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George Lucas

George Lucas Quotes

Film director

George Lucas, born on May 14, 1944, is a renowned film director and producer from the United States. He is best known for his groundbreaking film works, particularly the 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' franchises, which have had a profound impact on the global film industry.

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Famous George Lucas Quotes

“I wanted to make abstract films that are emotional, and I still do.”

Stills Wanted Film Emotional Abstract

Author:George Lucas

“Kurosawa was one of film's true greats. His ability to transform a vision into a powerful work of art is unparalleled.”

Art Film Names Ability Powerful Vision Greatness Art Is Studios Appropriate Digital Works Of Art Kurosawa

Author:George Lucas

“No film ever ends up exactly as you would like it to, but with minor exceptions, THX came out pretty much as I had visualized it, thanks to some excellent assistance -- and a whole lot of luck.”

Ends Whole Film Luck Thanks Excellent Exception Minors Assistance

Book:George Lucas: Interviews

Source: George Lucas: Interviews

“As you go through history, I didn't think it was going to get quite this close. So it's just one of those recurring things. I hope this doesn't come true in our country. Maybe the film will waken people to the situation.”

People Thinking Country Film Situation Our Country Just One Recurring

Author:George Lucas

“Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. It's a very rare experience where you find a filmmaker who says, "That's exactly what I wanted. I got everything I needed. I made it just perfect. I'm going to put it out there."”

Knows Made Hands Wanted Film Perfect Needed Finished Made It Filmmaker Thrown Abandoned Marketplace Ripped

Author:George Lucas

“I wanted to make a kids' film that would strengthen contemporary mythology.”

Kids Wanted Film Mythology Contemporary

Author:George Lucas

“I wanted to be a car mechanic and I wanted to race cars and the idea of trying to make something out of my life wasn't really a priority. But the accident allowed me to apply myself at school. I got great grades. Eventually I got very excited about anthropology and about social sciences and psychology, and I was able to push my photography even further and eventually discovered film and film schools.”

Trying Ideas Able Wanted School Film Social Race Psychology Car Photography Excited Accidents Priorities Grades Mechanic Anthropology Social Science Film School Race Car

Author:George Lucas

“One of the most telling things about film school is you've got a lot of students wandering around saying, "Oh, I wish I could make a movie. I wish I could make a movie."”

School Film Moving Wish Students Wander Film School Wandering Around Make A Move

Author:George Lucas

“I made lots of movies while in school while everybody else was running around saying, "Oh, I wish I could make a movie. I wish they'd give me some film."”

Giving Made Running School Film Wish Give Me

Author:George Lucas

“Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard. What you’ve really got to do is focus on learning as much about life, and about various aspects of it first.”

Firsts Hard Film Easy Focus Aspect Various

Author:George Lucas

“I've had much more down in my life than I've had up. And much more struggle. First of all, when I went into the film school everybody said, "What are you doing? This is a complete dead-end for a career."”

Firsts Said Ends School Film Careers Struggle Dead Ends Film School

Author:George Lucas

“I want to live where I want to live, and I will make films because I love to make films.”

Author:George Lucas

“As I talk to film students now especially, I say, "The easiest job you'll ever get is to try to make your first film." That's the easy one to get, is the first film because nobody knows whether you can make a film or not.”

Knows Trying Firsts Jobs Film Easy Nobody Knows

Author:George Lucas

“After you've done the first feature, then you have heck of a difficult time getting your second film off the ground. They look at your first film and they say, "Oh well, we don't want you anymore."”

Want Firsts Wells Looks Done Film Difficult Features Difficult Times Oh Well

Author:George Lucas

“I came from a very avant-garde documentary kind of film making world. I like cinema verité, documentaries. I liked non-story, non-character tone poems. And that's the film making that I was interested in.”

World Kind Character Stories Film Cinema Tone Documentaries Avant Garde

Author:George Lucas

“It took me three, four years, to get from my first film to my second film, banging on doors, trying to get people to give me a chance. Writing, struggling, with no money in the bank, working as an editor on the side. Working as a cameraman on the side. Getting little jobs, eking out a living. Trying to stay alive, and pushing a script that nobody wanted.”

“All of my films have been very hard to understand at the script stage because they're very different. At the time I did them they were not conventional. The executives could only think in terms of what they'd already seen. It's hard for them to think in terms of what has never been done before.”

Thinking Has Beens Different Hard Done Film Term Stage Scripts Executives Conventional

Author:George Lucas

“There's nothing worse than the frustration of having somebody who you feel doesn't get what you're doing, trying to turn it into something else. It's a very, very annoying and sort of frustrating thing and I just never wanted to go through it. I was very fortunate as I came up through the film business that I was able to insulate myself from that.”

Feels Trying Able Wanted Film Turns Fortunate Frustration Annoying Frustrating Frustrating Things

Author:George Lucas

“Sometimes people are surprised to learn that most of the films I've made don't work. They've been released but nobody has ever seen them. Maybe 40 percent of them are very successful. That's a very high percentage; most people have maybe 10 or 15 percent of their films work.”

People Made Sometimes Film Successful Percent Percentages

Author:George Lucas

“When my films don't work it's usually because I tried some very experimental idea. I tried new ideas and they just didn't work, as opposed to trying to do something conventional and having it be so conventional nobody wanted to see it.”

Trying Ideas Wanted Film Working It Conventional New Ideas

Author:George Lucas

“You have to have a thick enough skin to cope with the criticism. I'm very self-critical and I have a lot of friends that I trust who are film directors and writers and people in my profession.”

People Self Enough Film Directors Criticism Skins Critical Profession Thick Lots Of Friends Film Directors

Author:George Lucas

“I like racing. I love the speed and I'm a very kinetic person in terms of filmmaking. I love the movement of film more than anything else.”

Persons Film Term Movement Speed Racing Filmmaking

Author:George Lucas

“I intend more of a kinship with silent films than more modern film. I like the old cinema. My films are more of a hybrid - a different style of filmmaking to what I call talking head movies. Some people don't get it. Especially the more academic types.”

People Different Film Talking Modern Style Type Silent Cinema Academic Filmmaking Hybrid Kinship Different Styles Talking Heads Silent Films

Author:George Lucas

“I think that Lethal Weapon-style dialogue is overused, it's a necessary aspect of high action films where you have to have the smart retort. You have to say "I'll be back baby" and stuff. It's not my style.”

Thinking Action Film Stuff Style Baby Weapons Smart Aspect Dialogue Action Films Retorts Overused Lethal Weapon

Author:George Lucas

“I like to say that films are never finished, they're only abandoned.”

Film Finished Abandoned

Author:George Lucas

“The secret to film is that it's an illusion.”

Film Secret Illusion Movie Secret Love

Author:George Lucas

“Learning to make films is very easy. Learning what to make films about is very hard.”

Author:George Lucas

“Making a film is like putting out a fire with sieve. There are so many elements, and it gets so complicated.”

Film Fire Elements Complicated

Author:George Lucas

“Film is a very tight little box. If you don't fit in that box, you're gone. Television, there's more room to move around.”

Ifs Littles Film Moving Rooms Gone Television Fit Boxes

Author:George Lucas

“Film is not an easy occupation. There's a lot of occupations that are difficult and film is one of them.”

Film Easy Difficult Occupation

Author:George Lucas

“A film is sort of binary - it either works or it doesn't work. It has nothing to do with how good a job you do. If you bring it up to an adequate level where the audience goes with the movie, then it works, that is all.”

Ifs Jobs Film Levels Audience Working It Adequate Binary

Author:George Lucas

“Before I became a film major, I was very heavily into social science, I had done a lot of sociology, anthropology, and I was playing in what I call social psychology, which is sort of an offshoot of anthropology/sociology - looking at a culture as a living organism, why it does what it does.”

Doe Done Film Culture Social Psychology Majors Organisms Sociology Anthropology Social Psychology Social Science Living Organisms

Author:George Lucas

“I was never interested in being powerful or famous. But once I got to film school and learned about movies, I just fell in love with it. I didn't care what kind of movies I made.”

Kind Made Care School Film Powerful Film School

Author:George Lucas

“None of the films I've done was designed for a mass audience, except for 'Indiana Jones.' Nobody in their right mind thought 'American Graffiti' or 'Star Wars' would work.”

Mind War Done Film Stars Audience Mass Indiana Graffiti Mind Thoughts

Author:George Lucas

“May the Force be with you.”

“I've always tried to be aware of what I say in my films, because all of us who make motion pictures are teachers - teachers with very loud voices.”

Film Voice Education Teacher Teaching Loud Motion Pictures Loud Voices

Author:George Lucas

“I loved photography and everybody said it was a crazy thing to do because in those days nobody made it into the film business. I mean, unless you were related to somebody there was no way in.”

Way Mean Made Said Film Crazy Photography Made It Things To Do Related Crazy Things

Author:George Lucas

“I am very concerned about our national heritage, and I am very concerned that the films that I watched when I was young and the films that I watched throughout my life are preserved, so that my children can see them.”

Children Film Young Concerned My Children Heritage

Author:George Lucas

“The script is what you`ve dreamed up - this is what it should be. The film is what you end up with.”

Should Ends Film Directors Scripts Screenwriting

Author:George Lucas

“STAR WARS is really three trilogies, nine films. The first trilogy covers the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, the middle trilogy the fall of the Empire, and the last trilogy involves the rebuilding of the Republic. It won't be finished for probably another 20 years.”

Years Firsts War Lasts Film Fall Three Stars Middle Finished Nine Empires Republic Rebuilding Trilogies

Author:George Lucas

“The first script was one of six original stories I had written in the form of two trilogies. After the success of Star Wars, I added another trilogy. So now there are nine stories. The original two trilogies were conceived of as six films of which the first film was number four.”

Firsts Two War Stories Film Form Stars Numbers Four Written Six Originals Nine Trilogies War Movie Star Wars Movie

Author:George Lucas

“It wasn't long after I began writing Star Wars that I realized the story was more than a single film could hold. As the saga of the Skywalkers and Jedi Knights unfolded, I began to see it as a tale that could take at least nine films to tell - three trilogies - and I realized, in making my way through the back story and after story, that I was really setting out to make the middle story.”

Way Writing Long War Stories Film Three Stars Middle I Realized Nine Setting Tales Settings My Way Knights Saga Trilogies Jedi Knights

Author:George Lucas

“From the outset, I conceived Star Wars as a series of six films, or two trilogies.”

Two War Film Stars Six Series Trilogies

Book:The Star Wars trilogy

Source: The Star Wars trilogy

“One of the things that will never get explained in the films is how Ben was able to retain his identity, because it happened somewhere between the third and fourth movies. I set up that this is a discipline that he learned from Yoda; Yoda told him how to do that.”

Able Film Happened Identity Discipline Thirds Fourth

Author:George Lucas

“I felt that one of the major issues in the third film is that Luke is finally on his own and has to fight Vader and the Emperor by himself. If you get a sense that Yoda or Ben is there to help him or to somehow influence him, it diminishes the power of the scene.”

Ifs Helping Film Fighting Felt Issues Influence Scene Majors Thirds Diminish Emperor Luke Vader

Author:George Lucas

“The secret to the movie business, or any business, is to get a good education in a subject besides film - whether it's history, psychology, economics, or architecture - so you have something to make a movie about. All the skill in the world isn't going to help you unless you have something to say.”

World Helping Motivational Film Secret Psychology Subjects Skills Economics Architecture Good Education Movie Business

Author:George Lucas

“In my films, all the great things are put together. It's not like one kind of ice cream but rather a very big Sundae.”

Kind Bigs Together Film Great Things Ice Cream Ice Cream Sundaes

Author:George Lucas

“If I'd have gone to art school, or stayed in anthropology, I probably would have ended up back in film ... Mostly I just followed my inner feelings and passions ... and kept going to where it got warmer and warmer, until it finally got hot ... Everybody has talent. It's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is.”

Ifs Art Matter Feelings School Film Moving Passion Gone Talent Hot Anthropology Art School Inner Feelings

Author:George Lucas

“When you are a beginning film maker you are desperate to survive. The most important thing in the end is survival and being able to get to your next picture.”

Important Ends Able Film Next Survival Important Things Desperate Makers

Author:George Lucas

About the Author

Born: May 14, 1944
Known for: Film director
Quotes: 268

Related Topics

Film People Thinking Ifs War Stars Want Way Trying Years Able Important Knows Stories Firsts Kind Wanted Ends Helping School

Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

A New Hope: Star Wars: Episode IVRelated source material

Star Wars®: Episode I: The Phantom MenaceRelated source material

ArtFolds: Yoda: Yoda and the ForceRelated source material

George Lucas: InterviewsRelated source material

Star Wars: A New HopeRelated source material

Revenge of the Sith: Illustrated Screenplay: Star Wars: Episode IIIRelated source material

Star Wars®: Episode IV: A New HopeRelated source material

The Star Wars trilogyRelated source material

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