When George Lucas first began creating the script for his space fantasy film Star Wars back in the late 1970’s, no one expected it to become the huge phenomenon that it is today. In fact, many film studios flat out said “no” to Lucas before FOX Studios finally agreed to produce and distribute his film (Pollock 136). At the time, many studios felt that “science fiction was a very bad genre” (Kline 80). They didn’t believe that a science fiction film would turn a very big profit. Even FOX would only give Lucas up to $8.5 million to make his film—which was considered very low budget (Smith 57). However, when Star Wars was finally released in theaters in 1977, it turned out to be a lot more successful than the studios originally assumed, as it made $2.8 million in its opening week (a record for that time), and drew a crowd that “circled entire city blocks” (Smith 79; see also Kline 56). By one month later, ticket sales went up to $20.5 million (Kline 56). Within three months, it held the record for grossing $100 million faster than any other film up to that point in time (Pollock 186).
Since its first release over 34 years ago, the success of Star Wars has only grown. Today, it has become one of the most recognized and successful film franchises of all time. Its story has captivated the hearts of millions of people all over the world and has made Lucas one of the most successful directors in history. This has especially been shown to be the case when it comes to merchandise sales. In 2005, Howard Roffman, the president of Lucas Licensing was quoted as saying that Star Wars has now licensed their image and brand to be featured on over 400 products in over 30 countries (Idelson par. 2). These products include everything from toys and video games to clothes and lunchboxes (Kapell 210; see also Champlin 184). It was also estimated that the profit from merchandizing alone was over “$2.5 billion by the end of the first three films” in the 1980’s (Qtd. in Kapell). By May 2005, that number more than tripled, bringing the total sales from merchandizing up to as a much as $9 billion. It was also estimated that the worldwide box office receipts for Star Wars had made around $3.4 billion by May of 2005.
Due to its success, Star Wars is often credited—in addition to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws—with revolutionizing the film industry and moving filmmaking into a new period known as the New Hollywood Era (Nowell-Smith 480). Its success led it not only to become one of the biggest films of the 70’s, but also one of the largest cultural phenomenon’s of today. Though some of its reviews have been negative, a great majority of them have also been very positive. For example, one review it received in the 1977 came from Time magazine who stated it was “a grand and glorious film that well may be the smash hit of 1977” (Qtd. in Pollock 186). Another critic named Gary Arnold also once said Star Wars was “the kind of…movie you can dream about finding, for your own pleasure as well as your kids’ pleasure” (Qtd. in Smith 81). In addition, Star Wars has led many to view Lucas as a great pop culture icon (Kline IX). Some have even gone so far as to compare him to Elvis Presley or the Beatles (Pollock 3).
While critics are right that Star Wars has had a revolutionary impact on the business or cultural side of filmmaking, many of them seem to rarely cover how it has impacted other areas of filmmaking. One of the things I think Lucas should get more credit for is how he impacted the technological side of filmmaking through Star Wars. For more than 30 years, Lucas has become a powerful force for pioneering new techniques for how filmmakers use technology in their films. These techniques have impacted films in areas such as special effects, sound, and video editing (Modine pars. 1-10). In this essay I would like to analyze the technologies that Lucas and his companies have developed in relation to special effects and sound design. In the process, I will also examine how these technologies have opened up the way for other films to be produced by making the filmmaking process more efficient.
George Lucas actually conceived of the idea for the Star Wars series while he was still in film school at USC (Kline XVII, 116). There were two main reasons why he decided to make these films. The first reason was because he sensed there was a great need for it. Over the years between the late 60’s and early 70’s, Lucas noticed that Hollywood had made a lot of films with an extreme amount of sex and violence, as well as a lot of cheesy science-fiction films. After observing this, he realized that this wasn’t what audiences were looking for anymore. Rather, they were looking for something more along the lines of comedy and action-adventure (Pollock 133).
In order to fill this void Lucas decided he would design Star Wars to be for a younger, more adolescent audience. “I decided I wanted to make a children’s movie, to go the Disney route” he said (Kline 47). To do this, Lucas spent a lot of time researching fairy tales, science-fiction stories, myths, and psychology so that he could get a clear idea of how and why they worked. This way he could find the best way to tell the Star Wars story on a level that children could understand and appreciate (Pollock, 134). This was all done for the purpose of instilling in children an appreciation for mythology and an understanding of the differences between good and evil (Pollock 143-144; see also Kline XIII).
The second reason why Lucas wanted to make Star Wars is because he wanted to try something different from what most filmmakers were doing at the time (Kline 116). As he researched myths, one thing that stuck out to him was that myths usually “took place over the hill in some exotic far-off land” (Kline 80). While contemplating on this research, he realized that space was the most interesting and mysterious over the hill place there was (Kline 53-54, 80). He also realized that no one had really tried to make an epic space adventure of this sort before. From this point on, Lucas became dedicated and driven to create Star Wars, because he felt it was “the kind of movie [people] needed” to see (Kline 116).
Part of Lucas’s goal in creating Star Wars was to return to the basics principles of early Hollywood. He wanted to create a genre of films that could be “easily packaged and sold on a mass scale to audiences around the world” (Nowell-Smith 480). In order to reach his goal, Lucas decided to start his own production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., in 1971 (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Inside Lucasfilm: Company History” par. 1). Through this company, Lucas would eventually become a force for “forging new frontiers” in many different areas of filmmaking technology, making him “an unquestioned pioneer of both visual and sound technology” (Kline 165). These new techniques would also make it easier for filmmakers to connect with their audiences by increasing the range of possibilities of what filmmakers could do.
Although special effects were around to some extent before Lucas’s film series, they weren’t used as frequently or in the same way as they are now. In fact, in the 60’s there was a sharp decrease in the amount of special effects that filmmakers used in their films. This was because special effects were seen as being way too expensive and artificial. People also preferred to shoot in the streets a lot more because it was more convenient and it looked more realistic. This mindset of avoiding special effects because of how complicated and expensive they were continued for another decade until the 70’s (Turnick 135-136). In addition, the special effects during these times were extremely limited in their potential because people could only use them in a couple ways. Either they had to create the special effects through lighting and camera movement, or they had to use a mechanical device (Edwards 31).
When George Lucas created Star Wars IV: A New Hope, he felt that the best way to make the audience believe the story was to make it as real and as credible as possible. This meant that he had to invent many different types of characters, cultures, social factors, and so forth (Kline 58). However, considering the fact that Star Wars took place in non-existent reality, this was very difficult to do (Pollock 143). In order to get the look and feel he wanted, Lucas had to rely very heavily on technology through the use of special effects. In fact, special effects were considered one of the most important elements in the creation of the Star Wars films (Edwards 29).
Because Star Wars was so dependent on special effects, the filmmakers had a very difficult time creating a captivating and realistic look to their film. The main thing that made the film complicated was the fact that most of the technologies they needed hadn’t been invented yet. This meant that Lucas and his crew had to invent most of their own methods and technologies in order to make the film work (Edwards 29).
In order to develop the necessary technologies for his films, George Lucas decided to create a new division within his production company in 1975. This division was created while Star Wars: A New Hope was still is pre-production (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Inside Lucasfilm: Company History” par. 3). “There was no alternative. I was making this huge special effects movie, and there was no special effects company around that could handle that kind of project” said Lucas (Qtd. in Kline 168). This new division of George’s company became known as Industrial Lights and Magic (ILM). They became responsible for bringing the visual side of Lucas’s ideas to life through the creation of many special effects in each of the Star Wars films—the first one alone had around 350 effects (Kline 52, 168). Over time ILM would pioneer many new special effect techniques, which would eventually have a large impact on many other films (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Divisions: Industrial Light & Magic” pars. 1-2).
One of the technologies that ILM developed was a new type of camera called the Dykstraflex camera. This was a special kind of computerized camera that could easily be programed to repeat the same movements multiple times over. By using this camera, the filmmakers were able to “pan, tilt, and track around a model, [while] always keeping it in focus” and while also creating the illusion that the spaceships were life-size moving objects (Pollock 172). This camera also allowed the filmmakers to get multiple shots of different elements and layer them together to make it look like there were multiple things going on at the same time in the same shot (Champlin 55). This technique is known as motion capture (Modine par. 8).
One example of a Dykstraflex camera being used in Star Wars: A New Hope is in the shot where the Millennium Falcon is being pulled into the Death Star by a tractor beam. Although this shot looks like it contains multiple elements all taking place at the same time, it was actually created by layering multiple shots of different elements on top of each other. In this shot there are two big guns and two storm troopers standing in the foreground, while the Millennium Falcon is being pulled into a window of the Death Star in the background. The interesting thing about this shot is that both storm troopers were actually played by the same person and the same prop was used for both guns. This scene was just shot a few times while using the same exact movement of the camera in order to make it look like it all existed in the same space at once (Rinzler 231).
Another type of technology that ILM developed was digital technology. Over the past three decades, George Lucas has become a “dominant figure in digital moviemaking” because of the digital technologies which he developed through ILM (Kline 224). From computer animated films to live-action films, Lucas and ILM have influenced virtually every development in digital filmmaking to some degree.
Lucas’s influence on digital technology began in 1979, when he set up a division within ILM known as Computer R & D (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Inside Lucasfilm: Company History” par. 8). This department was designed specifically to develop digital imaging hardware and other computer technologies for ILM (Kline 159). Computer R & D later became known as Pixar after it was sold to Steve Jobs for $10 million in 1986 (see Pixar. “Company Info: History 1986” sec. 1; see also Kline 159). In 1995, Pixar made Toy Story—the first feature length computer animated film (see Pixar. “Company Info: History 1995” sec. 2). This film, of course, eventually inspired other computer animated films to come along.
Four years after Toy Story, in 1999, Jar Jar Binks in Lucas’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace became the first “entirely digital character” to be put in a live-action film (Silvio 155-157). Finally, in 2002, the influence of Lucas and ILM on digital filmmaking became complete, as Star Wars: Attack of the Clones became “the first major feature film to be shot and produced digitally” (Slater, par. 2). This was done with a Sony’s HDW-F900 camera (Modine, par. 6).
Today, Industrial Light and Magic has grown to become the largest special effects company in the world. In many ways they have set a high standard for other special effect studios to follow (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Divisions: Industrial Light & Magic” pars. 1-2). They have done this by both combining old filmmaking methods together and inventing new ones. Because of ILM’s efforts, filmmakers no longer have to take to the streets all the time to create their films. Instead, they can create their films entirely indoors, and still have just as many—if not more—characters and worlds to choose from. In fact, ILM has helped pave the way for other popular blockbuster films to be made—around 300 of them. Some of the other films that they have influenced include Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Iron Man (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Divisions: Industrial Light & Magic” pars. 1). As I mentioned a moment ago, even Pixar came as a result of the technologies which ILM developed (Kline 214). Thanks to Lucas, ILM, and the technologies which they developed, filmmaking has now become more efficient through increasing the range of stories filmmakers can tell and creating ways for those stories to feel more realistic.
In addition to visual technology, George Lucas and Star Wars have also impacted sound technology in films. Between the 50’s and 70’s, most films used what was called a four-track, magnetic stereo type of sound. This was a very complicated and costly process because it involved magnetic stripping and the transferring of sound to multiple tracks (Nowell-Smith 483-484). This process ended up creating a lot of problems for films when they were finally shown in theaters. Often it resulted in a much lower quality of sound because it caused the dialogue, sound effects, and music to become “jumbled together like competing radio stations” (Champlin 187). It also created a very distracting hissing sound within the film (Nowell-Smith 484).
Theaters also suffered from poor sound quality between the 50’s and 70’s. Most of them usually had “poor acoustics and inadequate audio systems” (THX Ltd. 1). There was also “no clear placement of the sound as originating at the right, left, or center” like there is now (Champlin 187). This meant that audience could only hear the sound coming from one direction of the theater. These elements only added to the loss in quality of sound. As a result, people had a harder time focusing on what they were watching because they were more prone to become distracted by the outside noises of the streets, or the sounds of other near-by theater screens (THX Ltd. 1).
Just like with the visual side of production, Lucas didn’t originally have all the sound effect technologies he needed in order to create the world he was looking for in Star Wars (Kline 168). At the time, the only sci-fi movie sounds that were available to him were electronic and synchronized sounds. However, he didn’t want to use these sounds because he felt they were too cliché (Pollock 178). This meant that he had to create most of his own sounds for the film. In order to get the more life-like sound effects he was looking for, Lucas decided to start another new company around the same time as ILM in 1975. This company was known as Skywalker Sound (Champlin182). It was designed primarily to design and mix sound effects for the Star Wars films (Kline168). Lucas also hired as man named Ben Burtt—who had just graduated from USC—to develop the sound effects for Skywalker Sound (Pollock 178). These sound effects included everything from the sounds of alien voices and droids, to weapons and vehicles (Kline 168; see also Pollock 178).
In addition to creating many different sound effects for Star Wars, Skywalker Sound also had a hand in pioneering a couple new sound systems and techniques. One of the first sound systems that Skywalker sound first experimented with was Dolby Stereo (Pollock 177; see also Rinzler 291). At the time, Dolby Stereo was a brand new sound system. This system came out in 1975—about the same time that Lucas first began working on Star Wars. The reason Skywalker sound decided to experiment with this is because it was supposed to be of a higher quality (Nowell-Smith 484).
Dolby Stereo was a high-fidelity sound system which allowed a “four-track stereo [sound to] accompany a 35 mm. film.” It made film more efficient by “avoiding the costly process of magnetic stripping and of transferring the sound to various magnetic tracks.” In other words, the sound and the visual elements of the film could now be optically printed onto the same track at the same time—making the sound a higher quality because it hadn’t been reprinted so many times before combining it with the picture (Nowell-Smith 483-484).
When Dolby Stereo first came out, Fox Studios was very much against Skywalker Sound using the Dolby system; they felt that Dolby equipment “was not reliable” (Kline 177). However, in 1977, Lucas decided to release Star Wars with Dolby sound anyway. This choice led Dolby to become “a household name” once Star Wars became successful. It also led many theaters and recording studios to convert to using Dolby Stereo. For example, between 1977 and 1990 the amount of Dolby-equipped theatres increased from 100 to more than 16,000. By 1986, Dolby Stereo was not just “a household name,” but also an industry standard (Nowell-Smith 484).
Like ILM, Skywalker Sound has seen a lot of success. Today, it is considered one of the largest and most successful post-production companies in the sound industry (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Divisions: Skywalker Sound” par. 1). For over 30 years Skywalker Sound has provided sound design, sound mixing, Foley effects, and other post-production services to well over 500 films (IMDb.com, Inc.). Some of the films they have influenced include Iron Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Dark Knight. In addition to film, Skywalker Sound has done a lot of work in other areas such as “commercials, theme park rides, film scores, and video games” (see Lucasfilm Ltd “Divisions: Skywalker Sound” pars. 1-2). Because of Skywalker sound, filmmakers now have greater and easier access to multiple types of sound effects and other sound technologies in order to create the stories behind their films.
Another sound design technology that Lucas developed was the THX sound system in 1983 (see Lucasfilm Ltd. “Inside Lucasfilm: Company History” par. 21). This system was entirely separate from Skywalker Sound because it dealt more with sound quality rather than sound design and effects (Champlin 182, 187). The THX sound system was created and developed around the same time that Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi was being made, and was funded out of the profits Lucas had made from the two previous Star Wars films (Modine par. 3). The reason Lucas decided to create this new system is because he was disappointed in the quality of sound and picture that theaters were using at the time; he felt that the current technology “fail[ed] to deliver a sound and picture presentation that matched the artistic vision of the filmmaker.” As a result, he decided he would create a new “quality control standard” in order to make the performance level of the film become more consistent (THX Ltd. 1).
The new THX standard would have new specifications for both picture quality and sound in theater design and film presentations. For example, one specification they have is that “all sound effects, music, and dialogue [should be] evenly distributed throughout the cinema”—a.k.a. surround sound—rather than come from just one direction. They also required that each theater should have a certain level of acoustic design so that the noise from outside can be reduced—if not eliminated (THX Ltd. 1, 5). This way people could feel more like they were part of what they were watching, rather than just being an observer of what was on the screen.
Like other technologies Lucas has developed, the THX system has had a huge influence on the film industry. In many ways, it has set the standard for both filmmaking and film viewing by bringing a clearer, cleaner, and higher quality sound to film. This has been shown to be the case in everything “from the set and studio to movie theaters and playback devices.” Because of this, over 2,000 theaters worldwide have attempted to increase their box-office sales by becoming THX certified (THX Ltd. 1, 5).
There are also many large non-film companies all over the world who have come to depend on THX so they can “create products and build venues that deliver the highest quality entertainment experience” possible. Some of the other types of products that depend on THX technology include home entertainment systems, DVR systems such as TiVo, video games, and car audio systems (THX Ltd. 1-4). Through designing the THX surround sound system, Lucas has helped to “raise the bar” of entertainment to a higher degree of excellence (Modine par. 3; see also THX Ltd. 1-6). As a result, audience members can finally “experience the true sights and sounds of films and other media exactly like [they were] created” (THX Ltd. 1).
In summary, George Lucas has become a powerful force to be reckoned with in the film industry. Over the past 34 years, he has significantly changed the way that movies are made through “forging [many] new frontiers” in the use of technology in filmmaking. This has been done through his two companies, Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound. Because of these companies, and the technologies which they have developed, Lucas is now considered “an unquestioned pioneer of both visual and sound technology” (Kline 165). Some of the technologies which he has pioneered include the Dykstraflex camera, digital imaging, Dolby Stereo sound, and the THX surround sound audio/visual system. These technologies have paved the way for other films by expanding the range of possibilities for what filmmakers can do. They have also made it possible for audience members to have a higher quality experience when watching films. This leaves me to ask, “What more can George Lucas do to revolutionize filmmaking?” Only time can provide the answer to this question.
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