The Rise of Skywalker: An Artistically Inspirational "Force"

I was pretty excited to see the latest installment in the Star Wars saga: The Rise of Skywalker. No, I didn’t dress up as Chewbacca for the Thursday pre-opening-night 3-D show I attended. It’s that movies like this are immensely moving to me as an artist; an inspirational smorgasbord for my creative heart laid out in lavish opulence by hundreds (thousands?) of the best artists in the world in a wide variety of artistic disciplines.

For example, just think of the worlds created by the filmmakers. Every detail of each world has to be created. What does this particular world/planet/place look like? What kind of atmosphere does it have? What kind of flora and fauna exist in this world? Is there gravity? Is there light? If so, what kind of light? How does the light change over the course of a period (like a day, if there are “days” at all)?

Or, consider the creation of specific creatures. What will the creature look like? How will it move (if it moves at all)? What might it sound like? Does it even make a sound? How does it behave? How does it communicate? What does it eat?

Or, what about creating robots, droids, ships, weapons, helmets, clothing, and technology? What does a laser cannon sound like? How do things explode in space? What does one light saber blade sound like when it collides with another light saber blade? And so much more!

My point is that it’s absolutely astonishing how creative people are and how that creativity is on full display in a piece of art like the recent Star Wars film. It’s so artistically inspiring!

Truth be told, this is one reason that I enjoy watching all (yes, all) the credits at the end of films like this. I just get this overwhelming feeling of thankfulness and joy as I watch the names of countless artists scroll by. To top it all off, I get to celebrate these artists while listening to a masterful score composed by John Williams and performed by amazing musicians. See what I mean about “an inspirational smorgasbord for my creative heart”?

If there’s any point to this particular blog – aside from your being happy that I’m happy – maybe it’s that we’ll all be encouraged to “slow down and appreciate the art and the artists” who create movies like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And may the force be with us as we do.