Star Wars IVA New Hope

1977directed by

George Lucas

• He planned to become a professional racecar driver. However a terrible car accident just after his high school graduation ended that dream permanently.

• He attended the University of Southern California film school. • As a film student he made several short films including THX-1138: 4EB

(Electronic Labryinth) which won first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival.

• Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd. In 1973 he wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical American Graffiti (1973) which won the Golden Globe and garnered five Academy Award nominations.

• This gave him the clout he needed for his next daring venture. From 1973 to 1974 he began writing the screenplay for Star Wars (1977). He was inspired to make this movie from Flash Gordon and the Planet of the Apes films.

• In 1975 he established ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) to produce the visual effects needed for the movie. Another company called Sprocket Systems was established to edit and mix Star Wars and later becomes known as Skywalker Sound.

George Lucas• His movie was turned down by several studios until Twentieth Century Fox gave him a chance. Lucas agreed to forgo his directing salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box-office take and all merchandising rights.

• The movie went on to break all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. It redefined the term "blockbuster".

• The rest is history. Lucas made the other Star Wars films and along with 'Steven Spielberg' created the Indiana Jones. From 1980 to 1985 Lucas was busy with the construction of Skywalker Ranch, built to accommodate the creative, technical, and administrative needs of Lucasfilm.

• Lucas also revolutionized movie theaters with the THX System which was created to maintain the highest quality standards in motion picture viewing.

• He went on to make several more movies that have created major breakthroughs in film .

Film in the 1970’shttp://www.filmsite.org/70sintro.html

• Although the 1970s opened with Hollywood experiencing a financial and artistic depression, the decade became a creative high point in the US film industry.

• Restrictions on language, adult content and sexuality, and violence had loosened up, and these elements became more widespread.

• Hollywood was renewed and reborn with the earlier collapse of the studio system, and the works of many new and experimental film-makers (nicknamed "Movie Brats") during a Hollywood New Wave.

• Many of the audiences and movie-makers of the late 60s had seen a glimpse of new possibilities, new story-telling techniques and more meaningful 'artistic' options, by the influences of various European "New Wave" movements (French and Italian) and the original works of other foreign-language film-makers.

Film of the 70’s Cont.• Motion picture art seemed to flourish at the same time that

the defeat in the Vietnam War, the Kent State Massacre, the Watergate scandal, President Nixon's fall, the Munich Olympics shoot-out, increasing drug use, and a growing energy crisis showed tremendous disillusion, a questioning politicized spirit among the public and a lack of faith in institutions.

• Other films that were backed by the studios reflected the tumultuous times, the discontent toward the government, lack of US credibility, and hints of conspiracy paranoia.

• Even Spielberg's Jaws (1975) could be interpreted as an allegory for the Watergate conspiracy.

Popular films reflecting the times?

• 1960s social activism often turned into an inward narcissism, and yet this uncertain age gave rise to some of the finest, boldest, and most commercially-successful films ever made, such as the instant Oscar-winning blockbuster :

• The Godfather (1972) by a virtually untested director• William Friedkin's horror classic The Exorcist (1973)• Spielberg's Jaws (1975) • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)• Lucas' Star Wars (1977). • The decade also spawned equally memorable cult films:• Monte Hellman's Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)• The quirky Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971).

The Search for a Blockbuster

• The "so-called" Renaissance of Hollywood was built upon perfecting some of the traditional film genres of Hollywood's successful past - with bigger, block-buster dimensions.

• Oftentimes, studios would invest heavily in only a handful of bankrolled films, hoping that one or two would succeed profitably.

• Focus was on box-office receipts and the production of action- and youth-oriented, blockbuster films with dazzling special effects.

• Hollywood's economic crises in the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the war against the lure of television, were somewhat eased with the emergence in the 70s of summer "blockbuster" movies or "event films" marketed to mass audiences, especially following the awesome success of two influential films:

• 27 year-old Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975)• 33 year-old George Lucas' Star Wars (1977)

What also started in the 70’s• The "so-called" Renaissance of Hollywood was built upon perfecting some of

the traditional film genres of Hollywood's successful past - with bigger, block-buster dimensions.

• Oftentimes, studios would invest heavily in only a handful of bankrolled films, hoping that one or two would succeed profitably.

• Focus was on box-office receipts and the production of action- and youth-oriented, blockbuster films with dazzling special effects.

• Hollywood's economic crises in the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the war against the lure of television, were somewhat eased with the emergence in the 70s of summer "blockbuster" movies or "event films" marketed to mass audiences, especially following the awesome success of two influential films:

• 27 year-old Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975)• 33 year-old George Lucas' Star Wars (1977)

The 70’s were pretty revolutionary Home Video Revolution:• earlier in the previous decade, Ampex in 1963 offered the first consumer version of

a videotape recorder at an exorbitant price of $30,000; other iterations would follow, such as Sony's introduction of the videocassette recorder (VCR) in 1969, and the introduction of the U-Matic in 1972

• the appearance of Sony's Betamax (the first home VCR or videocassette recorder) in 1975 offered a cheaper sales price of $2,000 and recording time up to one hour; this led to a boom in sales - it was a technically-superior format when compared to the VHS system that was marketed by JVC and Matsushita beginning in 1976

• by the late 70s, Sony's market share in sales of Betamax VCRs was below that of sales of VHS machines; consumers chose the VHS' longer tape time and larger tape size, over Sony's smaller and shorter tape time (of 1 hour)

• video rentals - in 1977

A little history brought to you by:Wikipedia

• Star Wars,[2] later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, is considered an epic story. Two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the six film saga. Ground-breaking in its use of special effects, unconventional editing, and sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, the original Star Wars is one of the most successful and influential films of all time.

• Produced with a budget of $11 million the film went on to earn $460 million in the United States and $337 million overseas, surpassing Jaws as the highest-grossing film of all time at the time.

• Among the many awards the film received, it gained 10 Academy Award nominations, winning seven; the nominations included Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness and Best Picture. Lucas has re-released the film on several occasions, sometimes with significant changes; the most notable versions are the 1997 Special Edition and the 2004 DVD release, which have modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, and added scenes.

Luke Skywalker• Mark Hamill as

Luke Skywalker: Skywalker is a young man who was raised by his aunt and uncle on the remote, desert world Tatooine and who dreams of something greater than his current position in life.

Han Solo and ChewieHarrison Ford as Han Solo:

Solo is a self-absorbed smuggler whom Obi-Wan and Luke meet in a cantina and with whom they later travel. Solo, who owns the ship Millennium Falcon, is good friends with Chewbacca, the ship's co-pilot.

Princess Leia• Carrie Fisher as

Princess Leia Organa: Organa is a member of the Imperial Senate and a leader of the Rebel Alliance. She plans to use the stolen Death Star plans to find the station's weakness.

Obi-Wan Kenobi• Alec Guinness as

Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi: Kenobi is an aging man who served as a Jedi Knight and then Jedi Master during the Clone Wars. Early in the film, Kenobi introduces Luke to the Force.

Trivia• Lucas liked to cast unknown actors – a lot of famous

people auditioned for various roles in the film.• Carrie Fisher was promised the role if she lose 10

pounds before production began.• Lucas didn’t want Harrison Ford (because they just

filmed “American Graffiti” together), but after helping with auditions, he won over Lucas.

• Luke Skywalker was originally called Luke Starkiller.• Four drafts of the script were written and then it was still

being tweak during production – this is where Obi-Wan was killed off after Lucas realized he didn’t serve a real purpose by being alive at the end of the film.

Production• Most of the visual effects used

motion control photography, which creates the illusion of size by employing small models and slowly moving cameras.

• Model spaceships were constructed and paintings were used.

• Lucas opted to abandon the traditional sleekness of science fiction by creating a "used universe" in which all devices, ships, and buildings looked aged and dirty.

• A lot of the actors and crew didn’t take the movie seriously; they thought it was a kid’s movie. The actors had a hard time with dialogue and characters.