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April 17 – Anniversary of George Lucas Writing a Movie Treatment

Michael Knox

April 17, 2016

nPostednon April 17, 2016

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nOnnthis date in 1973, an “epic space opera” was born.

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nAnnepic space opera that made fortunes and molded careers. An epic spacenopera that became a cultural phenomenon! n

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ThenStarnWarsnepic is being told in a series of films and a television show – andnit has led to countless toys, games, costumes, books, and othernmerchandise, plus theme park rides and lands.

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nWhennI saw Wikipedia‘sndescription of StarnWarsnas a space opera, I wondered why it’s called an opera. There’s music, sure – veryndistinctive music written by John Williams, with a theme that most ofnus recognize instantly – but there is no singing, and the storynisn’t told through music. Operanis generally defined as a dramatic work set to music for singers; Inhad to look up spacenoperanto learn its meaning: a dramatic work that (1) is set in outer spacenand (2) has a simplistic, melodramatic vibe.

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nAndnI guess that StarnWarsnhas a good-vs.-evil, high-fantasy, the-entire-galaxy-is-at-stake sortnof vibe.

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nButnit is also a pretty complex epic, with lots of settings andncharacters.

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George Lucas, years ago…

nWhat George Lucas actually did all those 43 years ago was to write 13 pages onn“The Star Wars.” At that point there was no Sith, no Death Star,nand no Luke Skywalker.

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nAsna matter of fact, the hero of the story was originally going to benAnnikin, not Luke – and the last name was Starkiller, notnStarwalker. But in draft after draft, Lucas cut out complications,nstreamlined the story, introduced the young hero, and honed in on thenscreenplay that became StarnWars, Episode IV: A New Hope.

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n(Bynthe way, for a long time most people thought of the first Star Warsnmovie as JUST StarnWars.nTo this day, some people don’t really know the episode title, AnNew Hope,nalthough they tend to know episode titles of the other movies, suchnas ThenEmpire Strikes Back….Infound it interesting to realize that, even after production of thenfirst movie began, Lucas was still tinkering with the title. In 1976,nthe title was Adventuresnof Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I:nThe Star Wars.nn

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nWhichnis even longer than StarnWars, Episode IV: A New Hope.

Artist Ralph McQuarrie came up with some early
concept art for Star Wars.

Some of it, like the picture above, looks a LOT like the
actual movie. Other times, of course, there
are some bits that are not as familiar
(for example, in the picture below).

McQuarrie said that his early pieces were
extremely imaginative because
he wasn’t trying to be at all practical.
He honestly thought that the movie would
be too expensive to be made (let alone
BUNCHES of movies being made!!).

To see more of McQuarrie’s Star Wars
concept art, check out BuzzFeed.