Star Wars: Episode VII will use more practical locations and effects, less CGI

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Psyched about the news that John Williams is returning to score STAR WARS: EPISODE VII? How about this additional information from Star Wars Celebration Europe: EPISODE VII will not be a CGI-saturated green screen movie but will return to a more realistic method of film-making. That’s right, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy informed those in attendance that there will be a lot less computer-generated effects in the first Disney STAR WARS.

“We’re looking at what the early Star Wars films did; they used real locations with special effects. So [for Episode VII] we’re going to find some very cool locations, [and] we’re going to end up using every single tool in the toolbox.”

Even cooler is that Kennedy says it was the amateur STAR WARS fans all over the world who have built and shared their creations on the Internet.

“I was amazed yesterday, looking at what the fans are doing,” she said. “Using model makers, using real droids, taking advantage of the artwork that you can touch and feel – we want to do that in combination with CG effects.”

So far, so good, Disney. Lucasfilm seems to be operating with a newfound energy and vigor that was sorely missing during the prequels. Gone will be George Lucas‘ stilted dialogue and over-reliance on computer wizardry. What made the original trilogy so endearing was that it looked like you could reach out and touch everything in the world on screen. The new films had multiple occasions where you couldn’t be sure the actors were even looking at something physically in front of them or not.

No further news was shared aside from the fact that Michael Arndt is still working on “story and character” for STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, something that could be worrisome if the film intends to begin shooting in mere months.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII will hit theaters in 2015.