towerbabbel's blog

I want to talk about my favorite shot in The Last Jedi. Its not the one most people would assume, where Holdo does her lightspeed jump into the Supremacy. Overall that Holdo scene is breathtaking, but that is for how well all the different pieces of it comes together. The different shots, the audio design, and drop in saturation. All that together is amazing, but for a single shot my favorite is something else.

I don't think I am the only one that liked my shot because it shows up in the trailers. Its the shot from straight above when Kylo Ren and stormtroopers march into the rebel base. From above their formation looks kinda like an arrowhead or spearhead, with Kylo as the tip. The ground below them has these scorches of black and red, almost like the ground itself is wounded from the arrow, and bleeding. With the light shining in from behind them they cast these long shadows into the base almost like dark fingers reaching into the base. The dark cave and the black Kylo is wearing contrasts amazingly well with the white of the stormtroopes lit by the bright light from behind.

I love this shot not just for the colors and the composition but for how evocative it is. The symbolism makes the First Order feel both menacing and unstoppable, and it puts Kylo Ren at the front and center of that threat. It was this shot in the trailers, more than anything else that hyped me up for seeing The Last Jedi.

Seeing the shot on the big screen it looked even better than in the trailers. That moment was undermined by the context in the movie, though. When this shot happens the resistance has already fled through a backdoor and Kylo is marching ominously into an empty base. That sort of pulls the rug out from under the emotional impact of the shot.