In my last blog I discussed the film that introduced me to the world of cinema, and subconsciously opened up a bizarrely unnatural love of movies. The film was of course The Wizard of Oz (1939), so I figured where best to continue on from than the point where the subconscious became the conscious, with the two films that turned that love of movies into a love of movie making.
It started when my dad brought home an AVI file of the new trailer for the upcoming Star Wars film, The Phantom Menace. The year was 1999 and I was 8 years old. I had no idea what the hell Star Wars was as I'd never seen any of the films, however for some reason the trailer captivated me. I'd never, to my knowledge, seen a film trailer before and the whole concept bewildered me. I was somehow able to watch scenes from a movie that was not released yet on my computer! Regardless, this film looked like nothing I'd seen before, I'd only ever watched children's films and never any action or adventure movies. I watched the trailer over and over and over again. God knows how many times I sat through it. I instantly wanted to see the movie and when I found out there had already been three, I just had to see them.
Once again, my Nan enters the story. A few years earlier Nan had bought the original trilogy box-set on VHS, so one day I visited her in the hopes of borrowing the films. As scared as I was to sit down and watch an 'adult' film, as soon as I got home I put on the original Star Wars (1977) [now known as A New Hope] and just like The Wizard of Oz had done a mere 4 years earlier, I was instantly opened up to a new form of film making. The special effects, the characters, the story all blew me away. It was all so new and awe-inspiring. That switch that The Wizard of Oz flicked inside my head once again went off and I had a new favorite movie.
As soon as Star Wars finished I remember instantly putting on the sequel The Empire Strikes Back (1980.) It took me a few days to then get around to the final film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi (1983,) and once I'd made my way through the original films I simply couldn't wait until the new one was released.
The Star Wars film filled my head with so many questions. How the hell did they do all these special effects? How did they do this? How did they do that? The films were also my introduction to 'widescreen' cinema. I remember asking my father, "what are the black bars on the top and the bottom of the screen?" His response was simply, "it's called Widescreen. It means they can fit more image on the screen." But, how? How could removing the top and the bottom of the image (as I had seen it) make more room for image space?
I was extremely intrigued and was instantly out on a mission to answer all my questions.
It wasn't long until most of my questions were answered. In April of 1999, a month before the release of The Phantom Menace, Channel 10 aired a television special titled Star Wars Episode One Has Arrived. The special was a 2 and a half hour documentary pieced together by a series of behind the scenes 'directors diaries' and interviews related to the making of the newest Star Wars film. It was the first time I had ever seen the making of a movie. Who knew half of some movies were filmed in giant studios on a green backdrop? Who knew movies weren't shot in order and that it took months upon months to film a 2 hour film? It was a whole new world, and as soon as the documentary had finished I knew what I wanted to do - Make films! Luckily, I recorded the doco on VHS and I watched it over and over again, probably more times than I had watched the actual films, which I also watched quite regularly. I still have the recording to this day.
When The Phantom Menace was finally released I went into the cinema with a whole new perspective of watching films. I had seen how this movie was made, I had seen what went into the movie, I had seen all the behind the scenes trials and tribulations. No longer did I look at a film as a story, with a head full of questions. I saw it through the eyes of someone 'on the inside.' I thought I knew it all, but little did I know I still had much to learn.
Now having seen the making of The Phantom Menace and realizing that the original Star Wars films had been made around 20 years ago I needed to find out how such movies were made THAT LONG AGO!
So I set out on a new mission. I collected as many books as possible on the making of the films, recorded as many documentaries as I could and watched and read as much as I could on the internet. But not only did I begin to study Star Wars, I began to study films and special effects in general.
The story of how George Lucas almost highhandedly turned the entire film industry around by heading the development of modern cinema and special features astounded me. I wanted to be like George Lucas. I wanted to be just as revolutionary. I wanted to do what he had done.
I know I have constantly rabbited on about the old pre-special effects days of cinema being the years were movies were made simply for the love of film and not for money or because it could be made easily. But, there's still something about special effects that I love. I think that there's a right place for them and if they are used to tell the story and are used productively they are warranted. What Lucas did with the original Star Wars films he did so he could tell the kind of story that had never been told. It's only in the past 10 to 15 years that Lucas has been such an egomaniac and that special effects have spiraled out of control - running the classic form of cinema to the ground. And for this reason I love and hate George Lucas and to an extent the Star Wars films. I love how one man with one film could change so much, but I hate how it lead to such a huge change and marked the beginning of films becoming more of a mass marketing device than a product of love and passion.
Regardless, the Star Wars films are held dear to my heart for introducing me to the world of cinema making. I still love the story of Lucas turning the world of cinema upside down, but at the same time also wish it hadn't happened. Luckily I can look at it from two perspectives, and thank Lucas - my first cinematic idol - for giving me the chance to see the world of cinema from new eyes, and putting a new mark in what has become a rapidly increasing life's journey.
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