Written and Photographed by David Yeh

(LOS ANGELES, CA. February 6, 2003) The day was perfect and the night was clear, Thursday was a great night to kick off a two-week long tribute to Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound - companies founded by George Lucas.  The event took place at the beautiful Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood (also known as the American Cinematheque). The tribute was to showcase the art and amazing efforts that went into some of our favorite films of the past two decades,  as well as brief discussions with the artists that made them happen.  Members of the American Cinematheque and the general public are all invited to join into these sessions… which are gauged to feel very much like watching live renditions of extras on a DVD.

The opportunity to see the man who started it all is a rare opportunity and tickets sold-out in a heart beat.  That didn’t stop many people from coming down anyway and giving it a shot.  Coming from San Francisco was a guy named Griffin.  His sign, in case the picture isn’t very clear reads, “Kid from SF needs one ticket.”  What are the chances of actually getting in?  Very slim.  There were plenty more people making their rounds asking for extra tickets to this sold-out event without any luck.  Still, the Force was with Griffin as he approached the box office.  While they were sold-out when he arrived, there were now two returned tickets available.  Anything can happen in Hollywood.  Speaking of which, a film was being shot right next door.

The first clip reel shown was for A New Hope, which was now a bright red tint since the original reels were used for this presentation.  Despite the fading, you can still feel that sense of awe when the Star Destroyer soars into the screen.  And since these clips were used in 1977, you could only imagine how awesome it would have been to see that for the first time.  After the footage of A New Hope ended, it was time to introduce Lucas to the front of the theater for his first Q&A of the evening - he was welcomed with a warm standing ovation.  The Q&A here was rather mundane for devoted Star Wars followers as all of these questions were asked and answered before, such as: the Genesis of the original idea, the creation of the special effects team, why a Vista Vision camera was needed, and how Ben Burtt contributed.  But here’s a few of George’s abridged comments:

• The original idea was to make a modern fairytale, which came about before American Graffiti.
• The Saturday Matinee Serial concept was used and the idea of Indiana Jones was created, but put on the shelf because Lucas liked the space idea better.
• A lot of live action effects were used for Star Wars and most studios closed their effects houses.  So Lucas went around to all the colleges and hired a bunch of college kids.  The average age at ILM was 23.
• Ben Burtt was hired to do the sound, which began in the basement of his house.
• A facility was created in Northern California to avoid coming down to Los Angeles to do everything.

It was rather interesting to watch clips of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones following the original trilogy.  While the prequels were sleeker in design, the fun and excitement was still greater in the original trilogy.  Again the questions asked were the usual ones asked before.  Lucas did talk about the digital advantages for Episode II, which included not having to transfer from film to computer and little to no deterioration to the film over time.  Everyone knows the reason for Yoda going digital for Attack of the Clones, but it was still great to hear Lucas say that, “Yoda is literally a hand… up his ass,” referring to the puppet used in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.  For those wondering if there will every be a special edition for the prequels, Lucas said that there doesn’t need to be since the prequels weren’t compromised.  The first three films fell short to begin with due to technological restraints.

Following all the regular moderated questions were some questions from the audience.  Here’s a quick recap:

• The original versions of the Star Wars trilogy will not be included on DVD.  The special editions are the real versions of Star Wars that Lucas wants audiences to see.
• All the major parts are already cast in Episode III, so don’t ask to be in it.
• Asked about the line “I have a bad feeling about this” being in every film.  “Because it’s fun.”
• What technical challenges are to be conquered in Episode III?  None really, they reached a pretty good level.
• One audience member’s favorite scenes in the original trilogy were the hyperspace scenes showing the streaking stars.  Why were they not shown in the prequels?  Lucas stated “I see it all as one big movie so it was decided not to use them in the prequels so it would still be fresh in the original trilogy.”
• Most technically challenging thing to shoot in the Star Wars films:  A New Hope: Space battle.  The Empire Strikes Back: Yoda.  The Phantom Menace: Amount of digital creations.  Attack of the Clones:  Fight scene with Yoda; Tiny green frog fighting a 6 foot tall Vampire.