Kathleen Kennedy Talks Special Effects For Star Wars VII

Kathleen Kennedy has been quite busy lately with the avalanche of Star Wars news being released this past week at Star Wars Celebration Europe. From the logo being released for the upcoming animated Star Wars Rebels series, the Clone Wars DVD and Bluray announcments, as well as Jon Williams returning to do the score for Star Wars Episode VII. Newly appointed LucasFilm president ,Kathleen Kennedy recently sat down at a panel hosted by fan favorite Warwick Davis to discuss everything from her schedule between meeting with J.J Abrams, the progress and direction of the script, and the look and feel of the special effects for episode VII. Be sure and check out the backstage talk with Warwick Davis and Kennedy as well.

Source:IGN

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Star Wars Episode VII Focusing on Character and Story First, CGI Balanced with Practical Effects

Executive producer Kathleen Kennedy has given an update on the production of Episode VII at Star Wars Celebration Europe.

Kennedy revealed she is currently dividing her time between Lucasfilm – where she’s sat in George’s old office, by the way – and Bad Robot, where she’s busy having extensive story meetings with J.J. Abrams and the rest of the writing team, including Empire Strikes Back scribe Lawrence Kasdan. And that emphasis on story and character came up repeatedly during today’s panel, hosted by Warwick Davis.

“The story and characters are all we’re talking about right now,” said Kennedy. “We have an amazing team at ILM, who can create fantastic effects, but if we don’t have a great story and characters, the effects mean nothing.”

For Kennedy these elements are crucial to making enduring blockbuster entertainment. She should know, of course, working on the likes of ET, Back to the Future, and The Sixth Sense, to name just three.

“I do think making huge popular culture – and I’ve had the good fortune to be a part of a lot it – is really hard to do and get right. And if you don’t spend the time you need on developing characters, and finding stories, complicated stories, the audience gets tired because they think they’re seeing the same thing again and again.”

Kennedy also went on to talk about the use CG effects, which many believe the Star Wars prequels relied upon too heavily. Kennedy is uniquely placed to comment on the relationship between traditional special effects and CG effects, since she worked not only on the very first CG composited shot in the history of film (it was in Young Sherlock Holmes, if you were wondering), but also produced Jurassic Park, which helped pioneer the technology that features so heavily in today’s blockbusters. Clearly, it’s something she’s still passionate about. “There’s nothing more exciting than to be involved in that kind of technological innovation,” said Kennedy. “When the story ideas you’re working on contribute to pushing the technology, I really think that’s what’s so exciting about our business. It’s when the imagination drives innovation and new design.”

But she’s also wary of films becoming overly reliant on this technology, forgetting older methods. Jurassic Park is a great example of how CG can be successfully blended with practical effects, and it seems this philosophy, also informed by the original Star Wars trilogy, will underpin the production of Episode VII and the future sequels. “It’s a conversation we’re having all the time in the development of Episode VII. Looking at all the Star Wars movies and getting a feel for what even some of the early films did, combining real locations and special effects – that’s something we’re looking very seriously at.”

This resulted in rapturous applause from the audience, with many glowing lightsabers being waved in frantic approval. “So we’re going to find some very cool locations that we’re going to use in support of Episode VII,” promised Kennedy. “And I think we’re probably going to end up using every single tool in the toolbox to create the look of these movies.”

And when Davis asked what exactly was in that toolbox, Kennedy said, “It’s using model makers; it’s using real droids; it’s taking advantage of artwork that you actually can touch and feel. And we want to do that in combination with CG effects. We figure that’s what will make it real.”

So a new Star Wars film focussing on character and story, featuring models and real-life locations working in tandem with CG effects, all capped with a score by John Williams (confirmed earlier today)… interested now?