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Lucas responsible for new trend in movie making

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As far as I know Lucas was the first to shoot a movie completely digital. The reviews of this process were mixed. Half said it was the wave of the future, other said that that digital couldn't capture the realism that film could. I thought that it would only be a matter of time until others started following his lead. Well, here it is.

Superman Returns.

Bryan Singer is using the Genesis camera to shoot his latest movie digitally. Apparently though, they have a problem with speed (getting the digital tape to the editor as fast as if it was shot on film). This hasn't been a problem with Star Wars, in fact it was the opposite. So, why is the production for Superman having this problem?

EIther way, the future of filmmaking is here.

Check out www.bluetights.net/ and watch blog #8 for a webcam discussion between Bryan and his staff about shooting digitally.
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Seventies/Eighties Lucas being a filmmaking pioneer = good.


Modern Lucas being a filmmaking pioneer = bad.

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I don't have a huge issue with digital cameras if they are used correctly.

Point in fact, I loved the use of dual camcorders, one color and one B&W, in Blair Witch Project. It was very appropriate for that film. (I loved it when people complained that the DVD wasn't in widescreen. )

"Seventies/Eighties Lucas being a filmmaking pioneer = good.

Modern Lucas being a filmmaking pioneer = bad. "

Well, he did champion the use of NLE's, which make our current projects sooooo much easier to do.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I think the most positive part of digital filmmaking is how its democratizing the medium, bringing it to the people. Things that were never even fathomable for the biggest-budgeted studio picture of the eighties is now easily doable by a middle-school student on his home computer. Discreet channels of audio, digital creatures and characters, non-linear editing... And we won't even mention amatuers editing their own versions of popular movies at home (i.e.- The Phantom Edit, MagnoliaFan, etc...) None of this would be possible today if George Lucas hadn't said it could be done and then spent thirty years and millions of dollars pushing the creation of "a better way" to do it.

Anyone who thinks Lucas is a hack should look into technologies like EditDroid, Skywalker Sound, Industrial Light & Magic, THX, the new Sony digital camera and look at the effect they have had on the industry. Over the past few decades all of these things have revolutionized every single aspect of the medium. Movies simply are not made the same way they were thirty years ago, and I think Lucas deserves credit for that, if for nothing else. Films like Jurassic Park, Titanic, or the Lord of the Rings would not have been possible without the work he's done.

Best director? Certainly not. I think Episodes I and II were failed experiments (Episode III remains to be seen). Bad movies? No way. You wanna see a bad movie, rent "Glitter" with Mariah Carey.

The point is, Lucas tried to re-invent the way movies are made (again) and he took a completely different approach to making a movie than anyone had before. Some of it worked brilliantly. A lot of it didn't. It's "avant garde" art in the worst sense. That doesn't mean digital filmmaking is bad. The important thing is, the work he has done will carry over to contemporary and future filmmakers and they will study his method and improve on it.

How does anyone know what will work unless there are people like Lucas who dare to push the envelope and try new things? Otherwise we'd all be confined to watching the same movies over and over again. How many times can you watch crap like "You Got Served" before your eyes start to bleed?

Believe me, history will look favorably on George Lucas. When people take a step back and look at all the things he's given us during his career - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Howard the Duck... er, okay... Maybe not Howard the Duck - they will see that this man's contributions were valuable to our culture, and that the world was a better place because he lived.

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Great post InfoDriod!

Um...but I would choose to watch You Got Served 0 times. Saves you a heck of a lot of gauze and trips to the hospital that way.
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"Howard the Duck... er, okay... Maybe not Howard the Duck"

Hey, I LIKED that movie!

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I agree with MeBeJedi, I liked howard the duck... I dont see why so many people put it down...besides...its better than half the crap hollywood releases nowadays

but about the new trend in movie making...

This is what i think the problem is, and im hearing some of it in this thread. New is NOT necessarily better. Just because digital cameras are new does that mean they are better than traditional film? Im at a loss for specifics but i know there are older versions of software for example that i prefer over the new version just because of the layout and how it operates, or sometimes because they remove features (or just hide them) that I liked/used. Just thought of one...Winamp...I hated winamp 3, I went back and installed my old winamp 2.8 version cause i liked it better. 5 is better then three, but sometimes i prefer the simplicity of 2.

Also, as far as Lucas being responsible for this and his filmmaking pioneering being good or bad based on when he did it for the OT and him doing it now, I think where the problem lies with that is now he is TRYING to be a filmmaking pioneer. Sure he knew he was pushing the limits in the 70's/80's but he didnt do it for the sole purpose of pushing the new technology, he did it to tell a story.

Now, the 90's come around and Lucas decides to release the PT, but he basically goes about it and says, im gonna make these movies and use them to experiment with new technology, to push the limits and change filmmaking just like i did with the OT. He's more concerned about having fully digital characters, and fully digital sets, and even filming it completely digital because digital is one of the new buzz words, we have digital cable, and digital tvs.

In my opinion, Lucas become so wrapped up in the fact that he revolutionized filmmaking, and he's trying to repeat it...unfortunatly since he's forcing the issue and not just letting it happen like it did with the OT, the results are not coming off in the best light they could because all his passion is in the special effects and newness rather than the story he is telling which is what movies should really be about.

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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George has been working since the original Star Wars came to revolutionize movie making; it is not something he just decided to do with the prequels. I don't think it was a good idea for him to use the movies as experiments, but advancing technology was something that was very important to him.

More than anything else the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was used as a testing board for all their newly develop techniques. I honestly believe by the time that the prequels were being made he felt that the technology had progressed to the point that the movies were going to be movies, not experiments.

As far as new versus old, I am nto arguing that new is necessarily better than old. What I have always argued though is that new can be a good thing. Before George, no one else had taken the chances with digital movie making. He caught a lot of flack for it, but in the end, others are starting to see some of the benefits. It is like the difference between VHS and DVD. You will always have people that prefer VHS (or standard-fullscreen), but does that mean that people shouldn't be making strides to come up with a better process for storing and watching movies? Now, there is a choice for movie makers. Will making this movie be better if done on film, or done digitally? Film tends to have a more classic feel, akin to the classic black & white movies. Digital is very crisp, but tends to make things a bit too surreal sometimes in my opinion.

The point is that just because someone comes up with a new way of doing things, it doesn't mean that you have to do it that way. No one is holding a gun to anyone's heads here. People like to keep doing things the way they are comfortable with, while others like to push the envelope. In all truth, we would be nowhere without people like George trying things a new way.

Just think of indoor plumbing! I'm sure someone thought at the time "Huh, wha duh a neeeed one ah dem fancee house crappers when a I gots tah hole woods to do mah business in?" Well, now you have choice...
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I couldn't agree more with Rebel11_38. This has been an ongoing process for Lucas. He didn't make the OT, then take up golfing for 16 years, then come back and say "I think it's time to think of a new way to reinvent the moviemaking process."

Just because he didn't direct doesn't mean he wasn't on the scene. After "A New Hope" was released he began setting up his companies, investing in other projects. He worked with Spielberg on the Indiana Jones Trilogy up to 1989, there was the Radioland Murders (lest we forget), various other projects that he was a producer on, then he started the Young Indy series in the early 90's, then the Special Edition, then went right into the Prequels. So, really - the guy hasn't had a break since THX-1138 back in the early 70's.

This idea that some people have about him disappearing from the industry, sitting at home watching "Little House On the Prarie" reruns while knitting mittens for his kids, or thinking up fart jokes for Jar-Jar for 16 years is just plain ludacris. Granted, he was a little rusty at directing as evidenced by the glaring errors of judgement in The Phantom Menace. But, honestly, there is more to the guy's body of work than just Star Wars. (Dare I say it?)

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No.


Don't



Dare.



You protocol droids just don't know when to shutup.
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I never meant my post to come across that lucas just sat on his ass and did nothing between ROTJ and TPM.

What I really meant was that the OT (the first movie in particular) made a big change in the way special effects were used. while he may have been setting up the use of digital cameras and 'playing around' with them and other technology between ROTJ and TPM, the initial impression i get is that he decided to release and use the PT as a way to show/exhibit this technology to the world as a way to make the 'next generation' of movies. Kind of bolstering its acceptance because its riding on the curtails of the Star Wars name. A kind of well, when Star Wars was first released it was ground breaking and changed the way things are done...well this new Star Wars movie does things differently, but its still a Star Wars movie, so this must be the 'right' way or the new way everything after it will be done. almost along the lines of how the matrix came out and had bullet time and it was oooh ahhh, thats cool. but then 'every' action movie after that used bullet time even when it was entirely pointless.

I guess because in 'every' interview he does, Lucas has to mention how he is using 'ground breaking' technology. I get the impression that he's trying to force another filmmaking revolution that is associated with his name. Its not the fact that he's at the forefront of this new 'style' of filmmaking (or however you want to refer to it) that i have a problem with, its the fact that it seems (at least to me) that he is forcing (no pun intending) his leading this new 'movement' or even the fact that its a movement at all. He did all this great work with special effects because it couldnt be done with current technology...well, what about his new movies couldnt be done with puppets and sets and regular film...nothing...its not the great change he tries to make it out to be, but rather a different way to do it, a different medium to present it on. Not that its gonna be the new standard (a point many people have mentioned in various threads here).

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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"But, honestly, there is more to the guy's body of work than just Star Wars. (Dare I say it?)"

No, but that is his most successful body of work. Considering that most of his other projects were stinkers (Radioland Murders, BTW, showcased many CG environments and sets, and he is also credited for writing the story), I don't see much of a directing/writing future for him after ROTS. Actors aren't the only people who can be typecast.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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I think it could become the new standard, but someone has to make a good movie with it first. The only other film that has done bluescreen work to the extent Lucas has done (that I know of) was "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". Which basically consisted of actors on set. Everything else was computerized. And it failed. Miserably. And I'm sure someone will say "Hey! I liked Sky Captain, you stupid InfoDroid!"

But the fact remains - it was a horrible, miserable failure. It's the only film in my life that I actually walked out on. And if I didn't love Star Wars so much, I'd probably say the same thing about TPM.

It's been proven that (up to this point) bluescreen effects are best when used sparingly, as a last resort, when no other option is possible (i.e.- Jurassic Park, Titanic, Lord of the Rings).

And what "movement", Darth Simon? Maybe a bowel movement.

But... The waters are being tested (which is cool) and time will tell. And although I have enjoyed parts of the Prequels and am totally amped up for ROTS, I'm just sorry he had to use Star Wars as his guinea pig.

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"And I'm sure someone will say "Hey! I liked Sky Captain, you stupid InfoDroid!"

Actually, I rather enjoyed it. At the very least, the creators were honest and made no bones about the true concept of the film. Then again, I'm a fan of the Blair Witch project, because I appreciate the concept that the film was trying to achieve (and I'm not a big fan of horror films that trade real suspense for "look how scary our monster looks!")

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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LOL! I knew it!

You're right about Blair Witch though. You have to appreciate the concept.

Maybe Sky Captain deserves another try? On DVD this time?

It's really not like me to walk out of a movie. Maybe I should see the whole thing before criticizing it. Hmm?

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I have my doubts about digital film...

If it's in the service of a good movie, then fine. If it's in the service of a crappy summer blockbuster, then it sucks.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/greencapt/hansolovsindy.jpg
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^^^ Agreed

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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There have actually been a lot of movies shot in digital...especially smaller independent films...however, those digital cameras aren't near the quality Lucas or Singer used.
  • Todd

STAR WARS: Symphony for a Saga

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I rented Sky Captain when it came out on DVD. I stopped it half way through.
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So, can I count you amongst the few on this site that disliked Sky Captain?

I appreciated the hell out of the concept they were trying to achieve but I feel it failed. That and the movie was just boring and contrived as hell. I knew just what they were shooting for and I was really looking forward to it. Too much so, apparently.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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