scene 1, take 5: Director Spotlight: George Lucas

I have chosen to write about George Lucas for my directors pick. George Lucas has influences the film industry with Star Wars and Indiana Jones. The film series have been a hit since they first came out. George Lucas is a favorite director of mine. George Lucas has said “I’ve always tried to be aware of what I say in my films, because all of us who make motion pictures are teachers — teachers with very loud voices” ("George Lucas About George Lucas"). Directors are teachers and teach the audience very important morals and lessons to learn by. Star Wars for example Lucas teaches us to battle the forces of evil. “Star Wars revolutionized special effects, forged new frontiers in sound design, and brought audiences to movie theaters in record numbers” ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies are some of the most popular movies ever made. From an early age Lucas loved to write and became an English major and then a friend suggested he go to The Cinema School at the University of Southern California ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). Lucas always did well at student film festivals and his first feature-length sensation was American Graffiti ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). After the hit American Graffiti Lucas started developing a series of science fiction movies known today to be Star Wars. “Star Wars was first movies to take advantage of the advances in special-effects technologies” ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). The movie created this fantasy world for people to make decisions with good versus evil. Then in 1981 Lucas went in another direction and started production of The Raiders of the Lost Ark ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). “Then in the late 1970s Lucas formed the production company, Lucas Films Ltd. In Northern California, Lucas’s 2,700-acre state-of-the art production center and “think tank,” Skywalker Ranch, is home to the empire” ("George Lucas About George Lucas”). Lucas Films Ltd. has a very significant influence on films today. Star Wars has set box office records and with the new series coming out from Disney it will be even more popular then ever. We can learn a lot of filmmaking tips from Lucas because he has been so successful. “Lucas has been a guiding force in the transition from film to digital, which also puts him in the middle of the argument over what might be the end of film in filmmaking” (Beggs). Lucas has changed the way films are made today with digital filmmaking and CGI. He has put a lot of money into new camera technology and using new tools (Beggs). Lucas is always trying to push himself to new limits because he has so much technology to work with. New technology means having a lot more options for making films (Beggs). Lucas always asked for help from other talented people who worked on his films. He has worked with Stephen Spielberg. Lucas created an entire universe and made his movies so likeable. George Lucas has said "Everybody has talent. It's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is" ("George Lucas”). George Lucas has impacted film and technology in motion pictures. People have to figure out their talents in order to know what they are good at. Lucas has certainly found his talent in filmmaking. Francis Ford Coppola saw Lucas’s talent in film school when he made mock documentaries and American Graffiti ("George Lucas”). George Lucas is one of the greatest film animation innovators of all time ("Nine Ways George Lucas Changed Movies Forever”). “2002’s Attack of the Clones was the first major motion-picture to be shot on high-def. digital cameras, which Lucas swore gave resolution equal to traditional film stock” ("Nine Ways George Lucas Changed Movies Forever”). A lot of filmmakers were seeing how effective high definition cameras were and how they could make movies even better. Star Wars had such groundbreaking effects and was the first of its kind ("Nine Ways George Lucas Changed Movies Forever”). It did not change so much how movies were edited there are not a lot of cut scenes ("Nine Ways George Lucas Changed Movies Forever”). “Now known the world over for its beloved animated features, Pixar began in 1979 as a small subdivision of Lucasfilm” (Lambie). Pixar was working closely with LucasFilms. “Then in 1986, Apple founder Steve Jobs provided an injection of cash, and The Graphics Group became an independent corporation called Pixar.” (Lambie). Pixar began working on CG filmmaking with certain projects including Toy Story which was the first full length computer animated movie and a historic moment in film making.” (Lambie).