship between the text and the images. Every images is pointlessly labelled “Cinematography of “Andor” by Christophe Nuyens”. The interview seems to have covered things in detail, like going into specific scenes and sets, and l…

To be fair, the photos were just ones provided by Disney.

Most likely promotional shots. They used them as examples of the work, and as stills they hold up. I thought the article cromulent.

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#69
post #35

What has impressed me is that in all the Imperial scenes - they have a lot of polished surfaces (floor, control panels, etc) and you never see a reflection of crew or film equipment. I'm sure most of this is the result of good planning before filming but also the amount of effort put in post-production to remove any it. As a physical media guy, I'm happy that Disney decided to release season 1 on 4k UHD. And I hope t…

That reminds of Arthur C Clarke writing about the process of making 2001 with Stanley Kubrick. Clarke visited the set one day, and was absolutely blown away, but jokingly pointed out that somebody had left some fingerprints on the Monolith. Kubrick was furious and Clarke was seriously worried he was going to fire somebody on the spot.

(I think that's in Lost Worlds of 2001, which is a fun read)

Re: Cinematography of “Andor”

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched it for the first time immediately after finishing Andor. Definitely better than the other Star Wars films but definitely not as good as Andor. (I'm aware the showrunner of Andor co-wrote Rogue One, but Andor really seems like a different tier.)

You guys are excluding the George Lucas movies from discussion right? In my opinion nothing ever came even close and I gave up on SW after the second Kylo Ren movie. Rouge one was cool though, also first episodes of Mandalorian.. Should I really try Andor after all the bad stuff Disney made? A few days ago I watched the new LILO and Stitch and that was great, so maybe good people still work at Disney …

I felt like The Mandalorian was a step above its nearest best of Star Wars TV. Andor is a step above that.
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