WI: George Lucas is never born
- Thread starter mojojojo
- Start date
Sci Fi is in the debt of people like Jules Verne and HG Wells. Before Lucas you had...Flash Gordon. And you had Doctor Who. You also had the US Space Race and James Bond on the fringes...
I'd have to say that that Sci-Fi, as a Genre, is too large to take down by taking down one man. The counterfactual is huge, but I think what this would mean is that groundbreaking ideas and special effects are pioneered by others, as opposed to undiscovered.
I lack an answer to who or what, but the ideas of aliens and space heroes is nothing new. Star Wars is essentially a handful of gems in a mountain of dirt--but the counterfactual franchises that may appear may have a very different theme. Perhaps there is an emphasis on Earth's projected future, perhaps it is a simple man against Aliens and plays hard sci-fi.
Or perhaps its even sillier and funnier than Star Wars--a comedic romp through the stars with sexbots, spaceships with engines the size of skyscrapes known as a "Compensation Engine" and aliens that are mischevious for humor.
There are many ways it can go--I'd say shoot the dice and see what interesting things would happen post butterflies...
I'd have to say that that Sci-Fi, as a Genre, is too large to take down by taking down one man. The counterfactual is huge, but I think what this would mean is that groundbreaking ideas and special effects are pioneered by others, as opposed to undiscovered.
I lack an answer to who or what, but the ideas of aliens and space heroes is nothing new. Star Wars is essentially a handful of gems in a mountain of dirt--but the counterfactual franchises that may appear may have a very different theme. Perhaps there is an emphasis on Earth's projected future, perhaps it is a simple man against Aliens and plays hard sci-fi.
Or perhaps its even sillier and funnier than Star Wars--a comedic romp through the stars with sexbots, spaceships with engines the size of skyscrapes known as a "Compensation Engine" and aliens that are mischevious for humor.
There are many ways it can go--I'd say shoot the dice and see what interesting things would happen post butterflies...
Orville_third
Banned
This only counts Lucas's influence on SF. What's bigger is his influence on the film industry in general...
-Fewer big-budget blockbusters, of whatever genre.
-Without the Star Wars films, a number of visual effects wouldn't be available. Film and TV effects would be a lot less sophisticated.
-No THX sound system.
-No Pixar, either on its own or as a studio.
Also, there would be one fewer collector of Maxfield Parrish paintings or Tucker cars. And someone else would get to say "That isn't fair!" to Eddie Murphy in that movie...
-Fewer big-budget blockbusters, of whatever genre.
-Without the Star Wars films, a number of visual effects wouldn't be available. Film and TV effects would be a lot less sophisticated.
-No THX sound system.
-No Pixar, either on its own or as a studio.
Also, there would be one fewer collector of Maxfield Parrish paintings or Tucker cars. And someone else would get to say "That isn't fair!" to Eddie Murphy in that movie...
Keep in mind that the primary claim to fame of the first Star Wars movie in 1977 was not as much the story itself but the special effects that represented production breakthrough. Previously, the blue screen/green technique left a "corona" around the subject and could not be used in movies. Remember the TV newscasts where the anchorman was superimposed over a scene and his necktie would occasionally become transparent?
Without Lucas and Star Wars, the technique would wait for some other producer. And if blue screen movies first started with some sort of violent or objectionable material, the technique might not be well received.
Without Lucas and Star Wars, the technique would wait for some other producer. And if blue screen movies first started with some sort of violent or objectionable material, the technique might not be well received.
Star Wars was good, a bit much 'I am a main character, I cannot die' with the Storm Troopers aim and such, but when the main characters were out of the way the Imperials fought quite well. Most of the problems were from trying to keep the rating U or PG, and the lack of CGI when it was made, until those bloody Teddy Bears with spears defeated a galaxy conquering legion of elite storm troopers! That just ruined it for me, why, or why, did they use teddy bears instead of wookies?
So, Lucas dies the new ideas and techniques are developed in other ways, and the somehwat more gritty imagery from Star Wars takes longer, leaving the clean Star Trek space scenes... *shudder*.
So, Lucas dies the new ideas and techniques are developed in other ways, and the somehwat more gritty imagery from Star Wars takes longer, leaving the clean Star Trek space scenes... *shudder*.
Sorry bout the typo, I meant to say Doctor Who is never axed in the late 80s. Maybe Blake Seven runs for another couple of seasons?
I don't know. There is still Lord of the Rings. His ideas were also rewritten in a sort of screenwriter textbook by some Disney employee at some point (and that's what we actually call nowadays the path of the hero or monomyth) but I don't recall if that was done after or before Star Wars.
Effects and THX/5.1 audio might get developed later on by other people but in the mean time sci fi and fantasy films might begin to consolidate a reputation for B class films instead of spectacular movies.
And since the POD is Lucas never being born, we could wonder how butteflies are affecting all this guys
But Star Wars is more relevant vis-a-vis Joseph Campbell because Lucas specifically told people that he was influenced by Campbell's work and actually used it to write a modern version of the mythical motifs that Campbell described. Campbell probably wouldn't have done The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers if Star Wars hadn't come along to make his work relevant to a modern audience. (BTW, the Power of Myth television special was filmed at Skywalker Ranch, which gives the Star Wars connection more significance.)
And the Disney memo to which you refer appears to have been written in the early '90s, at least from what I can gather from Wikipedia.
Yep, that's the memo. So unless someone else finds out the relationship between LOTR and Campbell's work and works on it, or develops' Campbell work ala George Lucas, the butterflies involving storytelling would be huge, and a lot of stories would never be writed/filmed, or they would be done in an entirely different way.
The knowledge is there, but Tolkien and Lucas were the first ones to apply it, and only Lucas said where he got that portion of his ideas.
This, besides his contributions to film technique, turns George Lucas into one of the most influential artist in the 20th century.
Raymann
Banned
I'm not sure about the influences of Dr. Who but Roddenberry wanted to make Star Trek into a movie as soon as the series ended. He only switched to advocating Phase II when the movie ended up in development hell.
I believe it was Close Encounters of the Third Kind that was Paramount's main motivation for producing The Motion Picture and the film was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey.