EMPIRE OF DREAMS STUDY GUIDE
(Anything in italics means:Not on test but cool info to know!)
1. America in the 60’s & early 70’s
· The nation had experienced numerous difficulties and hardships in a short period of time:
o The Watergate Scandal
o The impeachment proceedings and ultimate resignation of former President Richard Nixon
o The Viet-Nam war
o The economic crisis
o The energy crisis
o Additional government scandals
· Many Americans had grown distrusting of its leaders and national morale was low.
2. Hollywood in the late 60’s & early 70’s
· The original founders of movie studios (Warner Brothers, MGM, etc.) were retiring and selling their studios to corporations that knew nothing about movie making.
· Corporations (who were now movie studio owners) were also producing films that reflected the emotional sentiment of many Americans at the time. Therefore, the films of the early and mid 70’s were generally:
o Dark and Downbeat
o Gritty Realism
o Creation of the ‘anti hero’ (the hero who breaks all the rules…a departure from the traditional morally strong hero)
· Corporations (who were now movie studio owners) discovered that the American teenager had become a large market of movie goers. They discovered that young people wanted to see movies made:
o ‘For them’
o ‘About them’ and
o Created by young directors
· Corporations (who were now movie studio owners) began to recruit new, up & coming directors right out of film school to direct films to meet the needs of the teenage film market. At the time, only one film school existed at the University of Southern California (USC).
3. The University of Southern California (USC) Film School
· This is the film school George Lucas attended
o His student film was called THX-1138
o He would later direct THX-1138 as his first major Hollywood film.
· One of Lucas’ professors was Hollywood director Irvin Kershner
o Irvin Kershner was also the director of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
· Other famous USC alumni include Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather) and Steven Spielberg (director of Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, etc.)
· Other facts about USC:
o Established in 1929
o Oldest and largest film school in the US
o Made as a joint venture between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
o Only 3% of applicants are accepted each year making it more difficult to enter than Harvard University.
4. George Lucas’ early career
· After graduating from USC, Lucas would join his friend Francis Ford Coppola’s new independent film company “American Zoetrope.”
o The first film made by American Zoetrope was THX-1138
§ Produced by Warner Brothers with a budget of $300,000
§ Directed and written by George Lucas
§ However, WB executives did not understand Lucas’ film when they saw the first cut and demanded back all their money.
§ American Zoetrope initially imploded as a result of its first film
§ Lucas’ first film was NOT a success
· Lucasfilm Ltd.
o After the disaster of THX-1138, Lucas left American Zoetrope to open his own independent film company, “Lucasfilm Ltd.”
o The first film he directed under the banner of Lucasfilm Ltd. was a teenage comedy entitled “American Graffiti.”
§ American Graffiti was produced by Universal Studios with a budget of just under $1 million.
§ American Graffiti would gross over $100 million worldwide and was George Lucas’ first major Hollywood success!
§ Universal Studios Theme Park in Orlando, Florida features the café Mel’s Diner from the film American Graffiti as a restaurant.
· The Galaxy far, far away…
o Lucas has an ‘idea’ for a new movie:
§ A space opera based on the old Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials.
§ The story would feature common historical and literary archetypes found in the most popular accounts and stories written throughout thousands of years of human history.
§ Relied on the writings of Joseph Campbell (professor of mythology) to identify the common archetypes of history, mythology, and literature.
§ Common archetypes include: Clear definition of good and evil; Youth on a journey; Damsel; Swashbuckler; Wise old mentor; Comic relief; Primary villain; A special weapon of choice; and A primary conflict between a small band of good guys versus an overwhelming force of evil in the form of an army, kingdom, empire, and/or supernatural force.
§ Examples of these common archetypes are present in historical events such as the formation of the United States of America and the modern state of Israel, to stories of literature including King Arthur’s legend, the Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, etc.
5. Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) films of the 70’s (before Star Wars)
· Sci-Fi were generally not very popular
o Most films made less than $10 million at the box office
o Americans were generally not into sci-fi/fantasy films at this point in history
· 2001: A Space Odyssey was the most successful Sci-Fi film in the 70’s before Star Wars
o It initially made about $24 million
· Films like Planet of the Apes would be considered the second most successful sci-fi of the 70’s before Star Wars
o This film made about $16 million
o The original starred Charlton Heston…the same actor known for his role as Moses in the Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur in the film by the same name (he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this film).
6. The original Star Wars
· Star Wars was produced and released by 20th Century Fox
· Lucas’ only supporter at 20th Century Fox was Alan Ladd, Jr.
· The original film’s release was May of 1977
· The original budget for the film was $8.25 million.
· The film made over $775 million worldwide and became both the highest grossing movie in US history from 1977 through 1997 and the highest grossing movie worldwide for roughly the same period of time.
· Titanic surpassed Star Wars for highest grossing film worldwide in 1997.
· It became the first ‘block buster’ (*audiences were lined up 9 city blocks long and from one side of the sidewalk to the other, outside the Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California.)
· When Star Wars premiered in Japan, audiences remained completely silent at the conclusion of the film. ‘Silence’ is the greatest honor a Japanese audience can pay to a film.
· Principal photography took place in three locations:
o Elstree Studios in London (largest sound stages in the world)
o Tunisia, Africa (desert planet scenes on ‘Tatooine’)
o ILM (Industrial Light and Magic-space ships & Death Star scenes)
· George Lucas was hired to fulfill three roles:
o Director
o Writer
o Producer
· George Lucas’ contract included the following (this is what enabled him to become a multi-billionaire!)
o Sole owner to all Star Wars sequels
o Sole owner of the brand ‘Star Wars’
o Sole owner of all marketing and licensing rights for ‘Star Wars’ (*toys, clothing, literature, posters, etc.!)
· Lucas created the first subsidiary company under Lucasfilm Ltd.: Industrial Light and Magic (ILM)
o ILM is the special effects company for Lucasfilm Ltd.
o This company is considered the father company of modern-day special effects
o Lucas initially hired young people who had no experience working on a feature film. Most employees had previous experience working on commercials while others were model builders and those who experimented with photography.
o Major breakthroughs in special effects which made the star ships, space battles, planets, etc. appear ‘real’ included the use of:
§ Optical printers
§ Motion cameras
§ Blue Screen
§ Building custom micro-processors & computers to create special effects
o ILM constructed the original Death Star trench out of pieces from model kits. *The set piece measured between 60 to 80 feet in length by about 15 feet in width!
o Lucas edited together old World War II movie footage to help ILM create one of the space battles (Millennium Falcon vs Tie Fighters)
· One of the first films to place the movie credits at the end of the film…this would become a problem later for the second Star Wars film (Empire Strikes Back). Star Wars is largely the reason why movie credits are now at the end of the film instead of at the beginning.
· Academy Awards
o Wins: Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Art Design-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Music, and Special Achievement Award for Sound
o Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Writing
7. The Cast of the original Star Wars (1977), the Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)
· Lead Roles
o Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)
§ Archetype: Youth on a journey
o Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa)
§ Archetype: Damsel
o Han Solo (Harrison Ford…equally famous as Indiana Jones)
§ Archetype: Swashbuckler
· Supporting Roles
o Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)
§ Archetype: Swashbuckler sidekick
o Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
§ Archetype: Wise old mentor
o Kenny Baker (R2-D2)
§ Archetype: Comic relief
§ Kenny Baker was inside the robot body!
o Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
§ Archetype: Comic relief
o James Earl Jones (Voice actor for Darth Vader…also the voice of Mufasa in Disney’s the Lion King)
§ Archetype: Main villain
§ Orson Wells was originally rumored to be the first choice to play the voice of Darth Vader
o David Prowse (Physical actor for Darth Vader)
§ Archetype: Main villain
o Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin)
§ Archetype: Main villain
o Frank Oz (voice actor for Yoda; Stuart Freeborn…puppet designer)
§ Archetype: Wise old mentor
o Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian)
§ Archetype: Dual character…becomes a hero in the end
o Warrick Davis (Wicket the Ewok)
§ Archetype: Comic relief
8. The Technical Crew of Star Wars
· Director, Writer, Producer: George Lucas
· Editors: Richard Chew, Paul Hirsch, & Marcia Lucas
· Music: John Williams (Also wrote the film musical scores for Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park to name a few.)
· Concept Artist: Ralph McQuarrie
· Sound Designer: Ben Burtt
· Puppet Designer: Stuart Freeborn (created puppets like Yoda and Jabba the Hutt.)
9. Subsidiary Companies of Lucasfilm Ltd.
· Lucas constructs Skywalker Ranch in California after the success of the Empire Strikes Back. This became the central headquarters of his company and all subsidiary companies:
o Industrial Light & Magic (Special effects company)
o Skywalker Sound (Digital sound recording used in most films)
o THX (Surround Sound technology)
o LucasArts (former gaming division of Lucasfilm)
o Pixar Computer Division (later sold and became Pixar Animation Studios)
· Lucas also created a new editing system: Editroid & Soundtroid
o Movie film could now be uploaded digitally to a computer
o Editors could now access whatever scene footage and sound bites they desired at the touch of a button
o This new computer technology revolutionized movie editing
10. Marketing and Licensing Campaigns
· Toys
o Kenner Toys was originally contracted to produce toys for the film
§ Kenner was caught off guard when the film was a success and had not produced enough supply to meet the high demand.
§ No toys were available for Christmas season in 1977
§ Kenner and Lucasfilm came up with the ‘Empty Box’ campaign known as the Star Wars Early Bird Special where parents purchased an empty box with a voucher inside they needed to mail to Kenner toys as proof they purchased the action figures. Children then received an empty box for Christmas morning with the actual action figures coming in the mail between February and June of 1978!
· Conventions
o Lucas promoted Star Wars to comic book, fantasy, and sci-fi fans at the annual San Diego Comic Con
o He sold exclusive posters and signed autographs of the cast
· Literature
o Lucas made a deal with Stan Lee and Marvel Comics to create a Star Wars comic book as a way to promote the movie before it was released in theatres.
o A novelization of Star Wars was also created in November of 1976 and sold 500,000 copies in 3 months!
· Radio
o One of the most successful National Public Radio programs, Star Wars the Radio Drama was one of the most listened to programs in history up until that time.
11. The Empire Strikes Back
· Released in theatres in 1980
· Irvin Kershner, Lucas’ USC professor, directed the film
· Writers: Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett (story by George Lucas)
· Original Budget: $25 million
· Over Budget Cost: $10 million
· Grand Total Budget: $35 million
· Lucas produced the film himself with money he had earned from toy sales, comic book sales, literature sales, and other merchandizing.
· For the making of the Empire Strikes Back, ILM incorporated a new special effects technique: The use of matte paintings for the backgrounds of the ice planet Hoth.
· Lucas once again placed the movie credits at the end of the film
o As a result, he was fined about $250,000
o He paid all fines and dropped out of the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Motion Picture Association of America. Lucas cut all ties with Hollywood and was now completely independent.
12. Indiana Jones films
· Alan Ladd, Jr. quit his position at 20th Century Fox after a major argument erupted among the executives regarding Lucas’ original contract that gave him the legal rights/sole ownership of all Star Wars sequels, the brand of Star Wars, and all merchandizing and licensing rights. This argument occurred following the huge success of Empire Strikes Back.
o Because of how badly 20th Century Fox treated Alan Ladd, Jr., George Lucas decided to not use 20th Century Fox to release his newest movie idea:
§ Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
§ Lucas developed the idea for Indiana Jones with his long-time friend Steven Spielberg.
§ They released the Indiana Jones films through Paramount Pictures instead
§ The original Indiana Jones films became a very successful trilogy
§ Harrison Ford became equally famous for his role as Indiana Jones
§ The second film, Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom became the first PG-13 film in US History
13. Return of the Jedi
· Director: Richard Marquand
· Writers: George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan
· Lucas originally wanted to hire Steven Spielberg but was not able to because he dropped out of the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Motion Picture Association.
· Alternate Name for the film
o Return of the Jedi was changed to ‘Revenge of the Jedi’ for almost 3 years. Just before the movie was released in theatres, George Lucas changed the title back to ‘Return’ of the Jedi. His reasoning was that ‘Jedi do not take revenge.’ Jedi are the good guys!
· False name for the film
o Lucasfilm had to change the name of the film to a ‘false name’ because corporations, productions facilities, etc. they were trying to do business with were over-charging Lucasfilm (they believed that Lucas had all the money in the world and could afford to pay more for things…he was being over-charged and ripped off!)
o The false name of the film was ‘Blue Harvest: Horror Beyond Imagination.’
§ The reasoning was that if they had a silly title that no one would care about, then businesses, corporations, etc. they needed to purchase and rent materials from to make the movie would charge them fairly…they wouldn’t know it was a Star Wars film!
14. Jurassic Park
· Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1993.
· Lucas’ special effects company developed a new technology called CGI (computer generated images).
· They were able to create realistic looking characters for live action films using computers.
· The first film to use ground breaking CGI by ILM was Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
15. The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition
· Released in 1997
· Lucas experimented with special effects for his original trilogy by adding scenes and changing other scenes into CGI (computer generated images & characters).
16. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
· Episode I The Phantom Menace, Episode II Attack of the Clones, and Episode III Revenge of the Sith all incorporated new special effects techniques that had never been used in the original trilogy between 1977-1983. The new special effects techniques included:
o The use of CGI characters, ships, vehicles, planets, locations, sets, etc.
o Green screen for certain scenes instead of Blue screen
17. The Walt Disney Company
· Lucasfilm Ltd. and all subsidiaries were purchased by the Walt Disney Company from George Lucas for just over $4 billion in August of 2012.
18. Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens
· Director: JJ Abrams
· Writers: JJ Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan
· Highest grossing ‘domestic’ movie in US History as of 2015 until today.
· Third highest grossing film ‘worldwide.’