George
Lucas
George Lucas Jr. was born in Modesto, CA 1944
to parents Dorothy Lucas and George Lucas Sr.
Youth and schooling
•
On June 12th, 1962 George was in
a near-fatal car accident that led
him to deviate from his goals as a
race-car driver.
•
In 1963 George Lucas transfers to
USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
Lucas' work at USC as a student
centered on pop culture
obsessions of his youth.
•
In 1966 Lucas Graduated from
USC and was hired as a teaching
assistant to train cameramen; this
occurred only after being rejected
from being an Officer in the Air
Force due to his prior speeding
tickets.
University of
Southern California
•
•
Late 1971: Lucasfilm Ltd. is founded by Lucas
1975: Conceives the basic story of Star Wars. Divides it into two trilogies. Chooses the
second, the one that revolves around Luke Skywalker, because it is the most exciting of the
two
1976: The book version of Star Wars is published and Lucas is credited as
the author until it's later revealed ghostwriter Alan Dean Foster wrote it.
While composing the script for Star Wars Lucas studied fairy tales,
ancient mythology, and theoretical works of Joseph Campbell.
Joseph
Campbell
1977: Lucas was the first to use large-scale use of Motion
Control Camera in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Motion Control Camera
Digitally controlled camera performs
Complex & repeatable motions around
Models
Process films several elements using the
Same camera motion and then composites
The elements into one single image
Earlier attempts to use this technology were made
in the 1960’s but they were small scale
Lucas advanced the technique and used it on
A much larger scale
Dkystralex was the name of the motion controlled camera that
Was used to make Star Wars
Enabled greater complexity in the spaceship-battle scenes.
Dkykstraflex
Through the 1970s-1980s Lucas brought the use of stop-motion animation
Into mainstream cinematography; the advanced art technology had been used
Before but not extensively
It was used in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Stop Motion Animation: is technique used to physically manipulate an object to make
It look like it is moving on its own
The object moves in small increments between individually photographed frames; then
They are played in a continuous sequence so it looks as if the object moves on it own
In 1975 Lucas founded Industrial Light & Magic, which has
gone on to produce major advancements in a multitude of
different sectors of cinematography
From working through ILM’s computer animation Pixar was
formed
Pixar was formed in 1984
And uses computer animation to make feature films and
short films
John Knoll worked under George Lucas at ILM
As a visual effects supervisor and a motion
Control operator
From ILM’s photo editing software that Lucas
used John Knoll was inspired to co-create
Photoshop, it became licensed in 1988
Photoshop is a graphics editing program that
uses editing techniques to create an illusion
Photoshop is now used today in journalism to
persuade or give deceiving views
also used to enhance story telling
George Lucas: Impact on Pop Culture
With the creation of Star wars Lucas has had a huge impact on American Pop Culture
Since the late 70’s and early 80’s Star Wars has helped launch an interest in Science
Fiction
Darth Vader has become an iconic villain
From 1977-1986 over 250 million action figures were sold as a result of an interest in
Star Wars Pop Culture
It has sparked many spoofs in shows such as; Family Guy & South
Park and even song parodies, such as the one from Weird Al
Yankovic
Led to Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum to have an exhibition called “Star
Wars: The Magic of the Myth”
Also has an exhibit in Seattle, Washington’s
Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Also has an exhibit in Seattle,
Washington’s Science Fiction
Museum and Hall of Fame