#it is the perfect way to approach spectacle/popcorn moviemaking. tension is like so so so important to have good ENGAGING fun

[legionofpotatoes]

*nonchalantly guides the Star Wars discourse fandom into an unsuspecting walk-in closest full of dusty, bootleg props from the original trilogy, sneaks out while it's distracted and locks the door behind it, muffled bangs and angry screams echoing through the halls*

That hyperspace scene from The Last Jedi is honestly such a beautiful and serene thing to look at and I can't help but appreciate all the hard work that the VFX artists put into those shots

It's the context, too. It gets so much out of the filmmaking surrounding it. I sometimes talk about how we lose touch with real tension in genre films, and that scene is a great example as this cathartic beat that directly caps a tightly wound trifecta of concurrent plotlines, each catastrophically going wrong and getting worse by the minute. And the buildup deftly emphasizes and turns up the noise alongside everything else: shuttles filled with our last shreds of hope screeching as they consecutively explode from enemy fire, the kids upstairs yelling silly in their tug-of-war-force-edition, the ones downstairs literally counting down the seconds to their very public execution, john williams just going ham in the background, and it all twists and twists and twists that knob until the sound is deafening and scene cuts match the speed of your heartbeat and everyone is moments away from losing and then the decision.

The decision. To cut through all that tension and every thread of impending doom all at once with silence. Such a simple trick to pull, but so effective. Questions and answers, that good storytelling. Ups and downs, setups and payoffs, tension and release, something high, something low. Deafen us with the noise of an imminent failure hydra and then follow with just one moment of self-sacrifice so vast and indomitable that it drowns everything out by being singular and quiet.

It is such a classic example of tension-building and resolution with compounding stakes that become almost too much just before rewarding viewers with a catharsis that feels at once earned yet surprising. Not talking about the writing here, or the story, or the plot details, or the even bigger context, or even how correct this all is vis-a-vis character arcs or The Mythos or whatever. We can let that closet door be, I'm not talking to those folks. Just marveling at the pure filmmaking instincts at play; their intentionality, their deftness, and how hard they work to really earn that stunning handful of shots.

And yes; I can't imagine a VFX artist serving a context this elegant and then not giving it their all. It was a triumph of every technical discipline involved, and I loved their cohesion in matching the audio design in terms of restraint. All of it, visuals included: tightly framed, minimal cuts, monochrome coloring, a single - maybe even a story-driven - source of light, adequate room to breathe and linger by the end (so we can breathe out too!); it was all about focusing it into something deliberate, inarguable, final. The opposite of the chaos preceding it.

Great set piece, great closer. Again; nothing to do with it being a star wars anything, simply remarking on cinematic grammar correctly engaging with and responding to its audience in the moment.

(and going through that aforementioned whiplash of tension and release was especially moving in the theater. Double especially considering the more rounded edges in any tension-building throughout the bookend installments. I don't get preachy often, but some cinematic staples stand the test of time for a reason! Just be intentional with it. And have lots of setups. And pay all of them off)