According to George Lucas in the book Star Wars ArchivesPaul Duncan, first draft star Wars it was a short call break out. What would later become the vast expanded universe began as a six-page script about space travel with no return. It was an argument that the future director and screenwriter began to write, not knowing if he would ever make it to the movies.
Finally he was taken down with the name Electronic labyrinth THX 1138 4EB in 1967. In just 15 minutes, the young director showed interest in using technology on the big screen. The plot told how the robot THX 1138 4EB he tried to escape his creators until he succeeded. However, the ending was pessimistic and hinted at the existence of a totalitarian system that brutally controlled all life forms under its command.
At the time, George Lucas was a film student. University of Southern California. At 23, he was already working on what would become his most famous work and part of film history. saga star Warsas we know today, began writing in parallel with the premiere of his first feature film.
The first story of a galaxy far, far away
His draft already featured a hero fighting against a ruthless galactic empire, with a focus on hope, honor, and loyalty. But the most striking thing was that he explored his characters as creatures inhabiting a universe full of life, cultures and traditions.
The director did an almost anthropological job and gave names, locations, and contexts to all the imaginary figures that were included in the original script for the film. Star Wars. Episode IV – A New Hope. But especially he gave way to a completely new way of telling fantastic stories.
Prior to this, the genre was considered B-series and it didn’t resonate with the public. But the care with which George Lucas envisioned his universe forever changed cinema’s notion of unrealistic settings, science fiction, and its value as a cultural heritage.
star Wars revolutionized the way films are made
First complete script star Wars it was 200 pages long and covered most of the details on which the original trilogy was to be based. Upon completion, George Lucas began to consider filming in a large studio. However, he had trouble getting it.
The production was an atypical fantasy, closer to drama than pure entertainment. Because of which, several executives recommended that some unnecessary characters and settings be cut. In addition, it was a project that involved millions of dollars of investment and a lot of risk.
Finally, he convinced the studio 20th century fox to finance production. After the director’s success with american graffiti (1973), and before filming began, he was tempted to ask for more money for his work as a director. In the end, he decided to stay at $150,000, but negotiated to retain control and ownership of any film-related merchandise. Toys, later novelizations, accessories, collectibles and all kinds merchandising.
A section that caused surprise in the industry, but became the beginning of an expanded universe that went beyond the big screen. The ability to create products related to the saga was a new way of mixing cinema and advertising. An element that would have distinguished Star Wars from the very beginning.
A technical section that will go down in history
Star Wars. Episode IV – A New Hope it had a budget of $11 million, which was a large amount for the time. Most of the money was spent on the special effects that made the original trilogy famous. But George Lucas hasn’t just innovated in the visual department. He also managed to integrate a complex story into a world where technology played an important role without being the center of conflict.
For the director, the realism of all the details of the film was important. For ships and spacecraft, he used scale models and miniatures built from plaster and plastic. The models were filmed in motion against hand-painted backgrounds or on a blue screen, allowing the team to give the impression of real movement.
The backgrounds, created using the matte painting technique, surprised with their ability to mimic a believable environment. Landscapes were made by hand on transparent glass or canvas, in order to be combined with foreground elements later. This made it possible to create the illusion of a gigantic environment, despite the small size of the objects being filmed.
Even the sound part of the first Star Wars movie was innovative, creating mixes between unusual acoustic effects and musical tracks. Curiously, the sound of pistols and lightsabers was created by a combination of metallic echo superimposed on the vibration of steel blades hit by gusts of air. The result is an iconic sound that is one of the franchise’s most recognizable characteristics.
Star Wars, an increasingly expansive saga
What is known today as Star Wars Expanded Universe It started almost by accident. Writer Alan Dean Foster contributed to the sketch of the trilogy. In discussion tables and continuous revisions, he imagined a story that happened immediately after Episode IV – A New Hope. However, among the extensive revisions to which the source material was subjected, a certain mythical plot twist was dropped.
But after the success of the first film, the author revived his original idea and wrote a book. mind’s eye. The novel, which began immediately after what was told in the feature film, added unpublished information. including adventure. Luke Skywalker And Leia Organa on the planet mimban. This was the first part of what would later become the vast literary world necessary to understand star Wars as a mass phenomenon.
The book is not considered part of the main canon, but it was the start of a series of off-screen stories that ended the franchise’s mythology. from novels abandoned Timothy Zahn, who analyzes the figure of the evil one Grand Admiral Thrawnto video games and role-playing games that make up Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The George Lucas saga has become a world of constant growth. It has undergone an irresistible evolution that has led it to influence all forms of entertainment.
Source: Hiper Textual
