Many of the truths

Expectations of Episode VII - Part Two (JJ Abrams)

For Expectations of Episode VII - Part 1 (The Tone) see here: http://rosie-verses.blogspot.com/2014/04/rxpectations-of-episode-vii.html

Now onto Part 2 (JJ Abrams):
In 1977, a story "began" and we started to play.  Every wrapping paper roll became a lightsaber.  My 5-year-old self had every iconic Kenner figure. We knew them all.  From the big three...Luke, Leia and Han down to every "minor" character including Snaggletooth, Hammerhead, R5-D4 and the Power Droid.  But there really weren't minor characters.   Anyone and everyone became a part of the rest of the story.   The expanded story, fueled by our imaginations, our excitement and (what we would later know as) our sense of wonder, Lucas' stories naturally blossomed into an expanded Galaxy...no, an Expanded Universe.  There was no level of detail that went unnoticed.  There was play.

This play was inspired by the movies and eventually by newly Lucas' own created Expanded Universe items like Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the Marvel Star Wars comics (green space bunny, included).  Our imaginations ran wild.  For us "play" was just what would later be called "fan-fic".   Most of us weren't writing them down, but from 1977 on, we began inventing our own tales of the further adventures of Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie.

In 1983, a story "ended", but we continued to play.  As my 10-year-old self, I didn't play with my KENNER toys quite as much as my 5-year-old self.  But, there was still play.

But we also began the discussions.  The years of discussions.  We had six hours of dense, passionate, exciting adventure that we watched and watched and watched.  Each minute, each second of Star Wars was a finely polished gem created with care, patience and craftsmanship.  The level of detail in each moment of the film lent itself to endless discussion, analysis and debate.

And that debate inevitably led from discussing the story that we knew into discussions about the story after that final frame.  This on-going discussion was just a more mature (more or less) version of the playtime we had grown up with.  We were just continuing to speculate on what would be the next adventure for the family of heroes that we had grown to care so much about.

And Lucas continued fomenting the discussion.  With characters from novels like Thrawn and Mara Jade or with characters from comics like a resurrected Emperor or a not-quite defeated Boba Fett, our imaginations just continued to be sparked and delighted.

Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams  was born June 27, 1966.  He was 10 years old, almost 11, on May 25, 1977 the day that Star Wars premiered to the world.  Here are a few of his thoughts on the release back then:

If you have watched any of his body of work, then you can see that from 1977 on, Star Wars flowed through his veins and his imagination, like an uncontrollable Force.  The themes, style and ethos embodied in the Galaxy that Lucas Built shows up like a leitmotif throughout JJ's career.

The reason I mention this, is that I believe that in his mind, JJ has been writing, crafting and imagining Episode VII since he was 16 years old.  He has worked out every plot point and every character development.  And he has spent a lifetime making film and television to learn and to overcome every technical hurdle for crafting the next chapter of the saga.   I think that whatever gets released to the world on December 18, 2015 will be the culmination of a lifetime of contemplation, inspiration and preparation.  Just like what was released to the world on May 25, 1977.  

Will it change the way we see movies and tell stories, just as Star Wars did in 1977?  Probably not.  Will it have the same sweeping cultural impact?  Again...probably not.

But will it be a worthy successor and natural follow-up to the grandest saga that cinema has ever produced?  My guess is yes.  My guess is that Ep. VII will feel like both an expression of JJ's voice but also it will feel like going back home.

I can't wait.

Cousins?

Oh, Captain, my Captain!

Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

Let's take a moment and discuss some of the pros and cons of spoilers.

Below are a few examples/anecdotes about some interesting spoilers.  All of these are fairly or very old...so they are HEAVILY spoiler laden.  I'm guessing anyone reading this post has seen them all...or at least know the twists.  In order to give you a chance to avoid the below spoilers...before you get to these spoilers, I will be embedding a kick butt photo of Star Wars Kittens.

But before we get to that, I wanted to point out that this post is in response to listening to the Echo Base podcast on ForceCast.net (hosted by Erik Blythe, Eric Geller, Louis Secki and Justin Bolger.  One or two of these fellow geeks (I'm sorry...I can't remember which ones) reported that they got more enjoyment of their first viewing of the movie Revenge of the Sith (May 2005) because they had already read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith (April 2005) before watching the movie.  One said, "I was spoiled up the wazoo and I loved it."  (Awesome quote!)

Anyways...their contention was that this was not a "spoiler" because they still got to experience the narrative flow as intended.  They got their surprises during their reading of the book instead of during their watching of the movie.  This is even less of a potential spoiler, in this case, because so much of the events after Episode III get revealed just by watching Episodes IV, V and VI.  (Please see my thoughts on the "correct" viewing order at: http://rosie-verses.blogspot.com/p/the-definitive-okaythe-highly.html.  Hint: It's 451236...mostly.)

Here is the link to the full podcast episode to listen for yourself: Echo Base #2: Knowing Too Much.

I have to say that I found that to be a fascinating idea! I had read both Jurassic Park and The Lord of the Rings prior to seeing the films, and they greatly added to the experience.  And I agree that this is very different than knowing a big twist from the beginning. However, my short response is that if a film needs a novel to complete the narrative, then it has failed in the medium of filmmaking as a complete piece. But that's okay. It doesn't mean it is bad or is without any merit at all. There was LOTS that I truly enjoyed about Ep. III, but, sadly, the bottom line is that I contend it was not a complete film. (I'll do my best to explain why below.)

But before I go on...let's discuss spoilers, in general.

I will start with a premise.  The premise is that what truly stays with us in our experiences is not the details of an event, but the memory of how the event made us feel.

In a narrative, the satisfaction of a dramatic climax is the result of following the following basic sequential steps:

1. Introduce Characters and Setting.
2. Put Characters in Danger.
3. Resolve Danger.

If this formula is not followed in this order, then there is no tension...no excitement...no emotional connection. There is some flexibility in Steps 1 and 2.  You can start the story by presenting the danger, then introducing the characters & setting.  But the resolution of the conflict must be in the final act.

Goosebumps and Feels

Geekbumps and Feels are those moments: sometimes your hair stands on end...sometimes some dust drifts into your eyes.   Either way they are the moments that stick with you and why we love our stories.

Please comment with any I left out...

Star Wars: 

• Luke looking over the horizon at the twin setting suns.
• The swing over the chasm.
• "Never tell me the odds!" followed by the music crescendo.
• "I love you."  "I know."
• "No...that's not true.  That's impossible. No!  Nooooo!"
• Lando and Chewie fly off with Luke, Leia and the droids watching...then the fleet moves forward...followed by the music crescendo.
• Luke losing it when Vader indicates that he will try to turn Leia.

Star Trek:

• "Ship out of danger?"  "You are now, and will always be...my friend."
• "Of all the souls, his was the most...human."
• Tasha Yar's Memorial Service
• Inner Light
• Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.   Shaka when the walls fell.
• Lorcutus
• Pilot of DS9.  "Why do you keep returning to this moment?"

Doctor Who:

     • Bad Wolf Bay

     • Martha inspires the world to believe in The Doctor

     • Donna's Mind burns

     • The Doctor introduces Vincent van Gogh to the docent (Bill Nighy)

     • "Rory?   Rory who?"

     • "Hello, Stonehenge!!!"

     • Amelia Pond blinks

     • John Hurt saves The Doctor from The Doctor

     • "I've always believed in Santa Claus."

Others:

• ET Dies
• ET Lives
• Independence Day speech
• Indiana Jones loves Marion
• Juliet falling into the shaft during The Incident in LOST
• Hurley remembers Libby in the Flashsideways in LOST
• Hurley sees Charlie in the Flashsideways in LOST

George Lucus on midichlorians

George Lucas in the audio commentary of the 2008 DVD version of Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope: 

"The film was kind of shot from the robots point of view.  I was sort of amused by that...at the time it was a very bold idea to have the first half hour to be mainly about robots.  The only real human character in the first 20 minutes of the movie is Princess Leia. 

My introduction to Kurosawa films were very powerful because it happened in film school and I knew very little about Japanese history at that point.  And when I would get thrown into something like Seven Samurai or Yojimbo or any of those movies, it was like I had no idea what was going on.  

I mean, I could follow the human story, but the culture was completely complex and oblique...and I liked that feeling of being thrown into an environment, you know...trying to get my bearings and still be able to tell a story that made sense.  That you weren't so confused that you couldn't follow it.

I can't stand it when in a fantasy film you just sit around and try to explain how a teleporter works or why.   You know...it's just not what the movie needs to be about."

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"I was very keen on making a movie that was like watching a foreign film where you just didn’t know the world you were in.  You just didn’t know what was going on.  You didn’t know the politics.  You didn’t know anything and nothing was explained to you.

So, you were simply thrown into this world and there’s an adventure going on and you have to, you know, get with it, as opposed to a traditional fantasy film where they spend a lot of time sort of explaining everything.

Unfortunately, now I’m in the position of having to explain everything."