War Stars 101

Every day, new people are born into this world. There’s a good chance most of these people have parents, and there’s an even better chance that their parents watched at least one Star Wars trilogy while growing up. These new parents are faced with all kinds of important decisions during their children’s formative years, none more divisive and controversial than the one I’m going to address today: What order do you show your offspring the Star Wars saga in?* Do you stick to the chronology in which they were made, dictating the order be episodes IV through VI followed by I to III? Or does one honour the ‘logical’ sequence of I through VI? I have come to the conclusion that neither of these billings are satisfactory, and the best solution is to use the zig zag narrative structure popular in today’s storytelling (my theory is that this was caused by a generation of writers heavily influenced by House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ ).

Those stuck with this task can now rest easy, as I’ve done their thinking for them.  Come with me as I show you the path and why it must be this way.

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George Lucas: Maker of Films

The Binary Bansai has unearthed a rare hour long interview with Star Wars creator George Lucas from 1971.  Filmed hot on the heels of his first feature film THX 1138, the piece entitled George Lucas: Maker of Films features a 27 year old Lucas discussing the movie industry, film theory and his hopes for the future with media theorist Gene Youngblood.

Footage of Lucas at this age is extremely rare; it’s even more rare to see the man who would make Star Wars and Indiana Jones being so candid.  You have to give Lucas credit for following through, even in 1971 the guy knew exactly what he wanted: independence from the studio system.  Francis Ford Coppola and Lucas tried to achieve this independence with their company American Zoetrope, but the commercial failure of THX 1138 nearly ruined them. The irony of this failure is of course that Coppola was then forced to make a little film called The Godfather to make ends meet.

They also discuss some of Lucas’s early student films, there is so much potential in them.  While no one can argue that Lucas has been a visionary and clearly been very successful, you can easily make the case that he never lived up to his potential as a maker of films. He hasn’t made an original film since Star Wars; his greatest success, but probably not his best film.  It’s a really fascinating interview, to see where Lucas came from and now to see where he is. But who am I to judge the man, he has made good films (THX 1138, American Graffiti), has his studio independence and has billions of dollars. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the man behind the beard.

Check out the Lucas interview and the excellent accompanying article @ The Binary Bonsai

Or just download the interview directly: George Lucas: Maker of Films (650mb)

Thanks to Peter for the link.

Great Moments in Stop Motion Animation

When I was 10 years old my mother introduced my brother and me to Ray Harryhausen.  We watched Jack the Giant Killer, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and other films featuring Harryhausen’s amazing stop-motion effects.  By this point in my life I was already well versed in the works of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but I had no idea of the connection between the Harryhausen films and the Lucas/Spielberg movies I so loved.  I became obsessed with stop-motion animation and special effects in general for a period in my youth. I would mold things out of clay, building massive models out of Lego and destroy them both respectively. Sadly, I never realized I could film any of my creations, nor did I have the means at my disposal to do so.  I watched uncounted hours of Movie Magic on the Discovery Channel; a show that gave viewers a behind the scenes look at the effects that went into Hollywood blockbusters of the early 90’s.

From watching Movie Magic I learned about the lineage of some of the great special effects pioneers, specifically those specializing in stop-motion effects. Thomas Edison, or more likely those he employed were some of the earliest stop motion pioneers.  Early stop motion techniques were present in Edison Company films as early as 1902!  Willis O’Brien, the man responsible for the stop motion effects in 1933’s King Kong got his start animating movies for Thomas Edison’s company.  O’Brien would in turn train and later collaborate with Ray Harryhausen, the man who inspired generations of filmmakers and effects artists.  One such filmmaker and artist was Phil Tippett, who after seeing The 7th Voyage of Sinbad as a child became determined to get into the special effects business.  Tippett would go on to do all of the stop motion effects in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies.  Directors like James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro and Sam Raimi have all cited O’Brien and Harryhausen as influences and many eventually went on to employ Tippett on their films.  Even today stop motion is still used in film and television, most notably Robot Chicken and South Park.

Recently, I’ve once again become enamoured with stop motion animation.  Not just the creature effects of O’Brien, Harryhausen and Tippett, but the obscure and experimental uses of this effects technique as well.  Pinscreen animation, cut-out animation, puppet animation, etc. ; there are so many ways in which stop motion effects can be used and employed.  I’ve assembled a list of some of the most important, impressive and interesting moments in the history of stop motion animation.

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Star Wars Day: Original Theatrical Star Wars Trailers

Today is May 4th, which means that it’s Star Wars Day, May the Fourth be with you! Get it?  Ughh… that wasn’t funny when my high school computer science teacher said it, and it still isn’t.  In any event to celebrate Star Wars Day, I Heart Chaos has posted the original theatrical trailers for the six Star Wars movies.

Original Theatrical Star Wars Trailers @ I Heart Chaos

I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to see the trailer for Empire Strikes Back in theatres, I’m sure it would have been so awesome that I would have lost control of my bowels.  Seeing the trailers one after the other also helps to remind us how much better the original films were, and how badly Episode I and Episode II really sucked.  I still enjoy Revenge of the Sith despite all of its major shortcomings.  All I know is that I would pay good money to see a feature length version of this Return of the Jedi/Rush Hour mashup.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Brainstorming Transcript Leaked

Mystery Man on Film has leaked a 125-page transcript of a 1978 brainstorming session for Raiders of the Lost Ark, with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan.  Two of these men, Lucas and Spielberg, both fresh off of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind respectively, are at their creative peak for the decade(In Lucas’s case maybe ever, Prove me wrong sir, prove me wrong!).  Listening to these guys brainstorming for an iconic character like Indiana Jones is amazing.  Lucas and Spielberg’s embryonic vision of the character is as a bounty-hunting archeologist, whose character they’ve based on everyone from Humphrey Bogart and Peter Falk to Toshiro Mifune and Clint Eastwood.  That’s pretty much what they ended up with in Harrison Ford.  The transcript is an incredible find and gives wonderful insight into the thought process of three of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers at the height of their genius. Truly amazing stuff for any film dork.

The site has posted the highlights from the brainstorming session. as well as the entire 125 page transcript in PDF format.

Brainstorming Raiders of the Lost Ark @ Mystery Man on Film

Star Wars TV Series Casting Begins

The oft mentioned and long anticipated live-action Star Wars television show has apparently begun the casting process.  The MTV Movies Blog interviewed actress Rose Byrne at a junket for her new film Knowing, and she let slip that many of her friends had already auditioned for the Star Wars series.  Byrne, no stranger to the Star Wars univerese appeared in 2002’s Attack of the Clones.

Star Wars Live-Action TV Series Exclusive @ MTV Movies Blog

As with the Clone Wars animated series, George Lucas plans to produce an entire seasons worth of shows before shopping it to potential networks.  Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the series is said to focus on the early days of the rebellion against the Galactic Empire.  Although the TV show will focus on lesser known and new characters, the possibility of cameos from familiar Star Wars characters has not been ruled out.  Cyborg Darth Maul and Boba Fett anyone?!

As long as Lucas gets a strong team of writers and directors for the series, this property has a lot of potential.  Frankly, the less involved he is the better.  Director Kevin Smith has openly admitted many times that he would love to write or direct for  the TV series.  Plus, there are so many talented writers working in sci-fi TV right now that were weaned on the original trilogy—the writers of Lost, Heroes and Battlestar Galactica come to mind.  George, I know it’s your sandbox but it’s time to let the new kids play in it.

Your Best Friend over at Action and Action has posted his list of the 10 Reasons Why George Lucas Shouldn’t Have Directed the Prequels. Similarly, these are reasons Lucas should keep his hands off of the Star Wars TV series.