It's amazing he saw such an opportunity in a small assignment. That's inspiring in times where a lot of people just care about passing, getting money, or beating a deadline, that quality, dedication and creativity still matters more than everything else. I even like how George Lucas allowed fan works to become part of the canon before Disney bought Star Wars. I hope his creative spirit will live on in filmmaking.
@@clark5317 Currently they are called Star Wars Legends, they used to be called Star Wars Expanded Universe and consists of a lot of books. Check them out sometime! I particularly remember enjoying the Junior Jedi Knights series as a youngling, but there's all kinds of different series and stand alone books out there.
I think the biggest take away from this is that Lucas didn't look at the assignment and think, "what can I do to make MY project stand out against everyone else." I think Lucas looked at the assignment and said, "How can I tell a story with this." My biggest beef with today's social media and over-abundance content creation is that 99.9% of it is the former rather than the later.
HappyTacoPaco I see no parallels. It reminds me of a post-Vietnam reactionary piece. The rapid cuts ate a bit ahead of its time, though not unlike some Europen films of the time. Good pacing. Ironically, he’s replaced his thematic rapid paced film style with overwrought themes in his writing, creating a far slacker pace. But that’s not the point of this essay, and I do love what Austin’s saying, so thumbs up.
@@lordoshower3478 Well to be fair, he had a limited amount of film to make all those operations. But you couldn't watch a feature length movie like that. He was inspired by Kurosawa, so we got the space western.
I did an 8 page essay on THX 1138 in my film class two months ago, it was an incredible experience and very inspiring to any film buff or aspiring filmmaker.
I’m from Modesto. I go to the same high school Lucas attended. He’s still very legendary in my hometown. I had a sub once who grew up with Lucas and his brother hit their tree with their car.
I'm from Joisey. I live in the same planet as Lucas. My cousins uncles friends roommate saw Lucas from a distance and his brother car is the same color as the tree.
Milner is revealed to die in a car crash at the end of American Graffiti. In the script for A New Hope, it's revealed Luke almost died racing his Skyhopper just before the movie, which is why we don't see him flying it (Owen grounded him from using it). Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker is strongly modeled on one of Lucas's film idols, James Dean, who died in a car crash while joyriding (also likely the inspiration for Milner). THX-1138 and Revenge of the Sith both feature scenes of characters lying immobilized and helpless in hospital beds, being painfully poked and prodded by medical instruments, just as Lucas had been after his crash. Compare also what happens to Luke after the wampa attack in The Empire Strikes Back. And as alluded to in the video, Lucas's lungs were crushed and his heart stopped, requiring machines to temporarily perform those functions for him, just as with Darth Vader. That crash had a profound influence on Lucas and has showed up, in some form or another, in most of his movies.
@@nineleafclover Curt, Milner and Toad in American Graffiti are all George Lucas at some point in his life. Lucas himself said Ron Howard's character, Steve, was the hardest one of the guys to write since he couldn't identify with him, while the three that were in a way parts of him, he could write and understand a lot more easily. Though I do think you're right about James Dean inspiring Lucas when writing that Milner died in a car accident as well as the fact Lucas himself was in a car accident that he himself said theoretically nobody should have really ever lived from, yet he did. Probably combined the almost death experience Lucas himself had and combined that with the fact Dean died so young and the end of American Graffiti is the way we have it now.
At 2:52, when you talk about George applying to USC, you show a picture of UCLA haha. Pretty much USC's biggest rival and where other filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola went, but not George
Could be worse. I saw a video once featuring Indian students talking about going to school in the USA. Despite the fact the students interviewed for the video were attending Michigan State University, pretty much all of the background footage was of Southern California .
Marvelous work went into this. The research about his youth is accurate, the descriptions of Lucas' creative talents are enlightening, and the history of how he avoided the Hollywood 'A-List blood contract' system is essential to those who look up to him as a person.
I remember seeing this short film in some kind of documentary and he was talking about it as an assignment on how to use the camera, and then they played it and I was like “this is the greatest thing ever” and meanwhile he was like “people liked it” ☺️. His student film version of THX1138 was great too.
THE FACT THAT THE CHORDS FOLLOW THE HEART BEAT AT 2:22 !!! As a person who’s studying on film composition this is such an awesome little thing. Such a good video too
We do as we are told and then some I just finished my first semester of 3D and animation. For my next three semesters I’ll make sure I remember this video. You don’t go to shool to Get good grades, school is just a game where the goal is to get a job you want. So maximize the opportunities you’re given. Use those assignments to build a portfolio, and build experience. Grab attention, tell a story.
This is a wonderful video. I’ve a lot of respect and admiration for George Lucas and what he’s done, so this wasn’t just informative, but a real pleasure to watch. Thank you for this.
“His astute business strategy in merchandising” Fun fact he actually made a terrible deal with the toy merchandising and lost millions as a result. “The toys that made us” episode on Star Wars was really interesting
@@rorschachozymandias2821 it is a loss when you consider the potential income that he missed out on. The difference between making $140,000 and making $1.4M, I would consider a loss of potential income.
@@powoodworker1751 There's a distinction between losing billions (good luck paying off that debt), and losing billions in potential income. The OP didn't say "lost billions in potential income", but "lost billions", indicating a negative monetary flow, which definitely never happened.
@@powoodworker1751 What I said is that when the OP said "he lost billions", he made it sound as if George ended up with less than what he started with. And that's not what happened. He just made a bad deal and left a lot of money on the table. Courts don't disagree with me whatsoever. I never said loss of potential income is not something one can sue over. Although it's important in this case to distinguish the legal term from the everyday layman's term: You can't sue me for "potential loss of income" over a transaction where we both agreed on the price, and later you realise you could've asked for more. You can sue me, however, when I interfere with your ability to generate income . E.g. when I prevent you from working, or when I interfere with your ability to sell your wares or products. Or when we have a deal for a certain percentage of my profit, and I lie about how much profit I'm making so I have to pay you less. Those are entirely different things.
Back in the very early 70's I went up to USC's Open House event and saw Lucas' student film 'Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB' along with several other student films in the film school's small theater. I'd just seen the theatrical version starring Robert Duvall, which I loved. Getting to compare the modest student film to the studio version was a good learning experience.
I read the title of the video and thought you would just talk about Thx1138, like every UA-camr has done before, but I still clicked on it. That's something that I actually didn't knew about.. I'm impressed Austin. You never fail to deliver..
As a film student about to finish undergrad, the message of this video really struck a chord! So, in the spirit of going one step further-and putting my degree to “real world” use-I think it’s important to mention that Lucas’s first short is heavily inspired by the style and techniques of the NFB animator, Arthur Lipsett aka the creator of “21-87”-the short that gave Lucas the idea for the Force. For me, it’s kind of reassuring that even George Lucas found his voice by imitating his inspiration’s first. Love your stuff, Austin, cheers to a new year :)
A few quick observations.. 1. As a fully heterosexual male I think we all have to admit, young George Lucas was a good looking guy. A bit surprising. 2. That short film he did truly highlights the raw yet meticulous talent he had even earlier on. What a visionary. 3. Austin shares this ability/talent, as this was extremely well done and like Lucas, Austin maximizes the time he has even when very short, with quality/stimulating visuals. 4. How Austin ended this piece with a commercial also reminded me of the downfall of Lucas and film in general nowadays, over-commercialization. Still brilliant work.
"reminded me of the downfall of Lucas" He needed money to make movies, and they needed to be commercial/conventional for the theatres to agree to screen them. That's the reality.
Though i feel that this piece is interesting and has some good points. what i really think have made the difference for George Lucas and his first film as a stand out (and his approach in general), was his interest in the possibilities of the medium. I don't think that he set out with a mission to try to push the boundaries of the medium, but that he, because of his knowledge of, and interest in the medium, had a vision for what to do, and therefore he pushed the boundaries. not because he wanted to push it but rather because he couldn't help explore the medium. That being said, i enjoy your videos. keep em coming (please) :)
I used to manually edit concert videos and weddings using SVHS and VHSC source material before digital was available to me. I can attest to the fact that building this stuff from scratch takes hard work and dedication. While, as you said, Lucas has his detractors, there are aspects of his ethics which caused him to be the icon he is today.
It probably seemed like "everything had been done before" on May 24, 1977, too. The next day, Star Wars dropped in theaters. It'll just take the right creative mind!
The sentiment of everything being done is nothing new. The saying “there is nothing new under the sun” goes back centuries. The same idea is mentioned in the Bible. There is always something new, since anything new is just an evolution of something that already exists.
In 1903 a physicist proclaimed that "all of physics has been discovered". That same year Max Planck published his paper that founded quantum mechanics. Whenever it seems like there's nothing else to be done, that means an explosion of possibilities is just around the corner.
I had a film assignment at school, shoot a roll of 16mm, use only "in camera" cuts, but then apply a soundtrack that "was opposite" to the images. Everyone picked a location someplace, nature, school campus, city, someplace else, and filmed their shots. I did 2 locations. First half of the roll I filmed static shots from a park, oak trees, meadows, in a canyon. My soundtrack was of Ted Nugent yelling at the crowd from his Double Live Gonzo Album, song Hibernation. 2nd half of the roll started with a passenger jet flying right over head as it came in for a landing, panning with the plane, then shots of the freeway or handheld shots walking around down town. The sound started with a burst of thunder as the plane flew over head, from then on, was the sound of steady rain.
I've read the biography on George Lucas by Brian Jay Jones. He became friends with Francis Ford Coppola around after USC and travelled with him making films with him. Coppola even helped teach Lucas how to write stories and dialogue.
@@themanmrbijok7364 Yeah, that's what I was referring to. He's not and never has been good at dialogue. His strength is in visual storytelling and in editing. Especially editing. The man's a fantastic editor. Easily one of the best ever.
You will get out of anything the work you put into it: Ever since I heard about George Lucas making a 20 minute long student film (the original THX 1138) instead of the assigned 5 minute long one, I've tried to take that same attitude and apply it to my own work. I can confidently say from experience that if you really try and work hard, you will get the recognition you deserve! Keep in mind there will 100% be someone or something trying to stop you along the way. My advice is to acknowledge those barriers and blow right through them, it is a really good base to build up your other achievements on plus you teach yourself a lot by doing it. Not just with film but also with art, writing, and anything else you might love doing. Even as a film student in the modern day I was assigned the same 1 minute project in my film class. The goal was to simply show images through different camera angles, no sound, actors, or story were expected: so I did all of those things anyway. I was able tot turn that simple project into an entire western stand-off around a foosball game full of music, acting, and mise-en-scene. The professor hadn't seen anything quite on that level for such a simple project before and asked to use the short for reference in his future classes and to show to students what they should be aspiring to do, even with basic projects. I had created new standards for the class. For the final class project, the assignment was a 5 minute short film. We made our film almost 15 minutes long. The other group films were all about college kids, and a boring suburban life; so we decided to go an even extra couple of miles and made ours a detective film set in the 1950's. Needless to say, it stood out from the others and we got the recognition we deserved for the work we did. *It is important to collaborate with people too* This video is 100 times better than the interview snippet I saw which explained George Lucas making a 20 minute film out of a 5 minute one and I really loved watching it! It for sure boosts my confidence and gets the creativity working whenever I see something like this.
@@ricktheexplorer nope. Most of the the best Star Wars media there is are the extended universe novels (the Thrawn trilogy is probably the best Star Wars thing that there is, ever, and I hope they try to turn them into films one day), the animated TV shows, etc, the Mandalorian, Rogue One. Lucas had little to no involvement in all these things. Don't get so butthurt about the sequel trilogy. In 20 years people will probably like them a great deal more than they do now just like what's happened with the prequels. You're just caught up in all the outrage culture and angry videos on UA-cam. Calm down, take a step back, and just appreciate how much good star wars stuff exists and its easier than ever to watch/read it all, you can go just stream everything within seconds or download a book to your kindle app on your tablet right now and within a minute be reading a great novel, and so on.
@@duffman18 Those people camped out at the Skywalker Ranch and tapped George Lucas's brain when writing the expanded Universe. Do me a favor, never try to come up to my level of intelligence: you will be embarrassing.
@@duffman18 Are you high? The "bounty hunter" TV show plans were there before the Disney deal. There's even footage of the concept work they shot. Lucas was involved in TCW. "In 20 years people will probably like them a great deal more than they do now just like what's happened with the prequels." The PT was made by Lucas though. It ain't perfect but it has his vision - which is exactly what the ST is lacking. "You're just caught up in all the outrage culture and angry videos on UA-cam" How about not patronising people, or trying to dismiss individual opinion as fitting within one box? "you can go just stream everything within seconds" That's called the internet. It has nothing to do with who is charge of LF. "Most of the the best Star Wars media there is are the extended universe novels" It's just an opinion, the same as the one you're complaining about.
It was the 1997 Special Edition VHS Star Wars Original Trilogy Box Set with BTS that inspired me to become a filmmaker. Now, after many years making shorts, i'm currently writting my first feature film script.
Anyone who liked this I HIGHLY recommend you read George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones. That book really showed me what he has contributed to the world. I firmly believe that no one since Hitchcock has done so much nor been so influential.
Sometimes, I forget the greats came from nothing. As someone who's passion comes from filmmaking. It came from such a young age, and I'm always afraid of not being able to truly show my true passion. To tell my own stories. Thank you Austin, for reminding me that I can tell my own stories.
I just entered the same cinema school where Alfonso Cuarón and Emmanuel Lubezki studied. This video was just... Perfect. Thank you, Austin. I've learned so much with you. I say hi from Mexico.
Thank you for making this video. George Lucas has always been my greatest role model, and I am glad someone has brought his origins to light. I have many videos in a playlist that I listen through to remind me of his journey. Now this one summarizes the beginning in a nutshell!
This is pretty cool to see, I live in Modesto and I went to mjc. Austin is on of my favorite UA-camrs so it’s cool to see him talking about my hometown.
I'm an aspired-author and I took a class in Creative Writing at school. The assignment was fairly simple: Write a short story. Instead of telling one simple story with a basic structure and elements. I wrote something different. Same I did with a Speaking class. xD
Do you think writers write because they have no one to talk to in such a deep manner as they feel when they write? I mean if you had friends or someone close to you who you can have deep meaningful long drawn conversations, would you continue writing?
With George’s background in street racing American Graffiti suddenly makes a ton of sense for him to make. Also I miss Really Weird Star Wars, please do more of those someday.
Very interesting. I've never really thought about what he'd done before Star Wars. I guess I assumed he just poofed into existence to create it. Never knew about his history with cars, or the crash that sent him to the hospital. Good video as always.
American Graffiti - 1973 directed by George Lucas first starred Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Suzanne Somers and Wolfman Jack.
I was just watching Star Wars when you released this. *Ironic* PS: George didn’t just tinker with the OT, but he did tinker a tiny bit with the prequels. You should research it.
"a tiny bit" bruh no, TPM is edited more than any of the OT, it has loads of new scenes (the only new scenes in the OT are Biggs and Jabba, TPM had 7) and Yoda is completely replaced with CGI.
I'm actually attending Modesto Junior College next year. I'm majoring in Theatre Arts, but I'm also into film making. Story goes, when Lucas was at MJC, he came to his film appreciation professor and introduced the idea of the Star Wars trilogy, and asked if they could invest/help. The professor denied and thought it was a stupid idea, and that was that. Word goes, the professor still teaches at MJC, and obviously regrets the decision. Again, I could be wrong about this, it's just a story around here, but idk.
When your back's to the wall & you're not motivated by anything other than making your craft matter, you create gold. That matters more, because wether or not you make those millions (or billions in George's case), you'll inspire others to make their own craft matter, and turn it into art.
Thank you for this video. I went to film school inspired by Mr. Lucas. And this video reminded me why I admire him so much. Thanks you so very much again.
It’s wild how detached I have to become with my current reality to be able to appreciate the effort that George put in his first film. It’s so easy to take everything for granted when in this current landscape, I could re-create “Look at Life” in less than 20 minutes.
@@sammy8096 Yo dude, I'm with you. I was just dropping some facts. I mean George said that he's worked so hard since because he wakes up feeling he's living on borrowed time. That's pretty inspirational if you think about it
I never knew that about him being in a near-fatal crash (I know, I must've been living under a rock all this time), gets me to wondering what effect that had on his perspective on life and on the direction his life subsequently took. Must've been a seriously traumatic thing to go through, blimey.
Holy crap Austin! I was just wondering about this this morning! I watched an interview with Alex Guinness talking about how Lucas was an "up and coming director" at the time so I was wondering why that was so. Thank you man!
I love how simple his first film was and won so many awards. I have always been interested in film and making videos but always felt I wasn't very good at it. (No support from family) Now I make Minecraft videos and always try and tell a story in my episodes. I long for filmmaking and always have.
What i get from this more than anything, is that Lucas cared more about storytelling....Pushing the technical boundaries was secondary....Today, they care more about doing what Lucas did decades ago and storytelling just doesn't matter all that much.
I read the book Skywalking in the 80's. It mentions all his short films he made at USC. I remember really wanting to see them back then, but there was no way to do it. Also really wanted to see Filmmaker: A Diary by George Lucas. I managed to find a copy of Filmmaker online in the early 2000's. I paid $100 which said it included "broadcast rights". Same goes with Spielberg's Amblin and James Cameron's Xenogenesis. Would be great to actually see them. In the early 2000's, I managed to find and buy a copy of Amblin on Ebay for $25. A bad copy but watchable. Not only are they all on UA-cam now, but there's early films featuring George Lucas I was unaware of at the time. One from the late 60's called New Cinema (with Francis Coppola) and an interview with him from the early 70's called George Lucas: Maker of Film (which was after he made THX 1138, but before American Graffiti).
My pilot is only a few days away from finishing. It's about a fox from another world meets an earthling fox who go on sci-fi space adventures together.
It would put a smile on my face if you shared this video with everyone on Earth. Y'know, if you have time. Thanks.
Everyone on mars:
AustinMcConnell very informative video tbh.
@@Live-qf2lg *People on the international space station
I like your channel! Thanks for another upload!
"Hey George Lucas, check out this video!"
It's amazing he saw such an opportunity in a small assignment. That's inspiring in times where a lot of people just care about passing, getting money, or beating a deadline, that quality, dedication and creativity still matters more than everything else. I even like how George Lucas allowed fan works to become part of the canon before Disney bought Star Wars. I hope his creative spirit will live on in filmmaking.
He did what now? Wow. What projects did he let become canon?
@@clark5317 I think referring to the Star Wars Fan Film awards.
@@clark5317 Currently they are called Star Wars Legends, they used to be called Star Wars Expanded Universe and consists of a lot of books. Check them out sometime! I particularly remember enjoying the Junior Jedi Knights series as a youngling, but there's all kinds of different series and stand alone books out there.
@@two_coats_and_two_root_beers But because of that, EU was 90% shit
@@two_coats_and_two_root_beers Yeah, I know about legends have read a bunch, even the Jedi knight books if you're thinking of Jedi Quest.
He started so low and is now on the high ground...
Kamikaze Jump So low?
Nice
Good one
He hasn't been on the high ground since 1999's Phantom Menace.
his dad underestimated his power
Didn't know about his first short. Good stuff.
D4Darious Love ur vids: )
wikipedia the list of his short films and come back to youtube...pretty much all of them are on here
69th like, bruh 🤣🤣
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDtheman
Everyone at the SC film school does
I think the biggest take away from this is that Lucas didn't look at the assignment and think, "what can I do to make MY project stand out against everyone else." I think Lucas looked at the assignment and said, "How can I tell a story with this." My biggest beef with today's social media and over-abundance content creation is that 99.9% of it is the former rather than the later.
You get it
Crazy how immediately he found his style, literally a minute exercise and you can see parallels to the rest of his career
HappyTacoPaco I see no parallels. It reminds me of a post-Vietnam reactionary piece. The rapid cuts ate a bit ahead of its time, though not unlike some Europen films of the time. Good pacing. Ironically, he’s replaced his thematic rapid paced film style with overwrought themes in his writing, creating a far slacker pace.
But that’s not the point of this essay, and I do love what Austin’s saying, so thumbs up.
@@lordoshower3478 Well to be fair, he had a limited amount of film to make all those operations. But you couldn't watch a feature length movie like that. He was inspired by Kurosawa, so we got the space western.
When you realize that a car accident almost rewrites history.
It certainly rewrote history.
When you realize, that everything ever happened rewrote history.
When you realise we had to wait until 1999 to see the _real_ car crash
The car accident did not rewrite history, it was history.
Kanye
So Lucas went from a car guy to making one of the biggest nerd properties of all time
@Tom Phelps imagine my socks
Went from a Chad to nerd
Leon Lawson from virgin to chad
don't know if you're aware yet or not, but car guys are just huge nerds but like, about cars
Car guys are nerds
I did an 8 page essay on THX 1138 in my film class two months ago, it was an incredible experience and very inspiring to any film buff or aspiring filmmaker.
Did you upload it somewhere? I would love to read it
Do you have it somewhere online? I would love to read it.
@@denizzagra6423 hopefully he answers you mate
I’m from Modesto. I go to the same high school Lucas attended. He’s still very legendary in my hometown. I had a sub once who grew up with Lucas and his brother hit their tree with their car.
What do you want? A scoobie snack?
ashzole Actually, I want 2.
I'm from Joisey. I live in the same planet as Lucas. My cousins uncles friends roommate saw Lucas from a distance and his brother car is the same color as the tree.
When he crashed the car god said wait a minute i need to watch star wars
Milner is revealed to die in a car crash at the end of American Graffiti. In the script for A New Hope, it's revealed Luke almost died racing his Skyhopper just before the movie, which is why we don't see him flying it (Owen grounded him from using it). Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker is strongly modeled on one of Lucas's film idols, James Dean, who died in a car crash while joyriding (also likely the inspiration for Milner). THX-1138 and Revenge of the Sith both feature scenes of characters lying immobilized and helpless in hospital beds, being painfully poked and prodded by medical instruments, just as Lucas had been after his crash. Compare also what happens to Luke after the wampa attack in The Empire Strikes Back. And as alluded to in the video, Lucas's lungs were crushed and his heart stopped, requiring machines to temporarily perform those functions for him, just as with Darth Vader.
That crash had a profound influence on Lucas and has showed up, in some form or another, in most of his movies.
@@nineleafclover Curt, Milner and Toad in American Graffiti are all George Lucas at some point in his life. Lucas himself said Ron Howard's character, Steve, was the hardest one of the guys to write since he couldn't identify with him, while the three that were in a way parts of him, he could write and understand a lot more easily. Though I do think you're right about James Dean inspiring Lucas when writing that Milner died in a car accident as well as the fact Lucas himself was in a car accident that he himself said theoretically nobody should have really ever lived from, yet he did. Probably combined the almost death experience Lucas himself had and combined that with the fact Dean died so young and the end of American Graffiti is the way we have it now.
Only like 30 seconds in and this guy is a master of video essays seriously. Can't handle it! Look at those cuts!
He's been a master for a while now
@@TheTenthBlueJay oh yeah I'm aware of him haha, I've been watching for a while now.. just felt like it had to be said
George Lucas is pretty much a living legend
@Let Your L⚡️GHT Forever Shine ❤️ bro what its george lucas
Everyone else: How far do you want to push the limits of filmmaking?
George Lucas: *Yes*
At 2:52, when you talk about George applying to USC, you show a picture of UCLA haha. Pretty much USC's biggest rival and where other filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola went, but not George
Ooof. Can't wait to hear it in the comments. :P
@@austinmcconnell haha happens to the best of us
say's 8mm, shows 16mm camera too
And we’re not going to even going to get into the pronunciation of Coppola here...😂🖤
Could be worse. I saw a video once featuring Indian students talking about going to school in the USA. Despite the fact the students interviewed for the video were attending Michigan State University, pretty much all of the background footage was of Southern California .
Marvelous work went into this. The research about his youth is accurate, the descriptions of Lucas' creative talents are enlightening, and the history of how he avoided the Hollywood 'A-List blood contract' system is essential to those who look up to him as a person.
I remember seeing this short film in some kind of documentary and he was talking about it as an assignment on how to use the camera, and then they played it and I was like “this is the greatest thing ever” and meanwhile he was like “people liked it” ☺️. His student film version of THX1138 was great too.
George Lucas was obviously living on as George Lucas before star wars
*NANI!?*
THE FACT THAT THE CHORDS FOLLOW THE HEART BEAT AT 2:22 !!!
As a person who’s studying on film composition this is such an awesome little thing. Such a good video too
We do as we are told and then some
I just finished my first semester of 3D and animation. For my next three semesters I’ll make sure I remember this video. You don’t go to shool to Get good grades, school is just a game where the goal is to get a job you want. So maximize the opportunities you’re given. Use those assignments to build a portfolio, and build experience. Grab attention, tell a story.
I was 8 years old when the first Star Wars came out. He made that movie for our generation and now it lives on forever.
Good to see you go back to these niche like documentaries
This is a wonderful video.
I’ve a lot of respect and admiration for George Lucas and what he’s done, so this wasn’t just informative, but a real pleasure to watch.
Thank you for this.
“His astute business strategy in merchandising”
Fun fact he actually made a terrible deal with the toy merchandising and lost millions as a result.
“The toys that made us” episode on Star Wars was really interesting
he didnt lose millions. he made almost nothing from that first deal but that still wasnt a loss
@@rorschachozymandias2821 it is a loss when you consider the potential income that he missed out on.
The difference between making $140,000 and making $1.4M, I would consider a loss of potential income.
@@powoodworker1751 There's a distinction between losing billions (good luck paying off that debt), and losing billions in potential income. The OP didn't say "lost billions in potential income", but "lost billions", indicating a negative monetary flow, which definitely never happened.
@@EvenTheDogAgrees courts disagree with you. Potential loss of income is a valid claim in court. So your opinion is just that, an opinion.
@@powoodworker1751 What I said is that when the OP said "he lost billions", he made it sound as if George ended up with less than what he started with. And that's not what happened. He just made a bad deal and left a lot of money on the table.
Courts don't disagree with me whatsoever. I never said loss of potential income is not something one can sue over. Although it's important in this case to distinguish the legal term from the everyday layman's term: You can't sue me for "potential loss of income" over a transaction where we both agreed on the price, and later you realise you could've asked for more. You can sue me, however, when I interfere with your ability to generate income . E.g. when I prevent you from working, or when I interfere with your ability to sell your wares or products. Or when we have a deal for a certain percentage of my profit, and I lie about how much profit I'm making so I have to pay you less. Those are entirely different things.
on the subject of star wars...
there's only one character that said
"MEesA caLLEd JAr JaR BinKS"
Jar Jar Binks May 16th, 1999-1999
cringe
I’m 66th like you know what that means jar jar
Back in the very early 70's I went up to USC's Open House event and saw Lucas' student film 'Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138 4EB' along with several other student films in the film school's small theater. I'd just seen the theatrical version starring Robert Duvall, which I loved. Getting to compare the modest student film to the studio version was a good learning experience.
I read the title of the video and thought you would just talk about Thx1138, like every UA-camr has done before, but I still clicked on it. That's something that I actually didn't knew about.. I'm impressed Austin. You never fail to deliver..
As a film student about to finish undergrad, the message of this video really struck a chord!
So, in the spirit of going one step further-and putting my degree to “real world” use-I think it’s important to mention that Lucas’s first short is heavily inspired by the style and techniques of the NFB animator, Arthur Lipsett aka the creator of “21-87”-the short that gave Lucas the idea for the Force.
For me, it’s kind of reassuring that even George Lucas found his voice by imitating his inspiration’s first.
Love your stuff, Austin, cheers to a new year :)
I had never heard of "Look at Life" until now. It was...interesting to say the least! 😆
A few quick observations..
1. As a fully heterosexual male I think we all have to admit, young George Lucas was a good looking guy. A bit surprising.
2. That short film he did truly highlights the raw yet meticulous talent he had even earlier on. What a visionary.
3. Austin shares this ability/talent, as this was extremely well done and like Lucas, Austin maximizes the time he has even when very short, with quality/stimulating visuals.
4. How Austin ended this piece with a commercial also reminded me of the downfall of Lucas and film in general nowadays, over-commercialization. Still brilliant work.
He was really hot back then, he's still a good looking guy now.
Yup, salt and pepper hair, especially if natural, is hot.
He looked like a mix of Mark Hamill amd Zac Efron if you ask me.
"reminded me of the downfall of Lucas"
He needed money to make movies, and they needed to be commercial/conventional for the theatres to agree to screen them. That's the reality.
Though i feel that this piece is interesting and has some good points. what i really think have made the difference for George Lucas and his first film as a stand out (and his approach in general), was his interest in the possibilities of the medium. I don't think that he set out with a mission to try to push the boundaries of the medium, but that he, because of his knowledge of, and interest in the medium, had a vision for what to do, and therefore he pushed the boundaries. not because he wanted to push it but rather because he couldn't help explore the medium.
That being said, i enjoy your videos. keep em coming (please) :)
"it's like poetry, it rhymes."
I used to manually edit concert videos and weddings using SVHS and VHSC source material before digital was available to me. I can attest to the fact that building this stuff from scratch takes hard work and dedication. While, as you said, Lucas has his detractors, there are aspects of his ethics which caused him to be the icon he is today.
When George learned his car was totaled in the accident:
NOOOOOOOOO!!!
"It seems, in your lack of awareness, you wrecked it."
The teachers gave him a high school diploma even though he was failing because they were sure he was going to die.
Then a second later... "Another Happy Landing."
How can we advance filmmaking today when it seems like everything has been done before
It probably seemed like "everything had been done before" on May 24, 1977, too. The next day, Star Wars dropped in theaters. It'll just take the right creative mind!
@@austinmcconnell thanks. This video was truly inspiring.
The sentiment of everything being done is nothing new. The saying “there is nothing new under the sun” goes back centuries. The same idea is mentioned in the Bible. There is always something new, since anything new is just an evolution of something that already exists.
@@teogonzalez7957
Well said.
In 1903 a physicist proclaimed that "all of physics has been discovered". That same year Max Planck published his paper that founded quantum mechanics.
Whenever it seems like there's nothing else to be done, that means an explosion of possibilities is just around the corner.
I had a film assignment at school, shoot a roll of 16mm, use only "in camera" cuts, but then apply a soundtrack that "was opposite" to the images.
Everyone picked a location someplace, nature, school campus, city, someplace else, and filmed their shots.
I did 2 locations. First half of the roll I filmed static shots from a park, oak trees, meadows, in a canyon. My soundtrack was of Ted Nugent yelling at the crowd from his Double Live Gonzo Album, song Hibernation.
2nd half of the roll started with a passenger jet flying right over head as it came in for a landing, panning with the plane, then shots of the freeway or handheld shots walking around down town. The sound started with a burst of thunder as the plane flew over head, from then on, was the sound of steady rain.
Hey, George shares the same birthday as me!!
Same lad
Nah dude, you share it with George.
Me too.
God I love this man. Mostly because I’m such a huge Star Wars fan, but he’s just so awesome
Thanks!
AustinMcConnell I was talking about George Lucas 😕you’re cool too tho
Bruhhh
@@Grand_History this was one of the best comments I’ve ever seen
I live in modesto and went to the same elementary and junior high school as george lucas, and now im in the high school he went to!
His student film of THX-1138 needs your attention. Please keep going.
That was a great use of a soundtrack from the film, Black Orpheus..
I've read the biography on George Lucas by Brian Jay Jones. He became friends with Francis Ford Coppola around after USC and travelled with him making films with him. Coppola even helped teach Lucas how to write stories and dialogue.
Didn't teach him very well on the dialogue part, though, huh?
@@TheGeorgeD13 I think it said Lucas found that writing dialogue was the hardest part.
@@themanmrbijok7364 Yeah, that's what I was referring to. He's not and never has been good at dialogue. His strength is in visual storytelling and in editing. Especially editing. The man's a fantastic editor. Easily one of the best ever.
I adore that book
0:40 so it is with star wars. The line between critc and fan is often blurred
I love to know how great things begin, and Lucas's effect on film has been a great thing. Thank you for posting and analyzing this!
You will get out of anything the work you put into it:
Ever since I heard about George Lucas making a 20 minute long student film (the original THX 1138) instead of the assigned 5 minute long one, I've tried to take that same attitude and apply it to my own work. I can confidently say from experience that if you really try and work hard, you will get the recognition you deserve! Keep in mind there will 100% be someone or something trying to stop you along the way. My advice is to acknowledge those barriers and blow right through them, it is a really good base to build up your other achievements on plus you teach yourself a lot by doing it. Not just with film but also with art, writing, and anything else you might love doing.
Even as a film student in the modern day I was assigned the same 1 minute project in my film class. The goal was to simply show images through different camera angles, no sound, actors, or story were expected: so I did all of those things anyway. I was able tot turn that simple project into an entire western stand-off around a foosball game full of music, acting, and mise-en-scene. The professor hadn't seen anything quite on that level for such a simple project before and asked to use the short for reference in his future classes and to show to students what they should be aspiring to do, even with basic projects. I had created new standards for the class.
For the final class project, the assignment was a 5 minute short film. We made our film almost 15 minutes long. The other group films were all about college kids, and a boring suburban life; so we decided to go an even extra couple of miles and made ours a detective film set in the 1950's. Needless to say, it stood out from the others and we got the recognition we deserved for the work we did.
*It is important to collaborate with people too*
This video is 100 times better than the interview snippet I saw which explained George Lucas making a 20 minute film out of a 5 minute one and I really loved watching it! It for sure boosts my confidence and gets the creativity working whenever I see something like this.
Ten seconds. We were on the verge of greatness. We were this close.
Any "Star Wars" without Lucas isn't Star Wars.
@Fedce How do you figure, Fedca?
@Fedce Se what I'm sayin?
@@ricktheexplorer nope. Most of the the best Star Wars media there is are the extended universe novels (the Thrawn trilogy is probably the best Star Wars thing that there is, ever, and I hope they try to turn them into films one day), the animated TV shows, etc, the Mandalorian, Rogue One. Lucas had little to no involvement in all these things.
Don't get so butthurt about the sequel trilogy. In 20 years people will probably like them a great deal more than they do now just like what's happened with the prequels.
You're just caught up in all the outrage culture and angry videos on UA-cam. Calm down, take a step back, and just appreciate how much good star wars stuff exists and its easier than ever to watch/read it all, you can go just stream everything within seconds or download a book to your kindle app on your tablet right now and within a minute be reading a great novel, and so on.
@@duffman18 Those people camped out at the Skywalker Ranch and tapped George Lucas's brain when writing the expanded Universe. Do me a favor, never try to come up to my level of intelligence: you will be embarrassing.
@@duffman18 Are you high? The "bounty hunter" TV show plans were there before the Disney deal. There's even footage of the concept work they shot. Lucas was involved in TCW.
"In 20 years people will probably like them a great deal more than they do now just like what's happened with the prequels."
The PT was made by Lucas though. It ain't perfect but it has his vision - which is exactly what the ST is lacking.
"You're just caught up in all the outrage culture and angry videos on UA-cam"
How about not patronising people, or trying to dismiss individual opinion as fitting within one box?
"you can go just stream everything within seconds"
That's called the internet. It has nothing to do with who is charge of LF.
"Most of the the best Star Wars media there is are the extended universe novels"
It's just an opinion, the same as the one you're complaining about.
There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back.
It was the 1997 Special Edition VHS Star Wars Original Trilogy Box Set with BTS that inspired me to become a filmmaker. Now, after many years making shorts, i'm currently writting my first feature film script.
Cool, have you finished?
Anyone who liked this I HIGHLY recommend you read George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones.
That book really showed me what he has contributed to the world. I firmly believe that no one since Hitchcock has done so much nor been so influential.
Sometimes, I forget the greats came from nothing.
As someone who's passion comes from filmmaking. It came from such a young age, and I'm always afraid of not being able to truly show my true passion. To tell my own stories.
Thank you Austin, for reminding me that I can tell my own stories.
The technology is my favorite part of his, the progressiveness is great. I love CGI and the special effects revolutionalized the entire film industry.
The best 12 minutes of the year. Austin you are so talented
I just entered the same cinema school where Alfonso Cuarón and Emmanuel Lubezki studied. This video was just... Perfect. Thank you, Austin. I've learned so much with you.
I say hi from Mexico.
He was and he still is such a handsome man!!!
I love your content Austin, the videos you make have such a solid and quality feel to them, keep making videos about stuff that I didn't know I'd love
Thank you for making this video. George Lucas has always been my greatest role model, and I am glad someone has brought his origins to light. I have many videos in a playlist that I listen through to remind me of his journey. Now this one summarizes the beginning in a nutshell!
This is pretty cool to see, I live in Modesto and I went to mjc. Austin is on of my favorite UA-camrs so it’s cool to see him talking about my hometown.
I'm an aspired-author and I took a class in Creative Writing at school.
The assignment was fairly simple: Write a short story.
Instead of telling one simple story with a basic structure and elements.
I wrote something different.
Same I did with a Speaking class. xD
Do you think writers write because they have no one to talk to in such a deep manner as they feel when they write? I mean if you had friends or someone close to you who you can have deep meaningful long drawn conversations, would you continue writing?
Car factory worker 1: Why the fuck are you sewing that seatbelt so poorly?
Car factory worker 2: My goals are beyond your understanding
I've missed you!! This is the first recommendation I've seen in ages
With George’s background in street racing American Graffiti suddenly makes a ton of sense for him to make. Also I miss Really Weird Star Wars, please do more of those someday.
And the podracing scene in TPM.
You left out that George Lucas was responsible for industrial light and magic and what was to come Pixar. He founded both.
No, he mentioned ILM at 0:13 though he didn't talk about Pixar.
Very interesting. I've never really thought about what he'd done before Star Wars. I guess I assumed he just poofed into existence to create it. Never knew about his history with cars, or the crash that sent him to the hospital. Good video as always.
Also..check out his film American Graffiti (1973) which really highlights his love for cars and street racing.
also THX 1138, George's directorial debut.
American Graffiti - 1973 directed by George Lucas first starred Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Suzanne Somers and Wolfman Jack.
Congrats on 1 Million Subscribers!
The best in celluloid. LOL George Lucas's vision was awesome. Nostalgic and very well woven.
I saw the polished version of his earlier student film THX1138 at the London Film Festival back in the seventies. I thought to myself: he'll go far.
Welcome back Austin! Never plan on leaving the channel!
I was just watching Star Wars when you released this.
*Ironic*
PS: George didn’t just tinker with the OT, but he did tinker a tiny bit with the prequels. You should research it.
"a tiny bit" bruh no, TPM is edited more than any of the OT, it has loads of new scenes (the only new scenes in the OT are Biggs and Jabba, TPM had 7) and Yoda is completely replaced with CGI.
I'm actually attending Modesto Junior College next year. I'm majoring in Theatre Arts, but I'm also into film making.
Story goes, when Lucas was at MJC, he came to his film appreciation professor and introduced the idea of the Star Wars trilogy, and asked if they could invest/help. The professor denied and thought it was a stupid idea, and that was that. Word goes, the professor still teaches at MJC, and obviously regrets the decision.
Again, I could be wrong about this, it's just a story around here, but idk.
Literally the first time behind the camera and he spits out an award winning masterpiece!
When your back's to the wall & you're not motivated by anything other than making your craft matter, you create gold. That matters more, because wether or not you make those millions (or billions in George's case), you'll inspire others to make their own craft matter, and turn it into art.
Thank you for this video. I went to film school inspired by Mr. Lucas. And this video reminded me why I admire him so much. Thanks you so very much again.
I love how even though I'm subscribed to you, I still find gems like this in my Recommended
It’s wild how detached I have to become with my current reality to be able to appreciate the effort that George put in his first film. It’s so easy to take everything for granted when in this current landscape, I could re-create “Look at Life” in less than 20 minutes.
Going above and beyond for a skillshare sponsor, just like Lucas would have done. I see what you did there, tied it all together. Nicely done!
glad to see another upload, great production
Hey, the movie you show isn’t the whole film! It’s edited down. The full film has about fifteen seconds more, and available on UA-cam.
I haven't watched the ole Austin in a while now, good to be back
When he said “his car flipped several times and rapped around a tree” I felt that 😞
damn
His school gave him a diploma out of pity because all the doctors were sure he was going to die.
Crick1952 ya...... that’s why I said the comic. I felt that means that I know how it probably felt for him to be in that situation.
@@sammy8096 Yo dude, I'm with you. I was just dropping some facts. I mean George said that he's worked so hard since because he wakes up feeling he's living on borrowed time. That's pretty inspirational if you think about it
Crick1952 wow your right it is. Your very smart like I wouldn’t of ever looked that up lol
Lucas being a car guy explains so much of American Grafitti.
I never knew that about him being in a near-fatal crash (I know, I must've been living under a rock all this time), gets me to wondering what effect that had on his perspective on life and on the direction his life subsequently took. Must've been a seriously traumatic thing to go through, blimey.
His little short film gave me chills.
Holy crap Austin! I was just wondering about this this morning! I watched an interview with Alex Guinness talking about how Lucas was an "up and coming director" at the time so I was wondering why that was so. Thank you man!
I love how simple his first film was and won so many awards. I have always been interested in film and making videos but always felt I wasn't very good at it. (No support from family) Now I make Minecraft videos and always try and tell a story in my episodes. I long for filmmaking and always have.
Wow man just from that one minute film I was getting serious chills bro whoa
Congrats on one million subscribers 🥳
Thank you man, you made my day
Pretty smooth transition to the ad. Nice.
I went to Modesto Junior College, they have a huge mural of George and his characters in the AV area of campus
Very inspiring well edited video. Thank you for this.
I'm directing my first short movie. We wrapped the shootings last week. Im super excited to go to the edit and start to put it together!
Good luck! :)
What i get from this more than anything, is that Lucas cared more about storytelling....Pushing the technical boundaries was secondary....Today, they care more about doing what Lucas did decades ago and storytelling just doesn't matter all that much.
I read the book Skywalking in the 80's. It mentions all his short films he made at USC. I remember really wanting to see them back then, but there was no way to do it. Also really wanted to see Filmmaker: A Diary by George Lucas. I managed to find a copy of Filmmaker online in the early 2000's. I paid $100 which said it included "broadcast rights".
Same goes with Spielberg's Amblin and James Cameron's Xenogenesis. Would be great to actually see them. In the early 2000's, I managed to find and buy a copy of Amblin on Ebay for $25. A bad copy but watchable.
Not only are they all on UA-cam now, but there's early films featuring George Lucas I was unaware of at the time. One from the late 60's called New Cinema (with Francis Coppola) and an interview with him from the early 70's called George Lucas: Maker of Film (which was after he made THX 1138, but before American Graffiti).
This is so very true! Great video Austin!
Well this got me hella motivated so thanks I guess! Also that was a super smooth ad transition
You can definitely see elements of Star Wars in it. That’s really interesting.
My pilot is only a few days away from finishing. It's about a fox from another world meets an earthling fox who go on sci-fi space adventures together.
love this video, keep creating dude, you are super good at this :)