The Force has awakened. In the December episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr, B.J. Priester, and Kay from the popular Star Wars critical discussion site FANgirl Blog share their initial reactions to Episode VII. We discuss the characters, plot, and more after multiple viewings of the film, with minimal additional information from opening-weekend creator interviews or the opening-day book releases. We also address the storytelling decisions to withhold certain key information from the audience in the first movie of the new trilogy, as well as the trailers and other marketing containing imagery and dialogue that do not appear in the final film.

This episode contains discussion of all of the major spoilers from The Force Awakens from the opening minutes of the show, so steer clear if you haven't yet seen the movie.

You can also subscribe on iTunes. If you listen, please rate us and write a review as a simple offer of gratitude.

Hyperspace Theories is on Twitter @HyperspacePod!

Tricia Barr is @FANgirlcantina on Twitter, as well as posting at FANgirl Zone on Facebook and on Tumblr. Email: tricia@fangirlblog.com

Kay tweets @Geek_Kay. Email: Kay@fangirlblog.com

B.J. tweets @RedPenofLex. Email lex@fangirlblog.com

Johnamarie Macias from The Wookiee Gunner joins Tricia Barr, B.J. Priester, and Geek Kay for a wide-ranging discussion on storytelling in Star Wars.

We continue our exploration of the individuals influencing the future of Star Wars storytelling with Diana Williams, a member of Lucasfilm’s Story Group. In October, Johna attended “A Conversation With Diana Williams” at the New York Film Festival, in which Williams talked about her upbringing, her path into the entertainment industry, and her perspective on transmedia storytelling and other technological changes altering the ways people can tell stories. At Lucasfilm, Williams is the Story Group’s lead on videogames, including the recently released Star Wars Battlefront, which offers a wide variety of gender and ethnicity combinations for players to use. She is vocal on Twitter about her criticisms of Hollywood for its problems with diversity, inclusion, and representation, and she no doubt speaks her mind within Lucasfilm’s creative team, as well. Thank you to Johna for sharing her report and reactions to Williams’ presentation.

For our world-building segment, we discuss Claudia Gray’s novel Lost Stars, released in September as part of the Journey to The Force Awakens. Like the three regular hosts, Johna also is a big fan of the book. We praised Gray’s effectiveness at designing the two cultures on the planet Jelucan, the valley kindred and the second-wavers, to create the personality traits in the lead characters, Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell, which ultimately motivate the choices they make as the Empire and Rebellion clash over the course of the story.

The early season two episodes of Star Wars Rebels are featured in our storytelling segment.

Johna is keeping spoiler-free for The Force Awakens, so Tricia, B.J., and Kay conclude the show with a Spoilers Beware segment examining the new information and clues revealed in the marketing for the movie since our last show.

Next month The Force Awakens arrives! Look for a reaction show from Hyperspace Theories soon after opening weekend.

Related Links

• J.J. Abrams interview with Wired, and quoted in EW
• Lawrence Kasdan interview with Wired
• George Lucas interviews with Vanity Fair and CBS News
• Daisy Ridley cover story in Elle

Hyperspace Theories is on Twitter @HyperspacePod!

Tricia is @FANgirlcantina on Twitter, as well as posting at FANgirl Zone on Facebook and on Tumblr.

Kay tweets @Geek_Kay.

B.J. tweets @RedPenofLex.

Johna on Twitter @bluejaigeyes

In the October episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr, B.J. Priester, and Geek Kay of Fangirl Blog share our reactions to the newly released full-length theatrical trailer for The Force Awakens. We also connect the images, dialogue, and music in the trailer to our earlier episodes and speculations about the movie.

You can also listen to Hyperspace Theories at Libsyn or download the show there. Or subscribe on iTunes.

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Related Links:

• The Force Awakens trailer on YouTube
• preview commercials for Monday Night Football (YouTube): characters highlighted, Rey sees TIE flyover, Poe and Finn, and BB-8,
• isolated musical score from trailer (via Skywalking Through Neverland)
• analysis of trailer music by Ali Arikan at Slate
• report on trailer music composition by Peter Sciretta at /Film
• Daisy Ridley's trailer reaction video on Instagram
• John Boyega's trailer reaction video on Facebook
• Full of Sith trailer reaction special, with the "Seven Samurai" of Star Wars podcasting
• results of starwars.com poll on fans' favorite Star Wars movie
• fan theory on origin of Kylo Ren's name on YouTube
• Tricia's article on Han Solo for Star Wars Insider #158 highlighted at starwars.com

Hyperspace Theories is on Twitter @HyperspacePod!

Tricia is @FANgirlcantina on Twitter, as well as posting at FANgirl Zone on Facebook and on Tumblr.

Kay tweets @Geek_Kay.

B.J. is @RedPenofLex on Twitter.

Buying tickets to see The Force Awakens through our Fandango link and help support FANgirl Blog.

The FANgirl Blog team roll up their sleeves and read a lot of Star Wars books. The Journey to The Force Awakens publishing push offer hints and clues about the state of the galaxy far far away. 

Did Leia find a way to balance love and duty? Is Han still on the skids after all these years? And how much does Luke know about being a Jedi? 

Tune in to Episode 12 of Hyperspace Theories and find out what we uncovered.

On the heels of D23 Expo, Ryan Hurley from Turtle Power Podcast joins Tricia Barr, BJ Priester and Kay from FANgirl Blog to discuss how Disney will affect the Star Wars galaxy. What happens when Lucasfilm's ownership transitioned from a sole patron to corporate stakeholders? How did this affect script changes? Ryan Hurley relates his experience covering the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot by Michael Bay and how fans affected the script and final movie.

Join Tricia Barr, BJ Priester and Kay of FANgirl Blog plus special guests Sarah and Richard Woloski of Skywalking Through Neverland podcast as we break down what was and wasn't said at The Force Awakens panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2015.

Spoilers, speculation and storytelling serve as the foundation for this episode. From Cover Girl makeup to leaked Russian images, Tricia Barr, BJ Priester and Geek Kay of FANgirl Blog break down recent spoilers for The Force Awakens. (Want to skip the major spoilers then jump from the Spoiler Intro to the 30 minute mark.)

The Meta segment looks at the potential influence of Hayao Miyizaki after Dave Filoni revealed last year it was a foundation suggested by Kathleen Kennedy. We've already seen Miyazaki's influence in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

How to resources affect storytelling? The Hyperspace Calculations segment mulls lightsabers, kyber crystals and the reasons Rey might be on Jakku. 

Then there is that matter of the MacGuffin in The Force Awakens...

Not only did the June 2015 Issue of Vanity Fair give fans a cast of new characters to ponder, it provided a slew of interviews that revealed quite a few things about Star Wars' storytellers.

BJ Priester rounded up Geek Kay and Tricia Barr to recap Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. The fans have awoken!

Day One of the convention was all about the Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams panel for The Force Awakens. Hear our thoughts!