"On the Bucking Bronco" is the second episode of the documentary series Light & Magic, released on Disney+ on July 27, 2022. It focuses on Industrial Light & Magic's efforts to complete the visual effects for the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.[1]
Official description[]
George Lucas's whole life has been leading to Star Wars, but can ILM finish the job on time?
Synopsis[]
An aspiring filmmaker[]
The episode begins with a brief biography of George Lucas. Growing up in Modesto, he loved cars and aspired to be a car mechanic. Lucas describes a car accident that he survived as a teenager as a key reason for reconsidering the direction of his life. Spurning his father George Walton Lucas Sr.'s wish for his son to inherit the family's stationery shop, Lucas studied film and the social sciences at Modesto Junior College. During his junior year at college, he developed an interest in film-making and late transferred to the University of Southern California.
While studying at USC, Lucas created several short films including Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138. He also befriended several aspiring film-makers including Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola. He described them as more interested in making films than money. Lucas collaborated with Coppola in producing The Rain People, producing a documentary on the production.
Lucas and Coppola saw themselves as rebels against the Hollywood establishment and established their own independent film studio in San Francisco called American Zoetrope. There, Lucas developed one of his student films into a movie called THX 1138. His wife Marcia Lucas helped edit THX 1138. Lucas recalled that Warner Bros. initially gave him creative freedom but later edited the film because they did not understand it. Due to creative differences, Warner Bros. declined to give Lucas anymore projects. American Zoetrope went bankrupt and Lucas parted ways with Coppola, who no longer wanted to do science fiction films.
Coppola challenged Lucas to produce a comedy, which led to the 1973 film American Graffiti. Ron Howard talked about Lucas' lengthy casting process and selection of the cars used in the film's production. Lucas drew upon his teenage interest in cars and described "cruising" as a uniquely American ritual. Following American Graffiti, Lucas embarked on producing a science fiction film, drawing inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Flash Gordon and classical mythology.
Assembling a team[]
Lucas has a vision of producing his own science fiction film called Star Wars. After several studios declined his script, Lucas decided to start his own production company called Lucasfilm. He hired illustrator Ralph McQuarrie to design concept art for his Star Wars characters. Lucas was pleased with McQuarrie's treatment and commissioned him to create more paintings. McQuarrie likened it to a roller coaster ride. The new 20th Century Fox President Alan Ladd, Jr. was impressed with American Graffiti and decided to grant Lucas a special effects budget of US$2 million.
Since 20th Century Fox was not interested in setting up a special effects company, Lucas invested about US$500,000 in establishing his own special effects company called Industrial Light & Magic. Lucas also used proceeds from American Graffiti to fund ILM. Lucas recruited several employees including John Dykstra, Lorne Peterson, Ken Ralston, Paul Hirsch, and Phil Tippett. Lucas drew inspiration for the company's name from the industrial nature of the warehouse and their use of light and magic to create things.
Production difficulties[]
While producing Star Wars, Lucas and his crew encountered difficulties in Tunisia including weather damage to their set and spiraling costs. Despite the odds, Lucas decided to persist. After returning from filming in Tunisia and England, he returned to ILM, which had only produced three shots. Peterson and Dykstra recalled that Lucas was angry at the slow rate of production. Ken Ralston talked about stumbling into an argument between Lucas and Dykstra. Dykstra talked about the difficulties with producing and filming the model sets used in the film.
Lucas talked about suffering from angina due to work-related stress. Hirsch recalls that he was the fourth editor hired by Lucasfilm and being overwhelmed by the scale and ambition of the project. Due to production difficulties, Lucas consulted several colleagues including Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Spielberg recalled that the film was incomplete due to the lack of special effects and context. Hirsch says he struggled to understand the film while Spielberg recalled that the original film was stitched with footage from World War Two films. Spielberg recalled that watching C-3PO and R2-D2 jettison in the escape pod gave him an idea about what the film was about.
Bringing order to chaos[]
Lucas said that there was no special effects company in the world at the time. Richard Edlund talked about the time-consuming nature of filming with motion control technology, likening it to "photo-masochism." Lucas credited Dykstra with leading the special effects process. Edlund credited Patricia Rose Duignan with helping organize the production process. Duignan talked about meeting Dykstra and Lucas during her first interview. They recruited her due to her ability to do shorthand writing. At their Los Angeles studio, Duignan did shorthand record-keeping for Lucas. She talked about the chaotic nature of production. Duignan credited George E. Mather with bringing order to the production process.
Duignan helped compile a large storyboard book. Edlund guided Lucas through the film-making process for the X-wing models. Dennis Muren credited Dykstra with revolutionizing Lucasfilm's production process. Dkystra talked about the process for realizing the opening shot of A New Hope showing the Imperial Star Destroyer pursuing the Tantive IV. They filmed it upside down to emphasize the large size of the Star Destroyer. Dykstra talked about using the focus of the camera to emphasize the Star Destroyer's scale, likening it to artistry. Harrison Ellenshaw and Edlund talked about the production crew resolving differences through dialogue. Several Lucasfilm veterans regaled about the sense of camaraderie and fun while producing Star Wars. They talked about working long hours to produce the movie.
Duignan and Ellenshaw recalled that Lucas was a perfectionist who was concerned about the quality of his work. Hirsch described Lucas as being both creative and practical. Lucas was not satisfied with the initial footage of the cantina scene shot in England due to the insufficient number of aliens. For the reshoot, Lucas hired Phil Tippett, Jon Berg and two stop-motion animators to build several alien costumes and masks for that scene. The four dressed as aliens for filming that scene. Lucas befriended Tippett and Berg. After learning of Tippett and Bergs' stop-motion skills, he hired them to create ten stop-motion alien figures for the hologram dejarik scene. It took three days to produce that scene.
A hard-fought victory[]
Hirsch talked about lobbying 20th Century Fox to give Lucasfilm funding to produce the climatic Battle of Yavin, which ended with the destruction of the Death Star. Fox wanted the story to end with the rescue of Princess Leia but Lucas wanted a climatic starfighter battle. Peterson talked about the scale of producing the sets for the Death Star trenches. Joe Johnston recalled building 16 molds to create the Death Star trenches. Peterson recalled that thousands of reflective windows were incorporated into the Death Star trenches. Marcia Lucas recommended that the windows had to be of a smaller scale, which complicated the set building process.
The Death Star trench scene was filmed in a parking lot using cameras mounted on high-speed vehicles. Duignan recalled that the production team was racing against time on a limited budget. Lucas, Dykstra and Tippett recalled that the ILM team celebrated following the end of production. Lucas said that a large crowd gathered outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre for the premiere of Star Wars. Several team members received awards.
Despite the success of the Star Wars film, Lucas said that production process was challenging for the crew. Howard recalled that Lucas was dissatisfied with the final product. Lucas talked about being able to see through the magic but acknowledged that movies only get made under the possible circumstances. He resolved to address these special effects limitations in future films.
Credits[]
| Cast | Uncredited cast | Crew | Uncredited crew | Special thanks |
Cast
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Sources[]
Notes and references[]
