i am what you made me

RotS Web Documentary #15: "Becoming Sidious"

RotS Web Documentary #15: "Becoming Sidious"

reading about hayden's understanding of anakin's psychology in revenge of the sith is so illuminating. his fall is not about his moral convictions or about loyalty to a mentor. he's selfishly looking for ways to increase his own power to resist change, without regard for any ethical boundaries, he simply doesn't care about that. he's apolitical, amoral; it's all about what he wants.

anakin just doesn't love obi-wan and the jedi more than he loves being important and having control over the world around him. he doesn't love freedom or justice more than he loves license to do and have whatever he wants. it's really what makes him so dangerous, such a malleable weapon to be wielded. he doesn't have ethical boundaries or convictions to keep him steady.

lacking firm definition of what is good and what is evil allows anakin to redefine those terms to suit his needs. it's what allows him to kill innocents and still not think of himself as evil. it's what allows him to tell obi-wan that the jedi are evil, despite it being an obvious self-delusion. he's lost because his moral compass doesn't point north, but spins freely to face whatever he wants.

Honestly I think what makes Hayden's performance as Anakin during the confrontation on Mustafar so compelling is that Hayden's instincts are to feel guilt and horror, from the deep revulsion of the good part of him that still lurks inside ('i just killed my family'), and Lucas's direction is to project confidence and enthusiasm out of self satisfaction ('what i did was definitely absolutely right, good, necessary, important').

As a result Hayden gives Anakin a palpable kind of tension in the eyes. He holds up a unsettling false front of willing self-deception, leaning into insane delusions of grandeur to avoid confronting the traumatic reality of what he did. That tension visibly snaps at the perception of betrayal, lashing out in the surge of accidental anger that would haunt Anakin for the rest of his life.

Hayden's acting in that moment, the huge swing of manic joy to a murderous scowl, really never gets the credit it deserves for actually being pretty subtle. It feels natural and seamless despite the high drama and unsubtle dialogue. I love the build up of that psychological tension as he falls into the dark and its explosive, deadly release, it's really perfect to me.

Jedi younglings had two outfit variations - long and short robes with trousers. All costume pieces were interchangeable between genders.

“I made sure that we didn't ever see two people who looked the same…because they're all individual people, from different places and different cultures and all with different builds and bodies. I think it’s much more visually interesting.” -Trisha Biggar, Prequels Costume Designer

Honestly I think what makes Hayden's performance as Anakin during the confrontation on Mustafar so compelling is that Hayden's instincts are to feel guilt and horror, from the deep revulsion of the good part of him that still lurks inside ('i just killed my family'), and Lucas's direction is to project confidence and enthusiasm out of self satisfaction ('what i did was definitely absolutely right, good, necessary, important').

As a result Hayden gives Anakin a palpable kind of tension in the eyes. He holds up a unsettling false front of willing self-deception, leaning into insane delusions of grandeur to avoid confronting the traumatic reality of what he did. That tension visibly snaps at the perception of betrayal, lashing out in the surge of accidental anger that would haunt Anakin for the rest of his life.

Hayden's acting in that moment, the huge swing of manic joy to a murderous scowl, really never gets the credit it deserves for actually being pretty subtle. It feels natural and seamless despite the high drama and unsubtle dialogue. I love the build up of that psychological tension as he falls into the dark and its explosive, deadly release, it's really perfect to me.

can you believe they filmed these on the same day

Attack of the Clones behind-the-scenes shots: Anidala edition [x]

it's fascinating to see that brief flash in obi-wan's grief-struck eyes of being 'prepared to dismantle threepio bolt by bolt' for saying 'the jedi rebellion' lol i wish this had been in the film. ewan makes him look so tired and devastated like... yikes

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN

Making of STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH

Kenobi recreated the datapad Anakin was holding in RotS and made it Obi-Wan’s.

"Visual guides cemented the idea that the datapad belonged to Skywalker’s master, but 'we were the first to actually put it in his hands.'"

i love the absolute commitment both hayden and ewan gave to the swordplay here, the desperation and effort visible on their faces as they move through such a long and quick choreography. they really sold the fight, it's entirely credible that they are both expert swordsmen and also intimately aware of each other's fighting style. they are fully in character, acting with their physicality, ewan turning obi-wan into a reluctant hunter, and hayden turning anakin into an apex predator lashing out with rage.

like look at him... idk both of their performances mixed with the sophisticated special effects that situated them seamlessly into the hellish lava environment of mustafar, a context that mirrored back the eruptive agony of their conflict was all such a triumph. i think the intensity of the fight elevated the end of the film to a fever pitch of emotion, delivering a perfect climax for the prequel trilogy.

Within A Minute: The Making of Episode III Part II

Part I is here.

Within A Minute: The Making of Episode III Part I

Part II is here.

"I am very glad I had the chance to go through this journey with [Felicity] because it's something new for both of us. The size of this film can be very scary and I was very lucky to have her next to me, always there to grab my hand and go 'Oh my god. Here we are. Let's make sure we stick together.'" Diego Luna on working with Felicity Jones during Rogue One (2016)

FELICITY JONES and DIEGO LUNA Behind the scenes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) -> Special feature: Cassian - The Spy