Andor [Disney+]

Tony Gilroy is the show runner; he was writer for the Bourne movies - and Rogue One. Directed Michael Clayton fadó.

Credit where it's due, that looks exactly what I hoped Star Wars TV shows might be. I'm now mildly hyped. Obviously a prequel but also obviously much more than that. I hope the senate stuff is an integral part.

Interestingly, Andor didn't make use of StageCraft, LucasArts 3d back projection video wall as used with Mandalorian, Obi-Wan etc. Apparently much of the outdoor shoot was location work, the sets physical creations. Impressive commitment, wonder how Tony Gilroy persuaded the suits to not use the video.wall.

Can you tell though? I was going to go to youTube and see if I could pull out some clips, try to see if the StageCraft scenes are more obvious? It's very advanced rear projection, I can imagine certain "locations" might convince more than others.

I was going to speculate if Tony Gilroy's presence has added a more experienced head behind the basic shovel-work of a FX-heavy production; though I note Gilroy himself isn't actually directing any episodes. The premiere directed by Toby Haynes, whose CV is mostly British TV work (interesting parallel in that a lot of this was shot in Scotland); though has directed Dr. Who and some other genre work so presumably knows they way around a FX focused shoot.

Maybe it's just bias on my part: knowing when an inexperienced director like Deborah Chow is in charge, so I presume any shonky FX or flaccid action is down to the fact Disney keeps hiring green indie directors for their Big Ticket IPs.

It was coined by the video-game "Borderlands", but I quite like the term pre-sequel to refer to this kind of production; being a sequel to the prequel, but also a prequel for a character in the prequel.

Damn but my expectations for this keep rising; tentatively but definitively.

That clip weirdly, retroactively contextualised that really awful moment in Obi-Wan and the Great Trenchcoat Caper; that the Empire are so arrogant, is such a dehumanising and vast apparatus that yeah - maybe nobody would have noticed a scruffy man hiding a child under a coat lol 😂

Trying to keep the hype in check but it really does look like it could be a good one. But then such is the power of a well-edited trailer.

Mod: @BruteStock @breezy1985 Quit bickering, and especially wind back the personal attacks from you, Brute.

Posts deleted, consider it a warning.

The trailers really do make it look the business. Obi-Wan made me ready to give up Star Wars for a few years; this may yet pull me back in

Obviously we'll see how it all pans out, but I think the starting point is a better place than Obi-Wan ever could have hoped to be. It's still another prequel, but Cassian Andor has more options than fellow blank slate Boba Fett; and the trailer seems to hint towards a much stronger sense of self, and what the story will be to be about. Obi-Wan was always on a hiding to nothing in trying to write excuses so the Jedi paused a known exile and hermit life, all that the the series could happen.

We'll see, but my hype has definitely been on an upward trajectory. Boba Fett and Obi-Wan both kicked my fandom into touch and then some. I was ready to just move on from this franchise TBH - then Andor quietly tapped me on the shoulder.