Rian Johnson on His Excitement for STAR WARS and Practical Effects
We've had a lot of information coming out regarding Star Wars: Episode VII, but let's move ahead to Star Wars: Episode VIII. Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, Breaking Bad) is the man who will be writing and directing that movie along with Episode IX. Since Johnson has come on board, he's been relatively quiet about the whole thing.
The filmmaker recently appeared on the Girls in Hoodies podcast to talk about all kinds of things, and naturally, Star Wars: Episode VIII came up in the conversation. When asked about the job, Johnson said, “The most surprising thing is just how not scary it is, and how much fun it is." Of course, he can't really say much about it at this point, but he did say,
"It’s boring to talk about, because the only thing I can really say is I’m just happy. But I don’t have the terror I expected I would, at least not yet. I’m sure I will at some point."
One of the hosts brought up the development process of the movie, saying that it seems to “have a bit more air in it,” to which Johnson replied,
"Yeah, I think that’s true. And coming at the time it does where, like if there’d been no Star Wars movies since Return of the Jedi there’d be a lot more pressure. But the fact we’ve had the prequels, we’ve had the tv shows, we’ve had Angry Birds Star Wars — I play it all the time!"
He then spoke about visiting the set of Episode VII.
"…they’re shooting in London, which is why i just was in London, for reals. But yeah, I think I’m definitely going to go back. Visiting a set you’re not working on, though, I always feel kind of uncomfortable. Not because anyone makes you feel uncomfortable at all, but if you do’t have a job on the set, its a really strange place to be. But if there’s any set in the world to be on…"
Johnson continued, talking about the practical effects of the movie and how it's making a comeback.
"They’re doing so much practical building for this one, its awesome. They’re doing it all right, yeah. … I think people are coming back around [to practical effects] yeah, it seems like there’s a gravity pulling us back towards it. … I think more and more people are hitting a critical mass as far as the CG-driven action scene, lending itself towards a very specific type of action film, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick, and I probably sound like a grumpy old man talking about it. I do wonder, kids are growing up watching those and that’s the thing they love now. So I don’t know if it’s a generational thing."
Make sure to listen to the full podcast by clicking on the link above. They talk about all kinds of interesting topics. I love that Johnson is going to develop Episodes VIII and IX. The guy is an amazing and unique writer and director who is going to do some amazing things for this franchise.
Via: /Film