Attack of the Clones in B&W

Wonderful caps, Alex!!! 

I've also watched bits of the prequels in black and white before. It's been a while, but I feel that AOTC and ROTS probably benefit from the approach more. Of course, all the films thrive on their symphonic, enrapturing colour palettes, but TPM is desperate to hit you in the face with its vibrant story book hues, so probably loses a bit more, overall, in the black and white "format". That and it's a more innocent slice of the galaxy, while AOTC and ROTS deal with darkness closing in. Then, in AOTC, in particular, as you just indicated, you have Lucas drawing heavily on film noir: black and white being the classic "film noir" look (and that's what the term means: "film noir" literally translates as "black film" or "dark film").

And as you just said: the compositing of the visual effects probably improves a tad with the loss of colour and the introduction of a less-punishing greyscale aesthetic. It also looks, to me, like some of the subtle specular sheen in visual elements within various shots of the prequels (what I have previously termed "digi-sheen") stands out more in black and white. Note the soft specular highlight coming from Zam's helmet, for example, and the little pools of light coming off the polished surfaces of those parked air speeders, the reflections from the floor of the Jedi Library, and the sunlight kissing the fringes of Anakin and Padme's hair in the meadow.

Arguably, a black and white image also allows you to gain a deeper respect for Lucas' immaculate sense of framing and composition -- which, in AOTC, in particular, is ludicrously good. The fact that Lucas employed such classical camera techniques and scene construction on all *his* Star Wars films is one of the things that makes them so endlessly effective and re-watchable. The application of classic techniques never grows old. Of course, from a camera/composition level, it's something that has been lost under Disney, but that's another discussion.

I made a set of black and white frames from the prequels years ago, but then lost them after a hard drive failure. It was a fun exercise (if frustrating to lose them) that made me look at the films with even more satisfaction, admiration, and awe. 

Also just found this hour-long black-and-white fan edit of the PT on YouTube that may be of basic interest: 
   

great shots. As PT has visible retro vibe in it, the Black and white version fits in perfectly.

Try decreasing saturation and colour (RGB) values. I think you can probably get an equivalent black and white image that way. It may also be possible to save your settings in a preset. Alternatively, if you have a PC, you can just download something like VLC Media Player and set the image to black and white that way.



I don't know about that. Technical issues may cause a kind of optical or physiological discomfort. That happened when I saw "Sin City" at the cinema (same year as ROTS). The film is a hyper-stylised black and white graphic novel adaptation, but it also uses expressionistic touches of colour. It's fine to view at home, but in the auditorium, I could detect a momentary colour fringe every time I moved my eye*, despite the majority of the movie lacking colour. It was a bit off-putting. Modern projection may be better. I can't imagine the same thing occurring with a genuine black and white film negative. Of course, virtually everywhere is digital now.

*Or maybe I'm just too attuned to colour after watching the PT a million times. Thanks, George!



One of my hobbies is photography. Well, it's one of my only hobbies, after talking Star Wars. I've turned some of my pictures (all digital) into black and white, and I find adjusting the contrast brings more satisfying results. Since the human eye is more sensitive to changes in brightness than changes in colour, it makes sense we innately find black and white imagery appealing.



Despite those scenes being awash with colour, I agree. I think it's a few things:

i) The 1930s New York Art Deco visual scheme.
ii) All the little lights, windows, screens, etc., contrasting with all the shadowed spaces.
iii) Lucas' mighty abilities in the areas of framing and composition, making everything look so darn good.
iv) Coruscant being the planet most conspicuously associated with the Dark Side, political corruption, and the approaching doom of the Clone Wars and the Empire.



Yeah. It's not a bad upload. At least a few other fans recognise that the prequels are visual powerhouses that work with colour and without. Visual storytelling at its finest. 

Revenge of the Sith probably looks and feels gorgeous in black and white, it already has such a bleak atmosphere.