George Lucas talks Lord of the Rings, Film, HD and more (1 Viewer)

http://millimeter.com/ar/video_exclu..._pov/index.htm

Even though he has received more than a few Lifetime Achievement awards, George Lucas isn't ready to view his career in terms of his “legacy” just yet. The awards on his resume range from the Irving B. Thalberg Award in 1992 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his accomplishments as a movie producer to the first-ever Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to him last month by his friend, James Cameron, at the 2nd Annual VES Awards Ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium.

here are some comments but you really need to read the interview

So I guess we could refer to ol' Georgie as "Tenacious G", eh? :wink:

Rock your Socks Off, man

here is another quote about LOTR & WETA

He really slams companies like Cleanflicks and piracy in general at the end of the article:

Nice article. I'm not too knowledgable on the whole digital filmmaking thing so it's nice to hear what he has to say about it.

Good article although I think the purists will have a field day with his digital thinking.

Those same purists generally loved LotR, so it's a catch-22 for them re: digital filmmaking.

Peter Jackson still relied on plenty of models, good scripting, good acting, and good dialogue; hence good OVERALL movie making. In regards, to the Star Wars prequels, Lucas primarily only used good CGI. This is why George Lucas will never win a Best Director or Best Picture award until he changes his mind set. Special effects aren't everything! I mean this quote of his own says it best:

For me, digital effects are necessary to my craft — an enhancement to tell stories. Everything we did was driven by that goal — finding better ways to tell stories

I mean it almost appears that digital is all that really matters to him - or that which matters the most.

On any rate, I still like watching the prequels. I own both DVDs. However, I am a big Star Wars fan, yet I can objectively says Lucas' heavy "digital" movies aren't that good, nor done nearly as well as the originals. His emphasis on technology have left other elements of filmmaking behind.

Possibly, but I think his motives go beyond his own films and into helping other filmmakers achieve their visions that much easier - and less expensive to boot.

^^^WTF! This article was not about Star Wars! Stop reading to much into everything Lucas says. I happen to agree 100% with everthing in that article. If any of you have ever seen a movie digitally projected you know how amazing it is. It sucks to go see a movie on its 2nd weekend and see scratches all over the print. With digital you do not get that. AOTC looked even better digitally b/c it was shot in 24p. I wish the hollywood would move more quickly and start using 24p more b/c it looks amazing.

Yes, but he also used a ton of digital effects without which his vision would not have been possible. That is why you have not seen a live action Lord of the Rings movie until now. Don't underestimate the use of digital effects in LOTR, it was used for tons of stuff from Gollum to color correction. Just watch the documentaries on the EE DVDs. Digital effects are used in almost every movie.

This article was not a Star Wars article and I hate it when SW fans pick things apart just b/c they are unsatisfied with the PT. GL knows what he is talking about, the future is in digital film making.

Also without digital compositing none of the practical elements in LOTR would have come off nearly as...hell the shear size of the thing wouldn't have even been possible with traditional optical compositing.
Modern epic fantasy (and non-fantasy) film owes a lot to digital whether we wish to admit it or not.

I agree 100% with the article,also.I wish we could get a freakin digital projector in Utah.It's not fair that Cal,Tex,and NY have so many and that we don't have any.Also,in regards to LOTR,Lucas showed Peter Jackson how to use animatics and other tech stuff to achieve his vision of LOTR.Lucas may not be the best director in the world,something he admits,but the best in the biz always go to him for help and advice on the technical aspect of filmmaking.As far as his movies goes,I would rather watch his vision of his films than somebody else vision.

Hey, George Lucas is a true creative genius --- more so than Jackson, without a doubt. I was just making a point that I think Lucas' new movies have focused too much on CGI --- ignoring other aspects of good movie making. Special Effects alone, obviously, don't make a good movie. The prequels and other sci-fi/horror/fantasy movies made by others make this painfully obvious. A New Hope and Empire had good stories and decent dialogue for the most part (better acting is debatable) than the prequels. It had mind-blowing effects for the time. However, Lucas did NOT focus solely on effects as he seems to be doing now. Also, I agree there is no way LOTR would have been possible without today's CGI. But, that is NOT soley what made LOTR great, great movies. ALL the elements of good film making were there.

I did see Attack of the Clones shown digitally at Star Theater in Southfield, MI. Yes, there was not one speck of dust or hair on it. But, I was not overly impressed. The picture had a slight softness to it -- more so than regular film. And, I'm sorry, I like the "film look" and think a regular film shows MORE overall detail. However, I agree, one day every movie will probably be digital and the technolgy will, of course, improve.

I wish his goal was having better stories to tell. You're only as strong as your weakest link, okee day?

A lot of people who dislike the PT are going to love Episode 3. It's a wet dream for ESB lovers.

He does have a story to tell. The third act most assuredly proves this.

)Nice article



I wonder if he can ever convince Spielbrg though... (I can almost hear their them debating the use of DV for Indy 4.... Lucas points out the pros of DV for a couple hours to which Spielberg will just say "um...no." :b )

Let face it....

Lucas uses the CGI/SPEFX to drive the film, not good writing. This is very apparent with STAR WARS EP 1 / 2 / 6 where the effects are the driving force.

Ep 4 /5 relied on great story and the EFX complimented that.

Perfect example is the addition of CGI to Ep 4/5. They start to over shadow the writing and story.

The effects in LOTR do not drive the film, it again is the writing.

IMO!

Dugger

My personal opinion is Lucas storytelling is flat, the effects are driving viewers to attend the screenings.

While Peter Jackson and his team really adapted and wrote/wove three wonderful films together.

I really tire of Lucas film efforts. He will be recognized forever as a leader in the industry developing technology to advance filmmaking for all filmmakers.

You may only see the films for the effects, but I enjoy the themes and and storyline. Please don't assume that because you do one thing everyone else steps in line. I don't consider the PT great films, but I do feel they are good, and that includes the story.

And I'm not saying this to argue that the PT films are better stories than LOTR - because they aren't. But let's face it - Peter Jackson had some good material to work with from the start. Lucas' original ideas for most of Star Wars pale in comparison to Tolkien's, so right from the get go the comparison is simply unbalancerd.

Furthermore, this article is not about Star Wars. It just isn't. It's about the technology as a tool to filmmakers. Whether you like it or not the technology as pushed by Lucas has helped all filmmakers, and that's a fact. So, if you don't like Lucas' personal efforts, I just ask that you put the blame where it belongs - on the stories and ideas themselves, and not on the effects used to tell that story.