Lucas’s Impact on Cinema and Culture

Among America’s film gurus, there’s no doubt that George Lucas is one of the greats. With movie ideas as diverse as retro street racing, African-American pilots in World War 2, an epic space opera, and a history-loving action hero, Lucas’ vision is one-of-a-kind. Have all his ideas been home runs? Definitely not (Hello, Howard the Duck, THX 1138, and Jar Jar Binks), but there’s no denying that his ideas have an extra dollop of magic sauce. So what kind of impact has this creative genius made on the film industry and culture in general? Let’s find out!

HIS CREATIVE IMPACT

A Used Universe

While Lucas’ interests have been diverse, there’s no doubt that he’s most famous for Star Wars. This saga exemplifies many of Lucas’ impacts on film and culture over the years. Creatively, two important effects stand out: the “used universe” design and the complete movie universe.¹ Of course Lucas wasn’t the first director/producer to depict his story in a run-down setting, but he was one of the first to make space stuff look old. Until Star Wars, most galactic scenes showed brand new space ships and shiny chrome robots. Everything looked new because, after all, it was the future. Surely things wouldn’t break down or look shabby anymore, right? 

Lucas saw the problem with this line of thought and chose instead to make space look just like earth in certain respects; things got rusty, dusty, and broken. This made his universe look lived in, broken in, and believable. It took a special kind of creative genius to conceive of that vision and see it through to the finished product. It worked so well that many directors have implemented the used universe concept ever since.

A Movie Universe

While it’s pretty common to hear about a “movie universe” these days, it was a new concept when Lucas began creating Star Wars. Initially, not even Lucas himself believed it would turn into a massive hit. After the world greeted the first Star Wars movie with such enthusiasm, however, Lucas renamed it Episode IV: A New Hope and continued the process of expanding his story. 

Today the concept of the Star Wars universe is ubiquitous. The spinoffs from the original films are too many to number—books, legends, characters and games just keep coming. So how did Lucas pioneer the idea of a movie universe? Well, for starters he was one of the first to envision a whole saga rather than just a few sequel films. While it took decades for the main storyline to wrap up, the side stories are still far from finished. (Disney will make the most of that, I’m sure.) Lucas left room in his movies for plenty of curiosity and imagination. “The characters mention events and places which the films never stop to explore,” says Jack Rear, a writer for verdict.co.uk. “Viewers get a real sense of a universe that goes on much further than the film’s boundaries.”²  Franchises like Marvel and DC owe much to Lucas for this trend.

HIS TECHNICAL IMPACT

Humble Beginnings

Lucas is not only a one-of-a-kind storyteller; he’s also a technical pioneer. You may have heard of Industrial Light and Magic, Lucas’s special effects company, but you may not know its history. ILM was created because Lucas needed special effects for Star Wars, and the studio where he was filming didn’t have a department for that sort of thing. True to his innovative spirit, Lucas didn’t give up; he got creative instead. He scraped together a team of people to make the models and effects that he envisioned, and the outcome was groundbreaking. 

For one thing, A New Hope was the first film to use “motion control cameras” to change the angle of the video camera around big model space ships. Sounds pretty lame when I write it like that, but it really was light years ahead of its time. (See what I did there?) Lucas must have been proud of his accomplishment, but he didn’t stop there. 

Computer-Generated Genius 

Having gotten a taste for the stories he could tell with better effects, Lucas began to delve into computer graphics, assembling a team of gifted geeks for the task as early as 1979.³ One of his main motivations for creating computer graphics in-house was financial: companies that made CGI were out of Lucas’s price range at the time. Good thing, too, because his humble graphics division has created effects for dozens of big-name movies, and it eventually became Pixar! Who knew we should thank George Lucas for Toy Story?

And in case you think Industrial Light and Magic is just a small company with a few techy branches, this may put it into perspective: ILM boasts “more than two-dozen Sci-Tech awards, 15 Oscars, and nearly 300 films. Industrial Light & Magic has contributed to 10 of the top 15 grossing films of all time, and half of the top 50.”⁴ Even if he’d never done anything else, Lucas’s creation of ILM would still have put him in the history books. 

HIS CULTURAL IMPACT

The Undeniable Impact

But although Lucas’s creative and technical feats are impressive, his inspiration affects us on a regular basis, too. For example, think about how often you quote a line from one of his films. If you’re anything like my (admittedly nerdy) family, you probably bust out a quote from Star Wars or Indiana Jones several times a week. Just think: if Lucas had produced The Lord of the Rings, he could have been master over the whole trifecta of quote sources. Unfortunately for him, he was smack in the middle of Star Wars Episodes I-III at the time. His loss.

In addition to hearing quotes from the movies, consider how often you see Star Wars merch—bumper stickers, costumes, and toys are just the beginning. I mean, you probably see at least three Star Wars tee shirt every time you go to the store! Lucas’ vision has directly impacted culture through merchandise, and his wallet is all the fatter for it. One of the most brilliant moves in his career was his choice to forego more cash from A New Hope in favor of the profit from all Star Wars merchandise. Ka-ching! 

The Subtle Impact

Although this last cultural impact is less obvious than Darth Vader tee shirts, it’s still a big one. By changing the way that films are made, Lucas changed one of the biggest American industries forever. There’s no doubt that Americans spend an obscene amount of money and time on entertainment, and movies are a huge part of that. That’s why it’s even more amazing to think that most movies we watch today have been influenced by Lucas—technically if not creatively.

When a camera pans smoothly around an object, when a sound effect seems to come out of left field, and when a special effect seems so real that you almost believe it, you can picture Lucas smiling. Well, he doesn’t seem to smile much, but you can picture him feeling satisfied or something. It must be gratifying to know that you’ve changed American film for the better. 

THE END AT LAST

When I first concocted the idea to write a few articles about George Lucas, I had no idea it would go this deep or take this long. Apparently it takes a while to discuss even a few aspects of the work he’s done. Who knew? If you’ve tracked along with me for these articles, I thank you, and I congratulate you. If I see you in person, I’ll gladly bestow on you a medal of honor. And now, dear friends, it’s time to ride off into the binary sunset. Until next time, may the force be with you. 

Sources:
¹ https://www.verdict.co.uk/how-lucas-film-star-wars-changed-cinema-forever/
² https://www.verdict.co.uk/how-lucas-film-star-wars-changed-cinema-forever/
³ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Light_%26_Magic
⁴ http://getinmedia.com/employers/industrial-light-magic