I didn’t say it was easier, I said it was more comfortable for Lucas. With digital cameras, he could review any scene immediately without leaving his chair. The technical difficulties or the final result didn’t bother him too much.
This is an interesting thought.
I’d heard Lucas wasn’t really an actors’ director from his work on Star Wars (A New Hope), but I was stunned the first time I saw him sitting there on the set of one of the prequels drinking his giant coffee watching actors live on two TV monitors like he was filming a soap opera that had to get five episodes done that week. Isn’t there one behind the scene clip we he mentions sometimes he forgets to yell, “Cut”?
He wanted to build a film studio right on his property and film Episode 7 there before handing it off. Can you imagine? He would have directed in his bathrobe and it would be a good day if he remembered to close it.