The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

CONCEPT ART LENDS TO THE VISUAL DEPICTION OF IDEAS THAT GIVE HOPE TO A GREAT FILM.
Star Wars: The Art of The Force Awakens
Vader Castle
Artist: Brett Northcut

The Force Awakens brought Star Wars back to the big screen as it kicked off the sequel trilogy. It also marked the first Art of Star Wars books with The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which also was my first Star Wars art of book. While diving into the film itself is not on the docket, what is, is the art.

The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is heavy on earth tones. Lots of brown’s, gray’s, beige really set the tone, while there are other colors such as red and orange it is the earth tones that override this art book. That is in no way a bad thing as much as an observation.

The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Castle Alien C050
Artist: Ivan Manzella

The Force Awakens Art of book is actually very vehicle heavy with less character art, which again is fine. There are characters but ships tend to stand out.

Looking at this book for the first time in a while was refreshing as was watching the film. I like to really dig into the artwork and then watch the film or streaming show to see how the art translated. In the case of The Force Awakens the film was much more beige than I remembered and more so than the art in the book.

Yet it is the early concepts that really evolved from the drawing table to finished product. The book offers vehicle’s and characters that started off looking one way and ended up totally different which is the allure of The Art of Star Wars books if you are into both films/ shows and art.

The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Old Trooper Barfly
Artist: Gyln Dillon

The newness of, at the time a brand new Star Wars trilogy was met head on by the Lucasfilm art department who as illustrated in the book saw artist visions change into something else at end product.

No matter how you feel about The Force Awakens or the sequel trilogy for that matter, The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is worth checking out.

 

Next up, The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Writing challenge day 9: The Force Awakens

I really like Star Wars. When The Force Awakens was set to hit theaters in 2015, I was amped up. After leaving the theater I was a underwhelmed. Director JJ Abrams was known for reviving movie franchises. Star Wars did not need reviving just fresh stories. The problem is The Force Awakens is the best sequel movie by a long shot. Here’s why.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 09: Daisy Ridley’s wax figure character Rey from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is unveiled at Madame Tussauds on August 9, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Neil Mockford/Getty Images)

We are introduced to Rey who is in the same sort of mold as Luke Skywalker. Rey is sort of a cross between Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi which is odd for a new character. Also Finn and Poe Dameron round out the new Star Wars trio.

Finn and Poe share kind of funny, kind of annoying scenes together mixed in with the new droid BB8. There is next to no character development with Finn an Poe so that gets a bit muddled.

Rey is trying to find Luke Skywalker and the whole film is about that search. Kylo Ren who is actually the best character in the entire sequels is played by Adam Driver. Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia. He turned to the dark side but really just because he wanted to. That was not ideal writing.

There is a nice chase scene in the film and it does fairly well as an introduction film. Two events in the film really began to sour the Star Wars fan base.

  1. The death of Han Solo. Walking into a lightsaber. Seriously? This is how one of the most iconic movie characters dies? Okay.
  2. When Rey does finally find Luke Skywalker it is the moment everyone has been waiting for, and then there he is and he’s bitter, angry and rude. Really? This is not the essence of Luke’s character. That was a big miss.
BANGKOK, THAILAND – 2015/12/17: BB-8 arrives one of the characters in the epic science fiction movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens during its global phenomenon opening at Major Cineplex Galaxy Adventure realm in Siam Paragon. (Photo by Vichan Poti/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Force Awakens was in hindsight an alright film. The fact that it turned out to be the best of the new batch of Star Wars movies probably tells you how I personally feel about the sequel trilogy. I am not alone, Disney is now trying to fix the mess they created and it is going to take a lot.