Star Wars Practical Effects Supervisor On The Differences Between J.J. Abrams And Rian Johnson’s Directing Styles

Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi might belong to the same sequel trilogy, but both films feel like very distinct Star Wars movies from directors with very different directing styles.

Though these differences have been brought up in discussions after the release of The Last Jedi, there's no question that both J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson have their own method of filmmaking that adds to the flavor to the Star Wars franchise.

Sitting down for an interview with Screen Rant, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi practical special effects supervisor Chris Corbould talks about what it's like working closely with both directors, describing the clear distinction between two.

"Both J.J. and Rian had their own style on each film. J.J. is a livewire of a guy – million miles an hour, you know? All ideas stream out of his head every minute of the day. Spontaneity is a big part of working with J.J. I think that reflected in Force Awakens. Rian is a slightly different character. He is very quiet, he's a very sweet man. He's methodical, he wrote the script and we pretty much shot the script, which is pretty uncommon these days. So very different styles and I think that reflected in the separate films. But both great to work with – amazing times."

The difference between the two directors was pretty clear in the way production for The Force Awakens rolled out. "Livewire" Abrams kept on making changes during the reshoots of his Star Wars film, adding a number of key visual elements like the ones brought about by Steven Spielberg and Ava DuVernay.

Meanwhile, Johnson's script for The Last Jedi was finished way before The Force Awakens premiered. Despite his meticulousness (imagine more than 120 sets), production was so smooth that it wrapped months ahead of its release.

We can't wait to see what both directors might bring in their future Star Wars projects – Abrams for Episode IX and Johnson for Lucasfilm's new trilogy.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is currently available on Digital HD. The film will be made available on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 27.

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