Los Angeles – As we watched director J.J. Abrams introducing the first images of his “Star Wars - The Force Awakens” a few months ago in front of a hysteric crowd of geeks and ultra-fans, we couldn’t help but think: he’s the first guy to have directed both a “Star Trek” and a “Star Wars” movie. A master of storytelling mixed with pop entertainment and a heavy dose of special effects and digital enhancements: who better than Abrams can guide us through the complex and exciting maze of the new technologies applied to film?
After all he’s the creator of successful, suspenseful TV series as “Alias” and “Lost,” and has helmed big budget movies such as “Mission: Impossible III” (2006), the reboot of “Star Trek” (2009) and its sequel “Into Darkness” (2013), and he’s now done with the new “Star Wars” (Episode VII) with Harrison Ford, which he also wrote, with Lawrence Kasdan, and produced alongside the saga’s godfather George Lucas with his Lucasfilm and Disney Pictures (December 2015).
Episode VII will kick off a new trilogy: Disney’s president Alan Horn – sitting next to Abrams – announced that the next two instalments of the saga will be released in 2017 and 2019: Episode VIII will be directed by Rian Johnson, while N. IX will be passed to Colin Trevorrow (“Jurassic World”), under the supervision of the same Abrams. Horn has also announced the project of a new “Star Wars” themed area to be built inside Disneyland.
Everything was state of the art technology, unthinkable in 1977, and yet I think we guaranteed a sense of loyalty and respect towards the beginning of the FX and the digital era.
We asked Abrams about the original developments in the field of CGI, motion-capture, animatronic and virtual reality in film, the way they will be implemented, and about the convergence between Hollywood, Silicon Valley and specialty studios like Lucas’ ILM.
“Technology, as I was saying, can and must help storytelling. I’m most impressed with motion-capture performance technology, the one with the man in lycra, the most sophisticated interface between man/actor and computer animation. It’s a very pure form of acting, as Serkis would tell you. You’re not helped by any sort of artifice or aided by any costume or prosthetic makeup. Instead, performance capture relies on a complex system of movement-mapping registered by multiple cameras, rendered digitally, and completed by a team of animators. It’s an impressive feat of cinematic magic that has seduced filmmakers and moviegoers alike but has failed to change attitudes pertaining to authorship of the role, the blurring lines of performance and special effects, and, ultimately, the lack of a warm body on-screen. It’s not CGI cheating!” he says laughing.