Return of the Jedi - FX Error or Intentional?

[Merijeek]

@garygnu

Regardless of left-right problems, it always appeared to me that the red blade was on the wrong side of the Emperor (closer to the camera) to be parrying a swing at said tyrant.

That’d be my entire reason for the thread.

@Euthanasist

Actually, I think the error that you are referring to would be due to a mistake in the rotoscoping of the shot. Which is a post effect where each frame is edited with a masking technique to make the light sabers, well, light up. It appears (from the description of your shot–I am at work and cannot view it) that the person doing the rotoscoping made an error and rotoscoped the wrong blade into the foreground.

And there it is again!

Apparently, I need to phrase my OP’s much more carefully.

-Joe

[Bosstone]

@Just Some Guy

If you think that’s bad, Palpatine has a window which means he’s right at the surface in a room that’s orientated 90-degrees to the surface of the Death Star. He also has a shaft that extends “down” from his room to the center of the Death Star. Assuming that he’s not at the north or south “pole” of the Death Star (and the view of the battle he has suggests that he isn’t) then a shaft to the center would be more horizontal rather than vertical.

[fankwankery]Not necessarily. The throne room could be in a tower that extends from the surface, in which case the shaft would indeed point to the core.[/fankwankery]

[Fish]

What version of the film are you seeing this problem on? I couldn’t see anything but big bright lightsabery goodness.

[KneadToKnow]

@BayleDomon

the shaft would indeed point to the core

Ah, all these posts and finally the discussion goes into the gutter.

[toadspittle]

@Fish

What version of the film are you seeing this problem on? I couldn’t see anything but big bright lightsabery goodness.

Probably means this (from my link above):

TOP 15 Best DVD Releases of 2019 - Select a Good Movie to Watch

But it’s hard to tell WHAT is going on in there. Vader’s saber makes a sharp line across Luke’s.

[Merijeek]

@BayleDomon

[fankwankery]Not necessarily. The throne room could be in a tower that extends from the surface, in which case the shaft would indeed point to the core.[/fankwankery]

Or, one could accept that when a civilization has mastered artificial gravity all sorts of funk up and down shit is possible.

-Joe

[Merijeek]

@toadspittle

Probably means this (from my link above):

TOP 15 Best DVD Releases of 2019 - Select a Good Movie to Watch

But it’s hard to tell WHAT is going on in there. Vader’s saber makes a sharp line across Luke’s.

It may be hard to tell from the still, but I seem to recall that it’s pretty obvious from the actual movie.

-Joe

[Just_Some_Guy]

@BayleDomon

[fankwankery]Not necessarily. The throne room could be in a tower that extends from the surface, in which case the shaft would indeed point to the core.[/fankwankery]

Nope, a tower leaves the window orientated incorrectly since, much like in Star Trek, the ships seem to be mainly attacking and orientated to a plane running through the “equator” of the Death Star and the battle is visible through the window. For him to have a shaft going to the core he would have to watch the battle through a skylight or his “window” would have to be a fancy video display rigged to look like a window for those times when he needs to appear more menacing (reconciling the fact that they apparently lack the ability to create such a video display despite having FTL travel is left as an exercise for the fan).

Artificial gravity doesn’t factor into it; I’m using up and down since it’s easier to understand. The shaft apparently goes to the core (without the special edition I might have been generous and just accepted that it extended hundreds of meters but even then the curve of the station causes problems) so any room with an outside window will have to have that window on the opposite surface from the shaft.

[flight]

@BayleDomon

[fankwankery]Not necessarily. The throne room could be in a tower that extends from the surface, in which case the shaft would indeed point to the core.[/fankwankery]

You may be fanwanking, but you nailed it. There is at one point in the film (though I am not sure when), an external shot of the emperor’s throne room and we see that it is, indeed, at the top of a tower.

[On edit I notice Just Some Guy’s post, that is what happens when you leave a window open half the day and never refresh it.]

[flight]

… and then I responded to it but my damn edit seems to have missed the deadline and the window sat there for several minutes trying to post it so I couldn’t tell.

Anyway, even if the battle is going on around the equator, the tower would see it out the side windows if it was located at either pole. Since everything is always oriented the same in Star Wars, I think it safe to assume it was located the North Pole so all the ships would be right side up from the emperor’s perspective.