Today was the Lucas presentation in Washington DC. Here are several reports that you can live through! Wish I coulda been there... or was I?
And this one came from Special Agent AJ-97 a tactical robotoman who was first to report on the Lucas Talk!!!
I just returned from George's show here in Washington and I thought I'd fill you in on the key stuff. The only two really newsworthy items to come out of the presentation were the facts that 1) There will not be a teaser trailer until about "this time next year." This is straight from the man himself. There will be no trailer this winter. 2) The Queen is Leia's mother and she will be, in many aspects the focus of the next three films. I think this information was rumored but I wasn't aware that it had been confirmed so it was news to me.
Those are the key items now for some other stuff. I'm sure that Head Geek #3 will fill you in on all the details but these are my highlights. The Film itself, "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth" was great. It was very interesting to see how Lucas borrowed elements from other films in making Star Wars. For example he was inspired to create light sabers from the epic "The Seven Samuri", he borrowed the scrolling text at the begining of the films from the old Buck Rodgers serials of the 40's and 50's and he took his inspiration for space battles from the WW II dog fiighting films. Harrison Ford told some very amusing stories from the filming of the first Star Wars and over all it was a very well made and insightful documentary. I'm looking forward to seeing it again. The only real dissappointment was that Rick McCallum didn't show up. He was unable to attend "due to production requirements."
The highlight of the show for me was during the Q&A session. They had us write out questions for George, special effects supervisior Dennis Muren and Ben Burtt the sound designer for the first trilogy. They avoided almost all questions about the prequels but Ben did answer one of my questions. I asked what the weirdest thing he did to get a sound effect was. He gave two answers. 1) he was hiking with his family and his backpack got caught on a high tension wire the resulting sound became the sound of the laser blaster that we all know and love. 2) The second was that the sound of the speeder bikes was produced by a construction crew that had something stuck in thier jack hammer. They were trying to fix it and he came running out and told them to stop trying to fix it. They thought he was crazy but they let him tape the sound and it became most of the sound of the speeder bike changing gears. He then asked if those were weird enough. My question answered and was subsequently ridiculed by the guy who did the sound for the Star Wars trilogy. I can die a hapy man now :) The only other really tidbit of information came from Dennis Muren who said that they are really still in the early stages of doing the effects for the Prequels. He said they are still trying to figure out how they are going to do everything that is expected of them.
Anyway those were the things that got my attention and I thought you and your readers would like to know. If you have any questions let me know and I hope to see part of my report up on your site. Oh by the way your site was the talk of the line people as we all agreed that most other movie sites simply rehash the info you have up first. Thanks for doing your site and keep up the great work.
And this report came from Baker- the cook of fine and delicious products for geeks to chew on.
You don't know me but I am a huge fan of your page, so much so that it is my startup page when I open my web browser. The reason I am writing is that I attended the George Lucas tribute today in Washington D.C. It was one of the coolest days in my entire life. Being such a huge fan of Star Wars and his other films it was a pleasure to actually see him in person. When I arrived at the auditorium the line to get in was around the block but everyone had their tickets tightly clutched in their hands.
After much anticipation they finally led us in to a tight, small auditorium were everyone eagerly waited for George Lucas to appear. After a few introductions of museum officials the world premiere of Star Wars: The Magic of Myth was unveiled. This film was about thirty minutes long and had a lot of insights into the story behind the Trilogy. There were also interview clips that I have never seen before with Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and of course Lucas himself. When films clips were being shown the audience cheered. After the film everyone paid their respect with wild enthusiasm. Then the great moment came when George Lucas finally appeared. He received a thunderous standing ovation. He then received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal which again earned him a standing ovation. He then spoke for about a few minutes and expressed his appreciation. Then he was interviewed with questions from the audience that were chosen beforehand. The big bomb came when Lucas said there will be no teaser trailer this year. He said it will probably be this time next year before that happens. A lot of the people in the audience were visibly disappointed. After George was finished Dennis Muren and Ben Burtt were interviewed. Ben related how he went about making the sounds for the original trailer and Dennis talked about special effects. A question was asked what new special effect techniques would be used in the new films but Dennis would not elaborate all he said was that they would be bigger and better. All in all it was a wonderful experience being that George Lucas does not appear in public that much. I hope this information is useful. If you have any questions let me know. Again I want to praise your page. It makes my day when I go to your page and find out info about upcoming films and projects. Cya later.
And then this report was filed by Mr. Mikerophone, who was very attentive:
Well just got back from the Smithsonian Tribute to George Lucas. A memorable event to say the least. The event was packed and the line wrapped around the block of the GWU campus. The auditorium was packed with a range of people, kids with their parents, college students and the sophisticate from the Smithsonian Association who I think when just because they are members.
The program started off with a welcome by Mara Mayor (Director of the Smithsonian Associates). Then Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen USN Ret(Director of the Air and Space Museum) gave a background of the Smithsonian exhibit and the film Star Wars: THe Magic of Myth and then the World Premire of the film.
Star Wars: The Magic of Myth is a collage of interviews that discuss the preproduction, production as well as the background of the myths that Star Wars is steeped in. There are old war movies that Mr. Lucas used to illustrate the dog fights he had in mind for the Death Star scenes. Harrisson Ford gives several funny stories about flying the Falcon. It seems once the Cockpit was built nobody seemed to know how to fly it. Also the switches were so low budget that they kept reseting after Han Solo activated them. Amoung the others interviewed were John Williams who explained how emotional the music can be in the film. Also Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill told how the movies are wrapped teh various levels of mythology. Also several of the illustrators explained how they put Mr. Lucas's vision up on the screen. The twenty seven minute film devles deep into the mythology that Lucas based his ideas on from the Western, to dog fights to Akira Kurosawa.
After the film Michael Heyman (Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution) presetned the James Smithsonian Bicentennial Medal to George Lucas. Mr. Lucas was as humble as ever thanking all his staff. Lucas discussed the hard work and time that went into making a new myth for society. He also discussed how parents must educate our kids and inspire them. Then Patty Woodside (Chief Film and & Video Production Media Unit for the Air and Space Museum) questioned Mr. Lucas with several questions taken from teh audience. Most more about how to get into Directing and other Star Wars questions that geeks like us already knew the answers to. The last question concerened when we would see a teaser/trailer for Episode One. He said we could expect the trailer about a year from now. This tracks with the interview in the latest Star Wars Insider which said December 1998.
After Mr. Lucas Patty Woodside brught up Senior ILM Guru Dennis Muren and Sound Editor Ben Burtt. The questions concerned the technology used in the trilogy as well as what was needed for the new prequels. Mr. Burtt had some pretty humorous stories about discovering the sound for the laser blasts - while hiking his back pack hit a guide wire for a radio tower- and eluded to what E Chutta means. Mr. Muren discussed more where technology is going and what is needed for the new movies.
The program unfortunately end right at 4:30, though I'm sure there were plenty of questions to keep all three gods there for several more hours. Rick McCallum could not make due to production requirements. Only two days before the exhibit opens at the Smithsonian. I will try to put up pictures and a review as soon as I get a chance to go. Thats' all for now. May the Force Be With You!
And then Christopher Columbus reported a Harry sighting at the event. I am everywhere, but nowhere...
I went to the Lucas Tribute this afternoon in D.C.
I just wanted you to know that everybody in line was talking about your excellent site! There was even a person or two wearing Ain't It Cool tee-shirts!
At one point there was a "Harry sighting" in the audience -- a bunch of people were buzzing: "Harry is here...there he is!"
We had a good time -- wish you could have been there!
And then Mr Lucky Day filed this report on this mega geek event!!! This is the last, till I hear from Geek #3.
Just got back from "A Smithsonian Tribute to George Lucas" on the campus of George Washington University right here in the nation's capitol. The main events in this little shindig were 1) premiere of a 27 minute video called "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth" that will show at the Air&Space Museum here during the upcoming Star Wars exhibit, 2) presentation of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal to Uncle George, and 3) a little bit of Q&A with George, Ben Burtt (sound designer for the original trilogy) and Dennis Muren (visual effects for the original trilogy and now Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at ILM) Rick McCallum was supposed to attend as well, but he was busy working on some little project due out in 1999. :)
The video consisted of interview bits with various people involved in the making of Star Wars (mostly Lucas, but also Larry Kasdan, Ben Burtt, Ralph McQuarrie, the storyboard guy who's name I didn't write down, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamil) interspersed with illustrative scenes from the film. It focused on three things. First was Lucas' attempt to apply the common elements of myths from around the world into one story that would have universal appeal. Second, the collaborative effort in making the film was described, and the importance of the concept drawings Ralph McQuarrie did was underscored. Finally the importance of sound (both effects and score) and the care put into designing the sound for Star Wars was discussed. I'm sure these topics are covered in countless books, so I won't describe them here.
So then came the medal presentation, which was funny because one of the scenes shown in the video was the medal presentation scene at the end of Star Wars, so I'm sure everyone in the audience had that music running through their heads. The medal was awarded for "making significant advancements in creativity and/or knowledge". (Other recipients have included Richard Leaky, Jim Henson, Jaques Cousteau, Walter Cronkite and Muhammad Ali.) George took the stage, and between his height (he ain't tall, kids) his beard and hair and the weight he's put on the last 20 years, I swear to God, he's starting to look like an Ewok. But an Ewok that received a thunderous standing ovation (an honor shared only by the Ewok that gets killed in ROTJ). His acceptance speech linked storytelling to the passage of culture and values on to the next generation.
On to the Q&A. Most of it was mundane stuff. The only thing he said about the prequels came in response to a question asked about the dearth of female roles in the StarWars trilogy. He said that since Star Wars was essentially about war, he couldn't quite fit war and women together, so he made the central character a woman. Similarly, he said, in the prequels the central character will be Leia's mother. I haven't been reading the spoiler material posted, so I don't know whether this was just a deft, PC answer to a feminist question or what. He also mentioned that there would be no teaser for the film until a year from now.
The only other thing of note was Dennis Muren saying that they're at the "this can't be done" stage of the special effects work. So they better put their thinking caps on and find a way to get it done!
There were more questions to George and Ben and Dennis, but it's too much to write down here. The exhibit opens on Halloween and will run into next year. It will be displaying original artwork, costumes and props from SW, tESB, and RotJ. Check it out if you're in town.
