What Star Wars had that was part of it’s magic when I was small was the time it took to create all of the figures and make them mystically fly with the use of fishing line and a few motion cameras (primitive by today’s standards.)
According to Industrial Light & Magic – Wikipedia, the special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, behind Star Wars is also the same company where brothers John and Thomas Knoll built Photoshop. When Jar Jar Binks came along I just cringed until he finally grew on me. It is amazing what AI can now do but to me there is nothing as satisfying as owning, watching, or something handmade. I appreciate the hours artists put into their crafts everytime I try a new hobby on YouTube and fail at it. I love to look at the little figurines that toy hobbiests and gamers paint as well as extensive model train landscapes, the detail work is sometimes stunning. My jaw dropped when I got the see the minitures from Coraline at the MoPOP Museum in Seattle. Something tiny like origami can look easy, but in reality (when I tried it) my trashcan was overfolwing with wrinkled balls of despair, and I still have a knitting needle with the beginnings for a “simple Hello Kitty scarf” with thread only wrapped about it.
Photoshop has been used in many huge movies since and many easter eggs to Star Wars can be seen in TV, film, songs and parodies. It was even used to insert the droids into Indiana Jones! It will definitely increase in popularity as more and more young people attempt the easier new tools to add “hyperspace Star Wars effect” to their profile pics and give no empathy to the hundreds of layers and hours it used to take to make even the tiniest background edit. I admit it CAN be fun when you are expecting it to wow you like in Jurrassic Park, but now I can see it everywhere I look after learning about all of the little touch ups that can be made and about all of the cinematic effects it now comes with. Be sure to bookmark my site so you can enjoy all 3 of these little gem links!
25 effects in PS to play with:
https://designshack.net/articles/inspiration/film-photoshop-actions/
The droids and Indiana Jones
https://screenrant.com/indiana-jones-raiders-ark-behind-scenes-facts/
I even found a fun rainy-day poster activity:
