Star Wars
Written and directed by George Lucas, Star Wars is considered by many to be one of the most influential films on popular culture of the modern era. The film is one of the highest grossing films of all times. Released on May 25th, 1977, the film’s sci-fi predecessor in 1976 was Logan’s Run. Comparing the technology used and cinematography techniques of the films is like comparing a prune to a plum. They’re films, that’s for certain, but Logan’s Run would appear to be a product of the Star Trek era of set and prop design, whereas Star Wars elevates set construction to a new level of art. Up until that point, hit sci-fi films made around $16 million dollars, with the most successful as 2001: A Space Odessey clocking in at $24 million dollars. Sci-fi films of the era dealt mostly with apocalyptic situations.
Star Wars was released during a time of great inflation, political scandal, rising oil prices, and a country in recovery after the Vietnam War. Films at the time were grim tales of woe and destruction, featuring anti-heroes with a bad streak. The Internet was but a glimmer, and cell phones were still years away from widespread use.
In order to develop the special effects necessary for the film, Lucas founded Industrial Light and Magic in 1975 after the special effects house at 20th Century Fox was shut down. Using a combination of blue screens, still models and moving cameras, ILM was able to create the impression of motion and excitement with the space ships. Had ILM not been founded, it would not have gathered the talent that ultimately created Pixar and the computer animation industry.
As the studio system was failing, they searched for talent direct from film school. At the time, film studios were becoming increasingly concerned with demographics, realizing that they could target young people with movies made by young people, for young people.
Lucas wanted to recreate the feeling of his original experiences watching Flash Gordon. His interest in philosophy informed his early maverick years of film-making. Irwin Kirchner described it as “more personal”. After some failed attempts with Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas moved on to shoot American Graffiti. Disgruntled by studios tampering with his films, Lucas looked to re-invent classic Flash Gordon serials, using the works of Joseph Campbell as his basis.
In many ways, from the advent of the special effects house, to the reinvention of the space opera, to the target audience, Star Wars was the right film at the right time. Oddly enough, the film was only released to an initial 40 theatres, and had been moved to the week before Memorial Day weekend to avoid competing with other summer blockbusters. The film was released in a package with The Other Side of Midnight, another movie by 20th Century Fox, and theatres were told if they wanted Midnight, they'd have to book Star Wars as well. Though the movie was all but doomed to failure, it was able to lift everyone out of the depression of the 70's and have them look toward the future, as Walter Cronkite put it. As Bill Moyer put it "Timing is everything in art. You bring it out too early and it's Buck Rodgers, you bring it out too late, and it doesn't fit our imagination [you bring it out as the Vietnam War is ending and we don't know who we are]" The film was a story that, because it was based on the monomyth, reached across borders and ethnicities to touch the world.
Written and directed by George Lucas, Star Wars is considered by many to be one of the most influential films on popular culture of the modern era. The film is one of the highest grossing films of all times. Released on May 25th, 1977, the film’s sci-fi predecessor in 1976 was Logan’s Run. Comparing the technology used and cinematography techniques of the films is like comparing a prune to a plum. They’re films, that’s for certain, but Logan’s Run would appear to be a product of the Star Trek era of set and prop design, whereas Star Wars elevates set construction to a new level of art. Up until that point, hit sci-fi films made around $16 million dollars, with the most successful as 2001: A Space Odessey clocking in at $24 million dollars. Sci-fi films of the era dealt mostly with apocalyptic situations.
Star Wars was released during a time of great inflation, political scandal, rising oil prices, and a country in recovery after the Vietnam War. Films at the time were grim tales of woe and destruction, featuring anti-heroes with a bad streak. The Internet was but a glimmer, and cell phones were still years away from widespread use.
In order to develop the special effects necessary for the film, Lucas founded Industrial Light and Magic in 1975 after the special effects house at 20th Century Fox was shut down. Using a combination of blue screens, still models and moving cameras, ILM was able to create the impression of motion and excitement with the space ships. Had ILM not been founded, it would not have gathered the talent that ultimately created Pixar and the computer animation industry.
As the studio system was failing, they searched for talent direct from film school. At the time, film studios were becoming increasingly concerned with demographics, realizing that they could target young people with movies made by young people, for young people.
Lucas wanted to recreate the feeling of his original experiences watching Flash Gordon. His interest in philosophy informed his early maverick years of film-making. Irwin Kirchner described it as “more personal”. After some failed attempts with Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas moved on to shoot American Graffiti. Disgruntled by studios tampering with his films, Lucas looked to re-invent classic Flash Gordon serials, using the works of Joseph Campbell as his basis.
In many ways, from the advent of the special effects house, to the reinvention of the space opera, to the target audience, Star Wars was the right film at the right time. Oddly enough, the film was only released to an initial 40 theatres, and had been moved to the week before Memorial Day weekend to avoid competing with other summer blockbusters. The film was released in a package with The Other Side of Midnight, another movie by 20th Century Fox, and theatres were told if they wanted Midnight, they'd have to book Star Wars as well. Though the movie was all but doomed to failure, it was able to lift everyone out of the depression of the 70's and have them look toward the future, as Walter Cronkite put it. As Bill Moyer put it "Timing is everything in art. You bring it out too early and it's Buck Rodgers, you bring it out too late, and it doesn't fit our imagination [you bring it out as the Vietnam War is ending and we don't know who we are]" The film was a story that, because it was based on the monomyth, reached across borders and ethnicities to touch the world.
