George Lucas & His Influence on Filmmaking

Brief History As he was growing up, his dream was to be a race-car driver. However, a near-fatal accident as he pulled into his driveway changed that. After recovering, he decided to go to college, and eventually fell into Film Production. While at the University of Southern California, he made a few short films, including “Electronic Labyrinth THX EB”. This short film would later be remade into a full-length feature film, released in 1971, named THX 1138.

Brief History From THX 1338, George Lucas moved into a whole different genre of movies, with American Graffiti in This movie was also successful, which allowed him to begin work on his pet project, Star Wars. Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope arrived in 1977, bringing with it a whirlwind of changes to the movie industry. From this movie, came Industrial Light and Magic, a visual effects subdivision of Lucas’s Lucasfilm studio.

ILM Industrial Light and Magic is responsible for numerous technological advancements in movies. They created a computer-assisted camera, used for the Death Star battle scenes. They also established the use of computer generated imagery. Pixar, known for its 3D work in movies such as Toy Story, was originally the CGI department of ILM, before being sold to Steve Jobs. They have had a hand in over 200 movies, including the recent Harry Potter films.

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America and George Lucas were in constant conflict through the making of Star Wars Episode 4. The Directors Guild is a labor union. Lucas insisted for his Star Wars movie that the standard opening credits were not to be displayed. This was against the policy of the union, and Lucas was fined. He paid this out of his pocket, and immediately dropped out of the guild. This unprecedented move showed Lucas’s dedication to his dream, although it would cause him trouble in the future.

THX Not to be confused with his movie, THX is a sound reproduction system for various speaker setups, both in theaters and at home. George Lucas was responsible for the creation of this company, and it is a leader in film audio to this day. As a side note, THX was not meant as a play off of Lucas’s movie, but merely stands for “Tomlinson Holman eXperiment”, named after THX’s chief engineer.

Digital Photography Finally, one of his latest achievements in film is the use of Digital Photography. Up until Star Wars Episode II, digital photography was used only in amateur films, and for consumer use. Lucas saw the potential of the technology, and created Episode II and III of Star Wars using it. Because of his pioneering of the field, numerous advancements in high-end digital cameras have been made. (When Episode II was first being filmed, there was only one camera capable of the job, now there are far more, with better lenses and features)

In Closing George Lucas has done a great deal to how movies are made, and how we perceive them. He fought for his dream, of how his movie should be, not what some guild says. He created one of the world’s most successful visual effects studios, ILM. He started THX, now a leader in audio hardware. Finally, he pioneered Digital Photography, introducing it to Hollywood, and pushing movie quality to new heights.