The Star Wars Phenomenon Ctcs 464

• White anglo-saxon modesta in California
• Joseph Campbell
• Saturday matinee serials and comic books
• Kurosawa
• John Ford
• Quest narratives
• Good and evil vs moral fuzziness
• At age 6 Lucas had a feeling of existential angst that stayed with him for a while
• Knack for construction—building environments—haunted house in neighbor’s garage (charged admission)
• Built racing cars
• Loved to cruise modesto from late afternoon to early morning
• Fascinated by cars and racing (“I love things that move fast”—I love to make things movie)
• 1st film—stop motion—plates stacking and unstacking themselves—penchant for movement and special effects
• never took a shine to school—Ds in high school
• sociology major
• mechanic
• loved movies with special effects

• seminal work at this stage of his life “BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS”

• underwater sequence
• parallel sequence:

• in 1962, at the age of 18, he experienced his road to demascus

• the point in your life where everything begins to make sense and you have to make a different turn that determines the rest of your life
• “summer sat waiting and did meditating on what I was here for”

• aimless teenager becomes focused adult
• modesto college for 2 years to get his grades up
• eventually received associate degree in the arts
• reading took on heft—1984
• 20,000 leagues under the sea
• began reading Arthur connor doyle’s The Lost World
• fanatic of Dune

• David Lynch made the film
• Okay but nowhere near power of the book

• Father nixes idea of higher education in the arts
• Wants son to succeed in stationary business as he had
• Promised father he would be a millionaire by 30
• Famous meeting with a moving photographer by the name of Haskell Wexler

• Went to car shop where George worked to have his sportscar rebuilt

• Wexler…

• Born in 1926, 37/38 at the time
• Talked to George about a film school called USC where he graduated with a B.A. camera major
• Almost documentary cinematographer who worked in fiction film

• Lucas accepted to USC as a transfer

• Turned down acceptances as English major

• Wexler goes on to win 2 academy awards and 5 nominations
• Lucas added a chair to SCA in honor of Haskell Wexler (October 2016)

• George Lucas

• Concise, introvert, quiet, reserved, non-confrontational, private “people should own their own image”
• Erudite
• Fiercely loyal until crossed and then the grudge
• Overcommited
• Conservative but risk-taking also
• Self-reliant but knew importance of team-work in making a movie or any other enterprise
• Needed to control
• Underliver

• No fancy restaurants, clothes, or cars
• Ethic of honesty and fairness that he subscribes to
• Decent person and a loner

• USC

• Oldest and largest film school in USC at that time
• Father paid his tuition as a junior and gave him $200 a month provided he graduate
• Lucas rented a small 3 story house by USC
• USC in the 60s, teachers and students were studying French new wave that just exploded on shores, Kubrick, Lolita, Strangelove, welles—citizen kane to the trial, Richard lester hard day’s night, kurosawa—the mastered composition
• Shorts by Canada national film board—especially 2187
• Beginning of USC mafia

• Randall kleiser
• Hal barwood
• Matthew robbins
• Walter mersch
• Robert zemeckis
• John carpenter

• Also friends with ucla group—coppola
• De palma at Colombia, Scorsese at nyu
• Production curriculum

• 290—5 short 8mm films

• last 2 16mm

• 310—3 films on 16mm
• 480

• workaholic who especially loved editing and intensely hated directing actors

• Herbie (1965)

• His first film
• Lights and patterns reflecting off an automobile
• Film synchronized with jazz music
• These moments of reflection have been brought to you by George Lucas
• Herbie Hancock—jazz saxophonist
• Looks ahead to american graffiti—tucker

• Second film: anti-war; short film Love of Life

• Black and white photographs
• 18 student film awards

• Freedom – german title; his 310

• Student crossing east to west Germany
• Birds chirping giving way to sounds of artillery
• Collage of commentators talking bout what freedom means
• Subject: a need ot be free of the past

• 1.42.08: A Man and His Car (1966)

• about a race car driver who practices for the competition
• the film is more about the car
• title: lap time

• 60 Cycles

• 1500 mile bike race documentary
• important influence

• Grand Prix

• Another influence
• Saul Bass did the titles
• Let George lucas shoot some material for Bass’ short because of his expertise with cars

• Vietnam War

• Lucas not accepted into airforce because of police record—parking tickets
• Draft board caught up with  him and ended up rejecting him because of diabetes
• From that time on he has watched his diet

• Works as an assistant grip for US infamation agency

• Too late for USC grad school
• Assistant editor for USIA
• Met Marcia Griffin
• Married in 1969 and adopted a daughter Amanda—Lucas was infertile
• Lucas adopted more as a single parent after divorce in 1983

• Sent Lucas into 7 year tailspin
• Lost most of personal fortune (50 million dollars)
• Left him for stain glass artist
• Cant conceive child, cant have fun in life, refused to go to marriage counseling

• 1967 enters grad school and gets TAship in camera

• 3 films as graduate student

• 1st film is a 480, 14 minutes and 10 seconds

• directed it and wrote it with 4 other people

• 2 styles—documentary realism and avante garde
• these styles mix together—strange mix
• 1st film dealt with DJ from Burbank

• him going to studio, the jive on the air, voice overs by audience, all the while sexy young women in audience make suggestive remarks to him
• interspersed with tracking shots of cars on LA freeways
• collage of advertisements for bananas
• inter-titles throughout
• end credit: freeze frame in middle of picture
• importance of disc jockey in american graffiti

• 2nd film as graduate student: anyone live in a pretty how town
• 3rd film THX 1138

• runs 30 minutes
• writer-director
• made with movie students who had access to color-stock
• 12 week shoot
• 15 minutes
• pastiche of Alpha-Ville by Godard
• homage to 2187 (candian short)
• a man trying to escape mechanic society
• score: Bach
• championed by an LA times critic and a universal exec
• won national student film festival prize

• Alphaville

• Future secret agent infiltrates the city which suppresses all emotion and keeps citizens numb by drugs, sex, and violent death

• Summer of 1967

• Chosen as on of 4 student filmmakers to create promo shorts for the producer Carl Forman
• All students make 10 minute documentary films about the making of this film
• Supervised by saul bass
• Lucas made an avant-garde film celebrating the desert and a slight contrast between nature and technology

• A look at the production—true—but a look at the production as if animals, plants, and God was looking at it

• First feature
• THX 1138

• 4 years after the student film
• made possible largely through Francis Ford Coppola’s efforts—he was ahead of Lucas in the profession
• Coppola had a deal with Warner Bros. for whom he was making pictures

• To deliver 5 youth movies

• Reactionary revolutionary period

• Only 3 old timers in place during beginning of this period…jack warner…ballebaum at paramount…daryl Zanuck at fox
• All the rest were newcomers—didn’t know who to get (between complete conglomerate era)—didn't know how to make movies so they had to find some ways to get a film off the ground

• A) Strong sources
• B) stars
• C) sequels (begin at this time—James bond and dirty harry series)
• They devise about six other ways

• Mainstreaming exploitation (Psycho)
• Auteuristic film
• Nostalgia (go back to the past like Paper Moon)
• Special event movie—Airport or The Exorcist
• Youth movie—college educated politically atuned audience that came up

• This is why coppola was hired at warners—to make these youth films

• In 1969 columbia made so much money off cheap movie easy rider 
• Coppola established a SF based production company called Zoescope

• Executive produced all pictures
• If warner nixed any element, coppola would personally have to repay for any advances

• Coppola and Lucas were friends, he told Lucas he should make THX as one of these youth movies he was making

• Lucas hated writing just as he hated directing actors

• Lucas didn't like to direct people, liked to direct things
• But he pushed ahead because of his work ethic
• First draft was given to Oliver Hailey (film tv writer), rejected, 2nd draft to Walter Mursch
• Budget was 777,777
• Lucas got 15,000 to direct
• Threw in treatment for apocalypse now
• Most of crew was neophytes in moviemaking
• Lucas hated the fact that he was not producing and didn't have the power and was not in control
• Only one studio built set
• Special effects cost 10 dollars”
• Haskell Wexler was supposed to shoot but he was a union guy and this was a sf shoot—but he stood by uncredited and did some shooting

• In color and techniscope—cheaper version of Panavision 35—2.35

• They used faster lenses

• Not much lighting

• Lucas interested in creating a world
• No marks—didn't like to set marks—hated directing actors
• 2 cameras for every scnee—1 take was usual
• Mirsch used air bowling—one sound envelops but never obscures the other

• THX 1138

• Cast

• All newcomers except Donald Pleasant

• Outlaw hunted by police after he has fallen in love in a test tube sex forbidden world
• WB head Ted Ashley

• (now owned by a parking company)
• saw the rough cut and he barred Lucas from attending

• he wanted a love story set in the future so he hated the movie
• took 5 minutes out of the film
• Lucas was furious
• Increased his detestation of Hollywood
• Same thing happened to De Palma and Scorsese when they worked for warner brothers

• → WB wanted all the money back they invested for the parts that were ut out

• $300,000
• rest of 4 picture deal was cancelled
• Coppola had to reorganize zoetrope

• “Visit the future where love is the ultimate crime”

• March 11, 1971 opening
• After a few weeks, poor returns, pulled back, set to drive-ins and double feature suburban movie houses
• $1.2 million cost, made $945,000
• Europe was a hit

• Rereleased with original Lucas footage years later

• Still not great reaction
• Variety thought it was a “stylish” piece of crap

• What it shows

• He can direct suspense thriller elements
• Human being trying to break out of a controlled society
• Dialectic between technology and humanity
• Autobiographical

• Lucas’ abstract of what was already happening in America
• About him breaking out of Modesto and Hollywood studio system in making this film
• Also a parable about an artist trying to not use Hollywood to exercise his artistry—who doesn't like to play it there way—wants to go his own way

• Optimism—if you want something bad enough, you CAN do it

• A thematic signature of Lucas

• Not necessarily sci-fi

• It’s a fantasy
• Also a parable—all fantasy has parable elements

PASTICHE

• Expressive/artistic way to make something new out of something that has come before
• Pastiche of 1984, Brave New World (drug use mandatory), credits from Metropolis, particularly Alphaville by Godard

• Numbers tattoed on chest in Godard, numbers on forehead in Lucas
• Escapes alphaville in ford galaxy, here in car
• Tranquilized population—Lucas’ people are sedated by pills

• 63-76 Revolutionary/Reactionary Hollywood

• reinvention and regurgitation of hollywod
• Lucas (USC), Coppola (UCLA)
• Scorsese (NYU)
• The counterculture

• Important to Lucas
• Championed freedom from authority
• Championed mobility

• Not the home

• Spontaneity and candidness
• If it feels good do it

• Feeling becomes morality for counter-culture

• Opting out of mainstream

• He opted out of Hollywood and modesto

• New left

• Modern democrats
• Centrists
• Traditional and neo-republicans

• conglomerate era

• boom and a curse

• media society
• sense of confusion
• cynasism
• impotence
• wave of nostalgia

• lucas, coppola, Scorsese

• business practices

• West coast, middle class, suburb, wasp, Methodist, USC
• East coast, NYU, lower class, Italian catholic, urban/ghetto
• Showmen who ran industry are not there anymore except Jack Warner, Zanuck, and one another, by ’67 they’re out.
• Conglomerate takeover 59-72
• MCA owns universal
• Gulf & Western took over Paramount
• MGM taken over by whiskey companies, then sold to timelife, then to real estate mogul Kurt K
• Warner Bros. Kinney National Service Corporation (funeral company)
• Filmmaking never most important arm—only most glamorous one
• Problem and leadership problem—who runs them, who greenlights movies, who knows about movies?

• Who did they put in charge?
• People from business—agents, lawyers etc. (not creative side)

• What did they instill

• Less movies than ever before
• independent production—distribution more so
• Foreign productions
• Runaway production
• How do you sell movie?

• Went to past—get a good source with recognition

• Lucas never went to sources

• Stars

• Never went to stars (hated directing actors)

• Sequel series

• James bond, dirty harry

• Mainstream exploitation

• Movies not previously approved by censors
• Psycho brought it to mainstream

• Musicals
• Historical spectacles

• Few of these did well

• Counter—make the youth movie

• American International Pictures (AIP) had been making movies just for youth

• Films with new more uninhibited representation of sex, violence,

• Rock score over image

• EASY RIDER

• THEN COMES ALONG GEORGE, MAKES A MOVIE THAT’S SWEET AND NOT CYNICAL/tart, not sexy—AMERICAN GRAFFITI

• 55.1 million dollars!!
• No dirty rock score—bubblegum rock
• Not “sophisticated”

• “A Film by”

• people in business needed help
• practices to greenlight a film
• movies from Europe were making money—dolce vita

• advertised by director
• Doctor Zhvago

• Early american cinema was also a director’s city DW Griffith, Chaplin

• Stuidos came in and said no—we make the movies—this an MGM film, this is a Colombia film—VP of production at studio hires the producer and the producer hires the director and the producer hires everyone else—the studio
• Brit comes to America in 1940—Hitchcock

• New style shows off work of the director
• Scorsese, coppola, lucas in film school—showing Europe, asia, a film by, a film by, a film by, Saturday afternoons DKA
• De Palma from Sarah Lawrence—first major production for Colombia “a brian de palma film”

• Special event movie also comes in, nostalgic film

• Postmodernism

• After this period but also is this period

• After but done before

• Francis Ford Coppola & Georgey

• Born in 1939, Detroit Michigan
• Father musician and mother actress
• Played with gadgets and tuba, made home movies, sickly child (all of them, Scorsese asthma, lucas diabetes, coppola polio)
• Entered ucla film school—“other students not interested in film as a complete humanistic artform but more interested in the technical side of it”

• Made porn films on the side
• Casper’s favorite is the bellboy and the playgirls

• After graduation he apprenticed with Roger Corman at American International Pictures

• Corman

• Recycled classical genres but gave them sensational appeal
• Used young non-union talent→therefore made very cheaply
• De palma, bogdonovich, Scorsese, milias, and many others

• Coppola wrote Russian space epic in 1963
• Assisted on film called young races
• Dementia 13—ripoff of Psycho

• Leaves AIP and works for other company
• At this time he receives Sam Goldywnn award for script he wrote at UCLA called TIlma Til
• Wrote first draft of Refelctions in a Golden Eye
• Later…warner bros. bought british novel for 500,000 called you’re a big boy now

• Model was beatles films
• Made it like that
• Released by WB in 66

• Didn't make any money but didn't stop warner bros—small investment

• Next they gave him a big mammoth broadway musical done in the 40s about a fantasy about a leprechaun—parable of race relations, working class—Finnigan’s Rainbow, wonderful score

• Lucas won scholarship at WB animation department

• Jack Warner closed animation unit before he left WB (looney tunes)
• Lucas kept looking around and ended up working on finnian’s rainbow
• His colleague assistant directed and introduced him to Coppola
• George was an administrative assistant shooting polaroids and made sure props were used in continuity
• OTS editor of Rudy Fair
• Lucas was thrilled to meet Coppola
• Coppola at this time was a legend among USC students because he was first of film students to make it in the industry

• Coppola and Lucas complimented each other but clashed one and the same time

• Coppola into script, writing, directing actors—hollywod classical realism
• Lucas into editing, camera, avante garde and doc realist style
• New york Italian catholioc vs white Methodist California
• Coppola is liberal George is conservative
• Coppola is impulsive, George is cautious
• Coppola promised Lucas that if he stayed with him he would help get THX financed

• “if you want to direct the movie, you must learn to write”

• he and Murch helped Coppola with The Rain People

• Robert Duvall debut

• Lucas began enlarging THX

• Got up at 4am and wrote for 2 hours before Finian’s rainbow and rain people shoots
• Got a small camera to make “Filmmaker 68” documentary about Coppola

• Coppola and lucas were exhilarated after success of rainpeople without suits and wanted to start a studio outside of Hollywood

• Lucas wanted to recreate USC experience at movie studio outside of San Francisco
• Coppola wanted to recreate old movie studios—wanted another MGM, 20th century fox

• Ordered state of the art editing equipment from Germany

• After bidding war they settled on old warehouse in San Francisco (couldn't do it in Marin county)

• Coppola preferred city, lucas preferred Marin

• American Zoetrope

• Tropine—greek word—to turn

• Turning of life

• Toy
• President Coppola, VP Lucas

• Lucas gathered his USC alumni around him

• Zoetrope is ant-establishment
• PATTON ‘70

• Coppola wins Oscar for writing
• WB ready to listen to zoetrope
• THX flops
• Lucas resented Coppola for not protecting film from WB
• Coppola asked Lucas to pay 18k for phone he used
• 50k of equipment was stolen

• blamed him for this too

• with fiasco of zoetrope

• coppola gets a call from paramount

• they want him to do godfather
• he didn't want to do it
• George heard and said “you have to do it”
• Second Oscar for writing, two years later wins Oscar for directing sequel

• Coppola told Lucas

• “don't be so weird. Try to do something human. All you do is science fiction. Everyone thinks youre cold fish, but you can be a warm funny guy. Make a warm funny movie.”
• Lucas eventually follows and makes American Grafitti
• Lucas’ agent sent script around

• Studio bites, need a strong producer—Lucas asks Coppola and Coppola says yes (he had already won two Oscars at this point)
• Coppola got 25k and 10% of net and 10% from Lucas
• Preview was disastrous
• Head about to choke Lucas to death and Coppola stands up for him “what are you talking about? Thank George for saving your ass. If you don’t want to distribute it, you can take the money back and I will do it”
• Magnificent success

• But there were disagreements—Lucas wanted Coppola to pay for DP from his own 24 points, other part of deal was that he would give script for Apocalypse Now to Coppola

• Star Wars (75)

• Coppola hated the script
• Saw rough cut. Movie bored him to death
• 2 years later, Lucas asks Coppola to borrow helicopter footage from apocalypse now for sequel to american graffiti—coppola refused
• during making of apocalypse now, coppola asked George to finish the movie but then coppola got better
• 1980, lucas asked coppola to join him as executive producer for Kurosawa’s film

• 1986

• lucas divorced his wife Marsha
• cries on Coppola’s shoulder—his only friend
• ILM

• 1988

• Tucker: The Man and His Dream
• Coppola had made 20 features by this time, a couple of them artistic commercial films (Godfather)
• 3 writing Oscars, 1 directing Oscar, wrote Great Gatsby, directed private lives on stage
• his dreams of working outside the system were shattered
• zoetrope 2 went bust—invested by himself
• tucker artistic success and not commercial success
• next 5 films were bad
• movie about a man who tried to market a car
• lucas mixed comedy and kabookee music and citizen kane approach—focus on little guy trying to achieve his dream—get rid of pessimism of film—make film optimistic

• tucker and attack of the clones
• Music and dance as contistuent element of artistic elements

• Anything that he released and was able to doctor after the release, he doctored after the release

Collapse of American Zoetrope

• The deal with WB finished
• THX 1138 financial disaster
• Coppola went to Paramount to film the Godfather in 72
• George felt he was selling out even though he encouraged him to do godfather
• “don't be cold George, do something fun”

• Lucas incorporated Lucasfilm Ltd.

• Turned to his past
• Model was Fellini’s Il Vitelone

• Teenagers in a little town who talk about leading the town because the town is a dead end
• None of them have impotence to lead the town except one
• American Graffiti
• Developed for someone he met in Cannes

• First draft rejected
• USC alumni Gary Curts set to produce
• Project too risky, dropped its option
• Lucas Aquired an agent and a lawyer

• Agent interested universal in project
• Universal said no but offered him a film to direct
• Turned down by Lucas
• Made by Tom Grees
• It went down the tubes—opposite thing that A.G. did

• Agent went to every studio for it as a MUSICAL?

• That's how he was selling AG

• AIP said it might be interesting if Lucas rethought the project along exploitational lines

• Violence
• Sex
• Profanity and vulgarity
• Lucas said no

• Lucas was in economic debt to his parents, Coppola, his agent, and more
• He continued working on treatment for AG with another USC alumnus

• They went off to do another one that never materialized
• Then returned to help bring screenplay to successful completion
• Willard Height and his wife

• Witty dialogue
• Added scenes
• Made characters of Steve and Lorrie work
• Added characters of the hoods

• At universal, vp of production started series of low budget films with a teenage market

• “youth films”
• in light of what easy rider did in 69 at Columbia

• They want a change of title—“another slow night in modesto”

• Lucas says no
• Lucas says yes to other terms begrudgingly

• smaller budget
• music rights

• use of music is a forerunner of what is to come in movies with music

• they made a deal with the beach boys/their publishers
• →others got on the bandwagon and threw in rights for practically nothing
• $90,000 for 41 or 45 songs
• written into script
• $50,000 for writing/directing + 20% of profits
• no sound stages
• final cut to studio
• Tanum wanted a strong producer

• Not Gary Curts

• Tanum looked at list George provided and at top was Coppola who you couldn’t touch because of The Godfather
• Coppola was full of himself and wouldn't interfere with the film

About the film

• Generation coming of age
• 4 crosscutting storylines

• avant garde

• Kurt

• Intellectual rebel
• Second thoughts about flying east to college
• Searching for mysterious blonde woman

• Lots of mythological correspondences to this woman

• Steve

• Super straight class president who dates Laurie—head cheerleader
• Too is to fly east for college
• Laurie has a car accident and begs him to stay
• Decides he has doubt about leaving this town

• John

• Greaser
• King of road who rules local drag strip
• James dean clone
• Refuses to accept the fact that he’s older and that he can’t go on like this

• Drag racing forever

• Terry the Toad

• A nerd
• Enticing a blonde bimbo called Debbie in the car Steve has lent him
• He has a car and a girl—the items that are prized for Californian adolescents

• Relationship

• All composites of Lucas himself
• Realize that things change or one must move on and get stuck
• Will they be able to change and break out of this small town?
• Subject matter of his student film Friedheit
• Subject matter of THX 1138
• All about change

• Film about separation

• Each goes one’s away but with dissatisfaction
• Everyone looks like a film star

• Media’s effect on our lives
• Effect of music being everywhere
• Gum that connects 4 stories

• 1 – cruising in cars

• relates image to sound/music
• choreographed film

• 2 – Mel’s Drive In

• small town’s watering hole

• 3 – Music

• 41 or 45 songs
• Ask troy!
• Captures shift in rock music at the time
• Bubble gum rock and roll to surf music
• Underscored the action and creates choreography

DJ like a God for the kids

• Never seen only heard
• Fantasy for kids in the small town

• Experimental narrative

• 3 structuring metaphors
• end credits for years later
• 4 storylines
• not much plot
• characters
• IMPRESSIONISTIC
• Accurate detail of 1962 northern California suburb on one evening
• →Documentary realism and avante garde in the same film

• such contrasting styles merged beautifully

• Title

• Rock radio is American graffiti
• A way of George documenting a culture in transition
• Tone is unique
• Not satire, not parody, not glorification or idealization

• “Just the way it was”

• Casting

• Lucas introduced a wide array of talent
• Some who became famous
• Ron howard, Richard dreyfus, Harrison ford
• Filming began on June 26 1972
• 28 day/night shoots in Marin County
• no subtleties in shooting
• cheaper anamorphic process than cinemascope

• techniscrope
• just like THX 1138
• not as sharp as cinemascope

• Color

• Red, yellow, orange all at once
• Jukebox

• Homages

• Local movie house showing Dimensia 13

• Coppola first feature

• Someone else cut the movie (editor of sugarland), not his wife Marsha, but both got credit

• Tanum was ready to strangle Lucas at test screening

• 1 month of redoing—reduce film by 5 or 6 min

• 2nd screening at writer’s guild in BH

• poster – “where were you in ‘62”
• 750,000, 500,000 in advertising

• 5 oscar nominations

• picture
• director
• supporting actor
• editing

• reviews startling

• variety called it outstanding
• ny times called it best of year
• sight and sound said it’s good but could be better
• David Fincher’s davorite movie
• TV’s happy days
• Flash forward at end of a movie
• 9 to 5
• changed conception of previous recorded music and movies

• here was a film that used 45 songs slapped over it
• now they could get a soundtrack out and sell this compilation
• make a hell of a lot of $
• synergy in its finest hour

• Lucas makes deal for Apocalpse Now

• Saw it as cheap 2 mil movie on 16mm
• Finished script w/ John Milius and started scouting in phillipines
• Coppola supposed to take 25% of profits and 25% split between Lucas and Milius

• Lucas says no and wants to start Star Wars

• Coppola approaches Lucas again for Apocalypse Now

• Asked to pay to take over the movie with Milius directing
• Lucas told him to do it himself
• Points that Coppola promised Lucas weren’t there because it only made 40 mil and cost 36 mil
• Apocalypse now failure signaled end of Coppola’s status in Hollywood

• Lucas

• Fascinated by animation
• Knew how to relate sound and image
• Character points and story points only needed a little detail

• Nothing elaborate

• Two antithetical styles
• Short: 2187
• Number on Leia’s cell is 2187
• FN 2187
• Documentary realism associated with nonfiction film
• Avant Garde

• Rejects conventional of preceding films
• Creations of a totally imagined world by the filmmaker
• Personal filmmaking and very very subjective
• Short running time
• Shock you and revitalize you
• How does it enter into movies?

• Turn of last century, all artistic movements were undermined by subjectivity

• Switch from objective to subjective
• Rejected realism and came with things that took its place
• Felt in all artforms except cinema

• Cinema was a new medium with no aesthetic tradition behind it and no rules to confine its development
• Avant gard was elite

• Made film elite

• Time and space very important in docu realism

• Don't use actors or stars
• On location shooting
• Presentation of supporting documents such as newsreels or photographs
• Voiceover narration
• Wide variety of filmmaking technique—you don't show the technique
• Available light sources
• After WWII

• Hollywood directors serve in war
• During the war they saw documentary films for the first time
• Enters the war film
• House on 92nd Street
• Decided style in post-war America

• Lone Survivor, Patriot’s Day

POST A.G.

• Two styles still operate
• But with star wars, another determination is considered
• The writing of joseph Campbell

• Another chair donated by George Lucas to Joseph Campbell

• Joseph Campbell

• His series next week for PBS
• An authority on mythology and folklore
• Born in New York City in 1904
• Wild west show got him interested in Native American myths and history
• Thought these were same stories of roman catholicism
• Education in medieval literature—same story again
• French and German medieval literature in Europe, same story again and again
• 40s and 50s he edited papers of Heinrich Zimmr
• 1944, coauthored with Morton Robinson – a skeletal key to Finnigan’s Wake

• obtruse work by James Joyce
• need a skeletal key to get through it

• 1949 – first major work

• the hero with a thousand faces

• highlights—any legend, fairytale, myth, religious document

• is a visible condensation of a man’s subconscious embedded enriched shaped distorted through his generation

• a mono-myth

• underlining adventures of all mythical heroes
• here separates form everyday world
• initiated into mystery or greater awareness of life through trial and suffering
• returns and myths of experience are shared with fellow human beings
• in one word—a journey

• books on primitive mythology
• the mask of gods

• survey of mythological traditions spanning Greek, East Asian

• focus on two myths—tristan and the soul and Parsifal
• 6 interviews on PBS

• each running an hour
• very popular
• relevance of myth to modern life
• idea that myth represents the process of individual development

• Highlights

• One of problems today is that we are not well acquainted with the literature of the spirit
• Postmodern – post god
• Inner life
• Greek and latin and biblical literature used to be part of general education
• These stories were in minds of people
• Relevance to what’s happening in life
• No comparative literature to take its place
• Myth about importance of being alive and what it means to be alive
• People say we’re all seeking a meaning for life

• Seeking an experience of being alive so that life experiences will have resonances with innermost being and reality

• Violence in american society today

• No great myths to help understand world

• Two ethos in America

• All diferent backgrounds coming together
• Demytholigical world—no myth holding us together
• 4 functions of myth

• mystical

• realize wonder that universe is
• all through mystery

• cosmological

• shows shape of what universe is

• sociological

• validating a certain social order

• pedagogical

• how to live a human life or lifetime

• folk tales are for entertainment

• myths are for spiritual instruction

• basic theme of all mythology

• there is an invisible plane supporting this plane

• the force

• so many stories of heroes

• no stories of that anymore today

• heroes adventure

• begins with something from whom something is taken
• something lacking in normal experience
• running up against the hard world which is in no way responsive to his spiritual lead
• no hero today, but celebrity
• society has to have constellating images to put together tenants of separation
• artists keeps myths alive

• life is really a meditation but we think about our money, career family

• not spiritual consciousness or education
• follow your bliss
• all great myths have to be regenerated for particular time and space
• believes lucas did this with star wars—for this technological time and space
• state as a machine

• is machine going to crush humanity or serve humanity
• humanity comes not from machine but from heart
• faust gives us same problem
• machine can provide us with all means and determine life as well
• seeks aims that are not those of a machine
• when skywalker unmaks father, taking off machine role that father has played
• movies—a way to make old stories new
• young people are turning towards movies for their inspiration and spirituality—not bible

• evaluations

• he’s positively full of genuine enthusiasm
• intellectual adventurousness
• but he is a generalist and a popularize
• some of his facts are wrong and scientifically suspect
• more visionary and poetic than a scientific man
• his writing is what I would call pop mystical philosophical style
• full of hero cult—religion is one of self development
• follow your bliss can be dangerous

• counterculture breached that in 63, 76 period

• today emotions become basis for truth—if you feel it, it’s true

Popular myth interview

Will the machine serve or destroy humanity

Lucas is a fine marketing complex rather than a fine director

• no matter how valuable that franchise worth, it isn’t worth 1/10th of what George is capable of doing as an artist
• Coppola built his ego—telling him he was a genius

• First question for midterm on blackboard
• George Lucas in love
• Myth

• Hero’s journey

• Separation from everyday world

• Genre study

• Academic study of these myths

• Inner life is very important

• If you don't pay attention to the inner life now, you won’t pay attention to it later on

• Myths search for truth, meaning, and significance
• Invisible plane supporting the visible plane
• Hero is a constellating image

• Hero pulls things together with some intention

• Star Wars

• Subtitle added after empire strikes back
• Attempt to set about recreating classical myths

• Lucas didn't have that in beginning
• Came with his growing appreciation of Campbell

• Worked on script in mornings form 4am on

• In afternoons did research in library
• On fantasies, traditional tales
• Hero with a thousand faces

• High tech myth
• Lucas would say that the frontier myth and musical myth were no longer relevant so you needed something new
• One of most important aspects of genre is myth or story

• Ex: musical

• 3 types of musicals
• 1) boy gets girl, girl gets boy—the romance
• 2) production—putting the show on the road (can be metaphorical)
• 3) family/community
• people got it together in these myths—meeting of the spirit and matter

• Universal said no so he went with Fox

• Allen Lad Junior

• Had seen a print of American Grafitti
• Knew they didn't like it and offered to buy it if they didn't distribute it
• Old Hollywood
• Son of 40s and 50s movie star

• Stepmother was agent sue carol
• Loved old movies

• Investing in George rather than the script
• Captain SeaHawk and Captian Blood fusion
• “Opening the door and going out there…no matter what the risk is, is sometimes worth the effort”

• 17 page memo

• 50k to write screenplay
• 100k to direct ir
• 50k was to go to star wars corporation
• lucas would retain rights and eventual control of all merchandising of star wars
• 60% of merchandising at start but rising in 2 years since film released
• proof—Lucas was thinking merchandising when he wrote star wars
• “a lucasfilm production” released through 20th century fox
• fox had final say with cut not Lucas
• budget doubled to 7 mil before production started

• asked for 12, got 8.5

• star wars is seen as a low budget film by Fox

• cutting corners in terms of production
• Gary Curts—50,000

• Usc graduate
• Involved in every area of production
• Marine filmmaker during Vietnam
• Friend & confidant
• Too indecisive on star wars though to be a line producer

• Other writers got rid of soulessisms

• Didactic statement
• Used 15% of what they offered
• 5th draft while shoot going on

• conflicts laid out

• human vs machine
• human vs vader
• constructive text in terms of literary design

• pastiche
• conscious intended initiation of all that went before
• personal text at the same time
• imitations from high culture and low culture
• lore for nostalgia
• but unlike products of postmodern time, it wasn’t “hip” or “cool” or ironic about what it was saying
• it was sincere and full of sentiment/sentimentality

• had to be set in universe that wasn’t known

• beyond just outside world that is known

• Luke as in Lucas skywalker

• Man against nature governments structures machines
• Good and bad father leader whom the young hero is caught between
• Father vs son
• Son vs family

• Quest narrative

• Old testament

• Adventure stories involving journery or quest in which spiritual dimension drives on
• Link of spirit and body
• Journey—the most appropriate and adequate icon to describe everybody from birth to death

• New testament

• 33 years of Christ and early years of Christianity
• adventure, hero, Christ, peter paul—went to deseminate the myth of jesus Christ

• illiad and odyssey

• illiad means illias—a tale of troy but focuses on wrath of Achilles

• single event

• odyssey

• war is over and Odyssius is wondering and making a journey home after Trojan war and fall of troy
• took from Greeks

• Matters of Britain—legends of Arthur

• Ex Calibur
• Derives from celtic mythology
• Bloody violence and sexuality is omitted in star wars
• King Arthur and luke skywalker

• Fathers and mothers are absent
• Seek a mentor figure in lew of a father
• Merlin is arthur’s mentor, obi wan kanobi is luke’s mentor
• Raised by someone otoher than their parents

• Arthur’s real father was king Alter

• Took a form of a duke so he could sleep with Ingray
• Alter was forced to give Merlin the first child he had
• Raised by sir ector

• Arthur and luke are both independent children who learn to solve problems on their own

• Opposing culture of enabling and culture of responsibility

• Arthur doesn't know that his father was king of England

• Luke doenst know his father was a jedi knight

• Father’s light saber vs father’s sword ex caliber

• Sword and light saber are there birth rights
• Beginning of their role as hero—their awareness of being something more than a man or ordinary
• Immature impatient boys learning from mistakes

• Luke thought he would a farmer, Arthur a squire
• Considerable conflict with families

• Father against son—3rd act of both sagas
• Arthur involved with half sister morgana

• Lance A Lot and Lando
• Part of saga is given over to other characters… they each have their moments
• Knights at the roundtable

• Jedi knights
• Swords in lew of bows and arrows—their blasters
• Code of chivalry

• Strength of mind over physical strength

• Tales of power

• Carlos catanada
• Force as an energy field created by all living things
• Magician warriors tap into
• J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings trilogy

• Obi wan kanobi is comparable to Gandolf the wizard

• Took from beowolf

• C.S. Lewis

• Asslan
• Name like chubaka

• Dune
• Han solo modeled after diredctor Jon Milius
• Dante’s Inferno—Cantina sequence
• Milton’s paradise lost

• Anaken leaving obi-wan-kobi

• Once upon a time

• A long time ago in a galaxy far far away
• May the lord be with you

• Be with your spirit

• May the force be with you

• Hidden Fortress

• Pastiche
• Gekki—term for Japanese
• Seven samurai and yoyimbo

• The Wizard of Oz

• Lucas Dorothy
• Cp3—the tinman
• Chubaka—the cowardly lion
• R2d2 is toto
• Obi wan kanobi is the wizard
• Lisa good witch
• Vader bad witch

• Thx

• Storm troopers—police

• Western genre
• Searchers

• Discovery of dead aunt and uncle

• Earl Flynn adventure films
• Universal sued Fox for similarities to one of their films
• Abbot and Costello

• C3po
• R2d2

• Fellini’s satirica

• Rome falling apart
• Rusty knicked dented
• Same in star wars

• Triumph of the will
• Leia giving the awards

• Low cult

• Flash Gordon serials
• Couldn't get rights to flash Gordon serial
• Media res

• Virgil and Aniad

• Starts long poem in medias res
• In the middle of things
• Part 4

• Crawl is ffrom Gordon serial
• Episodic structure
• Constant action
• Screens within screens
• Blaster guns
• Medieval clothes
• Visual punctuations and flash dissolves

• Wipes

• Movies didn't think these were worth feature length films for adults

• Edgar C. Burrows

• Influence just reduced to drafts of star wars because he didn't want plagiarism
• Spaceships and swordplay
• John Carter and Tarzan

• Star Trek TV series

• Casting

• With help of Brian de Palma, Lucas cast star wars
• Harrison ford from AG as Hans Solo

• Wanted Christopher walken

• Mark Hamill

• Wanted tv actor will seltzer

• Carrie fisher

• Wanted terry nun
• Daughter of celebrities who made debut in warren beaty shampoo

• Remote control acting

• Actors spoke to a blank wall with clipboards held by guys telling them what to say

• Wanted Toshiro Mufune as Obi Wan Kenobi

• He wanted 2.5% of producer’s take and 5 figures upfront

• Sets were built in two story house in two story house in Van Nuys

• Vfx guy from 2001
• Best people involved
• Computer controlled cameras
• Lucasfilm ltd folmed ILM with Deichstra as head to create computer system for 356 special effect shots
• Used old VistaVision cameras

• Used to get people away from TV originally
• What it had that was unique was 8 sprochets a frame vs 4 sprochets a frame
• Best sharpness
• Projectors and film were expensive
• Paramount got rid of it in 61

• A matter of time
• Who did he say wanted to do a matter of time instead of star wars
• Wanted warner bros studio composer style

• Steiner
• Adventures of Robin Hood
• Korngul
• Strauss
• 19th century classical sound like Wagner

• sound—ben burt

• usc alumni
• spent a year collecting sounds

• dolby stereo

• ROUGH CUT SCREENING

• Milius, Spielberg, de palma, jay cocks

• Nobody liked it
• Spielberg positive ciritcism
• De palma very critical
• Negative response to preview
• Adults hated it, youth liked it
• Women will not go because of war in title
• Advertising pitched to teenage media
• Cut to 2 hours
• Rating board rated it a G

• Lucas didn't want it as a PG
• He wanted adults there

• Exhibtor’s wouldn’t book it

• Barely got into chinese theater because other film couldn’t play there

• Damnation ally was there big sci fi release

• Word of mouth

• August 800 venues
• Time magazine—6 pages—year’s best movie
• Subliminal history of movies
• Variety—outstanding adventure fantasy
• George in 81: “I don’t think it’s that well made a movie…I was working under extrememly tough conditions…baffled by its success.”
• Same year as annie hall

• 1st of 25 films placed on national film registry

• Charles Lippincott

• USC alumnus working with hitch on publicity for family plot
• George Lucas picked his brain

• We could make up things from the series and sell it
• Reinvigorated movie merchandising business after no studio had true merchandising departments

• Merchandising

• Handled through Lucasfilm Ltd. (created after THX)
• Allen Dean Foster was asked to ghost-write novelization of star wars

• One of biggest selling paperbacks

• Score 2 record best seller
• Marvel comics—story in 6 installments
• Action figures

• 92
• made by Kenner production company
• 42.3 million first time around, over next 8 years 250 million dollars
• posters, thermoses, t-shirts
• inter-galactic bubble gum

• Lucas gave gift profit point

• Each point was 300,00 dollars

• Spielberg got 1% of profits for Close Encounters

• ILM moves to Marin county
• Deichstra takes over building he used for star wars
• Battleship Gallactica

• Fox sued universal
• Universal said star wars took from one of their films
• Disney made the black hole
• Kubrick who disliked star wars so much decided to vest George Lucas with another science fiction feature—it was called A.I.

• He abandoned this to do a movie with tom cruise and Nicole kidman

• Midterm review

• Pastiche of star wars, joseph Campbell, bible, jr Tolkien, beowolf, Narnia and perlanda series cs lewis, frank herbet dune, milton’s paradise lost

• Hidden fortress, wizard of oz, all westerns searchers, wwii war particularly dog fights, silent running, metropolis, forbidden planet, flash Gordon serial, buck rogers, edgar rice burrows, john carter
• List includes high cult and low cult
• Mashed together into pop culture
• Intrinsic in this referencing is lore for nostalgia

• Bussiness/Commerce - concern for merchandising at every possible area
• All comes in with high-tech style

• Loss of belief in unique individual artists

• Before—what you see and what you hear is what comes form inside them—their guts, vision, sensibility

• Today—technicians artisans, craftsmen, constructors

• Into recycling what came before
• Splicing genres, blurring and juxtaposing them
• Disdain originality
• Fancy copy, repetition
• Take pleasure in surfaces not substances
• Have been dictated to do this because of corporation

• Few people in Hollywood today who are postmodern constructors and postmodern auteurs

• Key element of postmodern is death of individual—all determined by corporation
• Key aspect of auteur is individual—from his/her own life, philosophy, value system, vision
• Past and present at one and the same time
• Derivative and original
• Unreal and synthetic but real and natural
• Collaborate with moneymen but also go against the moneymen
• George Lucas Sees himself as a filmmaker

• Means more than delivering a concept or having a concept or directing
• “I dislike directing. I hate the constant dealing with volatile personalities.”

• George Lucas

• Complete filmmaker
• Gives him status as author of a movie
• Producer as lead

• New way of making movies

• All films involved in lucasfilm have some semblance of his signature
• Prodigious attention to detail

• Norman Rockwell

• About morality

• Themes of George

• Breakout out/away

• Restlessness
• Call out there
• Involves change and transition

• As creatures of habit we dislike change and fear it
• Let go of the past and look to the future
• Ride out discomfort and pain

• Self-reliance is important

• Breaks out of postmodern theme that no one is responsible
• Goes against the culture
• Relying on yourself

• Listen to your mind, heart, and inner voice

• There are good and evil in the world

• Also goes against postmodernism’s view of the two being obscure

• Oppression is evil

• Hard work, friendship, reciprocity important
• Positivity/optimism
• Updating of Horatio Alger myth

• If you apply yourself and work hard (with a little help from your friends) you can accomplish what you want

• Civic good, not individual narcissism

• The Force

• Self-actualization—tapping into potential
• Resistance to oppression
• Fatherlessness

• The Machine

• Ambivalent
• The emperor
• Han Solo with his millennium falcon

• Sincere tone

• He described it as “effervescent giddiness”

• You saw this in 30s and 40s

• Inner needs anad unspoken desires

• Lucas line to the audience

• George Lucas on content vs. form

• “im not a very good writer—want to give people and characters enough action so people won’t notice”
• loves moving and motion
• awkwardness of dialogue

• pedagogical—relation to myths

• Mark Hammill “I have a smashing suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George would do it.” But he casts diligently and chooses actors very carefully. Trusts them and lets them be. No double-takes or sly grins. Wants it played straight.
• Visual design is one of glories of lucas cinema

• Where can I go where I haven’t been
• Created sophisticated organic society

• Future in thx, past one in tucker, space on in star wars

• Values, economies, and origins all worked out and he locks himself in
• Immaculate realism that arises from his work
• Makes the fantastic real

• Inspired by graphic design, visual excitement, and pace from TV…also comic books

• Use of animation to make character or plot point quickly

• Films fast
• Choreography of image and music—look at times as if they were dancing

• Akira Kurosawa

• 1910-1988
• George Milius took Lucas to Toho theater where they showed these films
• Made series of period adventure films

• Jidai-geki films
• 18th century set
• rashomon, tiger’s tale, seven samurai, hidden fortress, run

• Thematics

• heroes of mythic proportion yielding sports to aid an imperial power threatened by outside force
• usually a samurai warrior—like a jedi knight
• usually ordinary first and grows into heorism
• Toshiro Mifune
• Moving camera
• Chases
• Multiple action across the same plane
• Wipe for change of scene
• Fade when a softening was needed
• Dissolve—time passed

• Films so acclaimed internationally as was his work

• Kurosawa in America

• He recycled Hollywood cinema
• Made movies after the americans

• C.S. Lewis

• Born in 1893, died in 1963
• Irish
• Son of a lawyer atheist
• One of formost writers of 20th century
• University Colege @ Oxford

• Ancient norse myths

• Wounded in WW1
• Study of the allegory of courtly love
• English literature in 16th century
• Friends with a teacher—J.R.R. Tolkien

• Who was Christian

• Traditionalist

• Opposed spirit of modern thought with unpopular Christian doctrine of evil and sin
• Evil and sin is a destructive imminence in the world—not a nebulous abstraction that the culture was teaching

• The Four Loves

• Affection
• Friendship
• Eros
• Love for God

• Center of writing

• Serious fantasies
• A way to dramatize the human condition while posing everlasting questions
• Presentation of philosophic and theological insights
• New worlds so we could see our own world better

• Show on Broadway about his conversion from atheism to Catholicism
• Chronicles of Narnia
• Mars series

• Out of the Silent Planet

• 4 types of fantasy

• Creation of a world—a world that is alternative and radically distinct

• 1) strict fantasy—every figure, every incident, every place stands for some person, some situation, some place, in the primary world

• ie: pilgrim’s progress

• 2) loose allegory—no such signification exists, but secondary world is meant to present some idea of human condition, loose allegory, ie: Kafka
• 3) illustrative fantasy—makes a point about some aspect of the primary world that can be best made by isolating or exaggerating that aspect through new world, ie: Lord of the Flies
• 4) appreciative fantasy—secondary world is enjoyed purely for it’s own sake—to spin fanciful webs

• Lewis, Lucas, Tolkien

Three functions

• Recovery: regaining a clear view )seeing things the way wer ewere mant to see them)—everything we took for granted is now fresh—once upon a time
• Escape: There has to be something better than our world—into a past or a future by way of secondary world
• Consolation: The desire to communicate with species like our own but in another space…eucatastrophe’’  

• Where everything turns out good and well
• Sudden joyous turn arising form denial of defeat, of death, of pervasive cynicism
• Fleeting glimpse of joy
• Satisfying secret beat of the heart

• Focus on good and evil

• The perfectible and the corruptible
• Whereas nature is animated and a character

• Tolkien

• Oxford university professor for 40 years
• 2 books
• cult figure in the 60s

• because of youth

• Inklins

• Group of Oxford friends fascinated by myth, literature, etc.
• Lewis got the power of myth
• Lewis influenced Tolkien and vice versa
• Convinced him to write fantasy and The Hobbit

• There is a correspondence between the two authors and their fantasy series
• Danger of using evil means, importance of good, etc.

• They wanted to refresh your spirit as you read it

• Influences

• Phantaste
• Princess and the goblin
• Children’s books
• Old English literature

• Particularly Beowulf

• 8th century anglo-saxon work of 3182 lines—danic events with Nordic legend,

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Influenced Arthurian legends

• William Morris (not agent)

• Author who created a vaguely medieval fantasy world

• Star Wars and Beowulf

• Beware the darkside, fear to anger, anger to hate

• Beowolf: also about this
• Lightsaber vs magic sword from giant
• Both lose their first swords and trade up to better swords
• Han solo character to voice doubts of audience

• Comparable to Unfurth character in beowolf
• Jabba comparable to dragon

• Recapitulations
• Saga-like nature

• For Tolkien—loss to dark side is irredeemable, john Milton, paradise can be regained
• LOTR Trilogy

• First novel was Hobbit—set in middle earth
• Then the trilogy in 54-56

• Took a decade to catch on

• Cosmic struggle between good and evil
• Hobbits are relatives far nearer to us than dwarfs
• They are halflings—half size of ordinary man
• Heroic attitudes of strength of size are rejected by Tolkien

• Not mighty grand heroes

• Subtext

• Anguish
• World ended for Tolkien with industrial revolution and world war 2

• Critics at first found characters one dimensional but with lovely sense of adventure
• Denied it was world of escapism
• “middle earth is not imaginary world—where we lived before human history”
• fundamentally religious catholic work
• rejected all allegorical interpretations
• staggering number of creatures you couldn't keep up with
• themes

• what has been lost has been lost forever

• original sin

• advance of technology inducing war
• bond amongst people with similar goals
• how the depth of knowledge can lead to freedom of choice and action
• one must lose ones life to save it
• the tree is

• the tree of knowledge

• opposed by the tower

• isolation

• technology is arrogant while nature is unpretentious
• one can recover from loss but not make it disappear
• how to retain a fallen world and partially redeem it through sacrifice
• great faith and sacrifice in fallen world can limit the power of evil

• no price is too great to pay to prevent evil’s victory
• knowledge, free choice, support of culture of past
• redemption is linked to love

• paradox of unity in division
• embraced eccentricity
• free choice of independent and eccentric people results in more positive outcomes than totalitarian impositions
• time begins and ends with moral order within which time is meaningless—cyclic

• History of Special Effects Before Star Wars

• Four types

• Sfx makeup
• Mechanical special effect: effect drone
• In camera effect: done with camera
• Post production: CGI

• 1982 special effects makeup Oscar for first time
• technology of film and formal systems that allow and insight and promise special effects ??
• Each studio originally had special effects department

• But they did consider that special effects was related to formal aspects
• Propelled certain genres—historical spectacle, adventure, musical

• 1940-1945

• war genres excited use of special effects
• fantasies

• needed escape
• needed belief in an afterlife

• people become angels, taken by angels

• Freud—no country embraced Freud like America did—many films talked in a point of the movie where protagonist had problems with self—talking with self was incarnated

• Cover Girl
• Gene Kelly knows he’s a shit because rita Hayworth left him, starts walking down street and starts dancing but he sees himself in a window—alter-ego materialized

• 1945-62

• camera and optical effects advanced—model innovation
• sci-fi genre expands
• hybridization of sci-fi with horror
• biblical spectacles more than ever—technicolor, large screens, stereophonic sound

• many of them introduced new technologies

• 63-76

• evolution of genres—especially horror, occult
• psycho, birds, Armageddon, Poseidon, rosemary’s baby
• adventure with more wars going on
• expressive stylization necessitated more special effects—foregrounds technology
• beginning of special effect houses because studios are dismantling

• studios ship special effects out to these places

• 77 – on

• postmodernism is “all special effects”
• brand new aesthetics
• go for roller-coaster ride—visceral effect

• Notable Special FX artists

• Norman Ordan

• First special effects person in Hollywood
• Rear projection and matte shots

• Charles Rosher

• Double exposure

• Buster Keaton

• Fred graberney
• Every Keaton film was loaded with special effects

• Eugene Shuftan

• Mirror technique, using real sets, paintings and miniatures together
• Metropolis
• Fritz Lang

• Lewis Wit

• Made the first special effects department

• Linwood Dunne

• Optical printer

• Faraco Eduarat

• Special effects divided into five areas 1939

• Miniatures
• Rear projection
• Mechanical effects
• Matte paintings
• Optical printer (post production)

• Up through week 6
• 5/6 questions answered
• 10 extra credit trivia connected with course
• 2 identification questions
• The Searchers similarities

• Return home
• Ethan and Darth Vader

• Don't know what he did, has all those coins
• Dark, negative feelings
• Redemption at end

• Similar setting
• Passage of time similar
• Slaughter them like animals—goes into camp and finds debby—when anaken goes into camp and finds his mom

• Classical staging and framing
• Frames within frames

• Thematic and formal resonances

• ILM Special Effects

• Lucas’ company

• 1977

• star wars is in release
• american graffiti is rereleased

• sound remixed in stereo
• it too was successful

• star wars re-release
• ned tanum was on verge of suicide for not advancing George the money for star wars dream to get under universal umbrella

• “hey buddy you owe me two more films under your contract”

• suggests a sequel to American Grafitti
• called Purple Haze—More American Grafitti
• released two years after star wars in 1979

• Lucas impressed by film cisco pike

• Director: usc alum Bill Norton
• American graffiti chores to him

• Lucas had 4 stories in mind set in new years eves

• Norton would direct as well as write based on setting created by George
• John still drag racing
• Terry Toad and Little Joe assigned to helicopter unit in Vietnam
• Hippies in SF
• New  character of Andy—campus radical
• Bridging everything together was voice of wolfman jack
• Same cast except Richard Dreyfuss—won best actor for Goodbye Girl

• Wanted too much $$$
• Turned it down
• Played by Will Seltzer instead

• 4 different visual styles to tell the story

• miller’s drag race—50s exploitational style—ala American International Pictures
• Vietnam war—16mm documentary TV footage
• Hollywood visions as seen in Getting Straight
• Images and splitscreens ala Woodstock

• 6 mil budget—shot in 45 days
• “ambitious sequel that overreaches”, broke even after TV sale was made

• Meanwhile…

• Fox wanted a sequel to Star Wars

• Has to be made within 2 years or rights to future Star Wars pictures have to revert to Fox
• Lucas was to finance Empire out of his own pocket, advanced them 20 million dollars through Lucasfilm Ltd. as collateral
• 18.8 m budget
• took 50% of gross of profits and eventually 77% of profits
• 20th century fox would pay for print and distribution costs and rights to release film for next 7 years, otherwise they revert back to Lucasfilm ltd.
• owned tv, home video, and merchandising spin-off rights
• this was later renegotiated

• Fox wanted it to release on Memorial Day 1980

• Lucas dropped Berg as his agent
• ICM, whom Berg was working for, wanted arbitration
• Went to arbitration—felt that agency deserved ICM and 10% profit of sequels

• Agency lost

• Bank of America LA refuses to loan remaining 3 million of budget
• Eventually boston bank agress in exchange for percentage of profits

• 33 million budget

• Lucas controlled advertising

• Empire

• Leigh Bracket

• Queen of space opera
• Wrote many sci-fis for pulp magazines
• Wrote sci- fi and dantasy novels
• Howard Hawk’s pet writer

• Brought her in, in 1946 for The Big Sleep
• Stayed with Hawks—made Hawks films better
• Worked for Hitchcock on TV
• Did Long Goodbye screenplay

• 60s re-make of big sleep

• screenplay is with her and George Lucas and Larry Kasdan
• amazing terseness
• first draft in march of ‘78
• 3rd draft by Larry Kasdan

• brings triangle relationship between luke and leia and han
• sharp characterization
• cynical tinge
• feistiness to Leia
• idealism to Luke
• darkest of the first 3

• pastiching Jacobian Caralyndon drama

• drama of England after shakespeare’s work
• drama during reign of James II and James I
• tragedies of blood
• revenge, death, devil worship
• poison at every term

• YODA

• What face was used as model for Yoda
• Albert Einstein
• Frank Oz as puppeteer

• LANDO
• NEW LOCATIONS
• CLOUD CITY
• Revenge tragedy
• Casting and Crew

• Hammill and Fisher set to stay under their contract
• Irwin Kirshner to direct—usc graduate with not much of a career—critic favorites that few saw

• Known to work very fast
• Known to be open to suggestions

• Lucas has problems with line producer
• L street in England for set

• But Kubrick is occupying it
• He’s “truly constipated” and can’t finish a movie—lifetime to make the shining while Lucas is gritting his teeth
• Went to ILM in Marin County
• 605 special effect shots

• Production Design

• Norman Reynolds

• Art director

• John barry who dies and then Paul Hirsch

• Editing

• Lucas but Kirschner had final cut

• Music

• John Williams

• Narrative

• 3 structures
• Development of character

• Evil for Luke is not outside but inside himself—cuts off head in cave and sees himself

• Hans rescues Leia from invaders
• Double parallel plot in 2nd part
• Climax in cloud city with Vader

• Knowledge through suffering

• Christian and Zen

• Pastiche

• Jacobian and Carolyndian drama
• 1938 – MGM – Victor Flemming – Test Pilot

• banter between Gable Tracy and Loy—same as triangle in strikes back

• freezing of Hans solo

• B medical sci-fi horror films from WB in thirties

• 300 million worldwide in initial release

• shared 1 million with cast and crew and 1 million with stagehands

• Resigns from DGA

• Guild fined him for putting Irwin Kirschner’s name at end of the film
• Kirschner didn’t mind

• 3rd film

• Lucas hires Richard Markan because he wasn’t a member of the guild
• Paid tribute for Larry Kasdan

• Had a script called Body Heat

• Took two Chandler works postman and demnity and put them together
• WB bought rights and he wanted to direct
• George Lucas helped Kasdan get the gig but Lucas got 250,000 for this kind gesture and 5% of the profits—but his name off the material even though he is technically executive producer
• Material was too dirty for him

Lucas and Technology

• Cinema verite, doc realism, and avante garde encouraged him to look into technology
• Invested in his own special effects house that would look beyond and institute craftsmen that could help innovate
• Space in Van Nuys

• Industrial Light and Magic (ILM)
• Magician in a tux as logo

• ILM relocated to San Rafael, California

• First golden age in special effects

• Movies move into new aesthetic

• As kinesis
• As thrill ride
• As fun
• Drawback

• Diminution of literary values

• Casper enjoyed The Great Wall

→High-tech style

• One of glories of postmodern hollywood

• New style

• High concept

• 3 aspects

• 25 words or less
• lends itself to advertising or something visual
• ancillary markets

• goes on for years, stays in imagination and its okay to make a sequel

• blind date
• private Benjamin

• JAP joins army

• no dialogue

• maxims and quips

• episodic structure

• episodes continue to be the same but bigger and better
• cyclic

• stereotypes instead of character—hold on one aspect of the character
• ending—happy and presaging that it’s not finished and will continue
• visually slick
• composition and editing contains constant movement – within, outside, and between frames

• montage is main visual structuring element of high-tech style

• fast-pace, cross-cutting

• so audience doesn't get bored

• dense sound design and high decibal system

• lucas movie is wall to wall symphonic scores

• american graffiti composite score

• ILM is Lucas’ contribution to high-tech style

• It wasn't just for Lucas’ productions
• Many filmmakers were welcome to come
• They came not just for films but to help push the envelope
• 110 films made at ILM and many of them were Oscar-nominated
• Paddy Blair broke down scripts in terms of potential VFX

• Dialogue with client in terms of cost
• According to vfx it warranted, there would be an assembling of production team
• Didn't start vfx until supervisor and director on same page
• 6 full time art directors
• storyboarding then took place

• for every vfx shot

• many times houses changed—hunt for red October started out at boss and ended up at ILM

• did videos and commercials

• nike
• diet coke
• general cinema trailers
• american airlines
• theme park attractions—star wars attractions

• transformers
• star wars

• vistavision back in star wars
• motion control
• go-motion for empire strikes back
• first CGI sequence—star trek wrath of khan
• first morphing sequence in willow
• first digital compositing in Indiana jones and last crusade
• first CGI character to show emotion
• first dimensional matte painting
• first time texture of human skin generated in Zemekesis film
• Jurassic Park for first Oscar
• Forrest gump—historical and stock footage to integrate characters
• First computer generated character—Casper
• Photo-realistic hair anf fur
• CGI main character Draco
• First CG character with full anatomy Imhotep
• Open EXR imaging format
• Eye Mopap system which uses computer vision techniques to track motion on set – used in pirates
• 2011 first animated feature produced by ILM—Rango
• Blake Edwards (ione of casper’s faves) spoofed what George Lucas was doing in the brilliant farce Skin Deep (1989)

• Womanizer John Ritter
• Takes a rest at Beverly Hills Hotel but couple upstairs has an enormous fight

• Woman who he hit on and was engaged—fiancé was upset

• Star Wars Episode 6

• The deal

• Lucas owns 100% after Fox recoups its investment and the interest on the money they put into the movie

• Writing

• First draft by Lucas in 4 weeks. Larry Kasdan then took over

• Eventually the credit becomes Kasdan & Lucas
• 4 drafts and storyboards galore
• Lucas didn't love Empire Strikes Back because he felt it was too adult

• Wants jedi to be more geared towards 12 year old children
• After empire was more cerebral, many critics were disappointed in episode 6 at first viewing

• 2 parts

• tatoiine
• 3 area battle—land, space, and luke vs. vader

• critic who loved the movie

• each episode repeats with variations one or two more episodes from previous films to show successes like cooperative friendship and love against evil
• pastiche of WB adventure films—swashbuckers
• muppets influenced design of ewoks

• treetop victory celebration is very Disney

• Lucas wanted Spielberg to direct the movie

• Didn't like that Lucas left DGA
• Felt that Lucas would try to control too much
• Lucas didn’t want Kirshner because Lucas felt he couldn't control Kirshner
• New director is Cambridge university educated, did many “good” thrillers, like Jagged Edge

• Acting

• Carrie Fisher is engaged and personal circumstances put her on edge

• Shoot shows it

• Budget

• 35 million dollars

• fox didn't mind

• locations

• England—cheaper
• Lots of extravagant locations for planets

• Endor was largest set ever built

• 3 editors

• Marsha Lucas one of them

• Critics didn’t love it

• Literary reviews said it betrays myth
• Kael—merchandising machine
• Variety half and half
• Ebert thought it was a riot of character invention

• Opening day records

• 8.4 million opening weekend
• Ewoks didn’t sell but they made 2 made for TV features about them

• 4 encounters of Lucas and Spielberg

• Student film festival

• 1967
• they agree on 90% of films shown
• they say there that they’d love to collaborate and become friends— BUT competitive friends—never lose the edge

• USC

• 1970s
• Jerry Lewis taught a course in directing at USC
• Jerry Lewis brought Amblin to class
• George Lucas is in this class
• Widescreen, color, 35mm—very smug (I think it was 16mm)
• Lucas hated the film
• Spielberg became a fixture at USC while Lucas was there

• Crashed a course called “the movies”, 466 of its day
• They talked afterwards

• Star Wars

• 1977
• Lucas is shakey about this film and arranges a preview with De Palma, Spielberg and others
• Spielberg was the only person who was positive about the movie

• Told him it would make 100 million dollars
• Since that day they remained close
• Socially to a certain extent
• Competitively close

• Raiders

• During opening of star wars

• Lucas on vacation in Maui with Marsha and Spielberg
• “if you give me 1% of star wars, I’ll give you 1% of close encounters” tit for tat
• they want to work together

• Spielberg wants to make a james bond
• Lucas offers an idea he had developed with writer/director Philip Kaufman

• Phillip Kaufman

• Developed Star Trek at paramount and they said it was too costly and they ended up making it anyway without him
• So he rents a space in marin county from George Lucas
• They began kicking around ideas
• Lucas said he would like to make a modern day fairytale couched in modern-day vernacular

• Wanted to make something like King Solomon’s Mind

• First Technicolor film on location in Africa

• Lucas told Kaufman he loves the pal-ship adventure films from 30s—he loved Test Pilot (1938)

• Adventure films with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy
• Buddyism there and an adventure
• Homosocial greater than heterosexual elemetns

• Lucas loved B serials of 30s/40s
• Loved show called adventure theater
• Saturday matinee feel, buddy adventure film, fairytale, jungle gym and tarzan series, all in one
• Kaufman listens and goes on to direct a movie with Clint Eastwood from which he was fired

• Collaboration with Lucas Mushroomed into writers guild dispute

• More Raiders

• Kaufman accepts Lucas’ deal for money/credit for creation of Indiana Jones but it was made into a series and Kaufman wanted credit for every part of the series and even those that were not made

• Lucas said no and it went to arbitration
• Lucas said he wrote first two drafts of the story before Kaufman saw what this was about
• WGA sided with Kaufman and Kaufman was entitled to credit on all sequels
• George hated this decision and left writers guild
• On all these films except for the first, he buried this credit as the last scroll

• Character

• Playboy adventurer
• Archaeologist—grew out of Lucas’ courses at Modesto community college
• Kaufman came up with covenant and Nazi implications

• This part appealed to Spielberg

• Lucas always picked a mold to make his movie in\

• Graffiti

• Cruising

• Tucker

• Documentary short

• Star wars

• Fantasy adventure

• Indiana jones

• ?
• named Indiana after his dog

• Kasden brought on

• Spielberg introduced him to George in the first place

• Forerunners to Indiana Jones style were played straight

• Lucas made it funny

• Spielberg wanted it like Disney thrill ride
• Spielberg and Lucas initially disagreed on look of character

• King solomon’s mind
• Vs Humphrey bogart as treasure of sierra madre

• Spielberg said he should be sleazy and alcoholic
• Lucas

• Tom Sullock as Indiana jones

• Cbs didn't let him because he was very popular in Magnum Pi

• Spielberg sells Lucas on idea of Harrison Ford

• Ford wanted $400,000

• Kasdan takes 6 months to write work

• Archeologist and slimy nazi
• Indy’s sidekick—self-assured, arrogant
• Deborah Winger was sought
• Spielberg’s “live-in” Amy Irving wanted the part but she was having a fight with Spielberg and didn't get it

• Why did Spielberg want this?

• Professional redress after bomb of 1941
• Keeps it on budget and under-time
• Needed a commercial hit now—if he wanted level of respect
• WWII and Nazi history appealed to him

• Killer deal

• Paramount

• Less upfront but more money
• Studio promised 20m and was ready to go as high as 40
• Lucas 1m as ep
• Speilberg 1.5 for directing
• 60/40 split between Lucas, Spielberg and Paramount
• After 100 million, 40/60 split
• Paramount’s distribution fee was 20%--half of normal
• Lucasfilm would own movie and be involved in all of sequels

• Spielberg agreed to direct two sequels

• Shooting

• Spielberg storyboarded 80% of the film
• 4 to 1 shooting ratio—different from 1941 with 20 to 1 shooting ratio
• 7 countries in 3 continents
• 5 of 16 weeks of shoot Lucas was there

• did some second unit shooting in Tunisia

• Spielberg first cut—Lucas final cut
• Lots of crew from Star Wars

• Release

• PG rating

• Variety raved
• Box office hit

• Nominated for picture, directing, cinematography
• Lucas, Spielberg franchise

A lot of pastiche still applies to third in series

• Peter Lorre style villain—Ronald Lucy
• Serials like flash Gordon
• Finale

• Citizen kane

• Sword wielding Arabian warrior

• Lawrence of Arabia

• Ark of covenant

• The box in kiss me deadly

• Fantasy

• The insertion or the interruption into the human real world of a figure, an occurrence, and a situation that is alternative and radically distinct from the human, life as we know it

• Or the reverse

• The position of the human being situation, occurrence in an other-worldy modality or other-wordly lifestyle

• In both cases eliciting an uneasy acceptance on part of protagonist in need

• Acceptance ___ his own life

• Star wars

• Secondary world makes comments on primary world—people who use fantasy see it as best way to make comments on real world

• Fantasy is always positive

• It’s a wonderful life
• Angel—other-worldy modality inserting itself into real world

• Luke Skywalker need

• Identity problem
• Maturity problem

• Could be in need or in purgatory/hell and need to redeem yourself

• All along protagonist could be an ardent believer

• CS Lewis used his fantasy to dramatize problems of human condition

• Existence problems
• Not so much how am I gonna live with my wife, walk again, but these are bigger existence problems
• Created new worlds to see our world better
• There are strict fantasies

• Functions of fantasy by Lewis

• Recovery

• Regaining a clear view—seeing things as we were meant to see them

• Escape

• That which is around us is compared to something else without limitations—a release

• Consolation

• Utopian
• Desire to communicate with species other than our own
• Eucatastrophe

• Fantasy grounded in adventure?
• Adventure is grounded in cultural myths’

• Roots of adventure genre

• Adventure hero

• Two flavors

• Superhero
• One of us—common hero marked by flawed abilities and attitudes shared by the audience

• This one has to grow to super-ordinariness

• “the elephants should be here on Friday”

• Spielberg had to turn down many film to do Indiana Jones

• Wants a father/son relationship in this film
• Tossed around a lot of different ideas like “gongo”
• Spielberg suggest holy grail

• First draft

• Lucas and menges
• George suggested teen opening

• Something new about Indiana jones

Spain, Italy, Jordan, Colorado, Mexico, Utah

• More locations than any of the Indiana Jones up to this time

• PG-13

• Didn't sit well with Spielberg or Lucas

• Reviews

• Variety loved it
• Best of series
• BUT some rumors went on that Spielberg’s heart wasn’t in it

• Pastiche

• James Bond saga—natural since Sean Connery is the star
• NXNW—airplane chase scene
• Westerns—monument value—John Ford
• Mystical finale of lost horizon and star wars
• The Birds
• She
• Maltese Falcon

• 3 oscar nominations

• won sound effects editing

• 3 quests involved

• quest for father
• quest for grail
• quest for journal
• quest for childhood

• Love of father and son
• Writer from Arcadia polishes the dialogue

• How you get something like “how did you know she talked like a Nazi” “she talks in her sleep” “I’m as human as the next man” “you left just when you were becoming interesting”
• Tom Stoffard

• Good chem between Ford and Connery
• Cartoon-like representation of Nazis from first two becomes more frightening

• Ford, Connery, and Phoenix as 3 Indis

• 2 preludes

• teen indie
• indie battles storm drenched deck off Portuguese coast

• we get this because it’s dirt
• Ford gets to go against Phoenix again after Phoenix stole a movie from him
• Needed to have prelude about Ford

• Career vs family dialectic
• What happens to George

• After episode 6 and before phantom menace
• Lots of things beside I.J.

• Return to Oz (1985)
• Walter Murch
• Sequel to Wizard of Oz—costume and production problems

• flop

• Wexler doing a semi-documentary about US involvement in Nicaragua

• Latino
• Very political film
• Lucas advises on script and later helps on editing

• Flop

• Tri-Star

• Co-production of Jim Hansen Associate and Lucasfilm
• Non-muppet movie
• Written by Terry Jones of Monty Python crew

• Howard the Duck

• Universal
• 1986
• “howard the duck is a turkey” – one reviewer
• comic book from marvel comics
• inspiration for lucas—passes it on to Ewick and Katz

• writers that helped him with A.G. and American Graffiti
• one went to UCLA, another went to USC

• lucas wanted it to be in noir style—like a small film, like roger rabbit film

• studio was afraid this would be a big-big movie
• 20% over budget
• 35 mil cost

• Howard the Duck tries to return to his own world and he must defeat the dark overlord—an alien which takes over the body of scientist Dr. Jenning and transforms him into a scorpion like monster

• The Land Before Time

• Universal
• 1988
• Project of Spielberg that was developed with Don Bluff

• Ex Disney animator
• Based in Disney and broke out to work on his own
• Loved disneys cell animation and he wanted to get back to it with this film
• First collab with Spielberg was “an american tale”
• Climate is changing and green lands of dinosaurs are drying up—therefore baby bontasorus go on journey to fertile land
• Spielberg gets lucas involved who sits in on story conference with k kennedy and frank marshall
• Lucas takes credit as executive producer
• Box office success

• Willow

• 1988
• idea Lucas got during Star Wars
• Studios are cold about this project
• Alan Lad Jr got fired from Fox and is now at MGM
• 35 million budget
• inspiration is purely hobbit and LOTR by Tolkien
• the nedwins

• baby is hidden because the wicked queen has ordered the destruction of female babies
• one of the babies is foretold to succeed her on the thrown

• vader-like figure named General Kale

• after Pauline kael

• Ron Howard

• Made a name with Splash and Cacoon
• PDs were first rate
• 750 BG plates shot all over the world
• 400 special effect shots

• Pastiche

• Brownies

• Arthur ranchman

• Gulliver’s travels
• Peter pan
• Mad max
• Bible
• Snow white
• Wizard
• Star wars
• Castle from kurosawa something of blood
• Baramorda—evil wicked queen

• Advertising

• 4 months
• “you know what is real…and you know what is not”
• “you know what is light…and what is dark”
• “you know what makes you laugh…or makes you cry”
• “now forget all you know or think you now”

• Shown at Cannes

• But not in competition

• Malevolent general kael is film critic who dumped on Lucas’ films
• Ebersisk is ebert and sisk who dumped on his films
• George lucas is willow
• Self-important village elder is Francis Ford Coppola
• Pigs in story are all the other directors in new Hollywood
• Baby princess is cinema itself
• The castle is Hollywood
• Mad martiggan and the brownies are Allan Lad jr and all the others who helped lucas in Hollywood
• The fairy is special effects
• Moses

• 1993

• 3 films rleased on  video and laser disc
• 199_—remastered in THX sound
• 1995 Disney World opens with George Lucas’ Alien Encounter

• alien in a test tube
• special effects used to make it use like it’s interacting with you
• screen, smell monster, chair shakes, chairs have own stereo, lights go on and off

• 1995

• DGA—Lucas was quietly re-instated
• Present 20th anniversary screening of Star Wars

• 1994

• Radio Land Murders

• Came to him while writing AG
• Lucas liked radio and radio mysteries
• 1972 he commissioned script to be written by ___

• third film that Lucas owned with universal
• Willard Hack and Katz do script
• studio conditions

• parody
• w/ TV actors
• <15 million

• Most didn't like it (critics)
• Set in 1939, Rodger must convince his wife to divorce him, must finish his story, and must…
• Screwball mystery—called back to 30s
• Abbott and Costello’s whodunit from 1932—pair of soda jerks

• People in pharmacy that serve ice cream and sodas

• Woody Allen’s Radio Days
• As is TV show on the air

1997 Lucas re-released Star Wars with extra time

• Wanted to compete with Jurassic Park

• Didn't sit well that JP had slight edge in rentals

• Wanted to fix technology

• 250 million dollars in box office

• fox distributes and pays for digital technology to fix things about originals that bothered Lucas

• 15 mil digital
• 20 mil marketing

• Pepsi Cola makes R2D2 cans, Fritolay and pizza hut also get in
• New generation can see movies on big screen

• Star Wars: Magic of Myth

• Exhibit opens at Smithsonian
• 250 costumes, characters, models, artifacts and a gift shop
• star wars bed and bath line

• top films of 1997

• men in black
• Jurassic park 2
• Liar liar
• Air force one
• Star Wars 138 m

• Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace

• Why direct again George?

• Spent 10 years of empire building as a businessman, wanted to play craftsmen and maker again

• Lue Arannica

• Puts forth someone to write new star wars novel called Heir to the Empire

• 1991
• #1 bestseller on NY times for 29 weeks
• writes 2 sequels

• Irving Thalberg award for Lucas
• Star Wars toys got revived as Hasbro sold rights to another company
• 1994 Lucas begins writing story
• 1996 100s of storyboards for movie
• summer of 1997 production begins
• Team assembles animatrics—rough computer designs of script scenes

• David Paul Zagaretz

• Rick Mcallum – ID TERM

• Worked for Lucas 1990-2000
• Industry driven—runner, assistant director, production designer

• At the start, critics were very hard on this film. Casper loved this movie. Up to this time, casper thought it was the best star wars

• 115 million dollar budget
• 70 million his own money
• no shoot in US to keep costs low
• film made as a tv series?
• 36 setups a day
• no more than 60 day shoot
• no expensive stars
• he would take low up-front money
• lucas’ most lucrative deal ever

• 1100 people got credit for this movie
• Digital technology is cheaper—90% was digital

• 2000 digitally altered shots
• very few not aletered
• shot in studio in northwest London
• computer was linked iva satellite to ILM

• creation of background, character Jar Jar binks is wonderful
• happens about 40 years before Star Wars IV
• Anakin lives on Tatooine w single mother as slave
• Trade dispute

• Trade federation is phantom menace

• Lucas

• No such thing as bells
• If not pushing forward, sliding backawards

• Great Cast

• Not stars
• Oscar nom for Shindler’s list
• Ewan as Obi Wan—made name w trainspotting
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Pernilla august as Anakin’s mother
• Shmi is from Ingmar bergman’s films
• 3 computer generated worlds
• 1200 costumes

• Pastiche

• 12 minute pod race

• pastiche of chariot race in Ben Hur

• battle between Gonga and federation devils is Oliver’s Henry V
• Natu’s capital—babylon from Intolerance (1916)
• Jar Jar Binks

• Rubbrery face
• Jokey carribean accent
• Dany Kay, black exploitation figures, Goofy, Bob Marley, Tex Avery
• Very complex figure

• Federation leader

• Fu-man shu

• Quasi-ratial stereotyping
• Jew as guy who tries to sell to Annie
• Lost academy award ot matrix—or box office?
• Fans are now called Star Warriors

• Fans paid full price tickets and slept through 3 hours of meet joe black and stayed to see 2 minute trailer again
• Every magazine put movie on cover
• Toys r us sold action figures

• US rentals 431.something
• 352 Non-USA
• largest 3 day total ever
• History of Exhibition

• One of great things about postmodern Hollywood is exhibition has been cleaned up
• In 60s and 70s it was the most dismal way to see a movie

• There was no home video

• Lucas helped exhibitors clean up their acts—stadium seating—great screens

• Technology produced the movie show

• Beginnings 1893

• Mounting spirals with tiny photographs on cylinders—magnifying eye piece
• Made cylinder revolve
• Kinetograph

• 1 person at a time
• premiere in amusement arcade

• 1894

• kinetoscope
• 50 foot loops moving through machine
• paid from 5-25 cents for access
• peep shows

• filled in vaudeville entertainment

• 1893

• lumiere brothers put a crowd in a hall and projected a movie on to a special surface

• first time movie seen by many people
• invented projector, printer, camera
• cinematograph

• in basement of grand café on exclusive boulevard in Paris
• amusement parks at end of trolly run

• movies shown here

• vitascope halls
• open-air demonstrations
• part of a rail ride

• usually at park where they had a train ride

• 1896

• vaudeville between shows
• was the most popular entertainment of the time

• 2 acts
• act 1, act 2
• 8 skits or sections in 1st act
• 6 skits in 2nd act
• 5-10 min comedy routines, animal acts, singing and dancing, parody of broadway show or melodrama, acrobats, cowboy roping with lasso

• movies @ end of 1st act—people weren’t very interested

• signal they gave to patrons
• 1st act coming to end—this is mechanical—not live
• became most attractive attraction in vaudeville

• More on theaters/exhibition

• Pittsburgh first nickelodeon
• 50 to 100 seats
• benches
• 1 hour long program

• before a sing-a-long
• short doc
• short comic
• short fantasy
• short dramatic feature

• movie studios began buying out the vaudeville/theater chains

• movie studios produced, distributed, and exhibited their own movies
• built exhibition like a palace

• center cities at the highest point of metropolis—like a church
• built them as palaces

• two reasons

• attract wealthy
• movie stars where Americas Gods and Goddesses
• new mythology—american mythology distinct from greek and british mythology
• mythology for the new world

• they were anywhere between 2000-5000 seats
• lobby after lobby before entering auditorium

• full of tapestries and paintings
• marble staircases
• bar
• ushers and usherets with white gloves
• air conditioning by 1925

• owned 3000 theaters
• 75% of box office came from palaces
• 1927 sound

• sound on disc
• synchronization was difficult
• Fox’s sound system was called movietone—they put the strip of sound on the same frame as the image so they didn't have a sync problem
• Took 2 years for all theaters to be equipped with sound

• Next revolution of sound

• Disney with fantasia
• Introduced stereophonic sound
• Fanta-sound

• Expensive
• Road show

• After the war

• Things from Germany
• New type of material for sound recording
• Magnetic tape—we were using optical sound
• Magnetic was more expensive

• 2 types of movie introductions

• prologue
• newsreels/shorts
• previews of coming attractions
• climax was the feature film

• 50s—they stay away from magnetic tape because its too expensive

• time of large screens and stereophionic sound
• compete with TV
• 11” 9” TV with monoscopic sound
• later--surround FX—cinerama sound

• Cinerama dome
• Cinescope
• Only made about half dozen of these

• 65” widescreen process—5” for sound

• magnetic 6 track
• 1956—Around the World In 50 Days

• cinemascope

• 35mm film
• 4 magnetic tracks directly on print of film just outside picture frame
• first used in 1953
• most theaters were only equipped for optical so most theaters only showed mono-optical
• cost for magnetic was still very high

• despite fact that exhibitors were losing audiences—they didn't want to incorporate widescreen

• cost between 75-100k
• didn't know if people would notice sound difference of stereo

• drive-ins were popular—people didn't worry about sound here
• lowest form of exhibition in American history

• began to tear down movie palaces
• raise them or chop them up into tiny boxes—function dictated form
• to save money—1 box that showed 2 films at the same time or even 4 or 6
• small auditoriums
• sound bled from one film to another
• looked like lobby of a department store
• minimalist boxes
• no ushers
• 60s/70s

• viewing conditions at all time low

• Stanley derwood
• Built not on high points in the city anymore but in consumer malls

• Aura of being consumed
• Level of hotdog, shoe
• No different from pretzel stand

• 1974

• universal comes along with there new system called surround sound for Earthquake!

• Added low frequency sound-waves during soundtrack so that the earthquake creates a rumbling

• 1975

• dolby sound system
• high fidelity stereo sound eliminating all extraneous noises
• clear life-like sound reproduction
• accurately reproduced volume range
• under 10,000 to install
• 6 speakers in every corner of auditiorium

• Tommy

• First dolby stereo film

• 78 Saturday Night Live
• 1977

• Star Wars
• George Lucas
• Solidified dolby sound system

• 80s art house comes to end

• rise of home video
• easy to see foreign films at home and not have movie houses for foreign films
• more movie houses in this period than in the 20s because of Lucas’ films and Indi saga pumped more money into exhibitors pockets and they now had money to spend on movie houses

• bigger screens
• stadium seating
• dolby sound

• why did George put al this effort into making sound better?

• He has the belief 50% of experience comes from sound
• He has belief that viewing greatly affects the experience of a movie
• THX built and improved on dolby system

• 1980

• Lucas starts a group under Tom Holman Tomlinson ____

• Corporate director of sprocket systems
• Lucas sets up a group under him to investigate ways of improving post-production sound mix and sound in theaters

• Exhibition
• Pioneer in upgrading quality of sound mix post-production and eventually sound in home presentation systems

• formerly—sound comes from speakers mounted high on walls above audiences head and comes to audiences ears after bouncing off auditorium
• theaters had to be updated and cheaply
• key to building a theater—if the walls could be part of the sound system, the entire theater would be a kind of loud speaker with the audience at the center

• to mount the speakers behind the screen to form a wall
• better low frequency response
• crossover network
• send high frequencies only to parts of speakers supposed to produce high frequencies
• Holman called it THX
• Lucas said it was named after his movie
• It was not named after THX 1138—it was Tom Holman Xperiment

• 1982

• first THX mixing room at this ranch
• encouraging filmmakers to record in stereo and THX even if cinemas didn't have THX
• all of them had this logo

• return of the jedi released with THX

• at this point not only are theaters being installed with this, but they are being built from ground up with this in mind

• 1983 THX theater alignment program

• plan to modernize every movie house in world
• comprehensive quality assurance program

• TAP offered services to all distributors with release of Indiana Jones and Star Trek 3
• 1989 the program is approved by NATO
• 1991

• reached outside of America

• later

• home technology innovations
• home theater sound systems
• thx laser disc manufacturing system (before DVD)

• Lucas and TV

• Not on entertainment level but education level

• star wars holiday special

• John Corti

• Lauded indie filmmaker
• Made movie called crazy girl
• Met George up north
• Encouraged coppola to make zoetrope
• Directs episode of ewok adventure

• Inspired 2.5 animated series
• Both of these tv ewok films were shown theatrically
• 1986 great heap by lucas
• 1990 maniac mansion show – lucasfilm ltd
• series about young Indiana Jones Chronicles

• 2nd season cancelled

• Star Wars the Animated Series

• Clone wars
• 2003-2005
• remade with George lucas more involved CGI 2008-2014
• between episode 2 and 3

• Star Wars Rebels—disney

• Star Wars Episode II

• Sript by Lucas and Jonathon Holes—worked with him on indie jones chronicles
• New love motif
• Chases are much faster and speedier
• Battles at end are very memorable
• Hayden CHRISTENSEN WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE????????
• Release—may 16 2002
• 53 day shoot
• reception

• horrible
• 2.5 hour action figure commercial
• ny times said it's a demo reel heralding latest advances in digital technology
• chance for gifted actors to be handsomely paid for worst line readings of their careers
• one positive review—roger kaufman—synthesizing of the epic archetypal themes with great charming special THX

• gay theatrical tradition of high camp

• subversive mode of performance htat gay people have used to show outside perspective on dominant american culture
• perspective on a blind american society