5) More Practical Effects, Less CGI
When Abrams first landed the directing gig for The Force Awakens, he promised to return to the roots of the franchise. That didn’t only mean bringing back Stormtroopers, X-Wings, and the heroes of the original trilogy, but it also meant stepping away from the bland CGI backgrounds and green-screen trappings that George Lucas injected into the prequel trilogy. And, judging by this new trailer, Abrams is a man of his word.
Gone are the stale CGI environments, replaced by tangible, real-life locations. Also, you’ll notice a severe lack of people sitting around in circles talking, or slow, boring camera movements. Abrams is a kinetic filmmaker, and the energy in this trailer is palpable and incredibly exciting. We see a droid with the body of a soccer ball, rolling across the Tatooine desert surrounded by old junk and broken down podracer parts that Abrams’ set designers actually built.
Sure, there will still be CGI in the film, and there’s plenty of it in the trailer, but in just 88 seconds, Abrams showed us that he won’t solely be resorting to green screens for The Force Awakens and will indeed be making Star Wars feel real again.
