Models |
LucasFilms |
Jar Jar Binks |
Models were essential in the making of Starwars. George Lucas used miniature models that were painted with extreme detail to make them look realistic while filming. Examples of this modeling technique are the TIE fighters, X-Wings, and Star destroyers. In the video below you will see the opening scene from Starwars a New Hope, although that seems to be an enormous Star destroyer that is kilometers long, in reality it was only three feet in length. This is another astonishing use of models in George Lucas' movies. His use of models shows how resourceful he was in directing the Starwars films. These props and models became so famous that people were buying them for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Luke skywalker's light saber was sold for 170,000$. The most expensive prop/model sold was a Tie Fighter miniature. It was sold for 402,000$. Both of these items and more were sold at auctions. These only support the fact that models were the backbone to the Starwars movies.
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LucasFilms is where George Lucas left his legacy on the film industry. George Lucas founded Lucas film in 1971 in San Rafael, California. LucasFilm's is a Entertainment service company. They are most famous for producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. This once small company George Lucas created was recently bought by Disney for 4 billion dollars. When LucasFilms was created it pioneered the special effects and sound industry in movies. George Lucas and a group of dedicated workers started with painting models, but as technology advanced they utilized the new CGI technology. LucasFilms used CGI in ways that it had never been used before in its films. An important filming technology Lucas Films created was the Dykstraflex. The Dystraflex is a type of camera that is controlled by a computer so that camera movements could be duplicated over and over. This allows models to look like they are moving like an actual spaceship instead of choppily moving across the screen. The branch of Lucas Films called Skywalker Sound is in charged of post production sound effects. They have created many breakthroughs in the sound industry. Skywalker sounds has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound or Best Sound Editing every year since 1977. The advances in special effects that LucasFilms made allowed other directors to make movies that were never before possible.
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Jar Jar Binks is considered to be one of the worse Star Wars characters because of his annoying personality. He may not have hit it of with fans, but in the special effects world he is legendary. Jar Jar Binks was introduced in Star Wars I: The phantom menace. What made Jar Jar Binks so special is that he is considered to be the first walking, talking, computer generated film character. This is one of the greatest accomplishments LucasFilms and George Lucas has. Ever since Jar Jar Binks, computer generated character has dominated the film industry. Characters like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, Davvy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, and many many more would not have been possible wothout the technology that George Lucas's company LucasFilms created. While Jar Jar Bink was not loved by audiences the technology that created him was loved by directors everywhere.
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